The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature

by Louis P. Pojman (Editor)

Literature often deals with moral issues. It focuses on human dilemmas and awakens our imagination to new possibilities. It compels us to rethink and revise our everyday assumptions, enabling us to consider ethical questions in creative ways.
The Moral An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature brings together an extensive and varied collection of 87 classical and contemporary readings on ethical theory and practice. The book is divided into four sections covering the nature of morality, moral theories, moral issues, and
applied ethics. Integrating literature with philosophy in an innovative way, editor Louis Pojman uses literary works to enliven and make concrete the ethical theory or applied issues addressed in each chapter. Literary works by Hugo, Hawthorne, Melville, Tolstoy, Ibsen, Huxley, Orwell, Camus,
LeGuin, Styron, and many others lead students into philosophical concepts and issues such as relativism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, the meaning of life, freedom, sex, love and marriage, and environmental ethics. Once introduced, these topics are developed further through readings by philosophers
including Aristotle, Sartre, Bernard Williams, Jane English, and Thomas E. Hill, Jr. This unique anthology emphasizes the personal dimension of ethics, which is often ignored or minimized in ethics texts.
Featuring insightful part and chapter introductions as well as biographical sketches, abstracts, and study questions for each reading selection, The Moral Life is ideal for introductory ethics courses. It also provides an engaging gateway into personal and social ethics for the general
reader.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Textbooks

960 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oddly enough, this was a philosophy book we bought in college for the course. I LOVED it....bits and pieces of philosophers, nothing overwhelming, and I just LOVED it...I've read it twice since college.

[Cody Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a wide range of writings on each topic covered in this book and each topic was treated fairly for the most part. It was a very interesting read for sure.

[Mike Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in connection with an introductory course in philosophy and ethics. It was perfect for that, with carefully chosen examples of the writings that define the field.
I intend to read it again, because the philosophical reasoning proved difficult to absorb at the pace of an introductory course.
My only disappointment was with the “literature,” which was perhaps not as carefully chosen as the philosophical works.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book discusses a lot of different ethical theories in a fairly simple and straight forward manner, I learned a lot!

[Izabella Britten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my ethics class but I actually love this book. I found all the entries really entruiguing and I know it is an anthology but it was really well put together and edited.

[Allie Buckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought for my ethics class, and I will say I was surprised by some of the readings. I actually found several of them intriguing, but of course it still is a textbook..

[Kathryn Bergan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really nice book to make me look into more perspectives in the world and not just my own.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

read Part I, Ch 3: Herodotus/Custom is King, Ruth Benedict/The Case for Moral Relativism, James Rachels/Why Morality Is Not Relative, Mary Midgley/Trying Out One's New Sword; Part II, Ch 4: Jeremy Bentham/Classical Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill/ Utilitarianism Refined, Kai Nielsen/A Defense of Utilitarianism, Bernard Williams/Against Utilitarianism; Ch 5: Immanuel Kant/The Moral Law, William K. Frankena/Kant's Theory, W. D. Ross/Intuitionism, R. M. Maciver/The Deep Beauty of the Golden Rule, Richard Whately: A Critique of the Golden Rule; Ch 6: Aristotle/Virtue Ethics, Bernard Mayo/Virtue and the Moral Life, J. O. Urmson/Saints and Heroes, Nathaniel Hawthorne/THe Great Stone Face, William K. Frankena/A Critique of Virtue-Based Ethical Systems; Part III, CH. 8: Plato/The Ring of Gyes, Ayn Rand/In Defense of Ethical Egoism, Louis P. Pojman/Religion Gives Meaning to Life, Viktor Frankl/The Human Search for Meaning: Reflections on Auschwitz; Part IV, Ch 11: Kant/On the Place of Sex in Human Existence, John McMurtry/Monogamy: A Critique, Michael D. Bayles/Marriage, Love, and Procreation: A Critique of McMurtry, C. S. Lewis/We Have No "Right to Happiness", Michael Levin/Why Homosexuality Is Abnormal, John Corvino/A Defense of Homosexuality; Ch 12: Dan W. Brock/Voluntary Active Euthanasia, J. Gay-Williams/The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia, James Rachels/Active and Passive Euthanasia; Ch. 15: Robert Heilbroner/What Has Posterity Ever Done for Me?, Garrett Hardin/The Tragedy of the Commons.
467 p of 985 p

[Guillermo · Rating 3 out of 5]

read only the selections for class...i'm planning to actually sit down and read this...

[Matt Laatsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of important philosophy based on ethics and morality. Kant, Neitzsche, Hawthorn, Dostoevsky, and Nagel all feature heavily!