Book Information

Ethical Theory

An Anthology

Edited by: Russ Shafer-Landau (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)

Series: Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies

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Description

Ethical Theory: An Anthology is an authoritative collection of key essays by top scholars in the field, addressing core issues including consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics, as well as traditionally underrepresented topics such as moral knowledge and moral responsibility.

• Brings together seventy-six classic and contemporary pieces by renowned philosophers, from classic writing by Hume and Kant to contemporary writing by Derek Parfit, Susan Wolf, and Judith Jarvis Thomson
• Guides students through key areas in the field, among them consequentialism, deontology, contractarianism, and virtue ethics
• Includes coverage of metaethics, normative ethics, and practical ethics
• Reaches beyond traditional texts by also including important, but usually
  underrepresented, topics such as moral knowledge, moral standing, moral
  responsibility, and ethical particularism
• Raises questions about the status and rational authority of morality

TopTable of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: The Status of Morality
Introduction
1. "Of the Influencing Motives of the Will" & "Moral Distinctions Not Derived from Reason": David Hume
2. A Critique of Ethics: A. J. Ayer
3. The Subjectivity of Values: J. L. Mackie
4. Ethics and Observation: Gilbert Harman
5. Moral Relativism Defended: Gilbert Harman
6. The Subject Matter of Ethics: G. E. Moore
7. Trying Out One's New Sword: Mary Midgley
8. Ethics as Philosophy: A Defense of Ethical Nonnaturalism: Russ Shafer-Landau
9. Realism: Michael Smith
Part II: Moral Knowledge
Introduction
10. Thinking about Cases: Shelley Kagan
11. But I Could Be Wrong: George Sher
12. Proof: Renford Brambrough
13. Moral Knowledge and Ethical Pluralism: Robert Audi
14. Coherentism and the Justification of Moral Beliefs: Geoffrey Sayre-McCord
Part III: Why Be Moral?
Introduction
15. The Immoralist's Challenge: Plato
16. Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives: Philippa Foot
17. The Reconciliation Project: Gregory S. Kavka
18. Moral Rationalism: Russ Shafer-Landau
19. Psychological Egoism: Joel Feinberg
20. Flourishing Egoism: Lester Hunt
21. Ethical Egoism: James Rachels
22. Moral Saints: Susan Wolf
Part IV: Ethics and Religion
Introduction
23. Euthyphro: Plato
24. A New Divine Command Theory: Robert Merrihew Adams
25. God and Objective Morality: A Debate: William Lane Craig and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
26. God and Immortality as Postulates of Pure Practical Reason: Immanuel Kant
27. God and the Moral Order: C. Stephen Layman
28. God and Morality: Erik Wielenberg
Part V: Value
Introduction
29. Hedonism: John Stuart Mill
30. The Experience Machine: Robert Nozick
31. The Good Life: A Defense of Attitudinal Hedonism: Fred Feldman
32. The Informed Desire Account: James Griffin
33. Desire and the Human Good: Richard Kraut
34. What Things are Good?: W. D. Ross
35. What Makes Someone's Life Go Best: Derek Parfit
Part VI: Moral Responsibility
Introduction
36. Determinism and the Theory of Agency: Richard Taylor
37. The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility: Galen Strawson
38. Freedom and Necessity: A. J. Ayer
39. Moral Luck: Thomas Nagel
40. Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility: Susan Wolf
41. Freedom and Resentment: Peter Strawson
Part VII: Moral Standing
Introduction
42. We Have No Duties to Animals: Immanuel Kant
43. All Animals are Equal: Peter Singer
44. The Rights of Animals and Unborn Generations: Joel Feinberg
45. On Being Morally Considerable: Kenneth Goodpaster
46. Abortion and Infanticide: Michael Tooley
47. Why Abortion is Immoral: Don Marquis
Part VIII: Consequentialism
Introduction
48. Utilitarianism: John Stuart Mill
49. The Consequentialist Perspective: William Shaw
50. Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism: J. J. C. Smart
51. Rule Consequentialism: Brad Hooker
52. What is Wrong with Slavery: R. M. Hare
53. Famine, Affluence and Morality: Peter Singer
54. The Survival Lottery: John Harris
Part IX: Deontology
Introduction
55. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: Immanuel Kant
56. Kant's Principle of Universal Law: Christine Korsgaard
57. Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems: Onora O'Neill
58. The Rationality of Side Constraints: Robert Nozick
59. The Golden Rule Rationalized: Alan Gewirth
60. The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect: Philippa Foot
61. Killing, Letting Die, and The Trolley Problem: Judith Jarvis Thomson
Part X: Contractarianism
Introduction
62. Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes
63. Why Contractarianism?: David Gauthier
64. A Theory of Justice: John Rawls
65. Contractualism and Utilitarianism: T. M. Scanlon
Part XI: Virtue Ethics
Introduction
66. The Nature of Virtue: Aristotle
67. Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach: Martha Nussbaum
68. Normative Virtue Ethics: Rosalind Hursthouse
69. Agent-Based Virtue Ethics: Michael Slote
70. A Virtue Ethical Account of Right Action: Christine Swanton
71. Being Virtuous and Doing the Right Thing: Julia Annas
Part XII: Prima Facie Duties and Particularism
Introduction
72. What Makes Right Actions Right?: W. D. Ross
73. An Unconnected Heap of Duties?: David McNaughton
74. An Unprincipled Ethic: Jonathan Dancy
75. On Knowing the Why: Particularism and Moral Theory: Margaret Little
76. Unprincipled Ethics: Gerald Dworkin

TopAbout the Author

Russ Shafer-Landau is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. He is author of Whatever Happened to Good and Evil? (2003) and Moral Realism: A Defence (2005). He is editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics, and co-editor of Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology (with Terence Cuneo, Blackwell 2006).