Customer Reviews

Ethics in Practice (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First let me point out that the previous review ("Not really impressed" by Todd Gak) is not actually a review of the book itself so much as a complaint about philosophy. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that someone who completely misses the point on something fairly simple (an Amazon review) also misses the point on something much more difficult (ethical philosophy)?

This text offers some of the best essays on applied ethics available. Classics in the field (notably Singer/Regan on animal rights, Rachels on punishment, and Leopold's "The Land Ethic") are included. Also, LaFollette does a commendable job of bringing in essays that represent both sides of an issue.

There are some odd choices IMO, though. For example, I would rather see an applied ethics textbook bring in some essays on technology, business, and friendship, as opposed to "Virtues" or "Sexual and Racial Discrimination" ("Virtues" is too broad and doesn't seem *applied* to me, and "Sexual and Racial Discrimination" doesn't hold much moral ambiguity).

Also, there are some essays that are sorely missing: one in particular on the topic of world hunger & poverty: Hardin's "Lifeboat Ethics."

I know of no anthologies that are perfect, though, so this one is worthy of praise.

"Ethics in Practice has worked very well as the text for my courses. With the additional introduction to the major theories of ethics, this revised edition is even better than its predecessors"
Peter Singer, Princeton University

"This third edition of Ethics in Practice introduces new areas of controversy in applied and practical ethics, while most assuredly remaining the single best text one can go to for extensive coverage by some of the area's major figures. Alongside coverage of familiar ethical issues such as abortion, free speech, and affirmative action, this revised and expanded edition includes entirely new sections on ethical theory, and war and terrorism, with engaging and accessible intros from the editor. The structure of the book facilitates use by a wide variety of courses and is friendly to the styles of individual instructors.


"In the end, an anthology of applied ethics must be judged on the philosophical significance of its essays, and whether or not its essays are representative of the excellent material that can now be found in the field. The third edition succeeds on both counts. A great many of the people who currently influence the different issues are featured herein, and with pieces of distinctive philosophical merit. These essays collectively give an excellent perspective on the quality of work that can be found today - admittedly, one often has to look hard - in applied or practical ethics. I strongly recommend this book."
R. G. Frey, Bowling Green State University

this is a really good collection of essays on various ethical problems. Each section starts with an excellent summary of the arguments and then introduces the topic through a very controversial piece - for exemple the section on animal rights starts with an essay by Peter Singer. I teach ethics in high school and the students struggled with many of the high level ideas but the struggle was usually worth it, they loved some of the ideas contained within this book.

I received the book in somewhat expected condition. I didn't expect the highlighted and underlined text in the book... but that is usual wear and tear for a textbook.

The book was in the condition that was described and shipping was accurate. I only hope the class associated with the book goes as smoothly.

I have never really been fond of Ethics and Moral code to begin with because most of the articles fail to realize the whole point of what they are writing about. This book really wasn't any different. The articles about Abortion are weak and they don't fully explain what their whole point of what they are writing about is. It doesn't help matters when every article in this book is so drawn out. Everything that is said in this book could be done so in about 2 or 3 pages instead it is drawn out to about 10 to 15 pages. The authors are basically repeating themselves over and over throughout the entire article.

I personally don't think this would be a great buy but maybe thats because I find all the arguments in moral and ethic philosophies are very weak and not at all to the point.