Living Ethics

Minch and Weigel's "Living Ethics" demonstrates that ethics are not a set of abstract exercises, but powerful and deeply personal questions about what it means to lead a good life. Rather than separating theory and applied ethics, this unique text focuses on the practical, experiential value of ethical reflection. You will never again view ethics as a set of technical games that apply only to narrowly defined cases or political controversies that don't affect you. Instead, the book organizes study around a range of basic human activities that have ethical significance, such as learning, loving, reasoning, and relating. This comprehensive anthology offers a breadth of readings that integrates feminist and multicultural viewpoints for a broader range of perspectives and genres than any other text in this field. You'll find extensive literary, journalistic, and other texts outside of traditional academic philosophy. "Living Ethics's" focus on contemporary issues and interdisciplinary selections makes the study of ethics relevant and accessible no matter what your major. With the help of the text's effective learning tools, you can confidently approach philosophical questions for the first time and comprehend even the most challenging material. Introductions before each selection highlight crucial themes, while Reading Guides, Critical Thinking and extensive review questions, and Dialogue features focus on fundamental arguments, clarify key concepts, and compare ideas from various readings in the book. Innovative online learning tools further emphasize the relevance and value of the text's material to your everyday life.

1. Learning. What is the function of education? Plato, from THE REPUBLIC. Krishnamurti, "The Function of Education." Oakeshott, from THE VOICE OF LIBERAL LEARNING. Hooks, "Ecstasy" from TEACHING TO TRANSGRESS. Dangarembga, from NERVOUS CONDITIONS. Snyder, "Axe Handles." 2. Reasoning. What is the relationship between reasoning and ethics? Aristotle, from NICOMACHEAN ETHICS. Kant, from FOUNDATIONS OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS. Mill, from UTILITARIANISM. Nietzsche, from BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL. Lloyd, from THE MAN OF REASON. Whitt, from "Indigenous Peoples and the Cultural Politics of Knowledge." Pinches, from THEOLOGY IN ACTION. Ibsen, from AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. 3. Feeling. What is the relationship between emotions and ethics? Hume, from ENQUIRY. Ayer, from LANGUAGE, TRUTH, AND LOGIC. Piper, from "Passing for White, Passing for Black." Damasio, from LOOKING FOR SPINOZA. Cummings, "since feeling is first." Kingsolver, "Covered Bridges." 4. Flourishing. How might we best live? Aristotle, from NICOMACHEAN ETHICS. MacIntyre, from AFTER VIRTUE. Kallenberg, "Cultivating Moral Taste." Kupperman, "The Place of Character in Ethics" in CHARACTER. Nussbaum, "Victims and Agents." Gransberg, "38 Who Saw Murder and Didn't Call Police." Berry, "To Hayden Carruth." 5. Believing. How does religious belief help make sense of existence? Plato, from the EUTHYPHRO. Augustine, from THE CITY OF GOD. Nielson, from "Ethics Without Religion." Mavrodes, from "Religion and the Queerness of Morality." Nietzsche, from THE GAY SCIENCE. Dillard, from "An Expedition to the Pole." Cockburn, "Lord of the Starfields" (poem). 6. Relating. What is the ethical significance of difference? Herodotus, "Custom is King." Midgley, "Trying Out One's Sword." Taylor, from "Ethical Relativism." Pojman, "The Case Against Ethical Relativism." Furrow, "Of Cave Dwellers and Spirits: The Trouble with Moral Absolutes." Johnson, from THE GENDER KNOT. Fadiman, from "Do Doctors Eat Brains?" in THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN. Berry, "My Great-Grandfather's Slaves" (poem). 7. Cooperating. How can people best live together? The Social Contract. From Hobbes. From Locke. From Rousseau. From Kant. Equality and Justice. Mencius, "Justice and Humanity." Plato, from THE REPUBLIC. Walzer, "A Credo for this Moment." Schweikart, "Capitalism and Its Discontents." Rawls, "The Principles of Justice." Singer, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality." Pogge, "The Moral Demands of Global Justice." Tecumseh, "We Must Be United." Newton, "Reverse Discrimination as Unjustified." Fish, "Reverse Racism, or How the Pot Got to Call the Kettle Black." Robinson, "America's Debt to Blacks." Sawhill, "Still the Land of Opportunity?" Churchill, "Perversions of Justice: Examining the Doctrine of U.S. Rights to Occupancy in North America." Bales, from DISPOSABLE PEOPLE: NEW SLAVERY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. Jacobsen, "The Net of Complicity" (poem). 