The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature

by Louis P. Pojman and Lewis Vaughn

Book Overview

Featuring new selections chosen by coeditor Lewis Vaughn, the third edition of Louis P. Pojman's The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature brings together an extensive and varied collection of ninety-one classical and contemporary readings on ethical theory and practice. Integrating literature with philosophy in an innovative way, the book uses literary works to enliven and make concrete the ethical theory or applied issues addressed in each chapter. Literary works by Camus, Hawthorne, Hugo, Huxley, Ibsen, Le Guin, Melville, Orwell, Styron, Tolstoy, and many others lead students into such philosophical concepts and issues as relativism; utilitarianism; virtue ethics; the meaning of life; freedom and autonomy; sex, love, and marriage; animal rights; and terrorism. Once introduced, these topics are developed further through readings by philosophers including Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nozick, Singer, and Sartre. This unique anthology emphasizes the personal dimension of ethics, which is often ignored or minimized in ethics texts. It also incorporates chapter introductions, study questions, suggestions for further reading, and biographical sketches of the writers.
The third edition brings the collection up-to-date, adding selections by Jane English, William Frankena, Don Marquis, John Stuart Mill, Mary Midgley, Thomas Nagel, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and J.O. Urmson. It also features a new chapter on euthanasia with essays by Dan W. Brock, J. Gay-Williams, and James Rachels. Ideal for introductory ethics courses, The Moral Life, Third Edition, also provides an engaging gateway into personal and social ethics for general readers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195308514
• ISBN13: 9780195308518
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 1024 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 8.2" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Great Blend of Philosophy and Literature

I've used various editions of this text over a six-year period and found them excellent--a nice blend of theory and (literary) experience. To borrow from Kant, "Theory without experience is empty; experience without theory is blind." Some of the reviews below illustrate why ethics (and philosophy generally) so desperately needs to be studied. Muddleheadedness is (frequently) a curable disease. Pojman is part of the cure, not the illness.

A great introductory reader...just draw your own conclusions

I felt compelled to write this review after seeing certain things in other reviews which attack the character of this man, rather than the quality of the passages contained in the text. I hope that this review will educate individuals about the text, as well as the passages contained in the text. Firstly i take issue with this personal attack on Pojman. Yes, I disagree with 99% percent of what this man believes on issues concerning morality, but I don't think attacking his character is a fair way to review his text. Secondly, many people, including my fellow students, felt as though Pojman presented his opinions in a fundamentalist light, which would certainly follow because of his own beliefs. Though there are certainly shades of fundamentalism and even neo-conservatism in this book, is that necessarily a bad thing? The purpose of this book was to present ethics in as many ways as possible. Though there does seem to be an proportionately large amount of material in here that most postmodern, existential, utilitarian, conflict theorist, etc... would disagree with. It is important for a college student in an intro to ethics class to be exposed to different points of view, even if they aren't popular. And all the popular points are certainly there as well. Nietzsche, Mill, Dostoevsky, Hobbes. Certainly this book could have been more comprehensive and presented in a more relative light (as Pojman will show favoritism in painfully obvious ways) but hey, as far as intro to ethics books go this is about as good as it gets. Most level-headed college students that walk into a class that uses this book will walk out remembering the classic texts, and not the obscurities carefully selected by Pojman. There is a great cross-section of selections here that will undoubtedly upon the mind of any college student. I highly recommend this book, just be careful and draw your own conclusions. Note to professors: Please teach this class carefully, as if you strictly assign material and do not go over it in a comprehensive manner, students may walk away with nothing more than the opinions of an inferior ethicist. Still you could do much worse than this book.

Excellent Book

This is the best book available on the interrelationship between ethics and literature. Seeing the moral dimension of the works of Hawhorne, Hugo, Huxley, LeGuin and scores of others highlights the importance of morality in our lives and awakens the imagination to possibilities hitherto ignored. This is a wonderful book which every intlligent person should read.

moral life

I use this book as a text book for my introduction to ethics course at a local community college. This book is not only great for a text but also very interesting to read. Some of the selections are difficult to understand and are difficult reading but over all it is a great book for those wishing to gain a broad base of knowledge on a variety of moral theories and issues.