Introduction

1. THE STUDY OF ETHICS

Robert Coles, “The Disparity Between Intellect and Character” / Mencius, “The Natural Goodness of Humans” / Christina Hoff Sommers, “Where Have All the Good Deeds Gone?” / Sheila Mullet, “Shifting Perspective: A New Approach to Ethics” / Ko-sho- Mizutani, “Buddhist Tradition and Modernity” / Applications

2. ETHICAL RELATIVISM

Ethical Subjectivism / Jean Jacques Rousseau, Émile / Mary Wollstonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman / Jacob Javits and A.M. Rosenthal, “A Study of the Sickness Called Apathy” / Stephen A. Satris, “Student Relativism” / Applications

Cultural Relativism / Herbert Spencer, from The Principles of Ethics / Ruth Benedict, “A Defense of Cultural Relativism” / Ibn Khaldun, from The Muqaddimah / Marilyn Frye, “Oppression” / Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, from Hitler’s Willing Executioners / Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” / William H. Shaw, “Relativism in Ethics” / Applications

3. MORALITY AND RELIGION

Suras 1, 90 and 96 from the Qur’an / Mohandas K. Gandhi, “The Moral Teaching of the Bhagavad Gita” / Excerpts from Genesis, Exodus, and Matthew, from the Bible / Lippman Bodoff, “God Tests Abraham, Abraham Tests God” / Plato, from Euthyphro / Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica / Friedrich Nietzsche, from Beyond Good and Evil and The Joyful Wisdom / Kai Nielsen, “Religious Ethics Versus Humanistic Ethics” / Applications

4. BEYOND RELATIVISM: CONSCIENCE AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT

James Q. Wilson, from The Moral Sense / Lawrence Kohlberg, from The Philosophy of Moral Development / Carol Gilligan, from In a Different Voice / Virginia Held, “The Meshing of Care and Justice” / Mark Twain, from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Eagle Man, “We Are All Related” / Applications

5. ETHICAL EGOISM

Plato, from The Republic / Edward O. Wilson, from On Human Nature / Ayn Rand, from The Fountainhead / Mary Midgley, from Can’t We Make Moral Judgements? / Jean Hampton, “The Wisdom of the Egoist: The Moral and Political Implications of Valuing the Self” / Applications

6. UTILITARIANISM

Mo Tzu, from Universal Love / Jeremy Bentham, from An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation / John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism, Liberty, and Representative Government / Peter Singer, from Animal Liberation / Bernard Williams, “A Critique of Utilitarianism” / Applications

7. DEONTOLOGY

Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics / Excerpts from Analects of Confucius / Sissela Bok, from Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life / William David Ross, from The Right and the Good / John Rawls, from A Theory of Justice / Applications

8. RIGHTS ETHICS

John Locke, from Two Treatises of Civil Government / Karl Marx, “The Jewish Question” / Gustavo Gutierrez, from The Power of the Poor in History / United Nations, from “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” / Jeane Kirkpatrick, “Establishing a Viable Human Rights Policy” / Joel Feinberg, from Rights, Justice, and the Bounds of Liberty / Applications

9. VIRTUE ETHICS

Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics / Confucius, from The Doctrine of the Mean / P. Don Premasiri, “The Relevance of the Noble Eightfold Path to Contemporary Society” / Excerpt from The Instruction of Ptahhotep / David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals / Nel Noddings, from Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education / Alasdair MacIntyre, from After Virtue: A Study on Moral Theory / Applications