The Fundamentals of Ethics

出版者:OUP USA

作者:Russ Shafer-Landau

页数:338

出版时间:2011-8-4

价格:GBP 26.06

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780199773558

具体描述

The broadest—yet also concise—introduction to moral philosophy "The writing is as clear as any I've seen in a philosophy textbook."—Jeffrey Brand-Ballard, George Washington University

In The Fundamentals of Ethics, Second Edition, author Russ Shafer-Landau employs a uniquely engaging writing style to introduce students to the essential ideas of moral philosophy. Offering more comprehensive coverage of the good life, normative ethics, and metaethics than any other text of its kind, this book also addresses issues that are often omitted from other texts, such as the doctrine of doing and allowing, the doctrine of double effect, ethical particularism, the desire-satisfaction theory of well-being, and moral error theory. Shafer-Landau carefully reconstructs and analyzes dozens of arguments in depth, at a level that is understandable to students with no prior philosophical background.

Ideal for courses in introductory ethics and contemporary moral problems, this book can be used as a stand-alone text or with the author's companion reader, The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems, Second Edition, which offers original readings on ethical theory and contemporary moral problems.

作者简介

Russ Shafer-Landau is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. He is the editor of The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems, Second Edition (OUP, 2011), which is designed to be used along with this textbook.

