Research Guides: Philosophy and Worldviews: Ethics

Research and Reference

Aristotle’s Ethics: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Aristotle conceives of ethical theory as a field distinct from the theoretical sciences. Its methodology must match its subject matter—good action—and must respect the fact that in this field many generalizations hold only for the most part.
Virtue Ethics: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism).

Streaming Media

The Stoic Garden: Physics, Ethics, Logic
The ancient Stoics used a number of metaphors to get their points across, including the metaphor of the garden, whose elements were physics, ethics, and logic. Here, compare how Aristotle and the Stoics thought of logic, and use a story that dates back to the 2nd century BCE to see how Stoic epistemology and psychology are intertwined.

Perspectives

Ethics

As societies have grown larger and more complex and as human knowledge and technologies have increased, the ethical issues that people face have proliferated. New medical technologies, for example, have brought bioethical questions and raised new concerns about genetic engineering that earlier generations could never have imagined.

The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics

An important resource for those needing to understand the key concepts in philosophy and ethics and their relevance to current issues. It covers a wide range of philosophical ideas including often-neglected non-European traditions such as African philosophies and Islamic ethics.

Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments

Since 2010, The Stone--the immensely popular, award-winning philosophy series in The New York Times--has revived and reinterpreted age-old inquires to speak to our modern condition. This new collection of essays from the series does for modern ethics what The Stone Reader did for modern philosophy. New York Times editor Peter Catapano and best-selling author and philosopher Simon Critchley have curated an unparalleled collection that illuminates just how imperative ethical thinking is in our day-to-day life. Like its predecessor, Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments explores long-standing ethical and moral issues in light of our most urgent dilemmas. Divided into twelve sections, the book opens with a series of broad arguments on existence, human nature and morality. Indeed, "big" questions of the human condition are explored by some of our best-known and most accomplished living philosophers: What is the meaning of our existence? Should we really "do what we love"? How should we respond to evil? Is pure altruism possible? Along with these examinations of timeless moral conundrums, readers will find arguments in the more contentious areas of religion and government: Can we have a moral life without God? Does it really matter if God exists? Is patriotism moral? Accessible and provocative, these pieces expose the persistence of the most basic themes and questions of moral and ethical life. Many of the essays stress the crucial importance of directly engaging the most pressing moral dilemmas in modern life. Should we be the last generation, knowing all the harm we've done to our planet? Should we embrace our inner carnivores, or swear off all animal products? From gun control and drone warfare to the morals of marriage and reproduction, readers will view familiar debates in new, surprising lights.

Revival: Ethics: an Investigation of the Facts and Laws of Moral Life (1914)

It has been my object in the present work to investigate the problems of ethics in the light of an examination of the facts of moral life. One reason for this procedure is my desire to conduct the reader by the same path that I myself have followed in approaching ethical questions.

Compelling Reason: Essays on Ethics and Theology

Why I am not a Pacifist -- Bulverism -- First and second things -- Equality -- Three kinds of men -- 'Horrid red things' -- Democratic education -- A dream -- Is English doomed? -- Meditation in a toolshed -- Hedonics -- Christian apologetics -- The decline of religion -- Religion withou dogma? -- Vivisection -- Modern translations of the Bible -- On living in an atomic age -- The humanitarian theory of punishment -- The pains of animals -- Is theism important? -- Xmas and Christmas -- Prudery and philology -- Is history bunk? -- Willing slaves of the welfare state.

Ethics

Texts examine how the encounter of ethics and aesthetics has become central to the contested space of much recent art. The boundary of a contemporary art object or project is no longer something that exists only in physical space; it also exists in social, political, and ethical space. Art has opened up to transnational networks of producers and audiences, migrating into the sphere of social and distributive systems, whether in the form of "relational aesthetics" or other critical reinventions of practice. Art has thus become increasingly implicated in questions of ethics. In this volume, artist and writer Walead Beshty evaluates the relation of ethics to aesthetics, and demonstrates how this encounter has become central to the contested space of much recent art. He brings together theoretical foundations for an ethics of aesthetics; appraisals of art that engages with ethical issues; statements and examples of methodologies adopted by a diverse range of artists; and examinations of artworks that question the ethical conditions in which contemporary art is produced and experienced. Artists surveyed include Tania Bruguera, Christoph Büchel, Paul Chan, Lygia Clark, Danh Vo, Dexter Sinister, Andrea Fraser, Liam Gillick, David Hammons, Thomas Hirschhorn, Khaled Hourani, Sharon Lockhart, Kerry James Marshall, Renzo Martens, Boris Mikhailov, Hélio Oiticica, Seth Price, Walid Raad, Martha Rosler, Tino Sehgal, Allan Sekula, Santiago Sierra, Rirkrit Tiravanija Writers include Giorgio Agamben, Ariella Azoulay, Alain Badiou, Roland Barthes, David Beech, Claire Bishop, Nicolas Bourriaud, Simon Critchley, T.J. Demos, Maurizio Lazzarato, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Rancière, Jan Verwoert

The Nicomachean Ethics

'Happiness, then, is the best, noblest, and most pleasant thing in the world.'In the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle's guiding question is: what is the best thing for a human being? His answer is happiness, but he means, not something we feel, but rather a specially good kind of life. Happiness is made up of activities in which we use the best human capacities, both ones that contribute to our flourishing as members of a community, and ones that allow us to engage in god-like contemplation. Contemporary ethical writings on the role and importance ofthe moral virtues such as courage and justice have drawn inspiration from this work, which also contains important discussions on responsibility for actions, on the nature of practical reasoning, and on friendship and its role in the best life.This new edition retains and lightly revises David Ross's justly admired translation. It also includes a valuable introduction to this seminal work, and notes designed to elucidate Aristotle's arguments.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.