Russ Shafer-Landau

The Fundamentals of Ethics

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

In The Fundamentals of Ethics, Sixth Edition, author Russ Shafer-Landau employs a uniquely engaging writing style to introduce students to the essential ideas of moral philosophy. Offering more comprehensive coverage of the good life, normative ethics, and metaethics than any other text of its kind, this book also addresses issues that are often omitted from other texts, such as the doctrine of doing and allowing, the doctrine of double effect, ethical particularism, the desire-satisfaction theory of well-being, moral error theory, and Ross' theory of prima facie duties. Shafer-Landau carefully reconstructs and analyzes dozens of arguments in depth, at a level that is understandable to students with no prior philosophical background.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press Inc
• Seitenzahl: 512
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. Oktober 2024
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 142mm x 208mm x 16mm
• Gewicht: 481g
• ISBN-13: 9780197697474
• ISBN-10: 019769747X
• Artikelnr.: 70204031

Autorenporträt

Russ Shafer-Landau is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of several books including Living Ethics (OUP, 2018) and The Ethical Life, Fourth Edition (OUP, 2017). He is also the editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics.

Inhaltsangabe

* Preface
* New to the Sixth Edition
* Instructor's Manual and Companion Website
* A Note on the Companion Volume
* Acknowledgments
* INTRODUCTION
* PART one
* The Good Life
* Chapter 1: Hedonism: Its Powerful Appeal
* CHAPTER 2: Is Happiness All That Matters?
* CHAPTER 3
* Getting What You Want
* A Variety of Good Lives
* Personal Authority
* Avoiding Objective Values
* Motivation
* Justifying the Pursuit of Self-Interest
* Knowledge of the Good
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 4
* Problems for the Desire Theory
* Getting What You Want May Not Be Necessary for Promoting Your Good
* Getting What You Want May Not Be Sufficient for Promoting Your Good
* Desires Based on False Beliefs
* Disinterested and Other-Regarding Desires
* Disappointment
* Ignorance of Desire Satisfaction
* Impoverished Desires
* The Paradox of Self-Harm and Self-Sacrifice
* The Fallibility of Our Deepest Desires
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* PART two
* Normative Ethics: Doing the Right Thing
* CHAPTER 5
* Morality and Religion
* First Assumption: Religious Belief Is Needed for Moral Motivation
* Second Assumption: Moral Conduct Is Rational only if God Exists
* Third Assumption: God Is the Creator of Morality
* Fourth Assumption: Religion Is an Essential Source of Moral Guidance
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 6
* Natural Law
* The Theory and Its Attractions
* Three Conceptions of Human Nature
* Human Nature as Animal Nature
* Human Nature Is What Is Innate
* Human Nature Is What All Humans Have in Common
* Natural Purposes
* The Argument from Humanity
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 7
* Psychological Egoism
* Egoism and Altruism
* Does It Matter Whether Psychological Egoism Is True?
* The Argument from Our Strongest Desires
* The Argument from Expected Benefit
* Two Egoistic Strategies
* Appealing to the Guilty Conscience
* Expanding the Realm of Self-Interest
* Letting the Evidence Decide
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 8
* Ethical Egoism
* Why Be Moral?
* Two Popular Arguments for Ethical Egoism
* The Self-Reliance Argument
* The Libertarian Argument
* The Best Argument for Ethical Egoism
* Three Problems for Ethical Egoism
* Egoism Violates Core Moral Beliefs
* Egoism Cannot Allow for the Existence of Moral Rights
* Egoism Arbitrarily Makes My Interests All-Important
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 9
* Consequentialism: Its Nature and Attractions
* The Nature of Consequentialism
* Its Structure
* Maximizing Goodness
* Moral Knowledge
* Actual Versus Expected Results
* Assessing Actions and Intentions
* The Attractions of Utilitarianism
* Impartiality
* The Ability to Justify Conventional Moral Wisdom
* Conflict Resolution
* Moral Flexibility
* The Scope of the Moral Community
* Slippery Slope Arguments
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 10
* Consequentialism: Its Difficulties
* Measuring Well-Being
* Utilitarianism Is Very Demanding
* Deliberation
* Motivation
* Action
* Impartiality
* No Intrinsic Wrongness (or Rightness)
* The Problem of Injustice
* Potential Solutions to the Problem of Injustice
* Justice Is Also Intrinsically Valuable
* Injustice Is Never Optimific
* Justice Must Sometimes Be Sacrificed
* Rule Consequentialism
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 11
* The Kantian Perspective: Fairness and Justice
* Consistency and Fairness
* The Principle of Universalizability
* Morality and Rationality
* Assessing the Principle of Universalizability
* Integrity
* Kant on Absolute Moral Duties
