Ethical Theory: An Anthology

812 Pages·2012·6.32 MB·English

by  Russ Shafer-Landau

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“This is a rich, wide-ranging, and nicely accessible collection of many of moral philosophy’s greatest hits, a h d
updated to include an excellent new section in feminist ethics. A must-have for anyone interested in ethics.” n a it
Hilde Lindemann, Michigan State University d f E
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Praise for the First Edition: u y
“This collection is a very welcome addition. It is remarkable for the breadth of issues discussed and the diversity -
of positions represented. Throughout, the selections have been chosen with a keen eye for excellence and
accessibility. Taken together, they provide a vivid panorama of ethical theory today.”
Peter Railton, University of Michigan
“It is a wonderfully comprehensive collection that manages to bring together well-chosen papers on a number of
significant areas in moral theory.” E
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Geoff Sayre-McCord, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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This second edition of Ethical Theory: An Anthology presents a comprehensive and authoritative collection
of key essays addressing questions at the heart of moral philosophy. More than eighty essays from classic
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and contemporary philosophers cover all aspects of the major branches of ethics – meta-ethics, normative
ethics, and practical ethics. The essays included here raise important questions about the status and rational
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authority of morality while offering guidance through key areas in the field, including consequentialism,
deontology, contractarianism, and virtue ethics. Underrepresented topics such as moral knowledge, moral
standing, moral responsibility, and ethical particularism are also addressed. Essays trace the evolution of i
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ethical theory from its classical roots through to current moral philosophy, including influential work
from Plato, Aristotle, Hume, and Kant to important contemporary material by Derek Parfit, Judith Jarvis c
Thomson, and many others. Together with a number of new essays and revisions, this revised edition features
the addition of an entire new section focused on feminist ethics.
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Russ Shafer-Landau is Department Chair and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-
E t h i c a L
y
Madison. His previous publications include The Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology (2006, with Terence
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Cuneo) and Moral Realism: A Defense (2003). He also the editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics.

Cover image: Balancing rock in Grapevine mountains, Texas (c) David Muench / Corbis
Cover design by Nicki Averill t h E or y
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SEcond Edition
EditEd by ruSS ShafEr-Landau
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Ethical Theory
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BLACKWELL PHILOSOPHY ANTHOLOGIES
Each volume in this outstanding series provides an authoritative and comprehensive collection of the essential primary
readings from philosophy’s main fields of study. Designed to complement the B lackwell Companions to Philosophy series,
each volume represents an unparalleled resource in its own right, and will provide the ideal platform for course use.
1 Cottingham: W estern Philosophy: An Anthology (second edition)
2 Cahoone: F rom Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology (expanded second edition)
3 LaFollette: Ethics in Practice: An Anthology (third edition)
4 Goodin and Pettit: Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology (second edition)
5 Eze: African Philosophy: An Anthology
6 McNeill and Feldman: C ontinental Philosophy: An Anthology
7 Kim and Sosa: M etaphysics: An Anthology
8 Lycan and Prinz: M ind and Cognition: An Anthology (third edition)
9 Kuhse and Singer: Bioethics: An Anthology (second edition)
10 Cummins and Cummins: Minds, Brains, and Computers – The Foundations of Cognitive Science: An Anthology
11 Sosa, Kim, Fantl, and McGrath E pistemology: An Anthology (second edition)
12 Kearney and Rasmussen: C ontinental Aesthetics – Romanticism to Postmodernism: An Anthology
13 Martinich and Sosa: A nalytic Philosophy: An Anthology
14 Jacquette: Philosophy of Logic: An Anthology
15 Jacquette: Philosophy of Mathematics: An Anthology
16 Harris, Pratt, and Waters: American Philosophies: An Anthology
17 Emmanuel and Goold: Modern Philosophy – From Descartes to Nietzsche: An Anthology
18 Scharff and Dusek: P hilosophy of Technology – The Technological Condition: A n Anthology
19 Light and Rolston: Environmental Ethics: An Anthology
20 Taliaferro and Griffiths: P hilosophy of Religion: An Anthology
21 Lamarque and Olsen: A esthetics and the Philosophy of Art – The Analytic Tradition: An Anthology
22 John and Lopes: Philosophy of Literature – Contemporary and Classic Readings: An Anthology
23 Cudd and Andreasen: Feminist Theory: A Philosophical Anthology
24 Carroll and Choi: P hilosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology
25 Lange: Philosophy of Science: An Anthology
26 Shafer-Landau and Cuneo: F oundations of Ethics: An Anthology
27 Curren: Philosophy of Education: An Anthology
28 Cahn and Meskin: A esthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology
29 McGrew, Alspector-Kelly, and Allhoff: T he Philosophy of Science: An Historical Anthology
30 May: Philosophy of Law: Classic and Contemporary Readings
31 Rosenberg and Ar p: Philosophy of Biology: An Anthology
32 Kim, Korman, and Sosa: M etaphysics: An Anthology (second edition)
33 Martinich and Sosa: A nalytic Philosophy: An Anthology (second edition)
34 Shafer-Landau: Ethical Theory: An Anthology (second edition)
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ETHICAL THEORY
AN ANTHOLOGY
Second Edition
Edited by
Russ Shafer-Landau
A John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Publication
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This edition first published 2013
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ethical theory : an anthology / edited by Russell Shafer-Landau. – 2nd ed.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-470-67160-3 (pbk.)
1. Ethics. I. Shafer-Landau, Russ.
BJ1012.E88346 2012
170–dc23
2012013174
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Set in 9.5/11.5pt Bembo by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India

