Contemporary Moral Issues: Diversity and Consensus

Summary

Contemporary Moral Issues is an anthology that provides a selection of readings on contemporary social issues revolving around three general themes: Matters of Life and Death, Matters of Equality and Diversity, and Expanding the Circle, which includes duties beyond borders, living together with animals, and environmental ethics. The text contains a number of distinctive, high-profile readings and powerful narratives, including Jonathan Foer's "Eating Animals," Eva Feder Kittay's "On the Ethics of Selective Abortion for Disability," and Susan M. Wolf's "Confronting Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: My Father's Death." Each set of readings is accompanied by an extensive introduction, a bibliographical essay, pre-reading questions, and discussion questions.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: A Pluralistic Approach to Contemporary Moral Issues

An Initial Self-Assessment

General Bibliographical Resources for Ethics

PART I.  MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH

Chapter 1 Choosing Our Children: Genetic Enhancement

Chapter 2 Abortion

Chapter 3 Euthanasia

Chapter 4 Punishment and the Death Penalty

Chapter 5 War, Terrorism, and Counterterrorism

PART II. MATTERS OF DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY

Chapter 6 Race and Ethnicity

Chapter 7 Gender

Chapter 8 Sexual Orientation

PART III. EXPANDING THE CIRCLE

Chapter 9 Living with Scarcity: World Hunger and Poverty

Chapter 10 Living Together With Animals

Chapter 11 Living in the Natural World: Environmental Ethics

Chapter 12 Living in Virtual Space: Cyberethics