A Reader in Moral Philosophy

Preface and Acknowledgments

PART I: ETHICAL THEORY

• 1. Thinking Philosophically about Morality
  • Introduction
  • 1) Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, “Moral Epistemology and Skepticism”
  • 2) Robert B. Louden, “Why We Need Moral Theories”
  • 3) John Rawls, “Reflective Equilibrium and Moral Theory”
  • 4) Yong Huang, “‘Why Be Moral?’: The Cheng Brothers’ Neo-Confucian Answer”
  • 5) Daniel Phillip Verene, “The Problem of the Ring”
  • 6) G.E.M. Anscombe, “Who Is Wronged? (A Reply to Philippa Foot)”
• 2. God and Morality
  • Introduction
  • 1) C. Stephen Evans, “What Is a Divine Command Theory of Obligation?”
  • 2) Plato, “Is It Good Because God Loves It, or Does God Love It Because It Is Good?”
  • 3) Linda Trinkhaus Zagzebski, “Divine Commands and Divine Motives”
  • 4) Immanuel Kant, “The Existence of God as a Postulate of Pure Practical Reason”
• 3. Cultural Relativism and Moral Pluralism
  • Introduction
  • 1) Maria Baghramian, “Moral Relativism”
  • 2) David Wong, “Pluralistic Relativism”
  • 3) Susan Moller Okin, “Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?”
• 4. Human Nature and Morality
  • Introduction
  • 1) Mencius (Mengzi), “The Seeds of Goodness in Human Nature”
  • 2) Philippa Foot, Natural Goodness
  • 3) Martha C. Nussbaum, “The Moral Import of Human Capabilities”
• 5. Egoism and Pleasure
  • Introduction
  • 1) Ayn Rand, “The Celebration of ‘I’”
  • 2) Joseph Butler, “Two Sermons on Human Nature”
  • 3) Robert Nozick, “The Experience Machine”
  • 4) Lynn A. Stout, “Egoism and Altruism”
• 6. Utilitarianism and the Greater Good
  • Introduction
  • 1) Jeremy Bentham, “Principles of Morals and Legislation”
  • 2) John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism
  • 3) Bernard Williams, “Against Utilitarianism”
  • 4) Oliver Letwin, “On Mill’s ‘Higher’ and ‘Lower’ Activities”
• 7. Kantianism
  • Introduction
  • 1) Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
  • 2) Barbara Herman, “On the Value of Acting from the Motive of Duty”
  • 3) Christine M. Korsgaard, “Kant’s Formula of Universal Law”
  • 4) Michael Stocker, “The Schizophrenia of Modern Ethical Theories”
• 8. Morality as Contract
  • Introduction
  • 1) Thomas Hobbes, “The Social Contract”
  • 2) John Locke, “Consent and the Social Contract”
  • 3) John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
  • 4) David Gauthier, Morals by Agreement
  • 5) Heidi M. Hurd, “The Moral Magic of Consent”
• 9. Virtue Ethics and Good Character
  • Introduction
  • 1) Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
  • 2) Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue
  • 3) Rosalind Hursthouse, “Normative Virtue Ethics”
  • 4) Mark Alfano, Character as Moral Fiction
  • 5) David Foster Wallace, “The Devil Is a Busy Man”
• 10. Moral Sentiment Theory
  • Introduction
  • 1) David Hume, “Passions, Sentiments, and Morality”
  • 2) Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
  • 3) Martha C. Nussbaum, “Disgust and Moral Judgments”
  • 4) Michael Slote, “Moral Sentimentalism”
• 11. Care Ethics and Feminist Ethics
  • Introduction
  • 1) Nel Noddings, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics
  • 2) Virginia Held, “The Meshing of Care and Justice”
  • 3) Marilyn Friedman and Angela Bolte, “Ethics and Feminism”
  • 4) Claudia Card, “Women’s Voices and Ethical Ideals”
• 12. Particularism and Intuitionism
  • Introduction
  • 1) Kwame Anthony Appiah, “The Quandary Quandary”
  • 2) Andreas Lind and Johan Brännmark, “Particularism: An Interview with Jonathan Dancy”
  • 3) Harriet McBryde Johnson, “Unspeakable Conversations”
  • 4) Margaret Urban Walker, “Moral Particularity”
  • 5) Jonathan Haidt, “The Intuitive Dog and Its Rational Tail”
• 13. Metaethics
  • Introduction
  • 1) A.J. Ayer, “Positivism and the Non-Cognitivist View”
  • 2) G.E. Moore, “The Irreducibility of Good”
  • 3) David O. Brink, “Externalist Moral Realism”
  • 4) Francis Snare, “The Empirical Bases of Moral Scepticism”
  • 5) Mary Midgley, Can’t We Make Moral Judgements?
• 14. The Limits of Morality and Moral Theory
  • Introduction
  • 1) Shelly Kagan, “Ordinary and Extraordinary Morality”
  • 2) Susan Wolf, “Moral Saints”
  • 3) Todd May, A Decent Life
  • 4) Daniel R. DeNicola, “Supererogation: Artistry in Conduct”
  • 5) Raimond Gaita, “Goodness beyond Virtue”

PART II: ETHICS IN PRACTICE

• 15. Abortion
  • Introduction
  • 1) Don Marquis, “An Argument that Abortion Is Wrong”
  • 2) Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
  • 3) Rosalind Hursthouse, “A Virtue Theory of Abortion”
• 16. Animals, Humans, and Moral Standing
  • Introduction
  • 1) Mary Midgley, “Getting Animals in Focus”
  • 2) Peter Singer, “All Animals Are Equal”
  • 3) Carl Cohen, “The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research”
  • 4) Andrew Brennan, “Speciesism and Humanism”
• 17. Ethics and the Environment
  • Introduction
  • 1) Paul W. Taylor, “The Ethics of Respect for Nature”
  • 2) Onora O’Neill, “Environmental Values, Anthropocentrism and Speciesism”
  • 3) John Broome, “The Ethics of Climate Change”
• 18. Lying
  • Introduction
  • 1) Immanuel Kant, “On a Supposed Right to Lie from Altruistic Motives”
  • 2) Christine M. Korsgaard, “The Right to Lie: Kant on Dealing with Evil”
  • 3) David Nyberg, “Deception and Moral Decency”
  • 4) Alison MacKenzie and Ibrar Bhatt, “Opposing the Power of Lies, Bullshit and Fake News: The Value of Truth”
• 19. Freedom of Expression and Offense
  • Introduction
  • 1) John Stuart Mill, “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion”
  • 2) Jeremy Waldron, “The Harm in Hate Speech”
  • 3) Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, “The Coddling of the American Mind”
  • 4) Cheshire Calhoun, “The Virtue of Civility”
• 20. Immigration
  • Introduction
  • 1) Christopher Heath Wellman, “Immigration and Freedom of Association”
  • 2) Antoine Pécoud and Paul de Guchteneire, “Is Immigration a Right?”
  • 3) Seyla Benhabib, “The Morality of Migration”
  • 4) Mathias Risse, “On the Morality of Immigration”
  • 5) Javier Hidalgo, “Resistance to Unjust Immigration Restrictions”

Permissions Acknowledgments