1 2013
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Contents
Preface xi
Source Acknowledgments xiii
Part I The Status of Morality 1
Introduction to Part I 3
1 . “Of the Influencing Motives of the Will” and “Moral Distinctions Not Derived from Reason” 7
David Hume
2 . A Critique of Ethics 16
A. J. Ayer
3 . The Subjectivity of Values 22
J. L. Mackie
4 . Ethics and Observation 31
Gilbert Harman
5 . Moral Relativism Defended 35
Gilbert Harman
6 . Cultural Relativism 44
Harry Gensler
7 . The Subject-Matter of Ethics 48
G. E. Moore
8 . Ethics as Philosophy: A Defense of Ethical Nonnaturalism 54
Russ Shafer-Landau
9 . Realism 63
Michael Smith
Part II Moral Knowledge 69
I ntroduction to Part II 71
10. Thinking About Cases 74
Shelly Kagan
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vi contents
11. But I Could be Wrong 85
George Sher
12. Proof 94
Renford Bambrough
13. Moral Knowledge and Ethical Pluralism 101
Robert Audi
14. Coherentism and the Justification of Moral Beliefs 112
Geoffrey Sayre-McCord
Part III Why Be Moral? 127
I ntroduction to Part III 129
15. The Immoralist’s Challenge 132
Plato
16. Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives 138
Philippa Foot
17. A Puzzle About the Rational Authority of Morality 144
David O. Brink
18. Moral Rationalism 159
Russ Shafer-Landau
19. Psychological Egoism 167
Joel Feinberg
20. Flourishing Egoism 178
Lester Hunt
21. Ethical Egoism 193
James Rachels
22. Moral Saints 200
Susan Wolf
Part IV Ethics and Religion 213
I ntroduction to Part IV 215
23. Euthyphro 218
Plato
24. A New Divine Command Theory 220
Robert Merrihew Adams
25. God and Objective Morality: A Debate 225
William Lane Craig and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
26. God and Immortality as Postulates of Pure Practical Reason 230
Immanuel Kant
27. God and the Moral Order 234
C. Stephen Layman
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contents vii
28. God and Morality 242
Erik Wielenberg
Part V Value 253
I ntroduction to Part V 255
29. Hedonism 258
John Stuart Mill
30. The Experience Machine 264
Robert Nozick
31. The Good Life: A Defense of Attitudinal Hedonism 266
Fred Feldman
32. Rationality and Full Information 277
Thomas Carson
33. Desire and the Human Good 286
Richard Kraut
34. What Makes Someone’s Life Go Best 294
Derek Parfit
35. What Things are Good? 299
W. D. Ross
Part VI Moral Responsibility 303
I ntroduction to Part VI 305
36. Determinism and the Theory of Agency 308
Richard Taylor
37. The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility 312
Galen Strawson
38. Freedom and Necessity 317
A. J. Ayer
39. Moral Luck 322
Thomas Nagel
40. Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility 330
Susan Wolf
41. Freedom and Resentment 340
Peter Strawson
Part VII Moral Standing 353
I ntroduction to Part VII 355
42. We Have No Duties to Animals 359
Immanuel Kant
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viii contents
43. All Animals are Equal 361
Peter Singer
44. The Rights of Animals and Unborn Generations 372
Joel Feinberg
45. On Being Morally Considerable 381
Kenneth Goodpaster
46. Abortion and Infanticide 390
Michael Tooley
47. An Argument that Abortion is Wrong 400
Don Marquis
Part VIII Consequentialism 411
Introduction to Part VIII 413
48. Utilitarianism 417
John Stuart Mill
49. Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism 423
J. J. C. Smart
50. Rule-Consequentialism 428
Brad Hooker
51. Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality 441
Peter Railton
52. What is Wrong with Slavery 458
R. M. Hare
53. Famine, Affluence and Morality 466
Peter Singer
54. The Survival Lottery 474
John Harris
Part IX Deontology 479
I ntroduction to Part IX 481
55. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals 485
Immanuel Kant
56. Kant’s Formula of Universal Law 499
Christine Korsgaard
57. Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems 510
Onora O’Neill
58. The Rationality of Side Constraints 521
Robert Nozick
59. The Golden Rule Rationalized 524
Alan Gewirth
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