In this major new book, Terry Eagleton, one of the world's greatest cultural theorists, writes with wit, eloquence and clarity on the question of ethics. Providing rare insights into tragedy, politics, literature, morality and religion, Eagleton examines key ethical theories through the framework of Jacques Lacan's categories of the Imaginary, the Symbolic and the Real, measuring them against the 'richer' ethical resources of socialism and the Judaeo-Christian tradition. * a major new book from Terry Eagleton, one of the world's greatest cultural theorists * investigates ethical theories from Aristotle to Alain Badiou and Slavoj i ek * engages with the whole modern European tradition of thought about ethics * brings together personal and political ethics and makes a passionate case for political love