Contents

Preface to the Second Edition xm Preface to the First Edition xv

Part I What Is Ethics? 1

1 Plato: Socratic Morality: Crito 7 Suggestions for Further Reading 14

Part II Ethical Relativism 15

1 Herodotus: Custom Is King 19 2 William Graham Sumner: Folkways and Ethical Relativism 20 3 Louis Pojman: A Critique of Ethical Relativism 29 4 Gilbert Harman: Moral Relativism Defended 38 Suggestions for Further Reading 47

Part III Ethical Egoism, Altruism, and Evolution 49

1 Thomas Hobbes: The Leviathan 53 2 Joel Feinberg: Psychological Egoism 62 3 Brian Medlin: Ultimate Principles and Ethical Egoism 73 4 Jesse Kalin: In Defense of Egoism 78 5 Michael Ruse: Evolution and Ethics: The Sociobiological Approach 91 Vlll Contents

6 Elliott Sober: The Prospects for Evolutionary Ethics 110 Suggestions for Further Reading 122

Part IV Value 123

1 Jeremy Bentham: Classical Hedonism 127 2 Robert Nozick: The Experience Machine 130 3 Richard Taylor: Value and the Origin of Right and Wrong 132 4 Friedrich Nietzsche: The Transvaluation of Values 139 *5 Richard Kraut: Two Conceptions of Happiness 146 *6 Thomas Nagel: Value: The View from Nowhere 157 Suggestions for Further Reading 166

Part V Utilitarianism 167

1 John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism 171 2 Kai Nielsen: Against Moral Conservatism 192 3 Bernard Williams: Against Utilitarianism 200 4 Peter Railton: Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality 209 *5 Robert Nozick: Moral Side Constraints 227 *6 Philippa Foot: Utilitarianism and the Virtues 231 *7 Samuel Schemer: Agent-Centered Restrictions, Rationality and the Virtues 240 Suggestions for Further Reading 249

Part VI Kantian and Deontological Systems 251

1 Immanuel Kant: The Foundations of the Metaphysic of Morals 255 2 W. D. Ross: What Makes Right Acts Right? 280 3 Fred Feldman: Kantian Ethics 288 *4 Philippa Foot: Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives 301 5 Thomas Nagel: Moral Luck 307 Suggestions for Further Reading 315

* For advanced courses Contents ix

Part VII Virtue-Based Ethical Systems 317

1 Aristotle: The Ethics of Virtue 321 2 Bernard Mayo: Virtue and the Moral Life 331 3 William Frankena: A Critique of Virtue-Based Ethical Systems 334 4 Walter Schaller: Are Virtues No More Than Dispositions to Obey Moral Rules? 346 *5 Robert Louden: Some Vices of Virtue Ethics 347 *6 Alasdair MacIntyre: The Nature of the Virtues 357 7 Susan Wolf: Moral Saints 371 8 Louis Pojman: In Defense of Moral Saints 383 Suggestions for Further Reading 389

Part VIII The FactlValue Problem 391

1 David Hume: On Reason and the Emotions: The Fact/Value Distinction 399 2 G. E. Moore: Non-Naturalism and the Indefinability of the Good 406 3 A. J. Ayer: Emotivism 412 *4 C. L. Stevenson: The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms 418 *5 R. M. Hare: Prescriptivism: The Structure of Ethics and Morals 428 *6 Philippa Foot: Moral Beliefs 436 7 Geoffrey Warnock: The Object of Morality 446 Suggestions for Further Reading 454

Part IX Moral Realism and the Challenge of Skepticism 455

1 J. L. Mackie: The Subjectivity of Values 458 2 David Brink: Moral Realism and the Sceptical Argument from Disagreement and Queerness 469 3 Gilbert Harman: Moral Nihilism 478 *4 Nicholas Sturgeon: Moral Explanations 487 *5 Evan K. Jobe: A Critique of Sturgeon's Defence of Moral Realism 499 *6 Bernard Williams: Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy 505 *7 Bruce Russell: Two Forms of Ethical Skepticism 517 Suggestions for Further Reading 529 x Contents

Part X Morality and Self-Interest 531 I Plato: Why Be Moral? 534 2 Richard Taylor: On the Socratic Dilemma 540 3 David Gauthier: Morality and Advantage 546 4 Gregory Kavka: A Reconciliation Project 554 Suggestions for Further Reading 566

Part XI Religion and Ethics 567

I Plato: Morality and Religion 570 2 Immanuel Kant: God and Immortality as Necessary Postulates of Morality 572 3 Bertrand Russell: A Free Man's Worship 576 4 Georges Mavrodes: Religious and the Queerness of Morality 581 5 Kai Nielsen: Ethics Without God 589 Suggestions for Further Reading 594

Part XII Justice 597

I Aristotle: Formal Justice 601 2 David Hume: Justice as Convention 605 3 Nicholas Rescher: Distributive Justice 609 4 Robert Nozick: A Libertarian Theory ofJustice 614 5 John Rawls: A Liberal Theory ofJustice 629 6 Wallace Matson: Justice: A Funeral Oration 643 7 Thomas Nagel: Equality 656 Suggestions for Further Reading 667

Part XIII Rights 669

I John Locke: Natural Rights 674 2 Joel Feinberg: The Nature and Value of Rights 680 3 Ronald Dworkin: Taking Rights Seriously 690 *4 Alan Gewirth: The Epistemology of Human Rights 703 Contents xi

*5 Alasdair MacIntyre: A Critique of Gewirth and the Notion of Rights 715 6 Appendix: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 719 Suggestions for Further Reading 724

A Glossary of Ethical Terms 725