Consider Ethics : Theory, Readings, and Contemporary Issues

by Waller, Bruce N.

• ISBN13: 9780205539369
• ISBN10: 020553936X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Offering a balance of theory and applications and a mix of text and readings,Consider Ethicsbegins with chapters covering ethical theory, each of which is followed by related, classical readings. The book concludes with an examination of six contemporary ethicalissuespresented in a pro/con format, including introductory material placing each issue and the arguments in context.

Table of Contents

Thinking About Ethics

Ethics and Critical Thinking

Studying Ethics

God's Commandments and Ethics

Religion and Ethics

Reading: Plato, Euthyphro

Exercises

Ethics and Reason

Reasoning about Ethics

Elements of Kantian Ethics

Criticisms of Kantian Ethics

Conclusion

Reading: Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals

Exercises

Ethics and Emotions

Follow Your Reason or Follow Your Heart?

Objective and Subjective Feelings

Intuitionism

Conclusion

Reading: Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature

Exercises

Utilitarian Ethics

Utilitarian Theory

Act- vs. Rule-Utilitarians

Utiliatarians and the Quality of Pleasures

Criticisms of Utilitarian Ethics

Nozicks Challenge to Utilitarian Ethics The Uses of Utilitarian Ethics

Opposition to Utilitarianism

Reading: Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Reading: Mill, What Utilitarianism Is

Exercises

Social Contract Ethics

Framing the Social Contract

Fairness and Social Contract Theory: John Rawls

Gauthier's Contractarian Ethics

The Social Contract Myth and its Underlying Assumptions

Conclusion

Reading: Hobbes, Leviathan

Exercises

Egoism, Relativism, and Pragmatism

Egoism

Relativism

Pragmatism

Readings: Rorty, Philosophy and Social Hope

Exercises

Virtue Ethics

The Distinctive Focus of Virtue Ethics

The Strengths of Virtue Ethics

Criticisms of Virtue Theory

Virtue Theory and Medicine

Reading: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

Exercises

Care Ethics

The Neglect of Women's Ethical Views

The Care Perspectives on Ethics

Women and Ethics

Reading: Baier, The Need for More than Justice

Exercises

The Scope of Mortality

Who is Due Moral Consideration? Moral Agents

Darwin and the Moral Status of Nonhuman Animals

Reading: Darwin, The Descent of Man

Reading: Frans de Waal, Primates and Philosophers

Exercises

Ethical NonObjectivism

The Nature of Ethical Nonobjectivism

Arguments for Ethical Nonobjectivism

The Continuing Struggle Between Objectivists and Nonobjectivists

Reading: Ayer, Language, Truth, and Logic

Exercises

Moral Realism

Contemporary Moral Realism

Moral Realism and the Argument from Simplicity

Moral Facts and Scientific Revolutions

Two Ways that Moral Realism Might Fail

Reading: Smith, Realism

Exercises

How Hard is Ethics?

The Demands of Ethical Living

Comparing Ethical Systems on the Basis of Difficulty

Duty and Feelings

Reading: Mencius, Book of Mencius

Exercises

Free Will

Determinism

Fatalism

Determinism and Free Will

Libertarian Free Will and the Rejection of Determinism

Reading: Wolf, Asymmetrical Freedom

Exercises

Freedom, Moral Responsibility, and Ethics

Types of Responsibility

Moral Responsibility and the Utility of Punishment

Conditions for Moral Responsibility

Moral Responsibility and Ethics

Conclusion

Reading: Nagel, Moral Luck

Exercises

The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

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