Disputed Moral Issues

A Reader

Fifth Edition

Mark Timmons

Case studies, accompanied by questions, now conclude all moral issues chapters
Chapter 1's "A Moral Theory Primer" explains the main concepts and guiding aims of moral theory and then presents eight moral theories essential for understanding the many issues covered later in the book
Chapter introductions provide conceptual, historical, and theoretical context for the study of each moral issue and conclude with "Theory Meets Practice" sections that connect the arguments in the chapter readings back to the moral theories presented in the primer
A "Quick Guide to Moral Theories," appearing on the inside front cover, serves as a useful reminder of the key elements of the eight theories featured in the primer
A "User's Guide," which follows the preface, shows instructors how they can integrate moral theories and applied ethics into their courses
Reading summaries precede each reading to aid students' understanding of the selections
Reading questions and discussion questions accompany each selection to help students comprehend the arguments presented in the selections
"Additional Resources" at the end of each chapter feature annotated guides divided into web resources, authored books and articles, and edited collections
A glossary of important terms offers easy reference
An Ancillary Resource Center (ARC) contains an Instructor's Manual with sample syllabi and chapter goals and summaries; a Test Bank with essay, multiple-choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions; and PowerPoint lecture slides
A Companion Website offers student resources including self quizzes, suggested readings and media resources, and helpful web links

New to this Edition:

Eighteen new reading selections cover moral relativism; sexual morality; freedom of speech; drugs and addiction; sexism and racism; abortion; the death penalty; war, terrorism, and torture; economic justice; and the environment, consumption, and climate change
Case studies, accompanied by questions, now conclude all moral issues chapters
Revised to make the discussion of ethical theories more accessible, Chapter 1, "A Moral Theory Primer," now also covers care ethics

Disputed Moral Issues

A Reader

Fifth Edition

Mark Timmons

Description

Ideal for courses in contemporary moral problems, applied ethics, and introduction to ethics, Disputed Moral Issues: A Reader, Fifth Edition, offers a unique pedagogical approach that bridges moral theory and applied ethics. Bringing together sixty-eight engaging articles, it also includes an accessible Moral Theory Primer (Chapter 1).

Each selection is enhanced by a host of pedagogical features, including concise summaries, reader cues referring to pertinent moral theories, and reading and discussion questions. A "Quick Guide to Moral Theories" at the front of the book and an extensive glossary of key terms are also included. A "User's Guide," which follows the preface, shows instructors how they can integrate moral theories and applied ethics into their courses.

