The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory is a major new reference work in ethical theory consisting of commissioned essays by leading moral philosophers. Ethical theories have always been of central importance to philosophy, and remain so; ethical theory is one of the most active areas of philosophical research and teaching today. Courses in ethics are taught in colleges and universities at all levels, and ethical theory is the organizing principle for all of them.

The Handbook is divided into two parts, mirroring the field. The first part treats meta-ethical theory, which deals with theoretical questions about morality and moral judgment, including questions about moral language, the epistemology of moral belief, the truth aptness of moral claims, and so forth. The second part addresses normative theory, which deals with general moral issues, including the plausibility of various ethical theories and abstract principles of behavior. Examples of such theories are consequentialism and virtue theory. As with other Oxford Handbooks, the twenty-five contributors cover the field in a comprehensive and highly accessible way, while achieving three goals: exposition of central ideas, criticism of other approaches, and putting forth a distinct viewpoint.

David Copp is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Florida. He is the author of Morality, Normativity, and Society and of many articles in moral and political philosophy.

Introduction: Meta-Ethics and Normative Ethics, David Copp

PART I: Meta-Ethics

1. Moral Realism, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2. Theological Voluntarism, Philip Quinn, University of Notre Dame

3. Ethical Naturalism, Nick Sturgeon, Cornell University

4. Non-Naturalism, Jonathan Dancy, University of Reading and University of Texas at Austin

5. Anti-Realist Expressivism and Quasi-Realism, Simon Blackburn, University of Cambridge

6. Biology and Ethics, Philip Kitcher, Columbia University

7. Sensibility Theory and Projectivism, Justin D'Arms, The Ohio State University, and Dan Jacobson, Bowling Green State University

8. Moral Sentimentalism and Moral Psychology, Michael Slote, University of Miami

9. Moral Relativism and Moral Nihilism, Jamie Dreier, Brown University

10. Human Theory of Practical Rationality, Peter Railton, University of Michigan

11. Morality and Practical Reason: A Kantian Approach, Stephen Darwall, University of Michigan

12. Free Will and Moral Responsibility, John Martin Fischer, University of California, Riverside

PART II: Normative Ethical Theory

13. Value Theory, Thomas Hurka, University of Toronto

14. Some Forms and Limits of Consequentialism, David Brink, University of California, San Diego and University of San Diego Law School

15. Deontology, David McNaughton, Florida State University, and Piers Rawling, Florida State University

16. Moral Rights, Hillel Steiner, University of Manchester and British Academy

17. Kantian Normative Ethics, Thomas E. Hill, Jr., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

18. Virtue Ethics, Julia Annas, University of Arizona

19. The Ethics of Care, Virginia Held, City University of New York, Graduate School

20. Particularism and Anti-Theory, Mark Lance, Georgetown University, and Margaret Little, Georgetown University

21. Intuitions in Moral Inquiry, Michael DePaul, University of Notre Dame

22. Theory, Practice, and Moral Reasoning, Gerald Dworkin, University of California, Davis