The Fundamentals of Ethics

Table of Contents

Preface

New to the Second Edition

Instructor's Manual and Companion Website

A Note on the Companion Volume

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

The Lay of the Land

Skepticism about Ethics

Ethical Starting Points

Moral Reasoning

The Role of Moral Theory

Looking Ahead

PART ONE: The Good Life

Hedonism: Its Powerful Appeal

Happiness and Intrinsic Value

The Attractions of Hedonism

There Are Many Models of a Good Life

Personal Authority and Well-Being

Misery Clearly Hampers a Good Life; Happiness Clearly Improves It

The Limits of Explanation

Rules of the Good Life-and Their Exceptions

Happiness Is What We Want for Our Loved Ones

Is Happiness All That Matters

The Paradox of Hedonism

Evil Pleasures

The Two Worlds

False Happiness

The Importance of Autonomy

Life's Trajectory

Unhappiness as a Symptom of Harm

Conclusion

Getting What You Want

A Variety of Good Lives

Personal Authority

Avoiding Objective Values

Motivation

Justifying the Pursuit of Self-Interest

Knowledge of the Good

Problems for the Desire Theory

Getting What You Want May Not Be Necessary for Promoting Your Good

Getting What You Want May Not Be Sufficient for Promoting Your Good

Desires Based on False Beliefs

Disinterested and Other-Regarding Desires

Disappointment

Ignorance of Desire Satisfaction

Impoverished Desires

The Paradox of Self-Harm and Self-Sacrifice

The Fallibility of Our Deepest Desires

Conclusion

PART TWO: Doing the Right Thing

Morality and Religion

Three Assumptions About Religion and Morality

First Assumption: Religious Belief Is Needed for Moral Motivation

Second Assumption: God Is the Creator of Morality

Third Assumption: Religion Is an Essential Source of Moral Guidance

Conclusion

Natural Law

The Theory and Its Attractions

Two Conceptions of Human Nature

Human Nature Is What Is Innately Human

Human Nature Is What All Humans Have in Common

Natural Purposes

The Argument from Humanity

Conclusion

Psychological Egoism

Egoism and Altruism

Does it Matter whether Psychological Egoism is True

The Argument from Our Strongest Desires

The Argument from Expected Benefit

The Argument from Avoiding Misery

Two Egoistic Strategies

Appealing to the Guilty Conscience

Expanding the Realm of Self-Interest

Letting the Evidence Decide

Conclusion

Ethical Egoism

Why Be Moral

Two Popular Arguments for Ethical Egoism

The Self-Reliance Argument

The Libertarian Argument

The Best Argument for Ethical Egoism

Three Problems for Ethical Egoism

Egoism Violates Core Moral Beliefs

Egoism Cannot Allow for the Existence of Moral Rights

Egoism Arbitrarily Makes My Interests All-Important

Conclusion

Consequentialism: Its Nature and Attractions

The Nature of Consequentialism

Its Structure

Maximizing Goodness

Moral Knowledge

Actual versus Expected Results

Assessing Actions and Intentions

The Attractions of Utilitarianism

Impartiality

The Ability to Justify Conventional Moral Wisdom

Conflict Resolution

Moral Flexibility

The Scope of the Moral Community

Consequentialism: Its Difficulties

Measuring Well-Being

Utilitarianism Is Very Demanding

Deliberation

Motivation

Action

Impartiality

No Intrinsic Wrongness (or Rightness)