8. Confronting. What are ethical dimensions of conflict? Minch, "When Soldiers Aren't Heroes." Hashmi, "Interpreting the Islamic Ethics of War and Peace." Holmes, "The Alternative to War" in ON WAR AND MORALITY. Gandhi, "The Law of Love," "Non-Violence--The Law of Our Species," "The Spirit of Non-Violence." Thich Nhat Hanh, "Being Peace." Granhoff, "Peace and Security." Sterba, "Terrorism and International Justice." Leiser, "The Case for Iraq War II." Berry, "Thoughts in the Presence of Fear." Hauerwas, "September 11, 2001: A Pacifist Response." Berrigan, from "We Have Assumed the Name of Peacemakers." Owen, "Dulce Et Decorm Est" (poem). 9. Loving. What are ethical dimensions of love? Aristotle, from NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, BOOK VIII. Mo Tzu, "Universal Love." Baier, "Moral Prejudices." Stassen and David P. Gushee, KINGDOM ETHICS. Thomas, from LIVING MORALLY. Ruth, from ISSUES IN FEMINISM. Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence." Reyes and DeMeulenaere, "Companeros." Auden, "Alone." Hall, "Cider 5 a Glass." 10. Caring How and why should we care for others? What do the concepts of care and compassion teach us about life? Gilligan, from IN A DIFFERENT VOICE. Noddings, from CARING. Hallie, "From Cruelty to Goodness." Mead, from "Genealogy, Sacredness, and the Commodities Market." Hursthouse, from "Virtue Theory and Abortion." Wolf, "A Feminist Critique of Physician-Assisted Suicide." Battin, "The Case for Euthanasia." Warren, "The Moral Significance of Birth." Shelley, from FRANKENSTEIN. Irving, from THE CIDER HOUSE RULES. 11. Working. What are ethical dimensions of work? Locke, from SECOND TRETISE OF GOVERNMENT. Smith, from THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. Marx and Engels, from ECONOMIC AND PHILOSOPHIC MANUSCRIPTS OF 1844, THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO. Russell, from IN PRAISE OF IDLENESS. hooks, from FEMINIST THEORY: FROM MARGIN TO CENTER. Schumacher, "Buddhist Economics." Shipler, from THE WORKING POOR: INVISIBLE IN AMERICA. Berry, "Two Economies." 12. Consuming. What are some ethical dimensions of consumption? Aurelius, from MEDITATIONS. Twitchell, "Two Cheers for Capitalism." Durning, from HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? THE CONSUMER SOCIETY AND THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH. McGuire, from "Population, Consumption, Ecology: The Triple Problematic." Segal, from GRACEFUL SIMPLICITY: TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICS OF SIMPLE LIVING. Cavanaugh, "When Enough is Enough." Unknown, "In a tiny Mexican village..." 13. Creating. What can artworks reveal about the art of living? Pater, from THE RENAISSANCE: STUDIES IN ART AND POETRY. Nietzsche, from TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS. Dewey, from ART AS EXPERIENCE. Finkelpearl, from DIALOGUES IN PUBLIC ART. Minatoya, from THE STRANGENESS OF BEAUTY. 14. Existing. What is the meaning of existence? From BHAGAVAD-GITA. Kierkegaard, "The Present Age." Nietzsche, from TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS. Sartre, from EXISTENTIALISM IS A HUMANISM. Tillich, from THE COURAGE TO BE. Camus, from THE STRANGER. Shonagon, from THE PILLOW BOOK. Kafka, from A COUNTRY DOCTOR ("Before the Law"). 15. Dying. What is the meaning of death? Plato, from the PHAEDO. Epicurus, from LETTERS. Frankl, from MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING. Beauvoir, from A VERY EASY DEATH. Revel and Ricard, "Buddhism and Death" from THE MONK AND THE PHILOSOPHER. Bluebond-Langner, from THE PRIVATE WORLDS OF DYING CHILDREN. Marquis, "Why Abortion Is Immoral." Harjo, "The Woman Hanging From the Thirteenth Floor Window." 16. Extending Ethics. Does ethics extend beyond humankind? Leopold, from "The Land Ethic" Taylor, from "The Ethics of Respect for Nature." Rolston, from "Naturalizing Values: Organisms and Species." Naess, "The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecological Movement." Singer, "All Animals are Equal." Steinbock, "Speciesism and the Idea of Equality." McKibben, "A Special Moment in History: The Challenge of Overpopulation and Overconsumption." Shiva, "The Impoverishment of the Environment: Women and Children Last." Hawken, "A Declaration of Sustainability." Baxter, from PEOPLE OR PENGUINS? THE CASE FOR OPTIMAL POLLUTION. Hiebert, "The Human Vocation: Origins and Transformations in Christian Traditions." "The Rio Declaration." Oliver, "Wild Geese" (poem).