This book is the rare contemporary moral problems anthology that privileges depth over breadth. Containing readings on moral theory and practice from a collection of today's most important thinkers and drawing on philosophical and religious perspectives, it offers important, divergent viewpoints on some of today's most hotly contested issues. An introductory chapter on moral theory lays the foundation for subsequent in-depth explorations of sexual ethics, abortion, the conduct of war, euthanasia and suicide, environmental ethics, capital punishment, and human cloning.

Table of Contents:
Preface. Introduction. Part I: ETHICAL THEORY. 1. Utilitarianism, J.S. Mill. 2. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant. 3. Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle. 4. Secular Morality and Sacred Obligation, Louis Dupre. 5. The Deep Structure, Ronald M. Green. 6. Woman's Place in Man's Life-Cycle, Carol Gilligan. 7. From System to Story: An Alternative Pattern for Rationality in Ethics, Stanley Hauerwas and David B. Burrell. 8. A Conversation Worth Having: Hauerwas and Gustafson on Substance in Theological Ethics, Terrence Reynolds. Part II: SEXUAL ETHICS. 9. Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI. 10. The Homosexual Movement, The Ramsey Colloquium. 11. Why Homosexuality Is Abnormal, Michael Levin. 12. Toward a New Theology of Sexuality, Judith Plaskow. 13. The Case for Gay Marriage, Richard D. Mohr. 14. Is Adultery Immoral? Richard Wasserstrom. 15. Sexual Perversion, Thomas Nagel. Part III: ABORTION. 16. An Almost Absolute Value in History, John T. Noonan, Jr. 17. Our Bodies, Our Souls, Naomi Wolf. 18. Abortion: Why the Arguments Fail, Stanley Hauerwas. 19. A Defense of Abortion, Judith Jarvis Thomson. 20. Who Shall Count as a Human Being? A Treacherous Question in the Abortion Discussion, Sissela Bok. 21. Roe v. Wade: A Study in Male Ideology, Catherine MacKinnon. 22. Judaism and the Justification of Abortion for Nonmedical Reasons, Sandra B. Lubarsky. Part IV: JUST WAR AND PACIFISM. 23. Moral Judgments in Time of War, Michael Walzer. 24. Threats, Values and Defense: Does the Defense of Values by Force Remain a Moral Possibility? James Turner Johnson. 25. The Tradition and the Real World, John Howard Yoder. 26. Selections on Non-Violence, Martin Luther King, Jr. 27. New Testament Reflections on Peace and Nuclear Arms, Sandra M. Schneiders. 28. Reflections on War and Political Discourse: Realism, Just War, and Feminism in a Nuclear Age, Jean Bethge Elshtain. 29. Pacifism: A Philosophical Analysis, Jan Narveson. Part V: EUTHANASIA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE. 30. Euthanasia and Christian Vision, Gilbert Meilaender. 31. Objections to the Institutionalization of Euthanasia, Stephen G. Potts. 32. Ask Your Ancestors and They Will Tell You, Rabbi Daniel A. Roberts. 33. A "Natural Law" Reconsideration of Euthanasia, Lisa Sowle Cahill. 34. Active and Passive Euthanasia, James Rachels. 35. Is There a Duty to Die? John Hardwig. 36. A Non-Consequentialist Argument for Active Euthanasia, Baruch A. Brody. Part VI: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 37. What Do Murderers Deserve? The Death Penalty in Civilized Societies, David Gelertner. 38. Deterrence and the Death Penalty, Ernest Van den Haag. 39. Christian Ethics and Capital Punishment: A Reflection, Alexander Williams, Jr. 40. Is the Death Penalty Irrevocable? Michael Davis. 41. Instrument of Justice or Tool of Vengance? Matthew L. Stephens. 42. In Spite of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases, Michael Radelet, Hugo Bedau, Constance Putnam. 43. The Death Penalty as a Symbolic Issue, Stephen Nathanson. Part VII: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS. 44. Can and Ought We to Follow Nature? Holmes Rolston, III. 45. The Land Ethic, Aldo Leopold. 46. The Ethics of Respect for Nature, Paul W. Taylor. 47. The Planetary Environment: Challenge on Every Front, Larry Rasmussen. 48. People or Penguins, William F. Baxter. 49. The Refutation of Environmental Ethics, Janna Thompson. 50. A Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor, Garrett Hardin. Part VIII: HUMAN CLONING. 51. Cloning Human Beings: An Assessment of the Ethical Issues Pro and Con, Dan Brock. 52. The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings, Leon Kass. 53. The Judeo-Christian Case Against Human Cloning, Stephen Garrard Post. 54. Contingency, Tragedy, and the Virtues of Parenting, Sondra Wheeler. 55. Clone Wars, Mark Eibert. 56. In God's Garden: Creation and Cloning in Jewish Thought, Jonathan Cohen. 57. The Twin Paradox: What Exactly Is Wrong With Cloning People? Ronald Bailey.