Description

Book Synopsis

The bestselling and field-defining textbook which has introduced generations of students to the field of practical ethics, now in a new fully-revised fifth edition

For more than twenty years, Ethics in Practice has paved the way for students to confront the difficult ethical questions they will, must, or do already face. Accessible to introductory students yet sufficiently rigorous for those pursuing advanced study, this celebrated collection encourages and guides readers to explore ethical dimensions of important, controversial topics such as euthanasia, environmental action, economic injustice, discrimination, incarceration, abortion, and torture. In combining new and revised modern texts with works of classic scholarship, Ethics in Practice equips readers to consider wide-ranging ideas in practical ethics and to understand the historical basis for contemporary developments in ethical theory.

Revisions and updates to the new edition of Ethics

Table of Contents

[N]: New to fifth edition; [R]: Revised for Ethics in Practice; [W]: Written for Ethics in Practice

Preface for Instructors x

Acknowledgments xii

Source Acknowledgments xiii

General Introduction [W] [R] 1

Theorizing about Ethics [W] [R] 3

Reading Philosophy [W] [R] 11

Writing a Philosophy Paper [W] [R] 15

The Basics of Argumentation [NW] 23

Part I Theory 27

Ethical Theory 29

1 Consequentialism [R & R] 31
William H. Shaw

2 Deontology [W & R] 40
David McNaughton and Piers Rawling

3 Rights [W & R] 53
George W. Rainbolt

4 Virtue Theory [W] 62
Rosalind Hursthouse

Part II Life, Death, and Moral Status 73

Euthanasia 75

5 Justifying Physician‐Assisted Deaths [W] 78
Tom L. Beauchamp

6 Against the Right to Die [R] 86
J. David Velleman

7 Physician‐Assisted Deaths: Policy Choices [NW] 95
Ronald A. Lindsay

8 Dying at the Right Time: Reflections on (Un)assisted Suicide [W & R] 106
John Hardwig

9 ‘For Now Have I My Death’: The ‘Duty to Die’ Versus the Duty to Help the Ill Stay Alive 118
Felicia Nimue Ackerman

Abortion 128

10 A Defense of Abortion 131
Judith Jarvis Thomson

11 On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion [R] 139
Mary Anne Warren

12 An Argument that Abortion is Wrong [W] 149
Don Marquis

13 The Moral Permissibility of Abortion 159
Margaret Olivia Little

14 Virtue Theory and Abortion [R] 168
Rosalind Hursthouse

Animals 177

15 All Animals are Equal 181
Peter Singer

16 Moral Standing, the Value of Lives, and Speciesism 190
R. G. Frey

17 The Case for Animal Rights 201
Tom Regan

18 The Vegetarian Imperative [NW] 207
Michael Allen Fox

Biomedical Technologies 217

19 Is Women’s Labor a Commodity? 220
Elizabeth S. Anderson

20 “Goodbye Dolly?” The Ethics of Human Cloning 231
John Harris

21 The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Humans 240
Leon R. Kass

22 Cognitive Enhancement [NW] 250
Jonathan Pugh

Environment 261

23 The Value of Nature [W] 263
Ronald Sandler

24 A Place for Cost–Benefit Analysis [R & R] 272
David Schmidtz

25 Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments 281
Thomas E. Hill, Jr.

26 A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics, and the Problem of Moral Corruption [R] 291
Stephen M. Gardiner

Part III Liberty and Equality 303

Paternalism and Risk 305

27 Freedom of Action 308
John Stuart Mill

28 Against the Legalization of Drugs 312
James Q. Wilson

29 Why We Should Decriminalize Drug Use [R] 317
Douglas Husak

30 The Liberal Basis of the Right to Bear Arms [R] 326
Todd C. Hughes and Lester H. Hunt

31 Gun Control 337
Hugh LaFollette

Free Speech 349

32 Freedom of Thought and Discussion 352
John Stuart Mill

33 “The Price We Pay?” Pornography and Harm [R] 356
Susan J. Brison

34 The Right to Get Turned On: Pornography, Autonomy, Equality 365
Andrew Altman

35 Sticks and Stones [W] 375
John Arthur

36 Speech Codes and Expressive Harm [W] 386
Andrew Altman

Discrimination, Racism, and Sexism 395

37 Racism as an Ethical Issue [WN] 398
Michele Moody‐Adams

38 Servility and Self‐Respect 406
Thomas E. Hill, Jr.

39 Implicit Bias [NR] 413
Alex Madva

40 Affirmative Action as Equalizing Opportunity: Challenging the Myth of “Preferential Treatment” [W] 422
Luke Charles Harris and Uma Narayan

