Ethics Comprehensive Exam Reading List

This is a new list as of Fall 2009.

(An asterisk* indicates that the work is available in Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, 4 th Edition, eds. Steven M. Cahn and Peter Markie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). In addition readings may be found in Hughes LaFollette's Ethics in Practice (Blackwell, 2006), and Peter Singer's Companion to Ethics (Blackwell, 1993)).

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Classical Readings Ethical Theory

Plato, Euthyphro*; Gorgias; Protagoras; The Republic, Books 1, 2, 4, 10
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Epicurus, Letter to Menoceus*
Epictetus, Enchiridion*
Hobbes, Leviathan, Parts 1 and 2
Butler, Fifteen Sermons, Sermons 1, 2, 3, 11, 12
Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature , Book II, Part III; Book III, Part I*
Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals*
Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation*
Mill, Utilitarianism*, On Liberty

Contemporary Readings in Ethical Theory

Frankena, Ethics, 2nd edition
Moore, Principia Ethica, chapter 1
Prichard, "Does Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake?"*
Ross, The Right and the Good
Ayer, Language, Truth ,and Logic, chapters 1 and 6
Stevenson, "The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms"*
Sartre, "Existentialism Is A Humanism"*
Hare, The Language of Morals, chapters 4 – 6
Rawls, "Kantian Constructivism in Moral Theory"
Foot, "Moral Beliefs"; "Morality As A System of Hypothetical Imperatives"*
Harman, "Ethics and Observation"
Nussbaum, "Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach"*
MacIntyre, After Virtue, chapters 1- 6, 14 – 16
Smart and Williams, Utilitarianism, For and Against
Nagel, "Moral Luck"*
Marcus, “Moral Dilemmas and Consistency”*

Contemporary Issues in Ethics

Rawls, A Theory of Justice, chapters I, II, and III
Nozick, Anarchy State and Utopia, chapter 7;“Distributive Justice”
Thomson, "A Defense of Abortion"*; "The Trolley Problem"*
Marquis, "An Argument That Abortion Is Wrong"*
Rachels, "Active and Passive Euthanasia"*
Foot, "Killing and Letting Die"*
Singer, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality"*
Arthur, "Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Code"*