目录信息

Table of Contents
Preface
New to the Second Edition
Instructor's Manual and Companion Website
A Note on the Companion Volume
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
The Lay of the Land
Skepticism about Ethics
Ethical Starting Points
Moral Reasoning
The Role of Moral Theory
Looking Ahead
PART ONE: The Good Life
Hedonism: Its Powerful Appeal
Happiness and Intrinsic Value
The Attractions of Hedonism
There Are Many Models of a Good Life
Personal Authority and Well-Being
Misery Clearly Hampers a Good Life; Happiness Clearly Improves It
The Limits of Explanation
Rules of the Good Life-and Their Exceptions
Happiness Is What We Want for Our Loved Ones
Is Happiness All That Matters
The Paradox of Hedonism
Evil Pleasures
The Two Worlds
False Happiness
The Importance of Autonomy
Life's Trajectory
Unhappiness as a Symptom of Harm
Conclusion
Getting What You Want
A Variety of Good Lives
Personal Authority
Avoiding Objective Values
Motivation
Justifying the Pursuit of Self-Interest
Knowledge of the Good
Problems for the Desire Theory
Getting What You Want May Not Be Necessary for Promoting Your Good
Getting What You Want May Not Be Sufficient for Promoting Your Good
Desires Based on False Beliefs
Disinterested and Other-Regarding Desires
Disappointment
Ignorance of Desire Satisfaction
Impoverished Desires
The Paradox of Self-Harm and Self-Sacrifice
The Fallibility of Our Deepest Desires
Conclusion
PART TWO: Doing the Right Thing
Morality and Religion
Three Assumptions About Religion and Morality
First Assumption: Religious Belief Is Needed for Moral Motivation
Second Assumption: God Is the Creator of Morality
Third Assumption: Religion Is an Essential Source of Moral Guidance
Conclusion
Natural Law
The Theory and Its Attractions
Two Conceptions of Human Nature
Human Nature Is What Is Innately Human
Human Nature Is What All Humans Have in Common
Natural Purposes
The Argument from Humanity
Conclusion
Psychological Egoism
Egoism and Altruism
Does it Matter whether Psychological Egoism is True
The Argument from Our Strongest Desires
The Argument from Expected Benefit
The Argument from Avoiding Misery
Two Egoistic Strategies
Appealing to the Guilty Conscience
Expanding the Realm of Self-Interest
Letting the Evidence Decide
Conclusion
Ethical Egoism
Why Be Moral
Two Popular Arguments for Ethical Egoism
The Self-Reliance Argument
The Libertarian Argument
The Best Argument for Ethical Egoism
Three Problems for Ethical Egoism
Egoism Violates Core Moral Beliefs
Egoism Cannot Allow for the Existence of Moral Rights
Egoism Arbitrarily Makes My Interests All-Important
Conclusion
Consequentialism: Its Nature and Attractions
The Nature of Consequentialism
Its Structure
Maximizing Goodness
Moral Knowledge
Actual versus Expected Results
Assessing Actions and Intentions
The Attractions of Utilitarianism
Impartiality
The Ability to Justify Conventional Moral Wisdom
Conflict Resolution
Moral Flexibility
The Scope of the Moral Community
Consequentialism: Its Difficulties
Measuring Well-Being
Utilitarianism Is Very Demanding
Deliberation
Motivation
Action
Impartiality
No Intrinsic Wrongness (or Rightness)
The Problem of Injustice
Potential Solutions to the Problem of Injustice
Justice Is Also Intrinsically Valuable
Injustice Is Never Optimific
Justice Must Sometimes Be Sacrificed
Rule Consequentialism
Conclusion
The Kantian Perspective: Fairness and Justice
Consistency and Fairness
The Principle of Universalizability
Morality and Rationality
Assessing the Principle of Universalizability Integrity
Kant on Absolute Moral Duties
The Kantian Perspective: Autonomy and Respect
The Principle of Humanity
The Importance of Rationality and Autonomy
The Good Will and Moral Worth
Five Problems with the Principle of Humanity
Vagueness
Determining Just Deserts
Are We Autonomous
Moral Luck
The Scope of the Moral Community
Conclusion
The Social Contract Tradition: The Theory and Its Attractions
The Lure of Proceduralism
The Background of the Social Contract Theory
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Cooperation and the State of Nature
The Advantages of Contractarianism
Morality Is Essentially a Social Phenomenon
Contractarianism Explains and Justifies the Content of the Basic Moral Rules
Contractarianism Offers a Method for Justifying Every Moral Rule
Contractarianism Explains the Objectivity of Morality
Contractarianism Explains Why It Is Sometimes Acceptable to Break the Moral Rules
More Advantages: Morality and the Law
Contractarianism Justifies a Basic Moral Duty to Obey the Law
The Contractarian Justification of Legal Punishment
Contractarianism Justifies the State's Role in Criminal Law
Contractarianism and Civil Disobedience
The Social Contract Tradition: Problems and Prospects
Why Be Moral
The Role of Consent
Disagreement Among the Contractors
The Scope of the Moral Community
Conclusion
Ethical Pluralism and Absolute Moral Rules
The Structure of Moral Theories
Is Torture Always Immoral?
Preventing Catastrophes
The Doctrine of Double Effect
A Reply to the Argument from Disaster Prevention
How the DDE Threatens Act Consequentialism
Distinguishing Intention from Foresight
Moral Conflict and Contradiction
Is Moral Absolutism Irrational
The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing
Conclusion
Ethical Pluralism: Prima Facie Duties and Ethical Particularism
Ross's Ethic of Prima Facie Duties
The Advantages of Ross's View
Pluralism
We Are Sometimes Permitted to Break the Moral Rules
Moral Conflict
Moral Regret
Addressing the Anti-Absolutist Arguments
A Problem for Ross's View
Knowing the Fundamental Moral Rules
Skepticism
Coherentism
Self-Evidence
Self-Evidence and the Testing of Moral Theories
Knowing the Right Thing to Do
Ethical Particularism
Three Problems for Ethical Particularism
Its Lack of Unity
Accounting for Moral Knowledge
Some Things Possess Permanent Moral Importance
Conclusion
Virtue Ethics
The Standard of Right Action
Moral Complexity
Moral Understanding
Moral Education
The Nature of Virtue
Virtue and the Good Life
Objections
Tragic Dilemmas
Does Virtue Ethics Offer Adequate Moral Guidance?
Is Virtue Ethics Too Demanding?
Who Are the Moral Role Models?
Conflict and Contradiction
The Priority Problem
Conclusion
Feminist Ethics
The Elements of Feminist Ethics
Moral Development
Women's Experience
The Ethics of Care
The Importance of Emotions
Against Unification
Against Impartiality and Abstraction
Against Competition
Downplaying Rights
Challenges for Feminist Ethics
Conclusion
PART THREE: The Status of Morality
Ethical Relativism
Moral Skepticism
Two Kinds of Ethical Relativism
Some Implications of Ethical Subjectivism and Cultural Relativism
Moral Infallibility
Moral Equivalence
No Intrinsic Value
Questioning Our Own Commitments
Moral Progress
Ethical Subjectivism and The Problem of Contradiction
Cultural Relativism and The Problem of Contradiction Ideal Observers
Conclusion
Moral Nihilism
Error Theory
Expressivism
How Is It Possible to Argue Logically About Morality?
Expressivism and Amoralists
The Nature of Moral Judgment
Conclusion
Ten Arguments Against Moral Objectivity
Objectivity Requires Absolutism
All Truth Is Subjective
Equal Rights Imply Equal Plausibility
Moral Objectivity Supports Dogmatism
Moral Objectivity Supports Intolerance
Moral Disagreement Undermines Moral Objectivity
Atheism Undermines Moral Objectivity
The Absence of Categorical Reasons Undermines Moral Objectivity
Moral Motivation Undermines Moral Objectivity
Values Have No Place in a Scientific World
Conclusion
References
Suggestions for Further Reading
Glossary
· · · · · · (收起)

