Customer Reviews

The Right Thing To Do: Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Natalia's response makes one wonder whether she herself was perhaps among the unfortunate babies born without a brain. Yes, if there were no other human beings in the world other than this one brainless baby, maybe I would keep the brainless baby around to help comfort me by reminding me of the lost human species. However, in fact there are lots of other human beings, most of whom have brains, so in reality there's no need to keep brainless babies around as pets.

Natalia also seems to be unaware of what a brain is. Brainless babies do not experience pain or anguish. (Nor do they experience pleasure.) Without a brain, 'you' have no experiences of any kind, no beliefs, no desires, and you don't care about anything to any degree. It's just a body lying in a hospital bed. There's no such thing as being insensitive to such a thing, any more than you can be insensitive to a rock.

If it's true that every object, including pebbles on the beach, has something to teach, then I'd rather learn from the rocks, which you don't have to expend thousands of dollars in medical bills to support.

I don't know about the previous editions of this book, but the present edition is really not biased, unless in the sense of being biased towards rationality and quality. In the case of issues where there is significant debate in moral philosophy, there are articles explaining both sides (e.g., abortion). In some cases, there's only one article (e.g., on homosexuality), but these are the issues where there is almost no disagreement in the field, and you'd have to scrape the bottom of the barrel, admitting really low-quality pieces, if you insisted on having an opposing article.

My sister bought this book as a text book for a introduction into philosophy class. I found it on the family book shelf later on and started flipping through it. The book is well written and interesting; although for the price there must be something better. I came on Amazon today looking for books to read on long trip and this came to mind. It has been a few years since I first read it and I'd like to read it again. I highly suggest you read this book; regardless of the other reviewer (who's two critizisms come from the first chapter).

DISCLAIMER: The 4 rating is a not-so-random guess, as I haven't read the whole book yet, but had to put a number down in order to give this critique of Natalia's post. As soon as I bought this book, I read the section on Infanticide, which Natalia so poorly criticized. Natalia's criticism is so poor that you don't even need to read the article to critique her criticism, but I thought I would read it first in case anyone thought differently. She basically argues that even in cases where the baby is a 'vegetable', that it's still good to keep him or her alive because of the benefits they will serve to others. Is there a less compassionate and more selfish position possible than this? I've read a few articles from this book, mainly essays by professional philosophers who give at least strong, if not compelling, arguments for their positions. Rachels himself is good philosopher, specifically a good ethicist, so I recommend him for the strength of his arguments and the lucidity of his writing.

I just started back to school and am so glad i decided to check out the textbooks that Amazon has to offer. These books would of cost me roughly $60 each but i found them on here for $13!!!! And I'll be able to sell them back and get points towards my next semesters books! The books arrived in less than a week and in great condition!

Exactly what was described in the details and arrived earlier than expected. I was very pleased when I received my book. I would definitely order from them again.

Required text book for my Ethics class. Ordered the book on a late monday afternnoon, it arrived that wednesday xD Book in great condition; minor wear on the corners of the pages, but the cover and the pages are straight (unlike most used paperbacks).

In a world that refuses to mend, this book and the like provides a starting point in the process of becoming a conscientious moral agent.

I ordered this book for a college class. A classmate of mine discovered that her book was missing pages. I checked my book and found the same problem. Apparently the publisher did not perform a quality check on their books. Pages 90-127 are missing from this book.

Came within a week. Clean, good shape as was stated. Satisfied with what i got.

Thank you. I received the book I ordered in a timely manner, and in the condition described.