Spring 2016 Philosophy 221 Contemporary moral issues Course packet Dr. Eric Carter North Carolina State University
Contents I Ethical thought in the seventies: Abortion, social justice, and euthanasia 1 1 A defense of abortion Judith Jarvis Thomson 3 2 A theory of justice John Rawls 25 3 Famine, influence, and abortion Peter Singer 49 4 Active and passive euthanasia James Rachels 65 5 The morality and rationality of suicide Richard Brandt 69 6 Active and passive euthanasia: An impertinent distinction Thomas D. Sullivan 79 II Studies in normative ethics: Virtue, goodwill, and utility 87 7 Euthyphro Plato 89 8 What is a moral theory? Mark Timmons 99 9 Nichomachean ethics Aristotle 107 10 Of duties to the body, with regard to life and of suicide Immanuel Kant 129 11 Groundwork to the metaphysicsof morals Immanuel Kant 137 vi
Contents vii 12 Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill 161 13 The challenge of cultural relativism James Rachels 173 14 Coping with many moral theories Mark Timmons 185 III Contemporary ethical thought: Abortion, social justice, and euthanasia 191 15 More impertinent distinctions James Rachels 193 16 The moral perplexities of famine and world poverty Onora O Neill 197 17 A Kantian argument against abortion Harry Gensler 205 18 Abortion Sumner 223 19 Property and hunger Amartya Sen 247 20 Why abortion is immoral Donald Marquis 255 21 Virtue theory and abortion Rosiland Hursthouse 271 22 Abortion, intimacy, and the duty to gestate Margaret Little 287 Bibliography 297
Bibliography Aristotle (1984). The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Brandt, R. B. (1975). The morality and rationality of suicide. In S. Perlin (Ed.), A Handbook for the Study of Suicide, Oxford, pp. 0 0. Oxford University Press. Gensler, H. J. (1986, January). A kantian argument against abortion. Philosophical Studies 49(1), 83 98. Hursthouse, R. (1991, Summer). Virtue theory and abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs 20(3), 223 236. Kant, I. (1784/2001). Of duties to the body, with regard to life. In P. Heath and J. B. Schneewind (Eds.), Lectures on Ethics, Cambridge, pp. 144 151. Cambridge University Press. Kant, I. (1840/1993). Grounding for the metaphysics of morals; On a supposed right to lie because of philanthropic concerns (Third ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company. Little, M. O. (1999). Abortion, intimacy, and the duty to gestate. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 2, 295 312. Marquis, D. (1989, April). Why abortion is immoral. The Journal of Philosophy 86(4), 183 202. Mill, J. S. (1863/1961). Utilitarianism. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company. O Neill, O. (1986). The moral perplexities of famine and world hunger, pp. 322 329. New York: Random House. Plato (1997). Euthyphro. In J. M. Cooper (Ed.), Plato: Complete Works, Indianapolis, pp. 1 16. Hackett Publishing Company. Tranlated by Grube, G. M. A. Rachels, J. (1975). Active and passive euthanasia. The New England Journal of Medicine 292(2), 78 80. Rachels, J. (1981). More impertinent distinctions. In T. A. Mappes and J. S. Zembaty (Eds.), Biomedical Ethics, New York, pp. 355 358. McGraw-Hill Book Company. Rachels, J. and S. Rachels (2010). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (Sixth ed.). New York: McGraw- Hill Higher Education. Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Sen, A. (1988). Property and hunger. 4, 57 68. Singer, P. (1972, Spring). Famine, affluence, and morality. Philosophy Public Affairs 1(3), 229 243. 297
298 Bibliography Sullivan, T. D. (1977). Active and passive euthanasia: an impertinent distinction? The Human Life Review III(3), 40 45. Sumner, L. W. (1987). Abortion. In D. VanDeVeer and T. Regan (Eds.), Health care ethics, Philadelphia, pp. 162 181. Temple university press. Thomson, J. J. (1971). A defense of abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs 1(1), 47 66. Timmons, M. (2007). A moral theory primer. In M. Timmons (Ed.), Disputed Issues: A Reader, Oxford, pp. 1 35. Oxford University Press.