用户评价

当我翻开《道德的基石》时，我并没有抱有过高的期待，毕竟“道德”这个话题本身就充满了争议和复杂性。然而，这本书却一次又一次地让我惊喜。作者的笔触非常细腻，他能够将一些非常深奥的哲学概念，用通俗易懂的语言表达出来，同时又不失其严谨性。我尤其喜欢书中关于“道德责任”的探讨，它不仅讨论了个体在日常行为中的责任，还深入到社会层面，探讨了企业、政府等集体组织所应承担的道德责任。这让我开始思考，我们作为一个社会成员，除了对自己负责之外，是否还有更大的责任去关注和改善那些影响到我们共同生活的社会问题。这本书让我意识到，道德不仅仅是关于个人的品德，更是一种集体性的追求，需要我们共同努力去实现。

我必须说，《道德的基石》是一本极具挑战性的书，它迫使我走出舒适区，去面对那些我一直回避的道德难题。书中关于“人性的本质”的讨论，以及它与道德行为之间的关系，对我来说是一个巨大的启示。我们是否天生就是自私的，还是我们天生就具有同情心？道德的出现，是为了约束我们人性的阴暗面，还是为了发扬我们人性的光辉？这些问题，在书中得到了非常深入的探讨。作者引用了大量的心理学、社会学研究成果，并将它们与哲学思想相结合，形成了一种全新的视角，让我能够从更广阔的层面去理解道德的根源。

我不得不说，《道德的基石》是一本在各个方面都令人印象深刻的书籍。它不仅仅是对道德理论的梳理，更是一次深刻的自我反省之旅。作者对于“同情心”在道德生活中的作用的分析，让我深受触动。我们是否仅仅因为同情心而做出道德行为，还是说，同情心本身就是一种美德？这本书让我开始审视自己与他人的关系，以及我在群体生活中所应扮演的角色。它提醒我，道德不仅仅是规则和原则的遵守，更是一种情感的联结，一种对他人的关怀和责任。这本书的广度和深度，让我对“道德”这个概念有了全新的、更全面的认识。

我最近有幸拜读了《道德的基石》，一本真正能够引发思考的书籍，尽管它探讨的是抽象的哲学概念，但作者以一种极为引人入胜的方式将它们呈现出来，让我对许多日常生活中习以为常的道德判断有了全新的认识。这本书不仅仅是对现有道德理论的梳理，更像是提供了一套探索道德世界的地图，指引读者去理解我们行为背后的驱动力，以及我们为何认为某些行为是“对”或“错”。我尤其被书中关于“意图”与“结果”在道德评估中所扮演角色的讨论所吸引。常常在新闻报道中，我们会看到因为某个行为产生了意想不到的负面后果，而行为者的初衷可能是良好的。这本书深入剖析了在这样的情境下，我们应该如何权衡，是更看重行为者的意图，还是更在意最终造成的实际损害。它并没有给出一个简单的答案，而是通过层层递进的论证，让我们体会到道德决策的复杂性与微妙之处。

《道德的基石》是一本真正能够“启智”的书，它不是那种让你在阅读时感到轻松愉悦的书，但它绝对是一本让你在合上书本后，仍然久久不能平静的书。我特别喜欢书中关于“道德直觉”与“理性反思”之间关系的探讨。我们往往依靠直觉来判断事物，但在复杂的道德情境下，直觉可能并不可靠。这本书鼓励我们去运用理性，去分析，去权衡，去审视我们的直觉，从而做出更明智的道德决策。它提供了一种方法论，一种思考道德问题的方式，这对于任何想要在生活中做出更好道德选择的人来说，都是无价之宝。

