Table of Contents

Introduction PART ONE: THE GOOD LIFE 1. Hedonism: Its Powerful Appeal 2. Is Happiness All That Matters? 3. Getting What You Want 4. Problems for the Desire Theory PART TWO: NORMATIVE ETHICS: DOING THE RIGHT THING 5. Morality and Religion 6. Natural Law 7. Psychological Egoism 8. Ethical Egoism 9. Consequentialism: Its Nature and Attractions 10. Consequentialism: Its Difficulties 11. The Kantian Perspective: Fairness and Justice 12. The Kantian Perspective: Autonomy, Free Will, and Respect 13. The Social Contract Tradition: The Theory and Its Attractions 14. The Social Contract Tradition: Problems and Prospects 15. Ethical Pluralism and Absolute Moral Rules 16. Ethical Pluralism: Prima Facie Duties and Ethical Particularism 17. Virtue Ethics 18. Feminist Ethics PART THREE: METAETHICS: THE STATUS OF MORALITY 19. Ethical Relativism 20. Moral Nihilism 21. Eleven Arguments against Moral Objectivity 22. Is Moral Knowledge Possible? Five Skeptical Arguments

About the Author

Russ Shafer-Landau is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of several books including Living Ethics (OUP, 2018) and The Ethical Life, Fourth Edition (OUP, 2017). He is also the editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics.

Reviews

"This is the best introductory ethics text on the market. I have been assigning it since 2009 and expect to do so for the foreseeable future. Its focus on constructing and evaluating arguments distinguishes it from competing volumes and helps new philosophy students quickly acclimate themselves to the field." - Robert M. Farley, Hillsborough Community College"The Fundamentals of Ethics is a great introduction to ethics. Shafer-Landau introduces students to metaethics and individual moral theories. He also provides great use of philosophical arguments and terminology without being overly technical. Finally, the price is much lower than alternatives."- Hoon Lee, Triton College"In The Fundamentals of Ethics, the essential arguments rise to the top and are easily consumed and digested. For a short introduction, the text is amazingly comprehensive in its coverage of the major moral theories. The writing style is the stand-out strength of the book." - Adam English, Campbell University