These general resources include classic texts, as well as contemporary examinations of Ethics. You will also find a selection of relevant articles, streaming video and external links to organizations.
Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals by
Now in a new, affordable edition with updated notes, a superbly readable translation of Kant's classic work This work, one of the most important texts in the history of ethics, presents Immanuel Kant's conception of moral self-government based on pure reason. It has been a source of controversy and an object of reinterpretation for over two centuries. This new edition of Kant's work provides a fresh translation that is uniquely faithful to the German original and more fully annotated than any previous translation. The editor and translator, Allen Wood, has written a new introduction.
The Nicomachean Ethics by
'Happiness, then, is the best, noblest, and most pleasant thing in the world.'In the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle's guiding question is: what is the best thing for a human being? His answer is happiness, but he means, not something we feel, but rather a specially good kind of life. Happiness is made up of activities in which we use the best human capacities, both ones that contribute to our flourishing as members of a community, and ones that allow us to engage in god-like contemplation. Contemporary ethical writings on the role and importance of the moral virtues such as courage and justice have drawn inspiration from this work, which also contains important discussions on responsibility for actions, on the nature of practical reasoning, and on friendship and its role in the best life. This new edition retains David Ross's justly admired translation while updating certain key terms. It also includes a valuable introduction to this seminal work, and notes designed to elucidate Aristotle's arguments.
On the Genealogy of Morals by
On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) is a book which raises profoundly disquieting issues about the violence of both ethics and interpretation. Nietzsche questions moral certainties by showing that religion and science have no claim to absolute truth, before turning on his own arguments in order to call their very presuppositions into question. The Genealogy is the most sustained of Nietzsche's later works and offers one of the fullest expressions of his characteristic concerns. This edition places his ideas within the cultural context of his own time and stresses the relevance of his work for a contemporary audience. You can also locate the call # to a physical copy at Stafford Library here.
The Republic by
What is justice? And what is its relation to happiness? These two questions form the central themes of this philosophic text, written by the Greek philosopher Plato around 380 BCE. It is framed as a Socratic dialogue--a conversation and argument led by Plato's teacher Socrates. In his attempt to define the concept of both societal and individual justice, Plato covers ethics, political philosophy, and even epistemology and metaphysics. This is an unabridged version of the English translation by Benjamin Jowett, published in 1908.
Utilitarianism by
A landmark of moral philosophy and an ideal introduction to ethics, this famous work balances the claims of individuals and society, declaring that all actions should produce the greatest happiness overall.
Action, Ethics, and Responsibility by
Leading philosophers explore responsibility from a variety of perspectives, including metaphysics, action theory, and philosophy of law. Most philosophical explorations of responsibility discuss the topic solely in terms of metaphysics and the "free will" problem. By contrast, these essays by leading philosophers view responsibility from a variety of perspectives--metaphysics, ethics, action theory, and the philosophy of law. After a broad, framing introduction by the volume's editors, the contributors consider such subjects as responsibility as it relates to the "free will" problem; the relation between responsibility and knowledge or ignorance; the relation between causal and moral responsibility; the difference, if any, between responsibility for actions and responsibility for omissions; the metaphysical requirements for making sense of "collective" responsibility; and the relation between moral and legal responsibility. The contributors include such distinguished authors as Alfred R. Mele, John Martin Fischer, George Sher, and Frances Kamm, as well as important rising scholars. Taken together, the essays in Action, Ethics, and Responsibility offer a breadth of perspectives that is unmatched by other treatments of the topic. Contributors Joseph Keim Campbell, David Chan, Randolph Clarke, E.J. Coffman, John Martin Fischer, Helen Frowe, Todd Jones, Frances Kamm, Antti Kauppinen, Alfred R. Mele, Michael O'Rourke, Paul Russell, Robert F. Schopp, George Sher, Harry S. Silverstein, Saul Smilansky, Donald Smith, Charles T. Wolfe
Being Good by
This accessible introduction to ethics continues the trend of Blackburn's best-selling Think. His rare combination of depth, rigor and sparking prose, and his distinguished ranking among contemporary philosophers, mark Being Good as an important statement on our current disenchantment with ethics.
Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics by
Ideas have consequences. And sometimes those ideas can be squeezed into slogans, slapped on bumper stickers and tweeted into cyberspace. These compact messages coming at us from all directions often compress in a few words entire ethical systems. It turns out that there's a lot more to the ideas behind these slogans--ideas that need to be sorted out before we make important moral decisions as individuals or as societies.In this revised and expanded edition of Steve Wilkens's widely-used text, the author has updated his introductions to basic ethical systems: cultural relativism ethical egoism utilitarianism behaviorism situation ethics Kantian ethics virtue ethics natural law ethics divine command theory He has also added two new chapters: evolutionary ethics narrative ethics With clarity and wit Wilkens unpacks the complicated ideas behind the slogans and offers Christian evaluations of each.
The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory by
Ranging from moral realism to virtue ethics, this superb volume presents a complete state-of-the-art survey of ethical theory. Written by an international assembly of leading moral philosophers, each of the twenty-one newly-commissioned papers develop the main tenets, arguments, themes, and problems of the main normative and meta-ethical philosophical outlooks.
Buddhist Ethics: a Very Short Introduction by
The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. Numerous introductory books have appeared in recent years to cater for this growing interest, but almost none devotes attention to the specifically ethical dimension of the tradition. For complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West, and publications on the subject are few and far between. Here, Damien Keown, author of Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction , illustrates how Buddhism might approach a range of fascinating moral issues ranging from abortion and suicide to cloning.
Character Strengths and Virtues by
"Character" has become a front-and-center topic in contemporary discourse, but this term does not have a fixed meaning. Character may be simply defined by what someone does not do, but a more active and thorough definition is necessary, one that addresses certain vital questions. Is character a singular characteristic of an individual, or is it composed of different aspects? Does character--however we define it--exist in degrees, or is it simply something one happens to have? How can character be developed? Can it be learned? Relatedly, can it be taught, and who might be the most effective teacher? What roles are played by family, schools, the media, religion, and the larger culture? This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on-each of which exists in degrees. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each strength is thoroughly examined in its own chapter, with special attention to its meaning, explanation, measurement, causes, correlates, consequences, and development across the life span, as well as to strategies for its deliberate cultivation. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.
Distant Suffering by
Distant Suffering, first published in 1999, examines the moral and political implications for a spectator of the distant suffering of others as presented through the media. What are the morally acceptable responses to the sight of suffering on television, for example, when the viewer cannot act directly to affect the circumstances in which the suffering takes place? Luc Boltanski argues that spectators can actively involve themselves and others by speaking about what they have seen and how they were affected by it. Developing ideas in Adam Smith's moral theory, he examines three rhetorical 'topics' available for the expression of the spectator's response to suffering: the topics of denunciation and of sentiment and the aesthetic topic. The book concludes with a discussion of a 'crisis of pity' in relation to modern forms of humanitarianism. A possible way out of this crisis is suggested which involves an emphasis and focus on present suffering.
