If you liked The Fundamentals of Ethics, you will probably like this one too.

This book is a compilation of readings on Ethics. It is supposed to be the counterpart of the book The Fundamentals of Ethics, an exceptionally good introduction to the study of ethics.

Gilbert Harman, the famous contender against moral realism, currently Professor in Princeton, lists, in a program, a bunch of texts students should read while attending his course entitled PHI 202/CHV 202: Introduction to Moral Philosophy.

Then he goes on to say that almost all of the texts he recommends can be found in Shafer-Landau's The Ethical Life: the book which I am reviewing right now!


CONTENTS:

Unfortunately, the table of contents of this book is not explicit in Amazon's webpage. I give an overview from it below:

This book encompasses, indeed, a very comprehensive sample of texts on Ethics. It is divided in four parts. The first one concerns the good life, including texts from Epicurus, Stuart Mill, Robert Nozick, etc. The second regards the different types of normative ethics or theories of right conduct. Authors such as Hobbes, Kant, J.J.C. Smart, and others appear here. The third deals with Metaethics and the status of morality, containing classics like Hume, Mackie (Excerpt from Inventing Right and Wrong), Gilbert Harman, etc.

Lastly, comes the fourth and best part, the one that really goes beyond the problems discussed in the counterpart of this book (The Fundamentals of Ethics). Part 4 adds very good texts on specific moral problems, such as Abortion, Euthanasia, Value of Human Life, Killing Animals, World Poverty, Manipulation of Genes and Clones, Terrorism, Admissibility of Torture, Adultery, Homosexuality. Authors include Dworkin, Peter Singer, James Rachels, Michael Walzer, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Corvino, Bonnie Steinbock, besides others. Part four is, surely, the best one of this book.


CONCLUSION:

It is very important to mention that most texts are very succinct, but never too short. Sometimes, you do feel like you want to read a little more, but they are not excessively brief. The fact is that they are mostly very straightforward. They present a problem, point their arguments and evidences and then conclude.

This makes this book indeed very useful and practical. It must also be said that it is quite independent from The Fundamentals of Ethics. They are totally autonomous, though connected, which means: you don't have to read one to understand the other. Absolutely not. But they do address mostly the same topics (Part 4 being the plainest exception).

I sincerely hope my review was of some aid. Please don't forget to vote in case this review was helpful to you. It is good to have some positive feedback and encouragement.