41 Sexual Harassment: Formal Complaints Are Not Enough [NR] 433
Jennifer Saul

42 Men in Groups: Collective Responsibility for Rape [R] 444
Larry May and Robert Strikwerda

43 Ideals of Respect: Identity, Dignity and Disability [NW] 454
Adam Cureton

Conscience, State, and Religion Introduction 465

44 Resolving Conflicts Between Religious Liberty and Other Values [N] 468
Mark R. Wicclair

45 Religious Conviction, Parental Authority, and Children’s Interests [NW] 479
Christopher Meyers

46 Gay Rights and Religious Accommodations [NW] 489
Andrew Koppelman

47 Conscientious Objection in Health Care [N] 498
Mark R. Wicclair

48 My Conscience May Be My Guide, But You May Not Need to Honor It [NR] 512
Hugh LaFollette

Part IV Justice 525

Punishment 527

49 Punishment and Desert [W] 530
James Rachels

50 Does Punishment Work? [W] 538
John Paul Wright, Francis T. Cullen, and Kevin M. Beaver

51 In Defense of the Death Penalty 549
Louis P. Pojman

52 Against the Death Penalty 558
Jeffrey Reiman

53 Just Deserts in Unjust Societies: A Case‐Specific Approach [NR] 565
Stuart P. Green

54 To Protect and Serve: What is Wrong with the Policing of Minorities in the US? [NR] 576
John Kleinig

Economic Justice 588

55 A Theory of Justice 591
John Rawls

56 The Entitlement Theory of Justice 603
Robert Nozick

57 The Ethical Implications of Benefiting from Injustice [NW] 615
Daniel Butt

58 A Bleeding Heart Libertarian View of Inequality [NW] 624
Andrew Jason Cohen

Global Justice 637

59 Refugees and the Right to Control Immigration [NW] 640
Christopher Heath Wellman

60 The Case for Open Immigration [N] 648
Chandran Kukathas

61 Famine, Affluence, and Morality 658
Peter Singer

62 Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Code [W] 667
John Arthur

63 Eradicating Systemic Poverty: Brief for a Global Resources Dividend [R] 676
Thomas W. Pogge

War and Torture 689

64 War and Moral Consistency [NW] 692
Jonathan Parry

65 Pacifism: Reclaiming the Moral Presumption [W] 704
William J. Hawk

66 The Justifiability of Humanitarian Intervention [R] 714
Charles R. Beitz

67 Terrorism and Torture [N] 722
Fritz Allhoff

68 Unthinking the Ticking Time Bomb [NR] 732
David Luban

Ethics in Practice

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Tue 4 Aug 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Hugh LaFollette

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      Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 02/04/2020
      ISBN13: 9781119358862, 978-1119358862
      ISBN10: 1119358868

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      The bestselling and field-defining textbook which has introduced generations of students to the field of practical ethics, now in a new fully-revised fifth edition

      For more than twenty years, Ethics in Practice has paved the way for students to confront the difficult ethical questions they will, must, or do already face. Accessible to introductory students yet sufficiently rigorous for those pursuing advanced study, this celebrated collection encourages and guides readers to explore ethical dimensions of important, controversial topics such as euthanasia, environmental action, economic injustice, discrimination, incarceration, abortion, and torture. In combining new and revised modern texts with works of classic scholarship, Ethics in Practice equips readers to consider wide-ranging ideas in practical ethics and to understand the historical basis for contemporary developments in ethical theory.

      Revisions and updates to the new edition of Ethics

      Table of Contents

      [N]: New to fifth edition; [R]: Revised for Ethics in Practice; [W]: Written for Ethics in Practice

      Preface for Instructors x

      Acknowledgments xii

      Source Acknowledgments xiii

      General Introduction [W] [R] 1

      Theorizing about Ethics [W] [R] 3

      Reading Philosophy [W] [R] 11

      Writing a Philosophy Paper [W] [R] 15

      The Basics of Argumentation [NW] 23

      Part I Theory 27

      Ethical Theory 29

      1 Consequentialism [R & R] 31
      William H. Shaw

      2 Deontology [W & R] 40
      David McNaughton and Piers Rawling

      3 Rights [W & R] 53
      George W. Rainbolt

      4 Virtue Theory [W] 62
      Rosalind Hursthouse

      Part II Life, Death, and Moral Status 73

      Euthanasia 75

      5 Justifying Physician‐Assisted Deaths [W] 78
      Tom L. Beauchamp

      6 Against the Right to Die [R] 86
      J. David Velleman

      7 Physician‐Assisted Deaths: Policy Choices [NW] 95
      Ronald A. Lindsay

      8 Dying at the Right Time: Reflections on (Un)assisted Suicide [W & R] 106
      John Hardwig

      9 ‘For Now Have I My Death’: The ‘Duty to Die’ Versus the Duty to Help the Ill Stay Alive 118
      Felicia Nimue Ackerman

