Introduction to Applied Ethics

538 Pages·2018·7.005 MB·English

by  Robert L. Holmes

i
Introduction
to Applied
Ethics
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd i 16-11-2017 18:35:51
ii
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BLOOMSBURY
Pacifi sm: A Philosophy of Nonviolence , Robert L. Holmes
Ethics Within Engineering , Wade L. Robison
Environmental Ethics , Marion Hourdequin
Everyday Examples , David Cunning
Th e Ethics of Climate Change , James Garvey
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd ii 16-11-2017 18:35:51
iii
Introduction
to Applied
Ethics
Robert L. Holmes
For more resources:
www.bloomsbury.com/holmes-introduction-to-applied-ethics
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd iii 16-11-2017 18:35:52
iv
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway
London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10018
UK USA
www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2018
© Robert L. Holmes, 2018
Robert L. Holmes has asserted his right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on
or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3500-2980-4
PB: 978-1-3500-2981-1
ePDF: 978-1-3500-2979-8
ePub: 978-1-3500-2982-8
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Holmes, Robert L., author.
Title: Introduction to applied ethics / by Robert L. Holmes.
Description: New York : Bloomsbury, 2018. | Includes index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017049049 (print) | LCCN 2017052267 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781350029798 (PDF eBook) | ISBN 9781350029828 (EPUB eBook) |
ISBN 9781350029804 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350029811 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Applied ethics–Textbooks.
Classifi cation: LCC BJ1012 (ebook) | LCC BJ1012 .H6575 2018 (print) |
DDC 170–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017049049
Typeset by Newgen KnowledgeWorks Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India.
Printed and bound in Great Britain
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd iv 16-11-2017 18:35:52
v
For
Savannah, ShuLan, Matthew and Noah
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd v 16-11-2017 18:35:52
vi
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd vi 16-11-2017 18:35:52
xv
Acknowledgments
Appreciation to the following authors and publishers for permission to use
material they control:
Chapter 2: NPR interview with Barbara King: “Is It Sexism to Say Th at
Women Are Superior?” April 16, 2015, containing an email exchange
between King and anthropologist Melvin Konner. Used with permis-
sion of Barbara King. Use of extract on “gender,” from Th e National
Geographic Magazine , January 2017, p.  86. Used with permission of
National Geographic Magazine. A passage from Christina Hoff Sommers,
Th e War against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000), pp. 23– 6. Used with permission of
the author. Chapter 6: Passages from Th omas Donaldson, C orporations and
Morality ( Prentice- Hall, 1982), pp. 2– 6. Used with permission of the author.
Chapter 7: An extract from Peter Singer, “Famine, Affl uence and Morality,”
Philosophy & Public Aff airs , Vol. 1, No. 3, Spring 1972, 229– 44. Used with
permission of Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Chapter 8: Quote in Defi nition
Box 8D and subsequent quotations from Milton Friedman, C apitalism and
Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962) used with permis-
sion of the University of Chicago Press. Passages from Ayn Rand, For the
New Intellectual (New York: Signet Books, 1963) (originally appearing in
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged). Used with permission of Richard E. Ralston,
Publishing Manager, Ayn Rand Institute. Chapter 10: Tom Regen, extracts
from “Th e Radical Egalitarian Case for Animal Rights,” from In Defense
of Animals , ed. Peter Singer, pp. 13–1 5. © 1985 Basil Blackwell Publishers.
Used with permission of the publisher. Carl Cohen, “Th e Case for the Use of
Animals in Biomedical Research,” Th e New England Journal of Medicine, Vol.
315 (October 2, 1986), 865–8 . Used with permission of Th e Massachusetts
Medical Society. Jonathan Foer, Eating Animals , Back Bay Books, Little,
Brown and Company (Hachette Book Group), pp. 41– 4. Extracts used with
permission of Hachette Book Group. Chapter 11: Passages from Jonathan
Shaw, “Th e Watchers: Assaults on Privacy in America,” H arvard Magazine ,
January– February 2017, 56– 61, 82– 3. Used with permission of Harvard
Magazine. Chapter 12: Passages from Judith Jarvis Th ompson, “A Defense of
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd xv 16-11-2017 18:35:52
xvi
xvi Acknowledgments
Abortion,” Philosophy & Public Aff airs , Vol. 1, No. 1, Fall 1971, 48f., and R. M.
Hare, “Abortion and the Golden Rule,” Philosophy & Public Aff airs , Vol. 4,
No. 3, Spring 1975, 207f. Used with permission of Blackwell Publishing , Ltd.
I would also like to express thanks for permission to the following pub-
lishers to use portions of my previous publications: Chapter 5: Oxford
University Press, for use of material from “Sexual Harassment and the
University,” Th e Monist , Vol. 79, No. 4, October 1996 . Chapter 13: “Is Th ere a
Slippery Slope from Suicide to Assisted Suicide to Consensual Euthanasia?”
from Loretta Kopelman and Kenneth DeVille (eds.), Physician- Assisted
Suicide: What Are the Issues? (Boston: Kluver Academic, 2001). Used with
permission of Springer. Chapter 14: passages from “Th e FOR and the Death
Penalty,” Fellowship Magazine, Vol. 66, Nos. 5– 6, May– June 2000, used with
permission of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Special thanks to Frankie Mace, assistant philosophy editor at Bloomsbury,
for supporting the project at an early stage and for guidance throughout the
book’s preparation and production. Without her the book would not be in
print. Th anks also to Predrag Cicovacki for unwavering support from the
outset. Th anks as well to S. Rebecca Holmes- Farley for valuable research
assistance, as well as for use of a portion of her unpublished manuscript
“Th e Legal, Moral and Social Implications of Physician- Assisted Suicide” in
Chapter 13. Finally, thanks to my wife, Veronica Slivinski Holmes, for her
wise suggestions and help in editing the entire manuscript; and most of all
for her understanding, patience and encouragement throughout.
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd xvi 16-11-2017 18:35:52
xvii
Introduction

