Preface

About the Fourth Edition

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS MORALITY?

The Problem of Definition

First Example: Baby Theresa

Second Example: Jodie and Mary

Third Example: Tracy Latimer

Reason and Impartiality

The Minimum Conception of Morality

CHAPTER 2: THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM

How Different Societies Have Different Moral Codes

Cultural Relativism

The Cultural Differences Argument

The Consequences of Taking Cultural Relativism Seriously

Why There is Less Disagreement than it Seems

How All Cultures Have Some Values in Common

Judging a Cultural Practice to be Undesirable

What Can be Learned from Cultural Relativism

CHAPTER 3: SUBJECTIVISM IN ETHICS

The Basic Idea of Ethical Subjectivism

The Evolution of the Theory

The First Stage: Simple Subjectivism

The Second Stage: Emotivism

Are There Any Moral Facts?

Are There Proofs in Ethics?

The Question of Homosexuality

CHAPTER 4: DOES MORALITY DEPEND ON RELIGION?

The Presumed Connection Between Morality and Religion

The Divine Command Theory

The Theory of Natural Law

Religion and Particular Moral Issues

CHAPTER 5: PSYCHOLOLOGICAL EGOISM

Is Unselfishness Possible?

The Strategy of Reinterpreting Motives

Two Arguments in Favor of Psychological Egoism

Clearing Away Some Confusions

The Deepest Error in Psychological Egoism

CHAPTER 6: ETHICAL EGOISM

Is There a Duty to Help Starving People?

Three Arguments in Favor of Ethical Egoism

Three Arguments Against Ethical Egoism

CHAPTER 7: THE UTILITARIAN APPROACH

The Revolution in Ethics

First Example: Euthanasia

Second Example: Nonhuman Animals

CHAPTER 8: THE DEBATE OVER UTILITARIANISM

The Classical Version of the Theory

Is Happiness the Only Thing That Matters?

Are Consequences All That Matter?

Should We be Equally Concerned for Everyone?

The Defense of Utilitarianism

CHAPTER 9: ARE THERE ANY ABSOLUTE MORAL RULES?

Harry Truman and Elizabeth Anscombe

The Categorical Imperative

Absolute Rules and the Duty Not to Lie

Conflicts Between Rules

Another Look at Kant's Basic Idea

CHAPTER 10: KANT AND RESPECT FOR PERSONS

The Idea of Human Dignity

Retribution and Utility in the Theory of Punishment

Kant's Retributivism

CHAPTER 11: THE IDEA OF A SOCIAL CONTRACT

Hobbes's Argument

The Prisoner's Dilemma

Some Advantages of the Social Contract Theory of Morals

The Problem of Civil Disobedience

CHAPTER 12: FEMINISM AND THE ETHICS OF CARE

Do Women and Men Think Differently About Ethics?

Implications for Moral Judgment

Implications for Ethical Theory

CHAPTER 13: THE ETHICS OF VIRTUE

The Ethics of Virtue and the Ethics of Right Action

The Virtues

Some Advantages of Virtue Ethics

The Problem of Incompleteness

CHAPTER 14: WHAT WOULD A SATISFACTORY MORAL THEORY BE LIKE?

Morality Without Hubris

Treating People as They Deserve and Other Motives

Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism

The Moral Community

Justice and Fairness

Conclusion

Suggestions for Further Reading

Notes on Sources

Index