Exploring Ethics An Introductory Anthology

by Cahn, Steven M.

• ISBN13: 9780199757510
• ISBN10: 0199757518
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-10-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Exploring Ethics: An Introductory Anthology, Second Edition, is a remarkably accessible, concise, and engaging introduction to moral philosophy. Steven M. Cahn brings together a rich, balanced, and wide-ranging collection of forty classic and contemporary readings. Most importantly, he has carefully edited the articles so that they will be exceptionally clear and understandable to undergraduate students. The selections are organized into three parts, providing instructors with flexibility in designing and teaching a variety of ethics courses. The first part, Challenges to Morality, considers the overly simple assumptions that beginning students may bring to moral issues. The second part, Moral Theories, provides selections from the most influential ethical theories of the past along with commentary by contemporary thinkers. In the third part, Moral Problems, the readings present the current debates over abortion, euthanasia, famine relief, terrorism, torture, affirmative action, animal rights, and the environment. Part III concludes with essays on death and the meaning of life. Each reading is preceded by a detailed introduction and followed by study questions that encourage students to think philosophically. The second edition features eight new selections by Plato, Virginia Held, Daniel Hill, Rosalind Hursthouse, Thomas Nagel, Henry Shue, Elliott Sober, and Richard Taylor. The selections by Thomas Hobbes, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bernard Mayo have been newly edited for this edition. Ideal for courses in introductory ethics or contemporary moral problems, Exploring Ethics can be used independently or as a companion to a single-authored text. The text is accompanied by an Instructor's Manual that includes a test bank, key terms, reading summaries, and PowerPoint-based lecture slides. A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/cahn offers student resources including essay questions, flash cards, and a glossary.

Author Biography

Steven M. Cahn is Professor of Philosophy at The City University of New York Graduate Center.

Table of Contents

*=New to this edition
Preface
INTRODUCTION
1. Morality and Moral Philosophy, William K. Frankena
2. Crito, Plato
PART ONE: CHALLENGES TO MORALITY
3. How Not to Answer Moral Questions, Tom Regan
4. God and Morality, Steven M. Cahn
5. The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, James Rachels
6. Right and Wrong, Thomas Nagel
7. Egoism and Moral Scepticism, James Rachels
8. Happiness and Morality, Steven M. Cahn and Jeffrie G. Murphy
9. The Nature of Ethical Disagreement, Charles L. Stevenson
PART TWO: MORAL THEORIES
10. The Categorical Imperative, Immanuel Kant
11. A Simplified Account of Kant's Ethics, Onora O'Neill
12. Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill
13. Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism, Louis P. Pojman
14. The Nature of Virtue, Aristotle
15. Virtue Ethics, Bernard Mayo
* 16. The Ethics of Care, Virginia Held
17. The Social Contract, Thomas Hobbes
18. A Theory of Justice, John Rawls
PART THREE: MORAL PROBLEMS
19. A Defense of Abortion, Judith Jarvis Thomson
20. On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Mary Anne Warren
21. Why Abortion Is Immoral, Don Marquis
* 22. Virtue Theory and Abortion, Rosalind Hursthouse
23. Active and Passive Euthanasia, James Rachels
24. Active and Passive Euthanasia: A Reply to Rachels, Thomas D. Sullivan
25. Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Peter Singer
26. World Hunger and Moral Obligation: The Case Against Singer, John Arthur
27. Terrorism, Michael Walzer
28. Is Terrorism Distinctively Wrong?, Lionel K. McPherson
* 29. Torture, Henry Shue
* 30. Ticking Bombs, Torture, and the Analogy with Self-Defense, Daniel J. Hill
31. Two Concepts of Affirmative Action, Steven M. Cahn
32. What Good Am I?, Laurence Thomas
33. The Case for Animal Rights, Tom Regan
34. The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research, Carl Cohen
35. We Are What We Eat, Tom Regan
* 36. Philosophical Problems for Environmentalism, Elliott Sober
* 37. Death, Thomas Nagel
* 38. The Meaning of Life, Richard Taylor
CONCLUSION
39. Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr.
* 40. Phaedo, Plato
Index