Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues

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ISBN: 9780073535906 | 0073535907
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 1/20/2011

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Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues invites readers to apply ethical principles to issues that exemplity the kinds of moral challenges encountered in everyday life. If provides an overview of the need for ethics and then focuses on strategies for effective decision making. Ruggiero emphasizes doing ethical analysis rather than comparing ethical theories. The history of ethics is covered in the concluding chapter. Book jacket.

preface	p. v
The Context
The Need for Ethics	p. 2
Why do we need ethics? We have laws to protect people's rights. If the laws are enforced, what need have we of further rules?
The Role of the Majority View	p. 24
Is the basis for deciding moral values the majority view? In other words, if the majority of the citizens of our country should decide that a particular action is right, would that very decision make the action right?
The Role of Feelings	p. 31
If the majority view does not determine the rightness of an action, should each person decide on the basis of her or his own feelings, desires, preferences?
The Role of Conscience	p. 40
If feelings are no better a guide than the majority view, is the basis of morality each person's own conscience? How trustworthy is conscience?
Comparing Cultures	p. 52
If an action that is praised in one culture may be condemned in another, would it be correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in? Isn't it a mark of ignorance to pass judgment on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than another?
A Strategy
A Foundation for Judgment	p. 68
If both individuals and cultures can be mistaken in their moral reasoning, we need a basis for evaluating their judgment. If the majority view, feelings, and conscience do not provide that basis, what does?
The Basic Criteria	p. 79
What is really good for us? What criteria and approaches are most effective in examining moral issues? What pitfalls other than relativism and absolutism should we be aware of and strive to avoid?
Considering Obligations	p. 100
What do we do in situations where there is more than a single obligation How can we reconcile conflicting obligations?
Considering Moral Ideals	p. 111
How can we reconcile conflicts between moral ideals or between a moral ideal and an obligation?
Considering Consequences	p. 122
How do we deal with cases in which the consequences are not neatly separable into good and bad, but are mixed?
Determing Moral Responsibility	p. 134
How do we determine whether a person is responsible for her or his immoral actions? Are there degrees of responsibility?
Te Tradition
A Perspective on History	p. 144
When did the study of ethics begin? Who were the great thinkers in the history of ethics? What contributions did they make?
Contemporary Ethical Controversies
Educationp	p. 155
Media and the Arts	p. 159
Sex	p. 163
Government	p. 166
Law	p. 170
Business	p. 174
Medicine	p. 178
Science	p. 183
War	p. 187
Afterword: A Suggestion for Further Study	p. 190
Appendix: Writing About Moral Issues	p. 192
Notes	p. 199
Index	p. 204
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Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues

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