      Abortion 128

      10 A Defense of Abortion 131
      Judith Jarvis Thomson

      11 On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion [R] 139
      Mary Anne Warren

      12 An Argument that Abortion is Wrong [W] 149
      Don Marquis

      13 The Moral Permissibility of Abortion 159
      Margaret Olivia Little

      14 Virtue Theory and Abortion [R] 168
      Rosalind Hursthouse

      Animals 177

      15 All Animals are Equal 181
      Peter Singer

      16 Moral Standing, the Value of Lives, and Speciesism 190
      R. G. Frey

      17 The Case for Animal Rights 201
      Tom Regan

      18 The Vegetarian Imperative [NW] 207
      Michael Allen Fox

      Biomedical Technologies 217

      19 Is Women’s Labor a Commodity? 220
      Elizabeth S. Anderson

      20 “Goodbye Dolly?” The Ethics of Human Cloning 231
      John Harris

      21 The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Humans 240
      Leon R. Kass

      22 Cognitive Enhancement [NW] 250
      Jonathan Pugh

      Environment 261

      23 The Value of Nature [W] 263
      Ronald Sandler

      24 A Place for Cost–Benefit Analysis [R & R] 272
      David Schmidtz

      25 Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments 281
      Thomas E. Hill, Jr.

      26 A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics, and the Problem of Moral Corruption [R] 291
      Stephen M. Gardiner

      Part III Liberty and Equality 303

      Paternalism and Risk 305

      27 Freedom of Action 308
      John Stuart Mill

      28 Against the Legalization of Drugs 312
      James Q. Wilson

      29 Why We Should Decriminalize Drug Use [R] 317
      Douglas Husak

      30 The Liberal Basis of the Right to Bear Arms [R] 326
      Todd C. Hughes and Lester H. Hunt

      31 Gun Control 337
      Hugh LaFollette

      Free Speech 349

      32 Freedom of Thought and Discussion 352
      John Stuart Mill

      33 “The Price We Pay?” Pornography and Harm [R] 356
      Susan J. Brison

      34 The Right to Get Turned On: Pornography, Autonomy, Equality 365
      Andrew Altman

      35 Sticks and Stones [W] 375
      John Arthur

      36 Speech Codes and Expressive Harm [W] 386
      Andrew Altman

      Discrimination, Racism, and Sexism 395

      37 Racism as an Ethical Issue [WN] 398
      Michele Moody‐Adams

      38 Servility and Self‐Respect 406
      Thomas E. Hill, Jr.

      39 Implicit Bias [NR] 413
      Alex Madva

      40 Affirmative Action as Equalizing Opportunity: Challenging the Myth of “Preferential Treatment” [W] 422
      Luke Charles Harris and Uma Narayan

      41 Sexual Harassment: Formal Complaints Are Not Enough [NR] 433
      Jennifer Saul

      42 Men in Groups: Collective Responsibility for Rape [R] 444
      Larry May and Robert Strikwerda

      43 Ideals of Respect: Identity, Dignity and Disability [NW] 454
      Adam Cureton

      Conscience, State, and Religion Introduction 465

      44 Resolving Conflicts Between Religious Liberty and Other Values [N] 468
      Mark R. Wicclair

      45 Religious Conviction, Parental Authority, and Children’s Interests [NW] 479
      Christopher Meyers

      46 Gay Rights and Religious Accommodations [NW] 489
      Andrew Koppelman

      47 Conscientious Objection in Health Care [N] 498
      Mark R. Wicclair

      48 My Conscience May Be My Guide, But You May Not Need to Honor It [NR] 512
      Hugh LaFollette

      Part IV Justice 525

      Punishment 527

      49 Punishment and Desert [W] 530
      James Rachels

      50 Does Punishment Work? [W] 538
      John Paul Wright, Francis T. Cullen, and Kevin M. Beaver

      51 In Defense of the Death Penalty 549
      Louis P. Pojman

      52 Against the Death Penalty 558
      Jeffrey Reiman

      53 Just Deserts in Unjust Societies: A Case‐Specific Approach [NR] 565
      Stuart P. Green

      54 To Protect and Serve: What is Wrong with the Policing of Minorities in the US? [NR] 576
      John Kleinig

      Economic Justice 588

      55 A Theory of Justice 591
      John Rawls

      56 The Entitlement Theory of Justice 603
      Robert Nozick

      57 The Ethical Implications of Benefiting from Injustice [NW] 615
      Daniel Butt

      58 A Bleeding Heart Libertarian View of Inequality [NW] 624
      Andrew Jason Cohen

      Global Justice 637

      59 Refugees and the Right to Control Immigration [NW] 640
      Christopher Heath Wellman

      60 The Case for Open Immigration [N] 648
      Chandran Kukathas

      61 Famine, Affluence, and Morality 658
      Peter Singer

      62 Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Code [W] 667
      John Arthur

      63 Eradicating Systemic Poverty: Brief for a Global Resources Dividend [R] 676
      Thomas W. Pogge

      War and Torture 689

      64 War and Moral Consistency [NW] 692
      Jonathan Parry

      65 Pacifism: Reclaiming the Moral Presumption [W] 704
      William J. Hawk

      66 The Justifiability of Humanitarian Intervention [R] 714
      Charles R. Beitz

      67 Terrorism and Torture [N] 722
      Fritz Allhoff

      68 Unthinking the Ticking Time Bomb [NR] 732
      David Luban

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