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 12
* The Kantian Perspective: Autonomy, Free Will, and Respect
* The Principle of Humanity
* The Importance of Rationality and Autonomy
* The Problem of Free Will
* Four Problems with the Principle of Humanity
* Vagueness
* Determining Just Deserts
* Moral Luck
* The Scope of the Moral Community
* The Good Will and Moral Worth
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 13
* The Social Contract Tradition: The Theory and Its Attractions
* The Lure of Proceduralism
* The Background of the Social Contract Theory
* The Prisoner's Dilemma
* Cooperation and the State of Nature
* The Advantages of Contractarianism
* Morality Is Essentially a Social Phenomenon
* Contractarianism Explains and Justifies the Content of the Basic
Moral Rules
* Contractarianism Offers a Method for Justifying Every Moral Rule
* Contractarianism Explains the Objectivity of Morality
* Contractarianism Explains Why It Is Sometimes Acceptable to Break the
Moral Rules
* More Advantages: Morality and the Law
* Contractarianism Justifies a Basic Moral Duty to Obey the Law
* The Contractarian Justification of Legal Punishment
* Contractarianism Justifies the State's Role in Criminal Law
* Contractarianism and Civil Disobedience
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 14
* The Social Contract Tradition: Problems and Prospects
* Why Be Moral?
* The Role of Consent
* Disagreement among the Contractors
* The Scope of the Moral Community
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 15
* Moral Absolutism
* Is Torture Always Immoral?
* Preventing Catastrophes
* The Doctrine of Double Effect
* A Reply to the Argument from Disaster Prevention
* How the DDE Threatens Act Consequentialism
* Distinguishing Intention from Foresight
* Moral Conflict and Contradiction
* Is Moral Absolutism Irrational?
* The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 16
* Prima Facie Duties and Ethical Particularism
* Ross's Ethic of Prima Facie Duties
* The Advantages of Ross's View
* There are Many Fundamental Moral ConsiderationsWe Are Sometimes
Permitted to Break the Moral Rules
* Moral Conflict
* Moral Regret
* Addressing the Anti-absolutist Arguments
* A Problem for Ross's View
* The Appeal to Self-Evidence
* Self-Evidence and the Testing of Moral Theories
* Knowing the Right Thing to Do
* Ethical Particularism
* Three Problems for Ethical Particularism
* Its Lack of Unity
* Accounting for Moral Knowledge
* Some Things Possess Permanent Moral Importance
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 17
* Virtue Ethics
* The Standard of Right Action
* Moral Complexity
* Moral Understanding
* Moral Education
* The Nature of Virtue
* Virtue and the Good Life
* Objections
* Tragic Dilemmas
* Does Virtue Ethics Offer Adequate Moral Guidance?
* Is Virtue Ethics Too Demanding?
* Who Are the Moral Role Models?
* Conflict and Contradiction
* The Priority Problem
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* CHAPTER 18
* Feminist Ethics
* The Elements of Feminist Ethics
* Moral Development
* Women's Experience
* The Ethics of Care
* The Importance of Emotions
* Against Unification
* Against Impartiality and Abstraction
* Against Competition
* Downplaying Rights
* Challenges for Feminist Ethics
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* Cases for Critical Reflection
* PART three
* Metaethics: The Status of Morality
* CHAPTER 19
* Ethical Relativism
* Doubts about Objective Morality
* Two Kinds of Ethical Relativism-And Their Attractions
* Some Implications of Ethical Subjectivism and Cultural Relativism
* Moral Infallibility
* Moral Equivalence
* Questioning Our Own Commitments
* Moral Progress
* Ethical Subjectivism and the Problem of Contradiction
* Cultural Relativism and the Problem of Contradiction
* Ideal Observers
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 20
* Moral Nihilism
* Error Theory
* The Theory and Its Attractions
* Two Mistaken Objections
* Expressivism
* The Theory and Its Attractions
* How Is It Possible to Argue Logically about Morality?
* Expressivism and Amoralists
* The Nature of Moral Judgment
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 21
* Ethical ObjectivismThe Theory and Its Attractions
* Ten Arguments against Ethical Objectivism
* Objectivity Requires Absolutism
* All Truth Is Subjective
* Equal Rights Imply Equal Plausibility
* Moral Objectivity Supports Dogmatism
* Moral Objectivity Supports Intolerance
* Moral Objectivity Cannot Allow for Legitimate Cultural Variation
* Moral Disagreement Undermines Moral Objectivity
* Atheism Undermines Moral Objectivity
* The Absence of Categorical Reasons Undermines Moral Objectivity
* Values Have No Place in a Scientific World
* Conclusion
* Discussion Questions
* CHAPTER 22
* Is Moral Knowledge Possible? Five Skeptical Arguments
* The Skeptical Argument from Disagreement
* Certainty
* Who's to Say?
* Irrelevant Influences
* Hume's Argument
* Conclusion
* References?R-1
* Suggestions for Further Reading?FR-1
* Glossary?G-1
* Index?I-1