Ethics History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues

by Cahn, Steven M.; Markie, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780195335965
• ISBN10: 0195335961
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The most comprehensive anthology of its kind, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, Fourth Edition, provides the breadth and the depth to accommodate a variety of courses in ethics and contemporary moral problems. Its readings - unabridged where possible - are organized into threeparts, essentially offering three books under one cover. Part I, Historical Sources, presents influential ethical theories spanning 2,500 years of philosophical thought, beginning in ancient Greece with the ideas of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and continuing through to the twentieth-century ideasof Camus and Sartre. Part II, Modern Ethical Theory, explores the theoretical issues concerning the nature of moral judgments, the resolution of moral disagreements, and the evaluation of moral theories through the perspectives of major contemporary philosophers, including Baier, Brandt, Foot,Harman, Williams, and Wolf. Finally, Part III, Contemporary Moral Problems, offers opportunities to apply the theories of the first two parts; it contains arguments for and against such issues as abortion, euthanasia, animal rights, and torture.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Historical SourcesAlasdair MacIntyre: Introduction

Defence of SocratesCritoPhaedo (115d-118)Republic (selections)

Ethics (selections)

to MenoeceusLeading Doctrines

EpictetusEnchiridion

AugustineEnchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love (selections)

Thomas AquinasSumma Contra Gentiles (selections)

Thomas HobbesLeviathan (selections)

Joseph ButlerFifteen Sermons (selections) 9 David Hume

A Treatise of Human Nature (selections)An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (selections)

Immanuel KantGroundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Jeremy BenthamAn Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (selections)

John Stuart MillUtilitarianism

Friedrich NietzscheOn the Genealogy of Morals (selections)

The Myth of Sisyphus (selections)

Existentialism Is a Humanism

Modern Ethical TheoryJames Rachels: Introduction

Principia Ethica (selections)

Does Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake?

The Right and the Good (selections)

Language, Truth, and Logic (selections)

The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms

Freedom and Reason (selections)

The Point of View of Morality

Modern Moral Philosophy

Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong

A Theory of Justice (selections)

Why Contractarianism?

Psychological Egoism

Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives

Consistency in Action

Moral Dilemmas and Consistency

Some Merits of One Form of Rule Utilitarianism

A Critique of Utilitarianism

The Nature and Value of Rights

The Nature of Morality (selections)

Moral Explanations

Moral Judgment and the Acceptance of Norms

Values and Secondary Qualities

Skepticism about Practical Reason

The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach

Reason, Gender, and Moral Theory

Moral Saints

Moral Luck

Contemporary Moral ProblemsPeter Singer: Introduction

A Defense of Abortion

On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion

An Argument that Abortion is Wrong

Virtue Theory and Abortion

Active and Passive Euthanasia

Killing and Letting Die

Famine, Affluence, and Morality

Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Code

The Case for Animal Rights

The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research

Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism

Torture

Ticking Bombs, Torture, and the Analogy with Self-Defense

Should the Numbers Count?

Innumerate Ethics

The Trolley Problem

Death

The Meaning of Life

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.