Disputed Moral Issues

A Reader

Fifth Edition

Mark Timmons

Chapters 3-15 end with Cases for Analysis and Additional Resources.
*=New to this Edition
Quick Guide to Moral Theories
Preface
User's Guide
1. A MORAL THEORY PRIMER
1. What Is Moral Theory?
2. Eight Essential Moral Theories
A. Consequentialism
B. Natural Law Theory
C. Kantian Moral Theory
D. Rights-Based Moral Theory
E. Ethics of Prima Facie Duty
F. Social Contract Theory
G. Virtue Ethics
* H. Care Ethics
3. Coping with Many Moral Theories
2. MORAL THEORY SELECTIONS
* Mark Timmons, Why I Am Not a Moral Relativist (and Neither Are You)
J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism
St. Thomas Aquinas, Treatise on Law
Immanuel Kant, The Moral Law
John Locke, Natural Rights
W. D. Ross, What Makes Right Actions Right?
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
Aristotle, Virtue and Character
* Stephanie Collins, Care Ethics: The Four Key Claims
3. SEX
* Immanuel Kant , On the Duties to the Body in Regard to the Sexual Impulse
* Lina Papadaki, Sexual Objectification
John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?
* Joan McGregor, What is the Harm of Rape?
* Robin West, The Harms of Consensual Sex
4. FREEDOM OF SPEECH
* J. S. Mill, On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion
* Louise Richardson-Self, Woman-Hating: On Misogyny, Sexism, and Hate Speech
Andrew Altman, Speech Codes and Expressive Harm
* Greg Luikanoff and Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind
5. DRUGS AND ADDICTION
* Michael Huemer, America's Unjust Drug War
Peter de Marneffe, Decriminalize, Don't Legalize
Daniel Shapiro, Addiction and Drug Policy
6. SEXISM AND RACISM
Ann E. Cudd and Leslie E. Jones, Sexism
J. L. A. Garcia, The Heart of Racism
Tommie Shelby, Is Racism in the "Heart"?
* Elizabeth Anderson, The Future of Racial Integration
* Daniel Kelly and Erica Roedder, Racial Cognition and the Ethics of Implicit Bias
7. THE ETHICS OF IMMIGRATION
Stephen Macedo, The Moral Dilemma of U. S. Immigration Policy: Open Borders versus Social Justice
Joseph H. Carens, Migration and Morality: A Liberal Egalitarian Perspective
Christopher Heath Wellman, Immigration and Freedom of Association
Sarah Fine, Freedom of Association Is Not the Answer
8. EUTHANASIA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE
James Rachels, Active and Passive Euthanasia
Philippa Foot, Killing and Letting Die
Daniel Callahan, A Case Against Euthanasia
Michael B. Gill, A Moral Defense of Oregon's Physician-Assisted Suicide Law
David Velleman, Against the Right to Die
9. ABORTION
Patrick Lee and Robert P. George, The Wrong of Abortion
Rosalind Hursthouse, Virtue Theory and Abortion
Don Marquis, Why Abortion Is Immoral
Judith Jarvis Thomson, A Defense of Abortion
* Margaret Little, The Moral Complexity of Abortion
10. CLONING AND GENETIC ENHANCEMENT
Leon R. Kass, Preventing Brave New World
Gregory E. Pence, Will Cloning Harm People?
Michael J. Sandel, The Case Against Perfection
Frances M. Kamm, Is There a Problem With Enhancement?
Peter Singer, Parental Choice and Human Improvement
11. THE DEATH PENALTY
Stephen Nathanson, An Eye for an Eye?
Ernest van den Haag, A Defense of the Death Penalty
Jeffrey H. Reiman, Civilization, Safety, and Deterrence
* Thaddeus Metz, African Values and Capital Punishment
12. WAR, TERRORISM, AND TORTURE
* Thomas Nagel, War and Massacre
Michael Walzer, Terrorism: A Critique of Excuses
Andrew Valls, Can Terrorism Be Justified?
Alan M. Dershowitz, Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured?
Marcia Baron, The Ticking Bomb Hypothetical
13. GLOBAL ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Garrett Hardin, Lifeboat Ethics
Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save
John Arthur, World Hunger and Moral Obligation
* Thomas Pogge, World Poverty and Human Rights
* Elizabeth Ashford, Severe Poverty as an Unjust Emergency
14. THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
Peter Singer, All Animals Are Equal
Carl Cohen, Do Animals Have Rights?
Peter Carruthers, Against the Moral Standing of Animals
Alastair Norcross, Puppies, Pigs, and People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases
15. THE ENVIRONMENT, CONSUMPTION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE
William F. Baxter, People or Penguins: The Case for Optimal Pollution
Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic
Thomas E. Hill Jr., Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving the Natural Environment
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, It's Not My Fault: Global Warming and Individual Moral Obligations
* Marion Houdequin, Climate, Collective Action, and Individual Moral Obligation
Glossary

Disputed Moral Issues

A Reader

Fifth Edition

Mark Timmons

Author Information

Mark Timmons is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. He is the author of Moral Theory: An Introduction, Second Edition (2012), and the editor of Conduct and Character: Readings in Moral Theory, Sixth Edition (2011), and the annually published Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics.

Disputed Moral Issues

A Reader

Fifth Edition

Mark Timmons

Reviews and Awards

"Disputed Moral Issues includes the usual suspects (e.g., abortion, the death penalty, etc.), but also addresses some less widely incorporated ones including immigration, hate speech, ethics of prima facie duties, and perfectionism. Timmons writes with a precision and formalistic clarity that is unique among ethics readers. The Moral Theory Primer is quite well done."--David Burris, Arizona Western College

"The sections introducing each chapter are helpful and concise, and the 'Theory Meets Practice' sections provide the often-omitted connections between ethical theories with particular issues."--Michael Emerson, Northwestern Michigan College