>Date: Thu, 2 Nov 1995 15:02:25 -0800 (PST) >From: Sara Baase >To: libprofs >Subject: Ethics books - list Libprofs, A few people asked, so here is the list of ethics books recommended by libprofs members. Sara ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Louis Pojman's *Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong* (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1990). Pojman's book has chapters on ethical relativism and its problems, egoism, standard ethical theories from utilitarianism to Kantian deontological systems, virtue ethics, as well as chapters on the so-called fact-value dichotomy and the relationship between religion and ethics. Good introductory work. Louis Pojman, *Ethical Theory* (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1995) An anthology that looks pretty good. It contains material of varying levels of difficulty. It covers all the major areas in ethics with selections from contemporary and classical sources. It's a big book but if you want a good comprehensive historical and contemporary overview of ethical theory, this might be the book for you. Joe Ellin, _Morality and the Meaning of Life_ (HBJ 1994). The BEST ethics textbook of the one-author monograph type. It is to my knowledge absolutely unequalled. James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York: McGraw Hill, 1993) Quite good but not a match for Joe Ellin's in terms of the informedness and sophistication of its arguments. James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York: McGraw Hill, 1993) A low-level introduction to ethical theory. It is brief, well written, and competent. However, it does not pursue the issues very far and is written for lower-level undergraduates. J.L. Mackie's ETHICS: Inventing Right and Wrong Jan Narveson, Business Ethics Jan Narveson *Moral Matters* (Ontario: Broadview Press, 1993) More applied ethics than ethical theory, but he does have some material on ethical theory, and he writes from a libertarian perspective. John Hospers and Willard Sellars, Readings in Contemporary Ethical Theory It contains only the classic papers on ethics in the 20th century. Mary Midgley, THE ETHICAL PRIMATE, HUMANS, FREEDOM AND MORALITY (Routledge, 1994) This is one theory, not an introdudction. Robert L. Holmes, BASIC MORAL PHILOSOPHY (Wadsworth, 1993) Pretty good at explaining things but some of the distinction are a bit tedious. M. F. Wagner's AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO MORAL PHILOSOPHY Tibor Machan, A PRIMER ON ETHICS, excerpted from INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRIES (originally Allyn & Bacon, now University Press of America). Fred Foldvary, The Soul of Liberty It presents one ethical theory, but it might be useful for presenting Locken theory. ============================================================================== >Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 10:56:59 +1000 >To: libprofs >From: shejpsci@fac.anu.edu.au (Jeremy Shearmur) >Subject: ethics books Sara's *listing* of ethics books has provoked what should have been my response in the first place: David McNaughton's *Moral Vision*, Oxford: Blackwell, 1988, which combines ethical and epistemological argument, and, in addition to providing a lively guide through various debates about meta-ethical issues, also sets out a provocative case for a non-naturalistic, particularist ethical realism. In recommending it - and in my view, while of a 'bread-and-butter' character, it is the most stimulating work on meta-ethics that I have ever read - I am not saying that I agree with all his arguments or all his conclusions. But his book seems to me worth much more interest than it has received, and I would have thought it particularly useful to put into the hands of students - and others - who are ethical subjectivists, and believe that theirs is the only cogent view. Jeremy Shearmur, Political Science, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia =========================================================================== >From: EVERS@HOOVER.STANFORD.EDU >Date: Fri, 03 Nov 1995 09:11:29 -0800 (PST) >Subject: a note on robert l holmes >To: LIBPROFS I have not read Holmes's Basic Moral Philosophy. But I have read his On War and Morality and various journal articles by him. He is superb: libertarian, careful, thorough. --Bill Evers