Lewis Vaughn

Taking a unique approach that emphasizes careful reasoning, this cutting-edge reader is structured around twenty-seven landmark arguments that have provoked heated debates on current ethical issues. Contemporary Moral Arguments: Readings in Ethical Issues, Second Edition, opens with an extensive two-chapter introduction to moral reasoning and moral theories that provides students with the background necessary to analyze the arguments in the following chapters. Chapters 3-12 present seventy-six readings that are organized--in the conventional way--into ten topical areas: abortion; drugs and autonomy (new to this edition); euthanasia and assisted suicide; genetic engineering and cloning; the death penalty; war, terrorism, and torture; pornography; economic justice and health care; animal rights and environmental duties; and global obligations to the poor. Offering a special feature not found in other anthologies, the selections are also organized in an unconventional way, by argument, so that students can more easily see how philosophers have debated each other on these critical issues. Each argument opens with an introduction that outlines the argument's key points, provides context for it, and reviews some of the main responses to it. Each introduction is followed by two to four essays that present the argument's classic statement, critiques and defenses of it, and related debates. Contemporary Moral Arguments incorporates more pedagogical features than any other reader, including: * Essay questions--ideal for writing assignments--after each of the twenty-seven argument sections * Four types of boxes throughout: Facts and Figures, Public Opinion, Legalities, and Time Lines * A list of key terms at the end of each chapter, all defined in the glossary, and suggestions for further reading * An Instructor's Manual and Testbank on CD featuring chapter and reading summaries, lecture outlines in PowerPoint format, and essay and objective questions with an answer key * A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/vaughn containing the same material as the Instructor's Manual along with such student resources as self-quizzes and flash cards NEW TO THIS EDITION: * An expanded introductory chapter on moral reasoning that dissects a sample essay step by step and includes exercises on arguments * A new chapter (4) on drugs and autonomy, including four classic articles * A new section on ethical egoism (in Chapter 2) and three additional readings in other chapters * Numerous updated text boxes that reflect the latest information on abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, genetic engineering, capital punishment, war and terrorism, and economic and global justice

Great Philosophical Arguments is based on the fact that much of the power, drama, and pleasure of philosophy comes from argument—specifically from the many touchstone arguments that generated much of the philosophical canon. Like other topically organized introductory philosophy readers, this book is organized around the main areas of philosophy: the existence of God, knowledge and skepticism, mind and body, free will and determinism, ethics, and contemporary ethical debates, including abortion, euthanasia, and global hunger and poverty. But what is unique is the systematic focus on argument. The reading selections are organized by argument. Each argument is introduced by a briefing that (1) sketches the argument, (2) provides conceptual background for it, and (3) reviews some of the main philosophical responses to it. After the briefing come two to four selections presenting the classic statement of the argument, critiques and defenses of it, and discussions of related debates. At the end of each agrument are useful essay questions for further analysis. Vaughn's approach focuses students' attention on argumentation, where much of the philosophical work gets done; it gives them clear points of reference for navigating material in which they often get lost; and it helps them understand and appreciate the philosophical dialectic-the interplay of argument and counterargument among articles and authors. An introductory Chapter One explains the concerns and methods of philosophy, explains its practical and theoretical benefits, and provides a short lesson in identifying, constructing, and assessing arguments. Each chapter has an extensive introduction to the issue and arguments, and essay questions at chapter endings urge reflection on the chapter as a whole. Other pedagogical features include biographical text boxes, bold key terms lists at the ends of chapters and collected in an end-of-book glossary, suggestions for further readings, and an appendix on How to Write an Argumentative Essay. An Instructor's Manual and Testbank on CD features chapter summaries, reading summaries, lecture outlines in PowerPoint format, and objective test questions for use in exams or midterms. A Companion Website for both students and instructors at www.oup.com/us/vaughn includes all the material from the Instructor's Manual and Testbank, and such resources for students as study questions, interactive quizzes, flashcards with key words, and helpful web links. Message: The only introduction to philosophy textbook that teaches students to think critically about philosophical arguments-that shows students how to identify, understand, and critique philosophical arguments.

Incorporating the insights of new coeditor Lewis Vaughn, Classics of Philosophy, Third Edition, is the most comprehensive anthology of writings in Western philosophy in print. Spanning 2,500 years of thought, it is ideal for introduction to philosophy and history of philosophy courses. It features more than seventy selections by forty philosophers—along with fragments from the Pre-Socratics—offering students and instructors an extensive and economical collection of the major works of the Western tradition. This volume contains the most important writings from Thales to Rawls; twenty of these are complete works, while the others are judiciously abridged so that little of value to the student is lost. A lucid introduction, including a brief biographical sketch, accompanies each of the featured philosophers. NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION: * Selections from philosophers who were not included in the previous edition—Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed) and Schopenhauer (The World as Will and Representation)—along with Kant's Critique of Pure Reason * Expanded readings: Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, On the Soul, Metaphysics, and Nicomachean Ethics; Berkeley's Of the Principles of Human Knowledge; and Hume's Treatise on Human Nature * Review questions for each chapter and illustrated portraits of many philosophers * A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/pojman featuring resources for students (self-quizzes, flash cards, chapter review questions, a timeline, and helpful web links) and instructors (brief reading summaries, essay questions, test questions, and PowerPoint-based lecture slides) Classics of Philosophy, Third Edition, provides students with an extensive view of the major stages of growth in Western philosophy—including its birth with the Pre-Socratics and its contemporary developments—in an accessible format and at an affordable price.