The Fundamentals of Ethics 5th Edition by Russ Shafer-Landau, ISBN-13: 978-0190058319
[PDF eBook eTextbook]
- Publisher: Oxford University Press; 5th edition (July 24, 2020)
- Language: English
- 432 pages
- ISBN-10: 0190058315
- ISBN-13: 978-0190058319
In The Fundamentals of Ethics, Fifth 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’s 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.
Table of Contents:
Cover Page
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Preface
New to the Fifth Edition
Instructor’s Manual and Companion Website
A Note on the Companion Volume
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Lay of the Land
Doubts about Ethics
Ethical Starting Points
What Is Morality?
Moral Reasoning
The Role of Moral Theory
Looking Ahead
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Part One The Good Life
Chapter 1 Hedonism
Happiness and Intrinsic Value
The Attractions of Hedonism
There Are Many Models of a Good Life
Personal Authority and Well-Being
Misery Clearly Hampers a Good Life; Happiness Clearly Improves It
The Limits of Explanation
Rules of the Good Life—and Their Exceptions
Happiness Is What We Want for Our Loved Ones
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 2 Is Happiness All that Matters?
The Paradox of Hedonism
Evil Pleasures
False Happiness
The Importance of Autonomy
Life’s Trajectory
Unhappiness as a Symptom of Harm
Conclusion
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Social Media
Questions
The Ascetic Life
Questions
Competitive Eating
Questions
List of Key Terms
Part Two Normative Ethics: Doing the Right Thing
Chapter 5 Morality and Religion
First Assumption: Religious Belief Is Needed for Moral Motivation
Second Assumption: God Is the Creator of Morality
Third Assumption: Religion Is an Essential Source of Moral Guidance
Conclusion
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Psychopath? You’re Hired!
Questions
Terror-Bombing
Questions
Dr. Death
Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Kidneys
Questions
Cannibalism
Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 9 Consequentialism
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
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 10 Consequentialism
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
The Ford Pinto
Questions
Torture
Questions
Effective Altruism
Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 11 The Kantian Perspective
Consistency and Fairness
The Principle of Universalizability
Morality and Rationality
Assessing the Principle of Universalizability
Integrity
Kant on Absolute Moral Duties
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 12 The Kantian Perspective
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Plagiarism
Questions
Puffery
Questions
Hooking Up
Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 13 The Social Contract Tradition
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
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 14 The Social Contract Tradition
Why Be Moral?
The Role of Consent
Disagreement among the Contractors
The Scope of the Moral Community
Conclusion
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Doping
Questions
Climate Change
Questions
World Hunger
Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 15 Ethical Pluralism and Absolute Moral Rules
The Structure of Moral Theories
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
The Trolley Problem
Questions
The Emergency Room
Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 16 Ethical Pluralism
Ross’s Ethic of Prima Facie Duties
The Advantages of Ross’s View
Pluralism
We Are Sometimes Permitted to Break the Moral Rules
Moral Conflict
Moral Regret
Addressing the Anti-Absolutist Arguments
A Problem for Ross’s View
Knowing the Fundamental Moral Rules
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Should I Stay, or Should I Go?
Questions
One Tortured Child
Questions
Robin Hood
Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
Whistle-Blowing
Questions
Mother Teresa
Questions
Benjamin Franklin’s Virtues
Questions
List of Key Terms
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
Self-Study Questions
Cases for Critical Reflection
The Heinz Dilemma
Questions
Women in Combat
Questions
Favoring Friends
Questions
List of Key Terms
Part Three Metaethics: The Status of Morality
Chapter 19 Ethical Relativism
Doubts about Objective Morality
Two Kinds of Ethical Relativism
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
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 20 Moral Nihilism
Error Theory
Expressivism
How Is It Possible to Argue Logically about Morality?
Expressivism and Amoralists
The Nature of Moral Judgment
Conclusion
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 21 Eleven Arguments Against Moral Objectivity
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
Moral Motivation Undermines Moral Objectivity
Values Have No Place in a Scientific World
Conclusion
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Chapter 22 Is Moral Knowledge Possible?
The Skeptical Argument from Disagreement
Certainty
Who’s to Say?
Irrelevant Influences
Hume’s Argument
Conclusion
Self-Study Questions
List of Key Terms
Glossary
References
Suggestions for Further Reading
Where to Start
Hedonism
Getting What You Want
Morality and Religion
Natural Law
Psychological Egoism
Ethical Egoism
Consequentialism
Kantian Ethics
Social Contract Theory
Ethical Pluralism
Virtue Ethics
The Ethics of Feminism
The Status of Morality
Index
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.
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