Part I: The Basic Questions
1. Living in a World of Values
I. Who We Are and What Do We Value?
II.What Is Ethics?
III.The Individual: Metaethics, Normative Ethics, and Applied Ethics
IV. The Society: Social and Political Ethics
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
2. Personal Worldview and Community Worldview
I. The Normative Nature of Worldview
II. Personal Worldview
III. Community Worldview
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
3. The Ethical Duty to Be Knowledgeable about Your World
I. Epistemology and Action Theory
II. Living in Community and the Obligation to Be an Active Member
III. What Are Facts and What Is Opinion?
IV. Facts and Decision Making
V. How to Ferret out Facts from Propaganda
VI. Deductive, Inductive, and Abductive Logic
Conclusion
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
4. Relativism
I. Cultural Relativism
II. Moral Relativism
III. What Is at Stake?
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
5. Egoism
I. Introduction
II. Psychological Egoism
III. Ethical Egoism
IV. Egoism and Altruism
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
6. Are People Good or Bad?
I. Introduction
II. Humans Are Bad
III. Humans Are Good
IV. What Difference Does It Make?
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
7. Morality and Religion
I. Introduction
II. The Origin of the Problem
III. Absolute Good
IV. Divine Command Theory
V. An Ethics with and without Religion
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
8. Feminist Ethics
I. Introduction
II. Gender: Are Men and Women Different?
III. Care and Justice
IV. Race: What Is Race and Why Is It an Issue?
V. Opportunity and Desert
V. Where Does Feminist Ethics Find a Home in Traditional Theories?
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
Part II: The Basic Answers
9. It’s All about Your Intuition: Ethical Intuitionism
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem this Theory Addresses
III. The Argument for the Theory
IV. The Argument against the Theory
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
10. It’s All about Your Attitude: Ethical Non-Cognitivism
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem this Theory Addresses
III. The Argument for the Theory
IV. The Argument against the Theory
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
11. It’s All about Freely Made Agreements: Ethical Contractarianism
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem this Theory Addresses
III. The Argument for the Theory
IV. The Argument against the Theory
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
12. It’s all About Your Character: Virtue Ethics
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem this Theory Addresses
III. The Argument for the Theory
IV. The Argument against the Theory
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
13. It’s all About the Team: Utilitarianism
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem this Theory Addresses
III. The Argument for the Theory
IV. The Argument against the Theory
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
14. It’s all About Your Duty: Deontology
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem this Theory Addresses
III. The Argument for the Theory
IV. The Argument against the Theory
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
Part III: Putting it All Together
15. Human Rights
I. Snapshot
II. Supporting Human Rights via Traditional Theories
III. Ethical Realism and Anti-Realism and Human Rights
IV. Ethical Intuitionism and Human Rights
V. Ethical Non-Cognitivism and Human Rights
VI. Ethical Contractarianism and Human Rights
VII. Virtue Ethics and Human Rights
VIII. Utilitarianism and Human Rights
IX. Deontology and Human Rights
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
16. Formulating Your Own Answers
I. Snapshot
II. The Problem
III. The Topography of Theory Evaluation
IV. How to Choose an Ethical Theory
V. Applying Ethical Theory to Contemporary Social/Political Problems
VI. Applying Ethical Theory to Personal Life Decisions
Key Terms
End of Chapter Exercise
Notes
Glossary
Biography
Michael Boylan is Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University. He is the author of 37 books including: A Just Society (2004); Morality and Global Justice (2010); Natural Human Rights: A Theory (2014); Fictive Narrative Philosophy: How Fiction Can Act As Philosophy (2019); and The De Anima Novels and The Arche Novels (ten philosophical novels published between 2007 and 2020). He has been an invited speaker at universities in 15 countries on 5 continents and has served on national governmental policy committees.
Praise for previous editions:
"Basic Ethics is an unusually rewarding text. It takes the student through central topics of normative ethics and metaethics, but it does so in a critical and constructive way that sheds new light on their basic issues. Boylan also adds helpful sections on applied ethics, as well as challenging and illuminating discussion of the importance of personal worldviews—both for moral philosophy and for human life as a whole. The book is written in a style that is at once engaging and rigorous."
Alan Gewirth, University of Chicago"I really like the underlying theme of a worldview throughout the book. The opportunity for students to reflect on values, where they stem from, and what is right and wrong and why is something everyone should explore."
Jeff Anstine, North Central College, Naperville, IL"Basic Ethics nicely combines a survey of the main contending ethical theories with a reasonable procedure for enabling students to select among these. It should make an excellent text!"
James Sterba, University of Notre Dame
