Covering important philosophical issues aimed at today's students, paired articles "talk to each other," thus setting up a clear "pro-con" format. Each pair of readings features an introduction with a list of "Points to Ponder" which focuses students on the issues they'll encounter as they read and ends with a conclusion entitled "The Continuing Debate" with subheads "What is New" and "Where to Find More" to encourage further study and discussion.

Table of Contents:
Debate 1: Ethics and Religion: Does Religion Undercut Ethics or Provide Vital Support for Ethics? Religion Undercuts Ethics. Advocate: James Rachels.  Source: “God and Human Experience.” Religion Provides Vital Support for Ethics.        Advocate: George N. Schlesinger. Source:  New Perspectives on Old-Time Religion. Debate 2:  Reason, Objectivity, and Ethics:  Can Reason Guide Us to Objective Ethical Truths? Reason Cannot Discover Ethical Truths. Advocate: Bernard Williams. Source: Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Reason Can Discover Ethical Truths.     Advocate: Thomas Nagel. Source: The Last Word. Debate 3:  Is Ethics Based on a Social Contract? Social Contract Theory Offers the Best Grounds for Ethics. Advocate: David Gauthier. Source:  “Why Contractarianism?” Social Contract Theory is an Inadequate Account of Ethics. Advocate: Jean Hampton. Source:  “Two Faces of Contractarian Thought.” Debate 4:  Can Consequentialism Make Room for Friendship? Consequentialism Can Accommodate the Value of Friendship. Advocate: Peter Railton. Source: “Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality.”  Consequentialism Leaves No Room for Friendship. Advocate: Michael Stocker. Source: “The Schizophrenia of Modern Ethical Theories.” Debate 5:  Morality: Universal Principles of Justice or Specific Caring Relationships? Caring Relationships Can Take Precedence. Advocate: Virginia Held. Source: “Caring Relations and Principles of Justice.” Justice and Care Operate Together. Advocate: Claudia Card. Source: “Particular Justice and General Care.” Debate 6: Do Moral Obligations Always Take Precedence? We Should Limit the Demands of Morality. Advocate: Susan Wolf. Source: “Moral Saints.” Following the Strongest Demands of Morality is a Worthwhile Goal. Advocate: Robert Merrihew Adams. Source: “Saints.” Debate 7:  Do Women Have a Distinctive Ethical Perspective? Women Have a Distinctive Ethical Perspective. Advocate: Annette Baier. Source:  “What Do Women Want in a Moral Theory?” Gender Does not Distinguish Different Moral Perspectives. Advocate: Marilyn Friedman. Source: “Beyond Caring: The De-Moralization of Gender.” Debate 8:  Can Virtue Theory Offer Moral Direction? Virtue Ethics Offers Effective Moral Guidance. Advocate: Rosalind Hursthouse. Source: On Virtue Ethics. Virtue Ethics Leaves Loose Ends. Advocates: David Copp and David Sobel. Source: “Morality and Virtue: An Assessment of Some Recent Work in Virtue Ethics.” Debate 9:  Does Contemporary Psychological Research Threaten Virtue Theory? Virtue Theory is Undercut by Contemporary Psychological Research. Advocate: Gilbert Harman. Source: “Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology: Virtue Ethics and the Fundamental Attribution Error.” Virtue Theory is not Damaged by Contemporary Psychological Research. Advocate: James Montmarquet. Source: “Moral Character and Social Science Research.” Debate 10:  Is Moral Psychology Relevant to Moral Philosophy? Moral Psychology Requires Changes in Moral Philosophy. Advocate: Mark L. Johnson. Source: “How Moral Psychology Changes Moral Theory.” Moral Psychology Has Little Effect on Moral Philosophy. Advocate: Virginia Held. Source: “Whose Agenda?  Ethics Versus Cognitive Science.” Debate 11:  How Did Moral Behavior Develop? Morality Developed as a Means of Controlling Powerful Group Members. Advocate: Christopher Boehm. Source: “Conflict and the Evolution of Social Control.” Morality Developed to Protect Systems of Cooperative Exchange. Advocate: Dennis Krebs. Source: “As Moral as We Need to Be.” Debate 12:  Pragmatism and the Dispute Over Value Objectivity There Are Truths About Values. Advocate: Hilary Putnam. Source: “Are Values Made or Discovered?” There Are No Truths About Values. Advocate: Richard Rorty. Source: “Relativism: Finding and Making.” Debate 13:  Is Morality Relative to Culture or Objectively and Universally True? Morality is Relative. Advocate: Gilbert Harman. Source:  “Is There a Single True Morality?” Morality is Objectively True. Advocate: Carol Rovane. Source: “Earning the Right to Realism or Relativism in Ethics.” Debate 14:  Is Cultural Relativism a Helpful Approach to Ethics? Ethical Cultural Relativism Should be Rejected. Advocate: Ruth Macklin. Source: Against Relativism: Cultural Diversity and the Search for Ethical Universals in Medicine. Ethical Cultural Relativism Has Some Advantages. Advocate: Elvin Hatch. Source: “The Good Side of Relativism.” Debate 15:  Is Morality an Ideological Illusion? Close Examination of Morality Reveals its Ideological Nature. Advocate:  Anthony Skillen. Source: “Is Morality a Ruling Illusion?” The Objectivity of Morality Remains an Open Possibility. Advocate: Peter Railton Source: “Morality, Ideology, and Reflection; or, The Duck Sits Yet.” Debate 16: Is Partiality Toward Fellow Citizens Morally Justified?  Partiality Toward Fellow Citizens Should be Very Limited. Advocate: Jeff McMahan. Source: “The Limits of National Partiality.” Significant Partiality Toward Fellow Citizens is Justified. Advocate: Thomas Hurka. Source: “The Justification of National Partiality.” Debate 17:  Is Moral Responsibility Morally Justified? Moral Responsibility is Morally Legitimate. Advocate: Daniel C. Dennett. Source:  Freedom Evolves. Moral Responsibility is Ultimately Unjustified. Advocate: Saul Smilansky. Source: “Compatibilism: The Argument from Shallowness."