Peter Markie

Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, Seventh Edition, features fifty-nine selections organized into three parts, providing instructors with great flexibility in designing and teaching a variety of courses in moral philosophy. Spanning 2,500 years of ethical theory, the first part, Historical Sources, ranges from Plato to Nietzsche. The second part, Modern Ethical Theory, includes many of the most important essays of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The third part, Contemporary Moral Problems, presents the current debates over such issues as abortion, social justice, environmentalism, affirmative action, and sexual harassment. Nearly forty percent of the modern readings are authored by women. The book is enhanced by part introductions, selection introductions, and study questions. The seventh edition includes twelve new essays.

Introducing Ethics: A Critical Thinking Approach with Readings combines guiding commentary and questions with a rich selection of concise, carefully edited, and accessible readings on ethical theory and contemporary moral issues. This unique introduction shows students how to do philosophy by first analyzing texts--identifying ethical positions and the arguments that support them--and then evaluating the truth of those positions and the soundness of the arguments. In doing so, it provides students with a uniquely engaging introduction to ethics that also hones their critical thinking skills. FEATURES * A unique Unit 1 gives students the conceptual tools to "do" philosophy with coverage of logic, arguments, moral reasoning, and reading and writing philosophy * Extensive coverage of the three main areas of ethics--metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics--addresses issues often ignored by other texts, including ethics vs. science, moral responsibility, moral vs. legal issues, torture, terrorism, and more * Unit and chapter introductions outline major themes and issues and explain why they matter * Reading questions precede the essays and focus students' studying on key points, while discussion questions follow the readings and help students move into the evaluation phase * "Argument Reconstruction Exercises" after each reading provide practice in identifying the premises and conclusions in the essays * An Instructor's Manual with Test Bank on CD is available to adopters * A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/mcbrayer provides all the material contained on the CD along with student resources