Disputed Moral Issues

Mark Timmons is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. He is the author of Moral Theory: An Introduction, Second Edition (2012), and the editor of Conduct and Character: Readings in Moral Theory, Sixth Edition (2011), and the annually published Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics. Joshua Glasgow is Professor of Philosophy at Sonoma State University. His other books include The Solace: Finding Value in Death through Gratitude for Life (Oxford University Press, 2020) and the co-authored What Is Race? Four Philosophical Views (Oxford University Press, 2019).

Preface
User's Guide

1. A Moral Theory Primer
1. What Is a Moral Theory?
2. Eight Essential Moral Theories
A. Consequentialism
B. Natural Law Theory
C. Kantian Moral Theory
D. Rights-Based Moral Theory
E. Ethics of Prima Facie Duty
F. Social Contract Theory
G. Virtue Ethics
H. Care Ethics
3. Coping with Many Moral Theories

2. Moral Theory Selections
Mark Timmons / Why I Am Not a Moral Relativist (and Neither Are You)
J. S. Mill / Utilitarianism
St. Thomas Aquinas / Treatise on Law
Immanuel Kant / The Moral Law
John Locke / Natural Rights
W. D. Ross / What Makes Right Actions Right?
John Rawls / A Theory of Justice
Aristotle / Virtue and Character
Stephanie Collins / Care Ethics: The Four Key Claims
Additional Resources

3. Sex
John Finnis / Law, Morality, and 'Sexual Orientation'
John Corvino / What's Wrong with Homosexuality?
Karamvir Chadha / Sex and Consent
Robin West / The Harms of Consensual Sex
Joan McGregor / What Is the Harm of Rape?
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

4. Freedom of Speech
J. S. Mill / On Liberty
Andrew Altman / Speech Codes and Expressive Harm
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt / The Coddling of the American Mind
Kate Manne / Why I Use Trigger Warnings
Robert Mark Simpson and Amia Srinivasan / No Platforming
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

5. Drugs
Michael Huemer / America's Unjust Drug War
Peter de Marneffe / Decriminalize, Don't Legalize
Robert E. Goodin / Permissible Paternalism: Saving Smokers From Themselves
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

6. Racism
J. L. A. Garcia / The Heart of Racism
Tommie Shelby / Is Racism in the "Heart"?
Myisha Cherry / State Racism, State Violence, and Vulnerable Solidarity
Daniel Kelly and Erica Roedder / Racial Cognition and the Ethics of Implicit Bias
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

7. The Ethics of Immigration
Stephen Macedo / The Moral Dilemma of U.S. Immigration Policy: Open Borders versus Social Justice?
Joseph H. Carens / Migration and Morality: A Liberal Egalitarian Perspective
Christopher Heath Wellman / Immigration and Freedom of Association
Sarah Fine / Freedom of Association Is Not the Answer
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

8. Euthanasia
Leon R. Kass / Why Doctor's Must Not Kill
Dan Brock / Voluntary Active Euthanasia
David Velleman / Against the Right to Die
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

9. Abortion
John Noonan / An Almost Absolute Value in History Mary Ann Warren / On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion
Don Marquis / Why Abortion Is Immoral
Judith Jarvis Thomson / A Defense of Abortion
Margaret Olivia Little / The Moral Complexities of Abortion
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

10. Emerging Technology
Shannon Vallor / Moral Deskilling and Upskilling in a New Machine Age: Reflections on the Ambiguous Future of Character
Michael J. Sandel / The Case Against Perfection
Frances M. Kamm / Is There a Problem with Enhancement?
Antti Kauppinen / Who Should Bear the Risk When Self-Driving Vehicles Crash
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

11. Guns
Hugh LaFollette / Gun Control
Michael Huemer / Is There a Right to Own a Gun?
Nicholas Dixon / Gun Control, Philosophers, and a Right to Self Defense
Timothy Hsiao / How to Think About the Gun Control Debate
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources


12. The Death Penalty
Igor Primoratz / Justifying the Death Penalty
Stephen Nathanson / An Eye for an Eye?
Ernest van den Haag / A Defense of the Death Penalty
Jeffrey H. Reiman / Civilization, Safety, and Deterrence
Michael Cholbi and Alex Madva / Black Lives Matter and the Call for Death Penalty Abolition
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

13. War and Terrorism
Jonathan Parry / War and Moral Consistency
Cheyney Ryan / Pacifism
Suzanne Uniacke / The Wrongness of Terrorism
Daniel Statman / Drones and Robots: On the Changing Practice of Warfare
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

14. Global Poverty
Garrett Hardin / Lifeboat Ethics
Peter Singer / The Life You Can Save
John Arthur / World Hunger and Moral Obligation
Elizabeth Ashford / Severe Poverty as an Unjust Emergency
Onora O'Neill / Rights, Obligations, and World Hunger
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

15. The Ethical Treatment of Animals
Peter Singer / All Animals Are Equal
Alastair Norcross / Puppies, Pigs, and People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases
Donald W. Bruckner / The Vegan's Dilemma
Lori Gruen / Experimenting with Animals
Philip Kitcher / Experimental Animals
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

16. Climate Change
Stephen M. Gardiner / A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics, and the Problem of Moral Corruption
Kyle Powys Whyte / Way Beyond the Lifeboat: An Indigenous Allegory of Climate Justice
Jonathan H. Adler / A Conservative's Approach to Combatting Climate Change
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong / It's Not My Fault: Global Warming and Individual Moral Obligations
Marion Hourdequin / Climate, Collective Action, and Individual Ethical Obligations
Cases for Analysis
Additional Resources

Appendix
Glossary