The Elements of Moral Philosophy by
Preface About the Fourth Edition CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS MORALITY? The Problem of Definition First Example: Baby Theresa Second Example: Jodie and Mary Third Example: Tracy Latimer Reason and Impartiality The Minimum Conception of Morality CHAPTER 2: THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM How Different Societies Have Different Moral Codes Cultural Relativism The Cultural Differences Argument The Consequences of Taking Cultural Relativism Seriously Why There is Less Disagreement than it Seems How All Cultures Have Some Values in Common Judging a Cultural Practice to be Undesirable What Can be Learned from Cultural Relativism CHAPTER 3: SUBJECTIVISM IN ETHICS The Basic Idea of Ethical Subjectivism The Evolution of the Theory The First Stage: Simple Subjectivism The Second Stage: Emotivism Are There Any Moral Facts? Are There Proofs in Ethics? The Question of Homosexuality CHAPTER 4: DOES MORALITY DEPEND ON RELIGION? The Presumed Connection Between Morality and Religion The Divine Command Theory The Theory of Natural Law Religion and Particular Moral Issues CHAPTER 5: PSYCHOLOLOGICAL EGOISM Is Unselfishness Possible? The Strategy of Reinterpreting Motives Two Arguments in Favor of Psychological Egoism Clearing Away Some Confusions The Deepest Error in Psychological Egoism CHAPTER 6: ETHICAL EGOISM Is There a Duty to Help Starving People? Three Arguments in Favor of Ethical Egoism Three Arguments Against Ethical Egoism CHAPTER 7: THE UTILITARIAN APPROACH The Revolution in Ethics First Example: Euthanasia Second Example: Nonhuman Animals CHAPTER 8: THE DEBATE OVER UTILITARIANISM The Classical Version of the Theory Is Happiness the Only Thing That Matters? Are Consequences All That Matter? Should We be Equally Concerned for Everyone? The Defense of Utilitarianism CHAPTER 9: ARE THERE ANY ABSOLUTE MORAL RULES? Harry Truman and Elizabeth Anscombe The Categorical Imperative Absolute Rules and the Duty Not to Lie Conflicts Between Rules Another Look at Kant's Basic Idea CHAPTER 10: KANT AND RESPECT FOR PERSONS The Idea of Human Dignity Retribution and Utility in the Theory of Punishment Kant's Retributivism CHAPTER 11: THE IDEA OF A SOCIAL CONTRACT Hobbes's Argument The Prisoner's Dilemma Some Advantages of the Social Contract Theory of Morals The Problem of Civil Disobedience CHAPTER 12: FEMINISM AND THE ETHICS OF CARE Do Women and Men Think Differently About Ethics? Implications for Moral Judgment Implications for Ethical Theory CHAPTER 13: THE ETHICS OF VIRTUE The Ethics of Virtue and the Ethics of Right Action The Virtues Some Advantages of Virtue Ethics The Problem of Incompleteness CHAPTER 14: WHAT WOULD A SATISFACTORY MORAL THEORY BE LIKE? Morality Without Hubris Treating People as They Deserve and Other Motives Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism The Moral Community Justice and Fairness Conclusion Suggestions for Further Reading Notes on Sources Index
Encyclopedia of Ethics by
This encyclopedia presents important research on ethics. The five set volume includes discussions on religious, spiritual, economic, political, medical, environmental, and business ethics.
The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics by
The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics offers a distinctive take on philosophical and ethical concepts and on key thinkers in these areas. Philosophy and ethics are fascinating and thought-provoking subjects in their own right and also have important implications for the way we think about a whole range of other issues such as religion and civil liberties. The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics provides an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to understand the key concepts in these fields and their relevance to current issues. It adopts an innovative and contemporary approach, covering a wide range of philosophical ideas including often-neglected non-European traditions such as African philosophies and Islamic ethics. The entries are organized in an A-Z format and are cross-referenced for ease of use. The book offers a mixture of short definitions and longer, more detailed entries on "big" subjects and people such as free will and Descartes. The writing style is lively and easy-to-read and offers some captivating insights, as well as presenting the essential facts, concepts, and theories in philosophy and ethics.
Ethics: a Very Short Introduction by
Our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism, by the fear that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated by our genes to be selfish and tribalistic, or competitive and aggressive. In this 'sparklingly clear' (Guardian) introduction to ethics Simon Blackburn tackles the major moral questions surrounding birth, death, happiness, desire and freedom, showing us how we should think about the meaning of life, and how we should mistrust the soundbite-sized absolutes that often dominate moral debates.
