Michael Boylan is Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University. He is the author of 37 books including: A Just Society (2004); Morality and Global Justice (2010); Natural Human Rights: A Theory (2014); Fictive Narrative Philosophy: How Fiction Can Act As Philosophy (2019); and The De Anima Novels and The Arche Novels (ten philosophical novels published between 2007 and 2020). He has been an invited speaker at universities in 15 countries on 5 continents and has served on national governmental policy committees.

Praise for previous editions:"Basic Ethics is an unusually rewarding text. It takes the student through central topics of normative ethics and metaethics, but it does so in a critical and constructive way that sheds new light on their basic issues. Boylan also adds helpful sections on applied ethics, as well as challenging and illuminating discussion of the importance of personal worldviews—both for moral philosophy and for human life as a whole. The book is written in a style that is at once engaging and rigorous."Alan Gewirth, University of Chicago"I really like the underlying theme of a worldview throughout the book. The opportunity for students to reflect on values, where they stem from, and what is right and wrong and why is something everyone should explore." Jeff Anstine, North Central College, Naperville, IL"Basic Ethics nicely combines a survey of the main contending ethical theories with a reasonable procedure for enabling students to select among these. It should make an excellent text!"James Sterba, University of Notre Dame

• 1. Living in a World of Values 2. Personal Worldview and Community Worldview 3. The Ethical Duty to be Knowledgeable about Your World 4. Relativism 5. Egoism 6. Are People Good or Bad? 7. Morality and Religion 8. Feminist Ethics 9. It’s All about Your Intuition: Ethical Intuitionism 10. It’s All about Your Attitude: Ethical Non-Cognitivism 11. It’s All about Freely Made Agreements: Ethical Contractarianism 12. It’s all About Your Character: Virtue Ethics 13. It’s all About the Team: Utilitarianism 14. It’s all About Your Duty: Deontology 15. Human Rights 16. Formulating Your Own Answers

Michael Boylan is Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University. He is the author of 37 books including: A Just Society (2004); Morality and Global Justice (2010); Natural Human Rights: A Theory (2014); Fictive Narrative Philosophy: How Fiction Can Act As Philosophy (2019); and The De Anima Novels and The Arche Novels (ten philosophical novels published between 2007 and 2020). He has been an invited speaker at universities in 15 countries on 5 continents and has served on national governmental policy committees.

Praise for previous editions:"Basic Ethics is an unusually rewarding text. It takes the student through central topics of normative ethics and metaethics, but it does so in a critical and constructive way that sheds new light on their basic issues. Boylan also adds helpful sections on applied ethics, as well as challenging and illuminating discussion of the importance of personal worldviews—both for moral philosophy and for human life as a whole. The book is written in a style that is at once engaging and rigorous."Alan Gewirth, University of Chicago"I really like the underlying theme of a worldview throughout the book. The opportunity for students to reflect on values, where they stem from, and what is right and wrong and why is something everyone should explore." Jeff Anstine, North Central College, Naperville, IL"Basic Ethics nicely combines a survey of the main contending ethical theories with a reasonable procedure for enabling students to select among these. It should make an excellent text!"James Sterba, University of Notre Dame

• 1. Living in a World of Values 2. Personal Worldview and Community Worldview 3. The Ethical Duty to be Knowledgeable about Your World 4. Relativism 5. Egoism 6. Are People Good or Bad? 7. Morality and Religion 8. Feminist Ethics 9. It’s All about Your Intuition: Ethical Intuitionism 10. It’s All about Your Attitude: Ethical Non-Cognitivism 11. It’s All about Freely Made Agreements: Ethical Contractarianism 12. It’s all About Your Character: Virtue Ethics 13. It’s all About the Team: Utilitarianism 14. It’s all About Your Duty: Deontology 15. Human Rights 16. Formulating Your Own Answers

Michael Boylan is Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University. He is the author of 37 books including: A Just Society (2004); Morality and Global Justice (2010); Natural Human Rights: A Theory (2014); Fictive Narrative Philosophy: How Fiction Can Act As Philosophy (2019); and The De Anima Novels and The Arche Novels (ten philosophical novels published between 2007 and 2020). He has been an invited speaker at universities in 15 countries on 5 continents and has served on national governmental policy committees.

Praise for previous editions:"Basic Ethics is an unusually rewarding text. It takes the student through central topics of normative ethics and metaethics, but it does so in a critical and constructive way that sheds new light on their basic issues. Boylan also adds helpful sections on applied ethics, as well as challenging and illuminating discussion of the importance of personal worldviews—both for moral philosophy and for human life as a whole. The book is written in a style that is at once engaging and rigorous."Alan Gewirth, University of Chicago"I really like the underlying theme of a worldview throughout the book. The opportunity for students to reflect on values, where they stem from, and what is right and wrong and why is something everyone should explore." Jeff Anstine, North Central College, Naperville, IL"Basic Ethics nicely combines a survey of the main contending ethical theories with a reasonable procedure for enabling students to select among these. It should make an excellent text!"James Sterba, University of Notre Dame

• 1. Living in a World of Values 2. Personal Worldview and Community Worldview 3. The Ethical Duty to be Knowledgeable about Your World 4. Relativism 5. Egoism 6. Are People Good or Bad? 7. Morality and Religion 8. Feminist Ethics 9. It’s All about Your Intuition: Ethical Intuitionism 10. It’s All about Your Attitude: Ethical Non-Cognitivism 11. It’s All about Freely Made Agreements: Ethical Contractarianism 12. It’s all About Your Character: Virtue Ethics 13. It’s all About the Team: Utilitarianism 14. It’s all About Your Duty: Deontology 15. Human Rights 16. Formulating Your Own Answers