The Moral of the Story An Anthology of Ethics Through Literature

Throughout history, great writers have wrestled with the ethical questions that define human experience. In the Moral of the Story, Peter and Renata Singer draw on some of the best works of fiction, playwriting, and poetry in order to shed light on the perennial questions of ethics. Featuring over 70 texts, this colorful collection includes excerpts from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice on love, marriage and sex; Charles Dickens's Bleak House on the duties of parents to their children; Nick Hornby's How to be Good on what we owe to others; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein on new life forms; Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird on rules, rights and duties; and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World on ultimate values. In their commentary, the editors indicate the main ethical issues raised by each text, and link these to important philosophical discussions. Assuming no prior knowledge of moral philosophy or literature, this unique Anthology provides readers with a fresh perspective on real-life moral issues.

Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University. He is the author of Animal Liberation (1975), and is widely credited with triggering the modern animal rights movement. His other books include Practical Ethics (1979), Rethinking Life and Death (1995) and One World (2002). He is also the editor of A Companion to Ethics (Blackwell, 1991), In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave (Blackwell, 2005), and, with Helga Kuhse, of A Companion to Bioethics (Blackwell, 1999) and Bioethics: An Anthology (Blackwell, 1999). A collection of his best essays on ethics, Unsanctifying Human Life, edited by Helga Kuhse, was published by Blackwell in 2002.

Renata Singer has taught in Oxfordshire and New Jersey, developed anti-racist programs in Sydney and written about development programs in South Africa, El Salvador, and Ethiopia. Her first novel, The Front of the Family,was published in 2002. Among her non-fiction works are the books True Stories from the Land of Divorce (with Nelly Zola, 1995) and Goodbye and Hello (with Susie Orzech, 1985).