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Ethics
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What is ethics? Where does it come from? Can we really hope to find any rational way of deciding how we ought to live? If we can, what would it be like, and how are we going to know when we have found it? This book is not a conventional reader in moral philosophy. To capture the essentials of what we know about the origins and nature of ethics, Peter Singer has drawn on anthropology, history, observation of non-human animals, the theory of evolution, game theory, and works of fiction, in addition to moral philosophy. By choosing some of the finest pieces of writing, old and new, in and about ethics, he conveys the intellectual excitement of the search for basic questions about how we ought to live.
Introduction
PART I: THE NATURE OF ETHICS: ITS ORIGINS, VARIATIONS, AND BASIS
A. The Long Search for the Origins of Ethics
Introduction
1. Morality as the Advantage of the Stranger: A Debate between Socrates and Thrasymachus ,
2. Moral Virtue, How Produced ,
3. Are Humans Good by Nature? A Debate between Chinese Sages ,
4. Of the Natural Condition of Mankind and the Laws of Nature ,
5. The Natural State of Man ,
6. Affection of Humanity: The Foundation of Morals ,
7. The Noble Descent of Duty ,
8. The Material Basis of Morality ,
9. The Origin of the Moral Sense ,
10. The Origins of Herd Morality ,
11. The Cultural Super-Ego ,
12. In a Different Voice ,
B. Common Themes in Primate Ethics
Introduction
I. Kinship
13. Helping Kin in Chimpanzees ,
14. A Universal Duty ,
15. The Genetic Basis of Kinship ,
II. Reciprocity
16. Chimpanzee Justice ,
17. Live and Let Live ,
18. Reciprocal Gift-Giving among the !Kung ,
19. The Kula Ring ,
20. A Single Word ,
21. The Law of Hammurabi
22. Turn the Other Cheek ,
23. The Whole Torah, while Standing on One Foot ,
24. The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism ,
25. Tit for Tat ,
III. Sexual Morality
26. Incest Avoidance among Chimpanzees ,
27. The Horror of Incest ,
28. The Social Rules of Chimpanzee Sex ,
29. Adultery among the !Kung ,
30. Incest and Adultery ,
31. A Commentary on the Sixth Commandment ,
32. The Double Standard ,
C. The Role of Reason
Introduction
33. Reason and Passion ,
34. Pure Practical Reason and the Moral Law ,
35. Addin Ethical Substance to Kant's Empty Formalism ,
36. The Axioms of Ethics ,
37. Society the School, Custom the Headmaster ,
38. A Lecture on Ethics ,
39. Ethics for Logical Positivists ,
40. Condemned to Be Free ,
41. The Objective Basis of Morality ,
42. The Argument from Queerness ,
43. Evolution and the Basis of Morality ,
44. Reason, Gender and Moral Theory ,
45. Realism ,
PART II: THE CONTENT OF ETHICS: JUDGING GOOD OUTCOMES AND RIGHT ACTS
A. Ultimate Good
Introduction
46. The Ceasing of Woe ,
47. The End for Human Nature ,
48. The Pursuit of Pleasure ,
49. A Stoic View of Life ,
50. The Sermon on the Mount ,
51. The Saints of the Desert ,
52. Story of a Good Brahmin ,
53. Push-Pin and Poetry ,
54. Higher and Lower Pleasures ,
55. Good as the Satisfaction of Demands ,
56. Desirable Consciousness ,
57. Beauty and Friendship ,
58. Truth and Ahimsa ,
59. The Right to Be Unhappy ,
60. The Myth of Sisyphus ,
61. The Experience Machine ,
62. The Basic Values ,
63. What Makes Someone's Life Go Best? ,
B. Deciding What Is Right
Introduction
I. Natural Law, Natural Rights
|c. a. The Theory
64. Of the Natural Law ,
65. Our Rights in the State of Nature ,
66. Declaration On Euthanasia ,
67. Absolute Human Rights ,
68. The Rationality of Side Constraints ,
69. Moral Aspects of Sterility Tests ,
b. Criticism
70. Provincial Letters ,
71. Natural Rights ,
72. On Nature ,
II. Kant's Ethics of Duty
a. The Theory
73. The Categorical Imperative ,
74. On a Supposed Right to Lie from Altruistic Motives ,
b. Criticism
75. Maria von Herbert's Challenge to Kant ,
76. The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn ,
III. Consequentialism
a. The Theory
77. The Principle of Utility ,
78. The Archbishop and the Chambermaid ,
79. Issues for Utilitarians ,
80. Desert Island Promises ,
81. The Structure of Ethics and Morals ,
b. Criticism
82. Ivan's Challenge ,
83. The Personal Character of Duty ,
84. The Separateness of Persons ,
85. Jim and the Indians ,
86. Moral Saints ,
IV. Contract Ethics
a. The Theory
87. The Separateness of Persons ,
88. Why Contractarianism? ,
b. Criticism
89. Duties concerning Islands ,
Epilogue
90. How Both Human History and the History of Ethics May be Just Beginning ,
Select Bibliography
Biographical Notes
Index
Edited by Peter Singer, Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University