Ethics: The Essential Writings (Modern Library Classics)
This primer on moral philosophy, compiled by philosophy professor (and former competitive boxer) Marino, is both an introduction to the science of oughts and a demonstration of the subject’s breadth. The first half collects excerpts from the canonical ethics texts of Western philosophy, including classics by Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, and Mill, as well as a few wild cards (like Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard), which, though no less relevant, tend to appear less frequently in collections of this sort. The second half, more contemporary and somewhat more applied in its focus, includes such well-known works as Rawls’ Theory of Justice and Walzer’s discussion of dirty hands but also presents pieces that confront such specific ethical quandaries as animal rights, abortion, and treatment of the environment. Existentialism, Marino’s specialty, is represented with an excerpt from Sartre and a prefatory reminder that life is about making choices. Capably pulled together by Marino’s brief and pithy introductions of each excerpt, this selection will be of primary interest to students of philosophical ethics (as well as teachers looking for a textbook on the topic). --Brendan Driscoll