阅读《道德的基石》的过程，就像是在进行一场心灵的冒险。我被书中关于“自由意志”与“决定论”的讨论深深吸引。如果我们的行为都是由先前的因果链决定的，那么我们是否还能为自己的行为负责？如果道德判断需要基于行为者的自由选择，那么在决定论的世界里，道德是否还有存在的空间？这些问题，让我对“责任”和“惩罚”的本质产生了新的思考。这本书并非提供简单的答案，而是通过对这些哲学难题的深入剖析，让我能够更清晰地认识到，我们所处的现实世界，以及我们在其中所做的每一个选择，都可能与更宏大的哲学命题息息相关。

不得不说，《道德的基石》给我带来了前所未有的思想冲击。这本书的独特之处在于，它并没有试图强加某种特定的道德观给你，而是提供了一个思考的框架，鼓励读者自己去构建和完善自己的道德体系。我之所以这么说，是因为书中关于“道德直觉”的讨论，以及它在道德推理中所扮演的角色，让我产生了很多共鸣。我们常常会有一种“感觉”，觉得某件事情是对的，而另一件事情是错的，这种感觉往往是基于我们长久以来形成的价值观和道德规范。但这本书提醒我们，这种直觉并非总是可靠的，它可能受到文化、社会环境甚至个人偏见的影响。因此，我们需要通过理性的分析和批判性的思考，去审视和检验我们的道德直觉，确保它们是建立在坚实的基础之上，而不是凭空产生的。

《道德的基石》在我心目中占据了一个非常特殊的地位，它不是那种读完就可以束之高阁的书，而是会让你反复咀嚼，不断从中汲取新的养分。我特别欣赏作者在书中对不同道德学说的对比分析，例如功利主义、义务论、德性伦理学等等。他并没有简单地罗列这些学说，而是通过生动的案例和深入浅出的解释，展现了它们各自的优势和局限性，以及它们在面对现实生活中的道德困境时，会给出怎样的不同解读。这让我深刻地意识到，我们所熟悉的许多道德原则，比如“不撒谎”、“要诚实”，背后都有着深厚的哲学根基，而且不同的哲学体系，对这些原则的侧重点和解释方式也大相径庭。书中关于“公正”的探讨更是让我印象深刻，它引申出了关于资源分配、社会责任以及个体权利等一系列至关重要的问题，让我开始重新审视自己对社会公平的理解，以及我在其中所扮演的角色。

《道德的基石》不仅让我增长了知识，更重要的是，它改变了我看待世界的方式。我发现，在许多看似无关紧要的日常互动中，都潜藏着深刻的道德含义。书中关于“利他主义”的分析，让我开始重新审视那些我们习以为常的帮助行为，以及在这些行为背后，是否存在着更深层次的道德动机。有时候，我们会帮助别人，是因为我们希望得到回报，有时候，我们又会毫不犹豫地伸出援手，即使知道自己可能不会有任何回报。这本书引导我去探索这些动机的根源，并理解它们在道德评估中所扮演的角色。它让我更加珍视那些纯粹的善意，也更加警惕那些隐藏在利他行为背后的自私动机。

《道德的基石》这本书，用一种我从未想过的方式，解构了我对“善”与“恶”的认知。我一直以为，善恶的界限是清晰的，但这本书却让我看到了许多模糊的地带，以及在这些地带中，道德判断的艰难。书中关于“道德相对主义”和“道德普遍主义”的辩论，让我对不同文化背景下的道德规范有了更深的理解。它提出了这样一个问题：是否存在一套普世的道德原则，适用于所有人类，无论其文化背景如何？这个问题看似简单，但它的答案却牵扯到我们对人性和社会的根本看法。这本书并没有直接给出答案，而是引导我一步步去思考，去探索，最终让我形成了自己对于这个问题的初步看法。

Textbook. Informative but not insightful

写的非常清晰，很佩服美国人的哲学训练水平。

写的非常清晰，很佩服美国人的哲学训练水平。

清晰，连贯，实例

读到chap14，觉得是本语言简明的ethics入门小书，不满意的地方是，对Kant的理论只有辩驳，所以讲的不太完善。和老师商讨的时候老师也说普遍评价是这本书对Kant的理论有偏颇。