The Problem of Injustice

Potential Solutions to the Problem of Injustice

Justice Is Also Intrinsically Valuable

Injustice Is Never Optimific

Justice Must Sometimes Be Sacrificed

Rule Consequentialism

Conclusion

The Kantian Perspective: Fairness and Justice

Consistency and Fairness

The Principle of Universalizability

Morality and Rationality

Assessing the Principle of Universalizability Integrity

Kant on Absolute Moral Duties

The Kantian Perspective: Autonomy and Respect

The Principle of Humanity

The Importance of Rationality and Autonomy

The Good Will and Moral Worth

Five Problems with the Principle of Humanity

Vagueness

Determining Just Deserts

Are We Autonomous

Moral Luck

The Scope of the Moral Community

Conclusion

The Social Contract Tradition: The Theory and Its Attractions

The Lure of Proceduralism

The Background of the Social Contract Theory

The Prisoner's Dilemma

Cooperation and the State of Nature

The Advantages of Contractarianism

Morality Is Essentially a Social Phenomenon

Contractarianism Explains and Justifies the Content of the Basic Moral Rules

Contractarianism Offers a Method for Justifying Every Moral Rule

Contractarianism Explains the Objectivity of Morality

Contractarianism Explains Why It Is Sometimes Acceptable to Break the Moral Rules

More Advantages: Morality and the Law

Contractarianism Justifies a Basic Moral Duty to Obey the Law

The Contractarian Justification of Legal Punishment

Contractarianism Justifies the State's Role in Criminal Law

Contractarianism and Civil Disobedience

The Social Contract Tradition: Problems and Prospects

Why Be Moral

The Role of Consent

Disagreement Among the Contractors

The Scope of the Moral Community

Conclusion

Ethical Pluralism and Absolute Moral Rules

The Structure of Moral Theories

Is Torture Always Immoral?

Preventing Catastrophes

The Doctrine of Double Effect

A Reply to the Argument from Disaster Prevention

How the DDE Threatens Act Consequentialism

Distinguishing Intention from Foresight

Moral Conflict and Contradiction

Is Moral Absolutism Irrational

The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing

Conclusion

Ethical Pluralism: Prima Facie Duties and Ethical Particularism

Ross's Ethic of Prima Facie Duties

The Advantages of Ross's View

Pluralism

We Are Sometimes Permitted to Break the Moral Rules

Moral Conflict

Moral Regret

Addressing the Anti-Absolutist Arguments

A Problem for Ross's View

Knowing the Fundamental Moral Rules

Skepticism

Coherentism

Self-Evidence

Self-Evidence and the Testing of Moral Theories

Knowing the Right Thing to Do

Ethical Particularism

Three Problems for Ethical Particularism

Its Lack of Unity

Accounting for Moral Knowledge

Some Things Possess Permanent Moral Importance

Conclusion

Virtue Ethics

The Standard of Right Action

Moral Complexity

Moral Understanding

Moral Education

The Nature of Virtue

Virtue and the Good Life

Objections

Tragic Dilemmas

Does Virtue Ethics Offer Adequate Moral Guidance?

Is Virtue Ethics Too Demanding?

Who Are the Moral Role Models?

Conflict and Contradiction

The Priority Problem

Conclusion

Feminist Ethics

The Elements of Feminist Ethics

Moral Development

Women's Experience

The Ethics of Care

The Importance of Emotions

Against Unification

Against Impartiality and Abstraction

Against Competition

Downplaying Rights

Challenges for Feminist Ethics

Conclusion

PART THREE: The Status of Morality

Ethical Relativism

Moral Skepticism

Two Kinds of Ethical Relativism

Some Implications of Ethical Subjectivism and Cultural Relativism

Moral Infallibility

Moral Equivalence

No Intrinsic Value

Questioning Our Own Commitments

Moral Progress

Ethical Subjectivism and The Problem of Contradiction

Cultural Relativism and The Problem of Contradiction Ideal Observers

Conclusion

Moral Nihilism

Error Theory

Expressivism

How Is It Possible to Argue Logically About Morality?

Expressivism and Amoralists

The Nature of Moral Judgment

Conclusion

Ten Arguments Against Moral Objectivity

Objectivity Requires Absolutism

All Truth Is Subjective

Equal Rights Imply Equal Plausibility

Moral Objectivity Supports Dogmatism

Moral Objectivity Supports Intolerance

Moral Disagreement Undermines Moral Objectivity

Atheism Undermines Moral Objectivity

The Absence of Categorical Reasons Undermines Moral Objectivity

Moral Motivation Undermines Moral Objectivity

Values Have No Place in a Scientific World

Conclusion

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Glossary

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