The Fundamentals of Ethics 5th Edition by Russ Shafer-Landau, ISBN-13: 978-0190058319

Description

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.

What makes us different?

• Instant Download

• Always Competitive Pricing

• 100% Privacy

• FREE Sample Available

• 24-7 LIVE Customer Support