Ethics: Contemporary Readings

Harry J. Gensler, S.J.is Professor of Philosophy at John Carroll University, Cleveland. He is author of Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge 1998), Formal Ethics (Routledge 1996), and Introduction to Logic (Routledge 2002).Earl W. Spurgin is Associate Professor of Philosophy at John Carroll University and author of several articles in ethics and business ethics.James C. Swindal is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at John Carroll University and author of Reflection Revisited: Jürgen Habermas’s Discursive Theory of Truth (1999).

• Chapter 1 Moral Philosophy, Harry J. Gensler; Chapter 2 The History of Ethics, James C. Swindal, Earl W. Spurgin; Part 1 Initial Approaches to Morality; Chapter 3 Defending Cultural Relativism, Ruth Benedict; Chapter 4 Against Cultural Relativism, Harry J. Gensler, Mary Grace Tokmenko; Chapter 5 Ethical Claims Describe Feelings, David Hume; Chapter 6 Ethical Claims Are Objective, Thomas Nagel; Chapter 7 The Moral Law Is from God, C. S. Lewis; Chapter 8 The Bible; Part 2 Further Approaches to Morality; Chapter 9 Irreducible Ethical Truths, G. E. Moore; Chapter 10 Objective Prima Facie Duties, W. D. Ross; Chapter 11 Ethical Claims Express Feelings, A. J. Ayer; Chapter 12 Values Are Subjective, J. L. Mackie; Chapter 13 Universal Prescriptions, R. M. Hare; Chapter 14 An Existentialist Ethics, Jean-Paul Sartre; Part 3 Ethical Methodology; Chapter 15 Moral Justification, William K. Frankena; Chapter 16 Discourse Ethics, Jürgen Habermas; Chapter 17 Ethics Is Based on Reason, Immanuel Kant; Chapter 18 The Golden Rule and Society, Joyce Hertzler; Chapter 19 The Golden Rule and Religion, Paul Ricoeur; Chapter 20 Master and Slave Morality, Friedrich Nietzsche; Chapter 21 Racial Segregation, Martin Luther King; Chapter 22 Moral Education, Lawrence Kohlberg; Part 4 Normative Theory; Chapter 23 Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill; Chapter 24 Defending Utilitarianism, J. J. C. Smart; Chapter 25 Against Utilitarianism, Bernard Williams; Chapter 26 Rule Utilitarianism, Richard B. Brandt; Chapter 27 Objective Prima Facie Duties, W. D. Ross; Chapter 28 Goods and Absolutes, John Finnis; Chapter 29 A Theory of Justice, John Rawls; Chapter 30 Justice and Goods, Robert Nozick; Chapter 31 Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle; Chapter 32 Virtue Ethics, Alasdair Macintyre; Chapter 33 Rudiments of Virtue Ethics, Michael Slote; Part 5 Applied Ethics; Chapter 34 A Defense of Abortion, Judith Jarvis Thomson; Chapter 35 Pro-life Feminism, Sidney Callahan; Chapter 36 Animal Liberation, Peter Singer; Chapter 37 A Kantian Approach to Famine Relief, Onora O’Neill; Chapter 38 The Land Ethic, J. Baird Callicott;

"I am very impressed with this collection. It seems to me to have great pedagogical value on its own, and it would work splendidly with Gensler's [text] book. The selections are well chosen - both accessible and interesting. The inclusion of Continental writers is particularly to be applauded. - Robert Arrington, Georgia State University, USA