TAKING SIDES: CLASHING VIEWS ON MORAL ISSUES

Abstract

Preface -- Introduction: thinking about moral issues -- Pt. 1. Fundamental issues in morality -- Issue 1. Is moral relativism correct? -- Yes: from "Moral relativism" / Gilbert Hannan in Gilbert Harman and Judith Jarvis Thomson, eds., "Moral relativism and moral objectivity", 1996 -- No: from "Moral objectivity" / Judith Jarvis Thomson in Gilbert Harman and Judith Jarvis Thomson, eds., "Moral relativism and moral objectivity", 1996 -- Issue 2. Does morality need religion? -- Yes: from "The shape of the good: Christian reflections on the foundations of ethics" / C. Stephen Layman, 1991 -- No: from "Religion, morality, and consdence," / John Arthur in John Arthur, ed., "Morality and moral controversies", 4th ed., 1996 -- Pt. 2. Gender, sex, and reproduction -- Issue 3. Should the navy assign servicewomen to submarine duty? / Yes: from "Should the navy assign servicewomen to submarine duty? Yes" / J. Michael Brower in "Insight on the News", 2000 -- No: from "Should the navy assign servicewomen to submarine duty? No" / Elaine Donnelly in "Insight on the News", 2000 -- Issue 4. Is abortion immoral? -- Yes: from "Why abortion is immoral" / Don Marquis in "The Journal of Philosophy", 1989 -- No: from "Abortion and the concept of a person" / Jane English in "Canadian Journal of Philosophy", 1975 - - Issue 5. Must sex involve commitment? Yes: from "Reflective Naturalism" / Vincent C. Punzo, 1969 -- No: from "Plain sex" / Alan H. Goldman in "Philosophy and Public Affairs", 1977 -- Issue 6. Should congress be giving more financial support to abstinence-only sex education? -- Yes: from "Should congress be giving more financial support to abstinence-only sex education? Yes" / Kathleen Tsubata in "Insight on the News", 2003 -- No: from "Should congress be giving more financial support to abstinence-only sex education? No" / Cory Richards in "Insight on the News", 2003 -- Issue 7. Should human cloning be banned? -- Yes: from "Why we should ban human cloning" / George J. Annas in "The New England Journal of Medicine", 1998 -- No: from "Human cloning and the challenge of regulation" / John. A. Robertson in "The New England Journal of Medicine", 1998 - - Pt. 3. Law and society -- Issue 8. Are government-supported faith-based charities a good idea? -- Yes: from "The good in faith- based initiative" / Jo Renee Formicola in Fo Renee Formicola, Mar C. Segers, and Paul Weber, eds., "Faith-based initiatives and the Bush Administration: the good, the bad, and the ugly", 2003 -- No: from "The wrong way to do right: a challenge to charitable choice" / Melissa Rogers in E.J. Dionne, Jr., and John J. DiIulio, Jr., eds., "What's God got to do with the American Experiment?", 2000 - - Issue 9. Should congress allow the buying and selling of human organs? -- Yes: from "Should Congress allow the buying and selling of human organs? Yes" / Robert J. Cihak and Michael A. Glueck in "Insight on the News", 2001 -- No: from "Should Congress allow the buying and selling of human organs? No" / James F. Childress in "Insight on the News", 2001 -- Issue 10. Should drugs be legalized? - - Yes: from "A drug-free America, or a free America?" / David Boaz in "U.C. Davis Law Review", 1991 -- No: from "Speaking out against drug legalization" Drug Enforcement Administration, in http://www.DEA.gov, 2003 -- Issue 11. Is affirmative action fair? - - Yes: from "Affirmative action: pro" / Albert G. Mosley in Albert G. Mosley and Nicholas Capaldi, eds., "Affirmative action: social justice or unfair preference?", 1996 -- No: from "The case against affirmative action" / Louis P. Pojman in "International Journal of Applied Philosophy", 1998 -- Issue 12. Should the Supreme Court prohibit racial preferences in college admissions? -- Yes: from "Should the Supreme Court prohibit racial preferences in college admissions? Yes" / Deroy Murdock in "Insight on the News", 2003 -- No: from "Should the Supreme Court prohibit racial preferences in college admissions? No" / Jamin B. Raskin in "Insight on the News", 2003 -- Issue 13. Should same-sex marriage be allowed? -- Yes: from Gay marriage: why it is good for gays, good for straights, and good for America / Jonathan Rauch, 2004 -- No: from "Contra same- sex marriage" / Jeff Jordan in Robert M. Baird and Stuart E. Rosenbaum, eds., "Same-sex marriage: the moral and legal debate", 2nd ed., 2004 -- Issue 14. Should hate-crime laws explicitly protect sexual orientation? -- Yes: from "Should hate-crime laws explicitly protect 'sexual orientation'? Yes" / Elizabeth Birch in "Insight on the News", 2000 -- No: from "Should hate-crime laws explicitly protect 'sexual orientation'? No" / Paul M. Weyrich in "Insight on the News", 2000 -- Issue 15. Should handguns be banned? -- Yes: from "Handguns, violent crime, and self-defense" / Nicholas Dixon in "International Journal of Applied Philosophy", 2000 -- No: from "The false promise of gun control" / Daniel D. Polsby in "The Atlantic Monthly", 1994 -- Issue 16. Should the death penalty be abolished? - - Yes: from "Punishment in America: social control and the ironies of imprisonment" / Michael Welch, 1999 -- No: from "The death penalty once more" / Ernest van den Haag in "U.C. Davis Law Review", 1985 -- Issue 17. Should physician-assisted suicide by legalized by the states? -- Yes: from "Should physician assisted suicide be legalized by the state? Yes" / Faye Girsh in "Insight on the News", 1999 -- No: "Should physician assisted suicide be legalized by the state? No" / Rita L. Marker in "Insight on the News", 1999 -- Pt. 4. Human beings and other species -- Issue 18. Is it morally permissible to eat meat? -- Yes: from "Environmental ethics: duties to and values in the natural world" / Holmes Rolston III, 1988 -- No: "Against Rolston's defense of eating animals: reckoning with the nutritional factor in the argument for vegetarianism" / John Mizzoni in "International Journal of Applied Philosophy", 2002 -- Contributors -- Index