Most books on applied ethics consist primarily of readings, oft en preceded
by a section on ethical theory. Many such readings were written for profes-
sional philosophers. While some are accessible, few are in their entirety, and
most that have philosophical depth are diffi cult for the average undergrad-
uate. Th ose not written for professional philosophers, on the other hand,
oft en lack philosophical substance and are used mainly to represent “a posi-
tion” on the issue.
Th is book is written especially for students approaching applied ethics for
the fi rst time, with their interests, needs, and limitations in mind. It proceeds
the way I believe we fi rst begin thinking ethically, which is by encounter-
ing practical moral problems and then taking up more theoretical issues as
they become relevant. In what follows, theory is introduced only where it is
immediately relevant (in “theory boxes” and defi nitions of key terms in “def-
inition boxes”) and only to the extent required for understanding the issues
at hand. Few people make moral judgments by learning theory fi rst and then
“applying” it to practical moral problems. If students don’t know which of
a bewildering array of theories served up at the outset is correct, they don’t
know what they’re supposed to “apply.” If they’re expected to decide which
is the correct theory (which philosophers don’t agree on) a nd at the same
time decide what moral judgments it yields in particular cases, they’re likely
to pick the theory that supports what they’re predisposed to believe; either
that, or come away thinking that diff erent theories are correct for diff erent
issues— a relativism to which many of them are inclined anyway. Worst of
all, they may come away not knowing what to think at all.
Th e “theory boxes” are more frequent in the early chapters and are cross-
referenced in later chapters for easy review. Th e philosophical analysis of the
text becomes increasingly diffi cult in some later chapters, with Chapter 13 ,
on physician-a ssisted suicide, perhaps being the most diffi cult.
9781350029804_fm_pi-284.indd xvii 16-11-2017 18:35:52