Right Thing to Do

James Rachels (1941-2003) wrote The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality (1986), Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (1990), Can Ethics Provide Answers? And Other Essays in Moral Philosophy (1997), Problems from Philosophy (first edition, 2005), and The Legacy of Socrates: Essays in Moral Philosophy (2007). His website is www.jamesrachels.org.Stuart Rachels is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama. He has revised several of James Rachels’ books, including The Elements of Moral Philosophy (eighth edition, 2015) and Problems from Philosophy. Rachels won the United States Chess Championship in 1989, at the age of 20, and is a Bronze Life Master at bridge.

For many years I have used The Right Thing to Do, and this eighth edition of The Right Thing to Do enables the teacher to remain current regarding the most captivating issues in applied ethics.

• INTRODUCTION1. A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy James Rachels2. Some Basic Points about Arguments James RachelsIS MORALITY OBJECTIVE?3. The Subjectivity of Values J. L. Mackie4. Our Sense of Right and Wrong C. S. LewisTHEORETICAL ESSAYS5. Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill6. Utilitarianism and Integrity Bernard Williams7. The Experience Machine Robert Nozick8. The Categorical Imperative Immanuel Kant9. The Virtues Aristotle10. Master Morality and Slave Morality Friedrich NietzscheWOMEN11. Caring Relations and Principles of Justice Virginia Held12. Homeward Bound Linda Hirshman SEX, DATE RAPE, AND HAZING 13. Our Sexual Ethics Bertrand Russell14. Alcohol and Rape Nicholas Dixon15. A Death at Penn State Caitlin FlanaganILLICIT DRUGS16. America’s Unjust Drug War Michael Huemer17. The Opioid Crisis, As Lived in West Virginia Margaret Talbot18. Is Doping Wrong? Peter SingerPOVERTY19. Famine, Affluence, and Morality Peter Singer20. Poverty and Parenthood Stuart RachelsRACE21. Letter from the Birmingham City Jail Martin Luther King, Jr.22. The Case for Reparations Ta-Nehisi Coates23. Is Racial Discrimination Arbitrary? Peter Singer24. In Defense of Quotas James Rachels GUNS, IMMIGRATION, AND TAXES25. Why Guns Shouldn’t Be Outlawed Michael Huemer26. The Case for Open Immigration Michael Huemer27. Is Taxation Theft? Michael HuemerANIMALS28. All Animals Are Equal Peter Singer29. Torturing Puppies and Eating Meat: It’s All in Good Taste Alastair Norcross30. Do Animals Have Rights? Tibor R. MachanABORTION31. On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion and Postscript on Infanticide Mary Anne Warren32. Why Abortion Is Immoral Don Marquis33. A Defense of Abortion Judith Jarvis ThomsonBIOETHICS: EUTHANASIA, HEALTHCARE AND CLONING34. The Morality of Euthanasia James Rachels35. The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia J. Gay-Williams36. Letting Go: What Should Medicine Do When It Can’t Save Your Life? Atul Gawande37. Human Cloning and the Challenge of Regulation John A. RobertsonTHE DEATH PENALTY38. A Defense of the Death Penalty Louis P. Pojman39. Why the United States Will Join the Rest of the World in Abandoning Capital Punishment Stephen B. BrightSOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND TORTURE40. Hellhole Atul Gawande41. Liberalism, Torture, and the Ticking Bomb David LubanWAR AND TERRORISM42. The Ethics of War and Peace Douglas P. Lackey43. Fifty Years after Hiroshima John Rawls44. What Is Wrong with Terrorism? Thomas NagelTHE MEANING OF LIFE45. The Meaning of Life Richard Taylor