The aim of REASON AND INSIGHT is twofold: first, to provide a comprehensive, multicultural introduction to ethics
that includes substantial selections from the main Western and Eastern philosophies and religious traditions, and
second, to enable students to explore how these perspectives are applied to a range of contemporary moral problems.
Beginning with an engaging, accessible introduction to fundamental metaethical issues, the text then delves into
particular ethical theories from both the Western and Eastern traditions. Finally, the relevance of these more
abstract concerns is made more concrete in the concluding section that presents current scholarship devoted to
applying these theories to pressing moral concerns with which students will be familiar. With REASON AND INSIGHT,
students are exposed, in a single text, to all of the most important Western and Eastern moral theories and thereby
are encouraged to reexamine critically their own moral perspectives in light of many other historically and/or
culturally remote standpoints.
Benefits:
NEW! Three new sections, consisting of twelve essays on Technology, Media Ethics, and Business Ethics have
been added to Part IV: Some Contemporary Moral Issues. Many of these essays were commissioned and written expressly
for this edition.
NEW! Twenty new essays appear in those sections of Part IV preserved from the first edition. Many of these
essays were commissioned and written expressly for this edition.
NEW! Contains updated suggestions for further reading in each section.
NEW! InfoTrac College Edition has been integrated into the text.
NEW! A new translation of the "Analects" is included, as well as an updated translation of "Tao
Te Ching".
Substantial reading selections encourage students to examine for themselves and in detail the key original
sources in both the Western and Eastern moral traditions.
Introductions and discussion questions for every reading selection assist students in identifying and critically
assessing the most crucial ideas found in each reading.
Profiles in Parts II and III help students to appreciate the historical and intellectual context of featured
theorists.
Extensive applications of moral perspectives in Part IV lay bare the undeniable relevance of the foregoing
ethical theories.
Table of Contents
Part I: METAETHICAL ISSUES.
How Ethical Issues Arise: An Example.
What Is Ethics?
Why Simply Obeying the Law Is Not Sufficient.
Does Morality Depend on Religion?.
Are Moral Standards "Relative?".
Is Ethics Possible, Given the Facts of Human Nature?
Ethical Egoism.
The Pursuit of Moral Wisdom.
The Broader Context of Moral Wisdom.
Part II: WESTERN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES.
1. Greek Virtue Ethics.
2. Christian Natural Law Theory.
3. The Ethics of Duty.
4. Utilitarianism.
9. Sexual Morality.
10. Abortion.
11. Suicide and Euthanasia.
12. Morality within the Family.
13. Technology.
14. Ethics in the Media.
15. Ethics in Business.
16. The Environment.
