Ethical Choices

Description

Ideal for students with little or no background in philosophy, Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases provides a concise, balanced, and highly accessible introduction to ethics. Featuring an especially lucid and engaging writing style, the text surveys a wide range of ethical theories and perspectives including consequentialist ethics, deontological ethics, natural and virtue ethics, the ethics of care, and ethics and religion.

Each chapter of Ethical Choices also includes compelling case studies that are carefully matched with the theoretical material. Many of these cases address issues that students can relate directly to their own lives: the drinking age, student credit card debt, zero tolerance policies, grade inflation, and video games. Other cases discuss current topics like living wills, obesity, human trafficking, torture "lite," universal health care, and just-war theory. The cases provide students with practice in addressing real-life moral choices, as well as opportunities to evaluate the usefulness and applicability of each ethical theory. Every case study concludes with a set of Thought Questions to guide students as they reflect upon the issues raised by that case.

New to this Edition

• A major section on personal identity has been added to Chapter Three: Autonomy - which many students will find particularly interesting and relevant to themselves.
• Chapter Five: Moral Psychology has received a significant amount of new material reflecting more recent progress in cognitive science where it seems relevant to doing ethics and thinking morally.
• The discussion of egoism was separated from that of moral psychology, creating Chapter Six: Egoism as a stand-alone chapter. Considerations both in favor of and opposing ethical egoism have been added to make the chapter a more careful treatment of egoism than is often found in other texts.
• Chapter Nine: Deontology adds a new section on Kant's Kingdom of Ends.
• Chapter Eleven: Social Contract theory adds a new section on structural violence.
• Chapter Thirteen: Feminism and Care Ethics adds a new section addressing more recent developments in feminist ethics.
• The previous edition's theoretical presentation of ethical pluralism was removed due to its complexity. In place of previously just one chapter, the new edition includes a largely new Part III with several chapters in applied ethics.
• Chapter Sixteen: Organizational Ethics is now a stand-alone chapter which replaces the previous analysis of whistleblowing with a new account.
• The previous material on environmental ethics has been made into stand-alone Chapter Seventeen: Environmental Ethics, which now includes climate change and the Paris Accord.
• Chapter Eighteen: Obligations to Future Generations is a new stand-alone chapter.

Table of Contents

Preface
Analyzing a Case

Part I Introduction: Theory and Practice

Chapter One: Morals and Values
I. EXTRAORDINARY AND ORDINARY MORALS
II. VALUES
III. THE MORAL VS. NON-MORAL
IV. INTRINSIC AND INSTRUMENTAL VALUES
V. VALUES AND FOUNDATIONS
Values Exercise
Case 1 Breastfeeding in Public
Case 2 Buy Now, Pay Forever
Case 3 The Real Price of Coffee

Chapter Two: Moral Relativism
I. INTRODUCTION
II. THREE VIEWS OF ETHICS
III. EVALUATING SUBJECTIVISM
IV. SUPPORTING RELATIVISM
V. AGAINST RELATIVISM
VI. A MATTER OF TOLERANCE
**VII. BEYOND CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Case 1 Greased Gems
Case 2 Arranged Marriage
Case 3 Female Genital Mutilation
Case 4 Vaccine Exemptions by Law

Chapter Three: Autonomy, Moral Agency, and Self-identity
I. INTRODUCTION
II. PERSONAL AUTONOMY
III. IMPLICATIONS OF AUTONOMY
IV. MORAL AGENTS
V. FILLING IN AUTONOMY
VI. **DEVELOPING SELF-IDENTITY
Case 1 The Drunk Driver
Case 2 Elizabeth Bouvia
Case 3 Should the Drinking Age Be Eighteen?
Case 4 The Living Will
Case 5 Determining Racial Identity


Chapter Four: Making Moral Judgments
I. INTRODUCTION
II. CONFLICTS
III. CHARACTERIZING MORAL CLAIMS
IV. FORMAL MORAL REASONING
V. MORAL REFLECTION
Case 1 Mr. Research
Case 2 Child Marriage
Case 3 Who's Responsible for Obesity?

Chapter Five: Psychology and Morality
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SITUATIONISM AND MORAL CHARACTER
III. OF TWO MINDS
IV. THE ETHICS OF CHOICE AND BELIEF
V. ALTRUISM
Case 1 Human Trafficking
Case 2 A Kindly Companion
Case 3 A Covid party
Case 4 Evaluating Expertise

PART II Introduction

Chapter Six: Egoism
I. Introduction
II. Ethical and Psychological Egoism
III. Assessing Ethical Egoism
IV. **Why Does Egoism Go Wrong?
Case 1 Declaring Wages
Case 2 A Scratched Bumper
Case 3 Job Competition
Case 4 MAD

Chapter Seven: Consequentialist Ethics: Act Utilitarianism
I. INTRODUCTION
II. UTILITY AND CONSEQUENTIALISM
III. **UTILITY AND MILL'S ACCOUNT
IV. ACT UTILITARIANISM
V. ADVANTAGES AND PROBLEMS
VI. **BEYOND CLASSICAL UTILITARIANISM
Case 1 Charity vs. Xbox
Case 2 Sponsoring a Child
Case 3 Should Your Next Car Be all-electric?
Case 4 Factory Farming and Animal Suffering
Case 5 Torture Lite


