Synopses & Reviews
This clear, well-organized overview of theoretical ethics employs a contemporary tone and framework. Multicultural coverage and attention to college students' moral development help readers relate the material to their own experience and their own moral growth. Both scholarly and practical, this text aims to significantly improve students' ability to make real-life moral decisions.
Table of Contents
Section I The Study of EthicsChapter 1 Ethics: An OverviewWhat is Ethics?Normative and Theoretical EthicsPhilosophy and the Search for WisdomREADING: Plato, "Allegory of the Cave"Metaphysics and the Study of Human NatureMoral Knowledge: Can Moral Beliefs Be True?READING: A.J. Ayer, "Emotivism"Chapter 2 Moral ReasoningThe Three Levels of ThinkingMoral Analysis and PraxisOvercoming ResistanceREADING: P. Don Premasiri, "The Relevance of the Noble Eightfold Path to Contemporary Society"The Role of Is and Ought Statements in EthicsRecognizing and Constructing Moral ArgumentsAvoiding Informal FallaciesResolving Moral DilemmasREADING: Mary Midgley, Can't We Make Moral Judgments?A Final WordSection II Ethical RelativismChapter 3 Ethical Subjectivism: Morality Is Just a Matter of Personal FeelingWhat is Ethical Subjectivism?What Ethical Subjectivism Is NotREADING: Stephen A. Satris, "Student Relativism"The Roots of Ethical Subjectivism in Romantic SentimentalismREADING: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, ÉmileMary Wollstonecraft: Critic of Romantic Sentimentalism and Ethical SubjectivismThe Kitty Genovese SyndromeCritique of Ethical SubjectivismChapter 4 Cultural Relativism: Is Morality Dependent on Culture?What Is Cultural Relativism? What Cultural Relativism is Not.Distinguishing Between Cultural and Sociological RelativismSocial Darwinian Ethics: The Concept of Moral ProgressRuth Benedict: Cultural Relativism as a Protest Against Social DarwinismREADING: Ruth Benedict, "Anthropology and the Abnormal"Cultural Relativism and the Moral CommunityAre Some Cultures More Moral than Others?READING: Ibn Khaldun, The MuqaddimahThe Holocaust and Disillusionment with Cultural RelativismCritique of Cultural RelativismSection III Beyond Ethical RelativismChapter 5 Is Morality Grounded in Religion?Religion and MoralityThe Divine Command TheoryREADING: Philip L. Quinn, "Divine Commands and Moral Requirements" Thomas Aquinas: Natural Law TheoryREADING: Thomas Aquinas, The Summa TheologicaJust War TheoryReligion, Natural Law Theory, and Civil DisobedienceCivil Religion, Society, and National MoralityReligion and the Moral CommunityDoes Morality Need Religion?Chapter 6 Conscience and Moral DevelopmentEthics and Human DevelopmentConscience: Culturally Relative or Universal?The Affective and Cognitive Sides of the ConscienceLawrence Kohlberg: The Stage Theory of Moral DevelopmentREADING: Lawrence Kohlberg, The Philosophy of Moral DevelopmentCarol Gilligan: The Care PerspectiveREADING: Carol Gilligan, In a Different VoiceThe Four Components of Moral BehaviorMoral Maturity: Moving Beyond Ethical RelativismSection IV Morality as UniversalChapter 7 Ethical Egoism: Morality Is Acting in Our Best Self-InterestWhat is Ethical Egoism?Thomas Hobbes: Psychological EgoismREADING: Thomas Hobbes, LeviathanAyn Rand: Objectivist Ethics and Rational Ethical EgoismREADING: Ayn Rand, The FountainheadEthical Egoism and Laissez-Faire CapitalismEthical Egoism and the Moral CommunitySelf-Interest and HappinessCritique of Ethical EgoismChapter 8 Utilitarianism: The Greatest Happiness PrincipleUtilitarianism and the Principle of UtilityJeremy Bentham: Utilitarianism and Social ReformREADING: Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and LegislationJohn Stuart Mill: Reformulation of UtilitarianismREADING: John Stuart Mill, UtilitarianismMo Tzu: Utilitarianism as Universal LoveUtilitarianism and the Moral CommunityThe Principle of Utility and Public PolicyCritique of UtilitarianismChapter 9 Deontology: The Ethics of DutyDeontology and DutyConfucius: Duty and the CommunityREADING: Arthur Waley, trans., The Analects of ConfuciusImmanuel Kant: The Categorical ImperativeREADING: Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of EthicsThe Good Will and Proper Self-EsteemIs the Duty Not to Lie Absolute?Prima Facie DeontologyJohn Rawls and the Duty of JusticeCritique of DeontologyChapter 10 Rights EthicsThe Emergence of Rights Ethics in Modern SocietyREADING: United Nations, "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights"John Locke: Natural Rights EthicsREADING: John Locke, Two Treatises of Civil GovernmentThe Marxist Critique of Natural Rights EthicsRights and DutiesBuddhism and Rights EthicsLiberty (Negative) Rights and Welfare (Positive) RightsRights and the Moral CommunityCritique of Rights EthicsChapter 11 Virtue Ethics and the Good LifeVirtue Ethics and CharacterAristotle: Reason and VirtueREADING: Aristotle, Nicomachean EthicsAristotle and Confucius: The Doctrine of ManDavid Hume: Sentiment and VirtueNel Noddings: Feminist Care EthicsREADING: Nel Noddings, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral EducationIs Virtue Relative to Culture, Social Status, and Gender?Moral Integrity and the Unity of VirtueVirtue and Moral EducationCritique of Virtue EthicsAfterwardGlossaryNotesPhoto and Illustration CreditsIndex