Questions of Life and Death: Readings in Practical Ethics - Softcover

"Questions of Life and Death is an excellent, well-designed textbook. Its chief strength is the coherence of the book as a whole. Rather than simply sampling from a variety of contemporary moral debates, it allows students to systematically explore the ethics of life and death. Because all of the topics in Morris's text share the theme of life and death, it more consistently challenges students to inquire deeply."--Linda Radzik, Texas A&M University "This is the best text I've ever seen that deals with issues of life and death. The introductions will really give students a sense of what hangs on each issue, why the two sides do not see eye to eye, and so on. For the issues selected, Morris has done an excellent job of compiling the best imaginable readings."--David J. Yount, Mesa Community College "This text is a welcome breath of fresh air in the area of teaching applied ethics. Through fifteen extensive chapters, it combines older classic articles with new sparkling thought to engage not only the casual reader or the undergraduate student required to read it, but also the instructor of a class on applied ethics."--Vasileios Tsompanidis

Featuring sixty-seven classic and contemporary selections, Questions of Life and Death: Readings in Practical Ethics is ideal for courses in contemporary moral problems, applied ethics, and introduction to ethics. In contrast with other moral problems anthologies, it deals exclusively with current moral issues concerning life and death, the ethics of killing, and the ethics of saving lives. By focusing on these specific questions―rather than on an unrelated profusion of moral problems―this volume offers a theoretically unified presentation that enables students to see how their conclusions regarding one moral issue can affect their positions on other debates.

Questions of Life and Death includes readings on socially and politically relevant controversies including famine, killing in war, terrorism, capital punishment, killing animals, suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. The essays include classic works by Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, and John Locke alongside contemporary selections by Thomas Nagel, James Rachels, Peter Singer, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Michael Walzer, and many others. Rather than presenting students with readings on abstract and complex moral theories, editor Christopher Morris has chosen works that reflect "middle-level moral theory" and inspire everyday questions like "What if everyone did that?" Each reading is preceded by a brief introduction and followed by discussion questions. For additional theoretical background, students can consult the final chapter, a "Moral Theory Primer" (by Mark Timmons), which clearly outlines various theories.