The fundamentals of ethics

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.

NEW TO THE SECOND EDITION:

* Discussion questions at the end of every chapter provide students with immediate ways to test their understanding of the material

* New, real-life extended examples reinforce the importance of the theories discussed in Chapters 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, and 19

* Greatly expanded coverage of moral rights (in Chapter 8) and of membership in the moral community (in Chapter 9)

* A new discussion of skepticism about morality in the Introduction

* An Instructor's Manual and Testbank on CD and a Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/shafer-landau

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.