Ethics: An Overview

ISBN-13: 9781441144034 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 280 str.

Robin Attfield

Opis

This is the definitive companion to the study of ethics. It provides students with an accessible, comprehensive and philosophically rigorous introduction to the major thinkers, issues and debates. Ideal for use on undergraduate courses, but also of lasting value for postgraduate students, the structure and content of this textbook closely reflect the way ethics is studied.

Thematically structured, the text provides a historical overview of the subject and a comprehensive introduction to the main branches of ethics: meta-ethics, normative ethics and applied ethics. The book also includes coverage of key aspects of value-theory and key issues concerning agency and moral responsibility. It applies ethics to contemporary issues such as climate change, the environment, development, poverty and war. Crucially, the book encourages students to do ethics for themselves, equipping the reader with a wide-ranging grasp of the discipline in all its central areas of contemporary study and reflection.

Robin Attfield's cogent and thorough analysis is supplemented by student-friendly features, including chapter summaries, study questions, exercises, and a comprehensive guide to further reading and other resources.

Spis treści

Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations 1. History of Ethics Aristotle on Eudaemonia and Virtue Some Themes from Hobbes and Hume Some Kantian Themes John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism 2. Value-Theory and the Good Life Pleasure, Happiness and Flourishing Moral Standing, Value and Intrinsic Value Worthwhile Life, Self-Respect and Meaningful Work The Good Life, Needs, Virtue and Morality 3. Normative Ethics Moral Standing, Value, Rights and Rightness Consequentialism and Its Critics Deontology, Contractarianism and Consequentialism Virtue Ethics Practice-Consequentialism and Virtue-Consequentialism 4. Applied Ethics The Re-emergence of Applied Ethics Medical Ethics Animal Ethics Development Ethics Environmental Ethics The Ethics of War 5. Meta-Ethics Non-cognitivism, Projectivism and Prescriptivism ‘Good', ‘Ought' and Morality Cognitivism and Realism Internalism, Externalism and Practicality Naturalism and Non-naturalism 6. Free Will and Responsibility Responsibility, Character and Determinism Laws of Nature, ‘Ought' and ‘Can' Evolution, Randomness, ‘Could' and ‘Would' The Future Is Open Index