THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SECTION of my book Henry Sidgwick, Eye of the Universe, is nine pages long, and much as I would like to repeat all of those expressions of gratitude again and again, I must content myself here with a simple declaration that they still stand—if anything, my indebtedness has grown with time. But there are a few people and places that I must mention here, their contributions to this book being so conspicuous. Among philosophical colleagues, two reviewers for Princeton University have been extremely helpful. One has remained anonymous, but one has been revealed as Roger Crisp, whose extensive commentary is evident on nearly every page of what follows. My Princeton editor, Rob Tempio, has been absolutely wonderful, and his encouragement was crucial in bringing this book to completion. His colleagues Ali Parrington and Eva Jaunzems have also been most supportive, and Maria denBoer did an excellent job of compiling an index. Others who have provided vitally important, encouraging critical feedback on all or part of this work (or certain earlier publications incorporated herein) include: Philip Schofield, the late Derek Parfit, Peter Singer, Kasia de Lazari-Radek, Fred Rosen, Rob Shaver, Anthony Skelton, Brad Hooker, Mariko Nakano-Okuno, Martha Nussbaum, J. B. Schneewind, John Skorupski, Alan Ryan, Georgios Varouxakis, Robert Cord, Jim Crimmins, Thomas Hurka, Placido Bucolo, Hortense Geninet, Alan Gauld, Francesca Mangion, Bill Mandler, Simon Cook, Frank Turner, Tom Holt, Timuel D. Black, and the late Terence Moore.
While I was in the process of correcting the proofs for this book, I received the devastating news that Derek Parfit had died. My first major publication in philosophy was devoted to Parfit’s arguments about personal identity, and it was through Parfit, and the late Brian Barry, that I first came to be absorbed in Sidgwick studies. No philosopher has meant more to me than Parfit, and virtually every line of this book, and of my previous books, was written with him in mind. His always generous, always insightful comments on my work, including chapter four of this book, meant more to me than I can say.
I would also like to record my debt to Danielle Allen, whose creation, the University of Chicago Civic Knowledge Project (CKP), has given me a new perspective on philosophy over the course of the last decade, as I have served as its Executive Director. A similar acknowledgement is owed my colleagues on the Board of the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO). In addition, I would like to thank Sir Richard McAlpine, for generously allowing me to visit Stone Gappe and taking the time to discuss its history with me. Also, Paul and Lucy Irven were extraordinarily gracious and hospitable, when I unexpectedly dropped in on them, upon determining that their Skipton residence (along with the adjoining Cross Keys pub and a power station) was once part of the Old Grammar School and the likely birthplace of Henry Sidgwick. Sidgwick’s great niece, Ann Baer, now over one hundred years old, has as always been a wonderful friend and extremely helpful during my visits with her, as has her nephew Andrew Belsey. Naturally, there are also all those libraries that I love so dearly: at Cambridge University, the Wren Library, Trinity College (my favorite library of all), the University Library, Newnham College Library, and King’s College Library; at Oxford, the Bodleian Library; the British Library and the Lambeth Palace Library; the Bentham Project at University College London, and all the others listed in Henry Sidgwick, Eye of the Universe. My grateful acknowledgments to all of them, and to their wonderful librarians, for facilitating my research and allowing the use of their materials. The various presses that have given me permission to reproduce material are acknowledged in the relevant notes, but a special thanks goes to Cambridge University Press, the publisher of two of my previous books, as well as of the journal Utilitas, an indispensable source for anyone working on utilitarianism.
Finally but foremost, my family—without the love and support (and candid criticism) of my wife Marty and my daughter Madeleine (and all the companion animals, real or imagined, inhabiting our home), my life and work would be unimaginable.