Reason and Insight Western and Eastern Perspectives on the Pursuit of Moral Wisdom

by Shanahan, Timothy; Wang, Robin

• ISBN13: 9780534505998
• ISBN10: 0534505996
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-04
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

The aim of REASON AND INSIGHT is twofold: first, to provide a comprehensive, multicultural introduction to ethics that includes substantial selections from the main Western and Eastern philosophies and religious traditions, and second, to enable students to explore how these perspectives are applied to a range of contemporary moral problems. Beginning with an engaging, accessible introduction to fundamental metaethical issues, the text then delves into particular ethical theories from both the Western and Eastern traditions. Finally, the relevance of these more abstract concerns is made more concrete in the concluding section that presents current scholarship devoted to applying these theories to pressing moral concerns with which students will be familiar. With REASON AND INSIGHT, students are exposed, in a single text, to all of the most important Western and Eastern moral theories and thereby are encouraged to reexamine critically their own moral perspectives in light of many other historically and/or culturally remote standpoints.

Table of Contents

Part I: METAETHICAL ISSUES

How Ethical Issues Arise: An Example

What Is Ethics? Why Simply Obeying the Law Is Not Sufficient

Does Morality Depend on Religion?

Are Moral Standards "Relative?"

Is Ethics Possible, Given the Facts of Human Nature?

Ethical Egoism

The Pursuit of Moral Wisdom

The Broader Context of Moral Wisdom

Part II: WESTERN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

1. Greek Virtue Ethics

2. Christian Natural Law Theory

3. The Ethics of Duty

4. Utilitarianism

Part III: EASTERN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

5. Confucianism

6. Taoism

7. Hinduism

8. Buddhism

Part IV: SOME CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES

9. Sexual Morality

10. Abortion

11. Suicide and Euthanasia

12. Morality within the Family

13. Technology

14. Ethics in the Media

15. Ethics in Business

16. The Environment