Ethics History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues

by Cahn, Steven M.; Markie, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780195104530
• ISBN10: 0195104536
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The most comprehensive collection of its kind, Ethics is organized into three sections, providing instructors with flexibility in designing and teaching a variety of courses in moral philosophy. Opening with Alasdair MacIntyre's discussion of the importance of the history of ethics, the first section, Historical Sources , moves from classical thought (Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Epictetus) through medieval views (Augustine and Aquinas) to modern theories (Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Bentham, and Mill). It culminates with the religiosity of Kierkegaard, the pessimism of Schopenhauer, the nihilism of Nietzsche, the pragmatism of James and Dewey, and the existentialism of Camus and Sartre. The readings are reprinted in their entirety wherever possible. The second section, Modern Ethical Theory , begins with James Rachels' overview of recent developments, and includes many of the most important essays of the twentieth century. The discussion of utilitarianism, Kantianism, egoism, and relativism continues in the work of major contemporary philosophers (Williams, Brandt, Feinberg, Foot, and Rachels). Landmark selections (Moore, Ross, Stevenson, Baier, Hare, Harman, and Gauthier) reflect concern with moral language and the justification of morality. The concepts of justice (Rawls), rights (Feinberg), and saintliness (Urmson and Wolff) are explored, as well as recent views on the importance of virtue ethics (MacIntyre and Rachels), and an ethic influenced by feminist concerns (Held). Peter Singer's discussion of the significance of applied ethics opens the third section, Contemporary Moral Problems . The readings present the current debates over abortion (Thomson, Tooley, and Sterba), euthanasia (Rachels and Foot), famine relief (Singer and Arthur), animal rights (Regan and Cohen), the death penalty (van den Haat and Nathanson), and affirmative action (Hill and Kekes).

Table of Contents

Preface	vii	(1)
Introduction	viii
I HISTORICAL SOURCES	1	(468)
Introduction	1	(2)
Alasdair MacIntyre
1. Plato	3	(113)
Euthyphro	3	(11)
Apology	14	(15)
Crito	29	(8)
Phaedo (114d-118)	37	(2)
Republic (selections)	39	(77)
2. Aristotle	116	(39)
Nicomachean Ethics (selections)	116	(39)
3. Epicurus	155	(6)
Letter to Menoeceus	155	(3)
Leading Doctrines	158	(3)
4. Epictetus	161	(15)
Enchiridion	161	(15)
5. Saint Augustine	176	(9)
Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love (selections)	176	(9)
6. Saint Thomas Aquinas	185	(17)
Summa Contra Gentiles (selections)	185	(17)
7. Thomas Hobbes	202	(25)
Leviathan (selections)	202	(25)
8. Joseph Butler	227	(16)
Fifteen Sermons (selections)	227	(16)
9. David Hume	243	(32)
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (selections)	244	(31)
10. Immanuel Kant	275	(43)
Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals	275	(43)
11. Jeremy Bentham	318	(25)
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (selections)	319	(25)
12. John Stuart Mill	343	(38)
Utilitarianism	343	(38)
13. Soren Kierkegaard	381	(16)
Fear and Trembling (Problema I & II)	382	(15)
14. Arthur Schopenhauer	397	(7)
On the Sufferings of the World	397	(7)
15. Friedrich Nietzsche	404	(19)
Beyond Good and Evil (selections)	405	(8)
On the Genealogy of Morals (selections)	413	(7)
The Twilight of the Idols (selections)	420	(3)
16. William James	423	(13)
The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life	423	(13)
17. John Dewey	436	(16)
The Quest for Certainty (selections)	436	(16)
18. Albert Camus	452	(7)
The Myth of Sisphus	452	(7)
19. Jean-Paul Sartre	459	(10)
Existentialism Is a Humanism	460	(9)
II MODERN ETHICAL THEORY	469	(264)
Introduction	469	(10)
James Rachels
20. G. E. Moore	479	(7)
Principia Ethica (selections)	479	(7)
21. W. D. Ross	486	(10)
The Right and The Good (selections)	486	(10)
22. C. L. Stevenson	496	(12)
The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms	496	(12)
23. R. M. Hare	508	(11)
Freedom and Reason (selections)	508	(11)
24. Kurt Baier	519	(17)
The Point of View of Morality	519	(17)
25. Gilbert Harman	536	(12)
The Nature of Morality (selections)	536	(12)
26. James Rachels	548	(9)
The Challenge of Cultural Relativism	548	(9)
27. Joel Feinberg	557	(9)
Psychological Egoism	557	(9)
28. Bernard Williams	566	(18)
A Critique of Utilitarianism	566	(18)
29. Richard B. Brandt	584	(19)
Some Merits of One Form of Rule Utilitarianism	584	(19)
30. Joel Feinberg	603	(11)
The Nature and Value of Rights	603	(11)
31. Philippa Foot	614	(7)
Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives	614	(7)
32. John Rawls	621	(20)
A Theory of Justice (selections)	621	(20)
33. David Gauthier	641	(12)
Why Contractarianism?	641	(12)
34. Alasdair MacIntyre	653	(16)
After Virtue (selections)	653	(16)
35. James Rachels	669	(13)
The Ethics of Virtue	669	(13)
36. Virginia Held	682	(17)
Feminist Transformations of Moral Theory	682	(17)
37. J. O. Urmson	699	(9)
Saints and Heroes	699	(9)
38. Susan Wolf	708	(14)
Moral Saints	708	(14)
39. Thomas Nagel	722	(11)
Moral Luck	722	(11)
III CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS	733
Introduction	733	(4)
Peter Singer
40. Judith Jarvis Thomson	737	(12)
A Defense of Abortion	737	(12)
41. Michael Tooley	749	(17)
Abortion and Infanticide	749	(17)
42. James Sterba	766	(12)
Abortion, Distant Peoples, and Future Generations	766	(12)
43. James Rachels	778	(4)
Active and Passive Euthanasia	778	(4)
44. Philippa Foot	782	(17)
Euthanasia	783	(16)
45. Peter Singer	799	(8)
Famine, Affluence, and Morality	799	(8)
46. John Arthur	807	(14)
Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Code	807	(14)
47. Tom Regan	821	(8)
The Case for Animal Rights	821	(8)
48. Carl Cohen	829	(8)
The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research	829	(8)
49. Ernest van den Haag	837	(12)
In Defense of the Death Penalty	837	(12)
50. Stephen Nathanson	849	(11)
An Eye for an Eye: The Morality of Punishing by Death (selections)	849	(11)
51. Thomas E. Hill Jr.	860	(18)
The Message of Affirmative Action	860	(18)
52. John Kekes	878
The Injustice of Affirmative Action Involving Preferential Treatment	879