Ethics

by Peter Singer

Book Overview

What is ethics? Where does it come from? Can we really hope to find any rational way of deciding how we ought to live? If we can, what would it be like, and how are we going to know when we have found it? To capture the essentials of what we know about the origins and nature of ethics, Peter Singer has drawn on anthropology, evolution, game theory, and works of fiction, in addition to the classic moral philosophy of such thinkers as Nietzsche, Kant,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192892452
• ISBN13: 9780192892454
• Release Date: May 1994
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great reader in ethics...could use a more recent update..

This is a very good intro to ethics and meta-ethics. Singer is a good writer and his piece at the beginning is almost worth the price of the book alone. It's more of an overview of the classic texts than a state of the art primer on modern research (e.g. the newest primate studies, psychological / neuroscience based studies, etc.).... then again it was written in 1994. Anyway, a good book if you want to read up on classic texts, but might want to go elsewhere for newer stuff.

Great anthology

Apart from being a fine philosopher, Singer is also an excellent editor. I have been using this anthology for years in ethics classes and students like it very much. The selections are short and to the point. There are selections from all historical periods covering most of the major viewpoints. What makes the anthology exceptional is that Singer also includes intriguing, unexpected material, like a short selection about the desert saints, a piece about a relationship between Kant and a friend, a short selection about Gandhi. There's also a fine selection of material about primate ethics. A really good book for classroom use, but also a great collection for the general reader.