Taking sides: Clashing views on moral issues

Preface

Correlation Guide

Introduction

Unit 1. Fundamental Issues in Morality

Issue 1. Is Moral Relativism Correct?

YES: Gilbert Harman, from "Moral Relativism," in Gilbert Harman and Judith Jarvis Thomson, eds., Moral Relativism and Moral Objectivity (Blackwell, 1996)

NO: Louis P. Pojman, from "The Case Against Moral Relativism," in Louis P. Pojman and Lewis Vaughn, eds., The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature (Oxford University Press, 2007)

Issue 2. Does Morality Need Religion?

YES: C. Stephen Layman, from The Shape of the Good: Christian Reflections on the Foundations of Ethics (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991)

NO: John Arthur, from "Religion, Morality, and Conscience," in John Arthur, ed., Morality and Moral Controversies, 4th ed. (Prentice Hall, 1996)

Unit 2. Gender, Sex, and Reproduction

Issue 3. Must Sex Involve Commitment?

YES: Vincent C. Punzo, from Reflective Naturalism (Macmillan, 1969)

NO: Alan H. Goldman, from "Plain Sex," Philosophy and Public Affairs (Spring 1977)

Issue 4. Is Abortion Immoral?

YES: Don Marquis, from "Why Abortion Is Immoral," The Journal of Philosophy (April 1989)

NO: Margaret Olivia Little, from "The Moral Permissibility of Abortion," in Andrew I. Cohen and Christopher Heath Wellman, eds., Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics (Blackwell Publishing, 2005)

Issue 5. Is It Right to Prohibit Same-Sex Marriage?

YES: Jeff Jordan, from "Is It Wrong to Discriminate on the Basis of Homosexuality?" Journal of Social Philosophy, vol. 26, no. 1 (Spring 1995)

NO: David Boonin, from "Same-Sex Marriage and the Argument from Public Disagreement," Journal of Social Philosophy, vol. 30, no. 2 (Summer 1999)

Issue 6. Should Human Cloning Be Banned?

YES: Michael J. Sandel, from "The Ethical Implications of Human Cloning," Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (Spring 2005)

NO: John A. Robertson, from "Human Cloning and the Challenge of Regulation," The New England Journal of Medicine (July 9, 1998)

Unit 3. Law and Society

Issue 7. Is Cloning Pets Ethically Justified?

YES: Autumn Fiester, from "Creating Fido's Twin: Can Pet Cloning Be Ethically Justified?" Hastings Center Report (July/August 2005)

NO: Hilary Bok, from "Cloning Companion Animals Is Wrong," Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (vol. 5, no. 3, 2002)

Issue 8. Should Congress Allow the Buying and Selling of Human Organs?

YES: Lewis Burrows, from "Selling Organs for Transplantation," The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine (September 2004)

NO: James F. Childress, from "Should Congress Allow the Buying and Selling of Human Organs? No," Insight on the News (May 7, 2001)

Issue 9. Should Drugs Be Legalized?

YES: Meaghan Cussen and Walter Block, from "Legalize Drugs Now! An Analysis of the Benefits of Legalized Drugs," American Journal of Economics and Sociology (July 2000)

NO: Theodore Dalrymple, from "Don't Legalize Drugs, cjonline.com (The City Journal) (Spring 1997)

Issue 10. Is Price Gouging Wrong?

YES: Jeremy Snyder, from "What's the Matter with Price Gouging?" Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 2 (April 2009)

NO: Matt Zwolinski, from "Price Gouging, Non-Worseness, and Distributive Justice," Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 2 (April 2009)

Issue 11. Is Affirmative Action Fair?

YES: Albert G. Mosley, from "Affirmative Action: Pro'," in Albert G. Mosley and Nicholas Capaldi, eds., Affirmative Action: Social Justice or Unfair Preference? (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996)

NO: Louis P. Pojman, from "The Case Against Affirmative Action," International Journal of Applied Philosophy (Spring 1998)

Issue 12. Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?

YES: Michael Welch, from Punishment in America: Social Control and the Ironies of Imprisonment (Sage, 1999)

NO: Ernest van den Haag, from "The Death Penalty Once More," U.C. Davis Law Review (Summer 1985)

Issue 13. Is Torture Ever Justified?

YES: Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clarke, from "Not Enough Official Torture in the World?" University of San Francisco Law Review (Spring 2005)

NO: Philip E. Devine, from "What's Wrong with Torture?" International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 49 (September 2009)

Issue 14. Is Physician-Assisted Suicide Wrong?

YES: Richard Doerflinger, from "Assisted Suicide: Pro-Choice or Anti-Life?" Hastings Center Report (January/February 1989)

NO: David T. Watts and Timothy Howell, from "Assisted Suicide Is Not Voluntary Active Euthanasia," Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (October 1992)

Unit 4. Human Beings and Other

SPECIES

Issue 15. Does Morality Require Vegetarianism?

YES: Michael Allen Fox, from "Why We Should Be Vegetarians," International Journal of Applied Philosophy (vol. 20, no. 2, 2006)

NO: Holmes Rolston III, from Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the Natural World (Temple University Press, 1988)

Unit 5. Other Moral Issues

Issue 16. Should College Athletes Be Paid?

YES: Taylor Branch, from "The Shame of College Sports," The Atlantic Monthly (October 2011)

NO: Seth Davis, from "Should College Athletes Be Paid? Why, They Already Are," Sports Illustrated (September 21, 2011)

Issue 17. Is It Right to Produce Genetically Modified Food?

YES: Ronald Bailey, from "Dr. Strangelunch-Or: Why/We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Genetically Modified Food," Reason (January 2001)

NO: Michael W. Fox, from Killer Foods: When Scientists Manipulate Genes, Better Is Not Always Best (Lyons Press, 2004)

Contributors

Is moral relativism correct?

Does morality need religion?

- Should the Navy assign servicewomen to submarine duty?

Is abortion immoral?

Must sex involve commitment?

Should Congress be giving more financial support to abstinence-only sex education?

Should human cloning be banned?

Are government-supported faith-based charities a good idea?

Should Congress allow the buying and selling of human organs?

Should drugs be legalized

Is affirmative action fair?

Should the Supreme Court prohibit racial preferences in college admissions?

Should same-sex marriage be allowed?

Should hate-crime laws explicitly protected sexual orientation

Should handguns be banned?

Should the death penalty be abolished?

Should physician-assisted suicide be legalized by the states?

Is it morally permissible to eat meat?