Product Description

The most comprehensive collection of its kind, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, Fourth Edition, is essentially three books in one. Its sixty-seven selections are organized into three parts, providing instructors with great flexibility in designing and teaching a variety of courses in moral philosophy. Spanning 2,500 years of ethical theory, the first part, Historical Sources, ranges from ancient Greece to the twentieth century. It moves from classical thought (Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Epictetus) through medieval views (Augustine and Aquinas) to modern theories (Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Bentham, and Mill), culminating with leading nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers (Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre). The second part, Modern Ethical Theory, includes many of the most important essays of the past century. The discussion of utilitarianism, Kantianism, egoism, and relativism continues in the work of major contemporary philosophers (Foot, Brandt, Williams, Wolf, and Nagel). Landmark selections (Moore, Prichard, Ross, Ayer, Stevenson, Hare, Baier, Anscombe, Mackie, Gauthier, and Harman) reflect concern with moral language and the justification of morality. The concepts of justice (Rawls) and rights (Feinberg) are explored, as well as recent views on cultural relativism (Rachels) and an ethic influenced by feminist concerns (Held). In the third part, Contemporary Moral Problems, the readings present the current debates over abortion, euthanasia, famine relief, animal rights, and--for the first time in this edition--environmentalism and the use of torture in interrogations. Part III concludes with two new essays on death and the meaning of life. Wherever possible, each reading is printed in its entirety.
Part I of this fourth edition features extended selections from all three essays of Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals (with explanatory notes) and additional materials from Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan and David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature. Part II contains new essays by John McDowell and Christine Korsgaard, while Part III offers new readings from Elliott Sober, Henry Shue, Daniel J. Hill, Thomas Nagel, and Richard Taylor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232685 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

Review
"Terrific selection of primary and secondary works, at an affordable price!"--Lisa C. Isaacson, Columbia College

"This is the most useful ethics anthology I have ever seen!"--David Detmer, Purdue University

"Finally, an anthology put together exactly as I would do it. Excellent readings, nicely arranged, and no editorial interjections to compete with the instructor's choice of emphasis and mode of analysis."--John F. Heil, Jr., Trinity University

"Excellent source book; comprehensive and well-written."--S.L. Harrison, University of Miami

"A wonderful collection for diverse uses. The marriage of theoretical and applied readings is particularly useful in an introductory-level class where the practical import of studying ethical issues needs to be emphasized. The second section's Virtue Theory selections are uniquely well-chosen."--Kevin S. Decker, St. Louis University

"This is an excellent anthology containing many well-chosen readings from classical and contemporary sources. It can be used in both a moral issues course as well as a more traditional Introduction to Ethics course."--Andrew Ward, San Jose State University

"An extremely comprehensive survey of philosophical approaches to ethics in the Western tradition. The collection is nicely balanced and offers a rich assortment of the standard classics alongside some of the best recent work in ethical theory, metaethics, and applied ethics. The text would be an excellent choice for a rigorous undergraduate course in ethics."--Jordan J. Lindberg, Central Michigan University

"Very nicely done--an excellent selection of a broad range of material."--John G. Robinson, University of Massachusetts

"A terrifically comprehensive volume--leaves a wide scope for the construction of almost any introduction to ethics/philosophy course."--J.S. Taylor, Bowling Green State University

"This is one of the best introductory texts I have seen in a long time. It fits everything I have wanted to do in an ethics course."--Ted Vaggalis, Drury College

About the Author
Steven M. Cahn is a Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Peter Markie is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Customer Reviews

Great Collection of Writings
This is an excellent text for historical readings in ethical theories. The writings begin with Plato (Euthyphro, Defence of Socrates, Crito, etc.) and carries the reader into the Contemporary period (i.e. James Rachels, Joel Feinberg, Michael Tooley, etc.).

Every important historical figure and their ethical theories is covered. The group includes, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Epictetus, Augustine, Aquinas, Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Bentham, Mill, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, James, Dewey, Camus, and Sartre. As you can see the historical writers/philosophers are a great mix.

From the modern period the text includes, Moore, Ross, Ayer, Anscombe, Rawls, MacIntyre, Held, Nagel, and many more. Keep in mind that this text is a very comprehensive primary readings source book and nothing more. If you are looking for commentary on the various ethical theories this text will not provide that for you. It is simply, but quite exhaustively, a readings text. This text would be great for teachers who are teaching a type of intro class to ethics (which is fact what I will be doing next semester and using this very text). The only downfall to the text is the fact that it has no glossary or index for easy and quick reference. However, I highly recommend this text as a great compilation of primary sources.

Horrid translations makes this a bad text
This book has absolutely atrocious translations of some of the older texts. Here's an example from Epicurus' Letters to Menoeceus

This text reads
"For it is then that we have need of pleasure, when we feel pain owing to the absence of pleasure; (but when we do not feel pain), we no longer need pleasure."

Every other translation reads something like
"When we are pained because of the absence of pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. "

That completely reverses the meaning of the text. I have never seen a book filled with so many ham fisted translations. I can't recommend this book to any professor who hopes to teach their students well, or any reader who hopes to understand these texts properly.

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