The Ethical Life Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems

by Shafer-Landau, Russ

• ISBN13: 9780199773527
• ISBN10: 0199773521
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Brief yet thorough and affordably priced, The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems, Second Edition, is ideal for courses in introductory ethics and contemporary moral problems. Featuring forty readings divided into four parts - Value Theory, Normative Ethics,Metaethics, and Moral Problems - it introduces students to ethical theory and a wide range of moral issues. The essays include selections from such historically influential philosophers as Aristotle, Hume, Kant, and Mill alongside work by contemporary philosophers like Philippa Foot, Robert Nozick,Peter Singer, and Judith Jarvis Thomson. Detailed section and reading introductions provide helpful contextual information.The second edition adds nine new readings, by Plato, Ayn Rand, A.J. Ayer, Harry Gensler, Alan Dershowitz, Alastair Norcross, Paul Taylor, Thomas Hill, Jr., and Philippa Foot. It also features new subcategories in Part IV. Moral Problems: Euthanasia and a Modest Proposal; Terrorism and Torture; TheTreatment of Non-Humans (Animals and the Environment); Abortion; The Limits of the Law; and Children and Parents. Designed as a companion reader to Russ Shafer-Landau's textbook, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Second Edition, The Ethical Life, Second Edition, is also comprehensive enough to be used onits own.

Author Biography

Russ Shafer-Landau is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of The Fundamentals of Ethics, Second Edition (OUP, 2011), which is designed to be used along with this reader.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
A Note on the Companion Volume	p. viii
Introduction	p. 1
Value Theory The Nature of the Good Life
Letter to Menoeceus	p. 11
Hedonism	p. 17
Brave New World	p. 27
The Experience Machine	p. 33
The Meaning of Life	p. 37
Necessities	p. 49
Normative Ethics: Theories of Right Conduct
Euthyphro	p. 63
Natural Goodness	p. 72
The Ethics of Emergencies	p. 84
Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism	p. 92
The Good Will and the Categorical Imperative	p. 102
Leviathan	p. 115
What Makes Right Acts Right?	p. 126
Nicomachean Ethics	p. 138
What Is Feminist Ethics?	p. 150
Metaethics The Status of Morality
Moral Distinctions Not Derived from Reason	p. 165
A Critique of Ethics	p. 175
The Subjectivity of Values	p. 188
Cultural Relativism	p. 198
Realism	p. 207
Proof	p. 217
Moral Problems
The Singer Solution to World Poverty	p. 229
Why Shouldn't Tommy and Jim Have Sex? A Defense of Homosexuality	p. 237
The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn	p. 251
Euthanasia and a Modest Proposal
The Morality of Euthanasia	p. 266
The Survival Lottery	p. 272
Terrorism and Torture
Terrorism: A Critique of Excuses	p. 282
Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured?	p. 293
The Treatment of Nonhumans: Animals and the Environment
Puppies, Pigs and People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases	p. 307
The Ethics of Respect for Nature	p. 323
Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments	p. 336
Abortion
A Defense of Abortion	p. 351
Why Abortion Is Immoral	p. 364
Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect	p. 375
The Limits of the Law
Justifying Legal Punishment	p. 388
An Eye for an Eye?	p. 398
Letter from Birmingham City Jail	p. 408
America's Unjust Drug War	p. 421
Children and Parents
Licensing Parents	p. 436
What Do Grown Children Owe Their Parents?	p. 450
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.