Chapter Eight: Consequentialist Ethics: Rule Utilitarianism
I. INTRODUCTION
II. RULE UTILITARIANISM
III. RULE VS. ACT UTILITARIANISM
IV. PROBLEMS WITH RULE UTILITARIANISM
V. **JUSTICE AND RIGHTS REVISITED
Case 1 Transgender Students and College Athletics
Case 2 Curbing Grade Inflation
Case 3 Universal Healthcare

Chapter Nine: Deontological Ethics
I. INTRODUCTION
**II. ROSS'S ETHICS
III. KANT'S GOOD WILL
IV. KANT'S PRINCIPLE OF ENDS
V. KANT'S PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL LAW
VI. ATTRACTIONS AND PROBLEMS
VII. **AUTONOMY AND KANT'S KINGDOM OF ENDS
Case 1 Internet Bride-Straight from Asia
Case 2 A Demanding Honor Code
Case 3 The Ayala Case
Case 4 A Personal Decision
Case 5 Suicide

Chapter Ten: Natural Law Theory
I. INTRODUCTION
II. NATURAL LAW THEORY
III. FORFEITURE
IV. DOUBLE EFFECT
V. PROBLEMS FOR NATURAL LAW THEORY
Case 1 Relieving Pain in a Dying Patient
Case 2 Birth Control
Case 3 Just War Theory and the Killing of Noncombatants
Case 4 Permanent Vegetative State: The Case of Terri Schiavo
Chapter Eleven: Social Contracts and Rights
I. INTRODUCTION
II. LOCKE
III. HOBBES
IV. RAWLS
V. SOME INITIAL ASSESSMENTS
VI. MORE ON RIGHTS
VII. **STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE
Case 1 Socrates's Imprisonment
Case 2 Lord of the Flies
Case 3 Locke and Load: Lockean Rights and Gun Control

Chapter Twelve: Virtue Ethics
I. INTRODUCTION
II. THE HEART OF VIRTUE ETHICS
III. ARISTOTLE'S VIRTUE ETHICS
IV. **CRITIQUING PRINCIPLE-BASED ETHICS
V. CLASSIFYING THE VIRTUES
VI. PROBLEMS WITH VIRTUE ETHICS
Case 1 The Unlikely Rescue
Case 2 Video Games
Case 3 Compulsive Gambling and the Internet
Case 4 Moral Luck
Case 5 Democracy in Switzerland

Chapter Thirteen: Feminism and Care Ethics
I. INTRODUCTION
II. **FEMINIST ETHICS
III. THE CARE PERSPECTIVE
IV. ELEMENTS OF CARE ETHICS
V. PROBLEMS
VI. **CARE AND VIRTUE
VII.** NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Case 1 The Heinz dilemma
Case 2 The International Gemstone Trade
Case 3 Parent Responsibility Toward Their In Utero Child
Case 4 Absolute Poverty

Chapter Fourteen: Ethics and Religion
I. INTRODUCTION
II. DIVINE COMMAND THEORY
III. AN ALTERNATE DEPENDENCY ACCOUNT
IV. OBJECTIONS AND ELABORATIONS
V. COMPLETENESS
Case 1 By Divine Command?
Case 2 Religious Symbols and Public Schools
Case 3 A Question of Authority

PART III Introduction

Chapter Fifteen: Medical Ethics: Futility
I. INTRODUCTION
II. CONFLICTS
Case 1 Infant Medical Futility
Case 2 National Triage
Case 3 Challenge Studies

Chapter Sixteen: Organizational Ethics: Whistleblowing
I. INTRODUCTION
II. CLASSIC ANALYSIS
III. COMPLICITY & SUCCESS
IV. A MODIFIED ANALYSIS
Case 1 Mr. Tran and Wells Fargo
Case 2 Surfer, Sailor, Whistleblower
Case 3 The Challenger
Case 4 The Snowden Leak

Chapter Seventeen: Environmental Ethics: Pollution and Resource Use
I. OPTIMIZATION AND CONFLICTS
II. CLIMATE CHANGE
III. A PRACTICAL AND MORAL RESPONSE
Case 1 National Parks
Case 2 The Diesel Dupe
Case 3 Anthropocentric vs. Ecocentric Views

Chapter Eighteen: Obligations to Future Generations
I. INTRODUCTION
II. CAN THERE BE OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS NON-EXISTENT PEOPLE?
III. CAN THERE BE OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS INDETERMINATE PEOPLE?
IV. IS THERE AN OBLIGATION TO ENSURE ANY FUTURE HUMANITY?
V. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Case 1 The Inheritance
Case 2 Hey, isn't That Your Grandkid's Dinner?
Case 3 Juggling Life, Health and the Economy
Case 4 Designer Babies: Science Fiction No More

Postscript

Glossary

Index