Summary

Now in an updated edition with fresh perspectives on high-profile ethical issues such as torture and same-sex marriage, this collection pairs cogently argued essays by leading philosophers with opposing views on fault-line public concerns.

Revised and updated new edition with six new pairs of essays on prominent contemporary issues including torture and same-sex marriage, and a survey of theories of ethics by Stephen Darwall
Leading philosophers tackle colleagues with opposing views in contrasting essays on core issues in applied ethics
An ideal semester-length course text certain to generate vigorous discussion

Author Biography

Andrew I. Cohen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgia State University, USA, and Director of its Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics. His published work focuses on rights theory and political philosophy and includes co-editorship of this volume’s first edition (Blackwell, 2005). Professor Cohen is currently researching issues concerning reparations and public contrition for past injustices that in many cases continue to inflame geopolitical sensibilities.

Christopher Heath Wellman is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St Louis, USA. A specialist in the ethical aspects of political and legal philosophy, his books include the forthcoming Liberal Rights and Responsibilities: Debating the Ethics of Immigration (due for publication in 2013), and A Liberal Theory of International Justice (2009, with Andrew Altman), in addition to co-editing the first edition of this work.

[*new to second edition]

Notes on Contributors vii

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction Andrew I. Cohen and Christopher Heath Wellman 1

ETHICAL THEORY 11

1 *Theories of Ethics Stephen L. Darwall 13

ISSUES IN LIFE AND DEATH 33

Abortion 35

2 The Wrong of Abortion Patrick Lee and Robert P. George 37

3 The Moral Permissibility of Abortion Margaret Olivia Little 51

Euthanasia 63

4 In Defense of Voluntary Active Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Michael Tooley 65

5 A Case Against Euthanasia Daniel Callahan 82

Animals 93

6 Empty Cages: Animal Rights and Vivisection Tom Regan 95

7 Animals and Their Medical Use R.G. Frey 109

ISSUES IN JUSTICE 121

Affi rmative action 123

8 A Defense of Affi rmative Action Albert Mosley 125

9 Preferential Policies Have Become Toxic Celia Wolf-Devine 141

Capital punishment 157

10 A Defense of the Death Penalty Louis P. Pojman 159

11 Why We Should Put the Death Penalty to Rest Stephen Nathanson 175

Reparations 189

12 *Compensation and Past Injustice Bernard Boxill 191

13 *Must We Provide Material Redress for Past Wrongs? Nahshon Perez 203

Profi ling 217

14 *Bayesian Inference and Contractualist Justifi cation on Interstate 95

Arthur Isak Applbaum 219

15 *Racial Profi ling and the Meaning of Racial Categories Deborah Hellman 232

Torture 245

16 *Ticking Time-Bombs and Torture Fritz Allhoff 247

17 *Torture and its Apologists Bob Brecher 260

ISSUES OF PRIVACY AND THE GOOD 273

Same-sex marriage 275

18 *Same-Sex Marriage and the Defi nitional Objection John Corvino 277

19 *Making Sense of Marriage Sherif Girgis 290

Pornography 305

20 The Right to Get Turned On: Pornography, Autonomy, Equality

Andrew Altman 307

21 “The Price We Pay”? Pornography and Harm Susan J. Brison 319

Drugs 333

22 *In Favor of Drug Decriminalization Douglas Husak 335

23 *Against the Legalization of Drugs Peter de Marneffe 346

ISSUES OF COSMOPOLITANISM AND COMMUNITY 359

Immigration 361

24 Immigration: The Case for Limits David Miller 363

25 The Case for Open Immigration Chandran Kukathas 376

Humanitarian intervention 389

26 *The Moral Structure of Humanitarian Intervention Fernando R. Tesón 391

27 *The Morality of Humanitarian Intervention Bas van der Vossen 404

World hunger 417

28 Famine Relief: The Duties We Have to Others Christopher Heath Wellman 419

29 Famine Relief and Human Virtue Andrew I. Cohen 431

Index 447

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