Ethics: the Key Thinkers by
Ethics: The Key Thinkers surveys the history of Western moral philosophy, guiding students through the work and ideas of the field's most important figures, from Plato to MacIntyre. With entries written by leading contemporary scholars, the book covers the following thinkers: PlatoAristotleThe StoicsThomas AquinasDavid HumeImmanuel KantG.W.F. HegelKarl MarxJ.S. Mill Friedrich NietzscheAlasdair MacIntyre The book explores the contribution of each thinker in turn, narrating how they have changed the shape of ethical theory as a whole. The book also includes guides to the latest reading on each thinker.
Free Will by
What is the place of human free will in our lives if all our actions are the result of some other cause? Does our processing unconscious beliefs or desires make us less free? Is our free will necessarily restricted if we do not choose our own beliefs? The debate between free will and its opposing doctrine, determinism, is one of the key issues in philosophy. Free Will: An historical and philosophical introduction provides a comprehensive introduction to this highly important question and examines the contributions made by sixteen of the most outstanding thinkers from the time of early Greece to the twentieth century: *Homer *Sophocles *Platto *Aristotle *St Augustine *St Thomas Aquinas *Descaartes *Spinoza *Hume *Kant *Schopehauer *Freud *Sartre *Weil *Wittgenstein *Moore Ilham Dilman brings together all the dimensions of the problem of free will with examples from literature, ethics and psychoanalysis. Drawing out valuable insights from both sides of the free will-determinism divide, and he provides an accessible and highly readable introduction to this perennial problem.
Free Will by
Every day we seem to make and act upon all kinds of choices: some trivial, others so consequential that they change the course of one's life, or even the course of history. But are these choices really free, or are we compelled to act the way we do by factors beyond our control? Is the feeling that we could have made different decisions just an illusion? And if our choices are not free, is it legitimate to hold people morally responsible for their actions? Thomas Pink looks at the fundamental philosophical question of free will, critically examining the claim: If our actions are causally determined by events beyond our control, that means that we can never act freely, and so can never be held responsible for our actions.
Justice for Hedgehogs by
The fox knows many things, the Greeks said, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. In his most comprehensive work Ronald Dworkin argues that value in all its forms is one big thing: that what truth is, life means, morality requires, and justice demands are different aspects of the same large question. He develops original theories on a great variety of issues very rarely considered in the same book: moral skepticism, literary, artistic, and historical interpretation, free will, ancient moral theory, being good and living well, liberty, equality, and law among many other topics. What we think about any one of these must stand up, eventually, to any argument we find compelling about the rest.Skepticism in all its forms-philosophical, cynical, or post-modern-threatens that unity. The Galilean revolution once made the theological world of value safe for science. But the new republic gradually became a new empire: the modern philosophers inflated the methods of physics into a totalitarian theory of everything. They invaded and occupied all the honorifics-reality, truth, fact, ground, meaning, knowledge, and being-and dictated the terms on which other bodies of thought might aspire to them, and skepticism has been the inevitable result. We need a new revolution. We must make the world of science safe for value.
Morality by
This book invites philosophers and their students to consider two of the most fundamental questions in moral and political philosophy: Why be moral? And, what does morality require? Distinguished philosopher James P. Sterba presents his unique views on these topics. Sterba first argues from rationality to morality and then from morality to substantial equality. Prominent scholars Charles W. Mills, Candace A. Vogler, Anita Superson, Russ Shafer-Landau, Allan F. Gibbard, Gerald Gaus, and Tibor Machan provide thought-provoking critical responses. In the final part, Sterba addresses these critiques, inviting readers to explore the various arguments and reach their own conclusions on these fundamental questions of moral and political philosophy.Morality: The Why and What of It is an essential text for all students and scholars of ethics and political philosophy.
