The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems - Softcover

Shafer-Landau, Russ

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199773521 ISBN 13: 9780199773527

Publisher: OUP USA, 2011

Synopsis

Brief yet thorough and affordably priced, The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems, Second Edition, is ideal for courses in introductory ethics and contemporary moral problems. Featuring forty readings divided into four parts—Value Theory, Normative Ethics, Metaethics, and Moral Problems—it introduces students to ethical theory and a wide range of moral issues. The essays include selections from such historically influential philosophers as Aristotle, Hume, Kant, and Mill alongside work by contemporary philosophers like Philippa Foot, Robert Nozick, Peter Singer, and Judith Jarvis Thomson. Detailed section and reading introductions provide helpful contextual information.

The second edition adds nine new readings, by Plato, Ayn Rand, A.J. Ayer, Harry Gensler, Alan Dershowitz, Alastair Norcross, Paul Taylor, Thomas Hill, Jr., and Philippa Foot. It also features new subcategories in Part IV. Moral Problems: Euthanasia and a Modest Proposal; Terrorism and Torture; The Treatment of Non-Humans (Animals and the Environment); Abortion; The Limits of the Law; and Children and Parents. Designed as a companion reader to Russ Shafer-Landau's textbook, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Second Edition, The Ethical Life, Second Edition, is also comprehensive enough to be used on its own.

The book is enhanced by an Instructor's Manual and Testbank on CD (thoroughly updated for the second edition) and a Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/shafer-landau.

About this title

Review:

"The selection of texts is excellent. The small size of this book is one of its real strengths, which means Shafer-Landau had to make some tough choices about what to include and what not to. The choices are pretty much just right."--Brian L. Merrill, Brigham Young University-Idaho "Shafer-Landau's The Ethical Life is superior to Rachels' The Right Thing to Do. Shafer-Landau's reader, like its companion textbook, is both broader and deeper than Rachels'."--Eugene Marshall, Wellesley College "Its strengths are that it is smaller and shorter than most introductions to ethics, it has a question discussion section at the end of each reading, and there are supplementary materials online."--Amber E. George, Le Moyne College "The Shafer-Landau reader offers me much more flexibility [than Rachels' reader]. To think that I can get both [of the Shafer-Landau] books for $80, and that there might be a discount on bundling them together, is certainly a better option."--Jessica Logue, University of Portland "The companion website is also a useful additional tool [that Rachels doesn't have]. I am highly likely to continue using these texts for future ethics courses, rather than the Rachels books."--Richard Hine, University of Connecticut "The coverage is comprehensive. I appreciate the separation of value theory from normative ethics. The questions at the end of each reading are a bonus. I have adopted [The Fundamentals of Ethics] this term along with this anthology."--Patrick Martin Breen, College of Staten Island

About the Author:

Russ Shafer-Landau is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0199773521
• ISBN 13: 9780199773527
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 464