A Short History of Ethics by
A Short History of Ethics has over the past thirty years become a key philosophical contribution to studies on morality and ethics. Alasdair MacIntyre writes a new preface for this second edition which looks at the book 'thirty years on' and considers its impact. A Short History of Ethics guides the reader through the history of moral philosophy from the Greeks to contemporary times. MacIntyre emphasises the importance of a historical context to moral concepts and ideas showing the relevance of philosophical queries on moral concepts and the importance of a historical account of ethics. A Short History of Ethics is an important contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. Ideal for all philosophy students interested in ethics and morality.
Sin No More by
Read the Authors' Op-Ed on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sin No More offers a vivid examination of some of the most morally and politically disputed issues of our time: abortion, gay rights, assisted suicide, stem cell research, and legalized gambling. These are moral values issues, all of which are hotly, sometimes violently, contested in America. The authors cover these issues in depth, looking at the nature of efforts to initiate reforms, to define constituencies, to mobilize resources, to frame debates, and to shape public opinion--all in an effort to achieve social change, create, or re-write legislation. Of the issues under scrutiny only legalized gambling has managed to achieve widespread acceptance despite moral qualms from some. Sin No More seeks to show what these laws and attitudes tell us about Americans' approach to law and morality, and about our changing conceptions of sin, crime and illegality. Running through each chapter is a central tension: that American attitudes and laws toward these victimless crimes are going through a process of normalization. Despite conservative rhetoric the authors argue that the tide is turning on each of these issues, with all moving toward acceptance, or decriminalization, in society. Each issue is at a different point in terms of this acceptance, and each has traveled different roads to achieve their current status.
Sorting Out Ethics by
Sorting Out Ethics is a characteristically lucid and lively survey of rival ethical theories by one of the most influential moral philosophers of the century. It also constitutes a definitive summary of Hare's own fundamental ethical position. The book's main theme is that objectivity in moral thinking is not to be sought by making moral questions into questions of fact; this leads inevitably to relativism, tying us to particular cultures and languages. Objectivity is to be sought, rather, by emphasizing the universally prescriptive character of moral language, which all cultures can share, and so using it to resolve their moral differences. An objective moral prescription, as Kant saw, is one upon which all rational thinkers can agree.
When Doing the Right Thing Is Impossible by
Suppose that in an emergency evacuation of a hospital after a flood, not all of the patients can make it out alive. You are the doctor faced with the choice between abandoning these patients to die alone and in pain, or injecting them with a lethal dose of drugs, without consent, so that they die peacefully. Perhaps no one will be able to blame you whatever you decide, but, whichever action you choose, you will remain burdened by guilt. What happens, in cases like this, when, no matter what you do, you are destined for moral failure? What happens when there is no available means of doing the right thing? Human life is filled with such impossible moral decisions. These choices and case studies that demonstrate them form the focus of Lisa Tessman's arresting and provocative work. Many philosophers believe that there are simply no situations in which what you morally ought to do is something that you can't do, because they think that you can't be required to do something unless it's actually in your power to do it. Despite this, real life presents us daily with situations in which we feel that we have failed morally even when no right action would have been possible. Lisa Tessman boldly argues that sometimes we feel this way because we have encountered an "impossible moral requirement." Drawing on philosophy, empirical psychology, and evolutionary theory, When Doing the Right Thing Is Impossible explores how and why human beings have constructed moral requirements to be binding even when they are impossible to fulfill.
An Introduction to Ethics in Robotics and AI by
This open access book introduces the reader to the foundations of AI and ethics. It discusses issues of trust, responsibility, liability, privacy and risk. It focuses on the interaction between people and the AI systems and Robotics they use. Designed to be accessible for a broad audience, reading this book does not require prerequisite technical, legal or philosophical expertise. Throughout, the authors use examples to illustrate the issues at hand and conclude the book with a discussion on the application areas of AI and Robotics, in particular autonomous vehicles, automatic weapon systems and biased algorithms. A list of questions and further readings is also included for students willing to explore the topic further.
