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Best introductory texts in moral philosophy?

Brian Leiter

Continuing with our series (see here and here), I now invite readers to name what they think are the best introductory texts in moral philosophy (including normative ethics, metaethics, and moral psychology; I'll do politcal philosophy separately). As before, don't just name a text, but say something about why you think it's particularly notable or valuable.  Although you don't have to sign  your comment, I do think signed ones will carry more weight with readers.

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20 responses to “Best introductory texts in moral philosophy?”

  1. Justin Kalef

    Mike Huemer's _Ethical Intuitionism_ is a fantastic metaethics text. I use it to teach my Ethical Theory seminar, and it's the book I wish I had read first when I was getting into metaethics.

    Reply
  2. Diego Solórzano

    Without a doubt, Alasdair Macintyre's Short History of Ethics.

    Reply
  3. Patrick Hassan

    I would have to go with Russ Shafer-Landau's 'The Fundamentals of Ethics'. Very clearly explained, succinct chapters, and in my experience it has gone down very well with 1st year students. Because of its accessibility and helpful examples, students were able to grasp the nuances of issues very quickly.

    Reply
  4. Brian Leiter

    A reservation I have about the Huemer text is that it is a sustained argument for a false view, i.e., intuitionism, which doesn't receive anything like the critical treatment of the others.

    Reply
  5. Ty

    Re metaethics, I think these are very good and equally good:

    Andrew Fisher (2014) 'Metaethics: An Introduction' (Routledge)
    Matthew Chrisman (2017) 'What is This Thing Called Metaethics?' (Routledge)

    Re normative ethics, I think this is the best by a mile:

    Mark Timmons (2013) 'Moral Theory: An Introduction' (Rowman & Littlefield)

    Reply
  6. V. Alan White

    I used Rachels Elements of Moral Philosophy (supplemented with other materials) my entire career–clearly written, pretty thorough coverage especially in later editions, and fairly even-handed in presentation. Most students praised its accessibility. I have read Shafer-Landau's book and must say if I hadn't been so attached to Rachels, I would have used his.

    Reply
  7. Miles

    I found Richard Joyce's The Myth of Morality to be an extremely clear and accessible overview of the basic metaethical positions (albeit with a lot of emphasis on Michael Smith's metaethical view). Plus it's true!

    Reply
  8. Daniel Weltman

    For metaethics, I read a bunch recently, and my favorite was Chrisman's What is This Thing Called Metaethics?. The main reason I like it is that it is the only metaethics textbook I've found that is accessibly written, relatively thorough, entirely focused on metaethics, excerptable, fair to all the views, and accurate. Fisher's Metaethics: An Introduction and van Roojen's Metaethics: A Contemporary Introduction are both good along almost all axes, but they are pretty complex, more so than I'd like for most undergraduate courses. (I like van Roojen's coverage of naturalism as a supplement to Chrisman's – the Chrisman chapter on naturalism goes a little thin on Cornell Realism and other traditional naturalisms for my tastes.) Miller's An Introduction to Contemporary Metaethics is pretty long and detailed, more so than I like for undergraduates generally. Jacobs's Dimensions of Moral Theory is neat but the focus is not narrow enough and so metaethics proper gets rather scanty coverage. Because it was mentioned above, I would not recommend Huemer's Ethical Intuitionism for undergraduates or even as an introduction for graduate students or anyone new to the field. The book gives rather short shrift to the opposing theories, so much so that I think someone learning about them for the first time from it would come away rather badly misled (in such a way as to make Huemer's theory seem like the clearly right option).

    For normative ethics I really like Driver's Ethics: The Fundamentals for having very good chapters on classic theories and Shafer-Landau's The Fundamentals of Ethics for having nice back-and-forth chapters (one on the attractions of consequentialism, another on objections to it, etc.).

    I haven't taught from it but I have fond memories of learning from Cohen and Wellman's Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics, which has bespoke back and forth essays on various applied topics. I think back and forth chapters/essays/whatever are generally a nice format for textbooks.

    Reply
  9. Brad Cokelet

    For normative ethics, Deigh's "Introduction to Ethics" has many strengths. It does a great job exploring various theories of the good and right against the backdrop "why be moral?" questions. It integrates systematic philosophic inquiry with discussion of historical figures (Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Butler, Intuitionists, Kant, and Sartre). The discussion of Kant's theory as an advance over intuitionism is noteworthy because it brings out the deep appeal of Kant's theory even if we reject the CI procedures.

    Informative review here: https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/an-introduction-to-ethics/

    Reply
  10. Jim Tantillo

    Shelly Kagan's Normative Ethics, clearly written and accessible to non-philosophy majors. Organized conceptually rather than historically or by authors the way e.g., Stephen Darwall's Philosophical Ethics is organized (by the same publisher). Excellent annotated suggested readings section if students do want to read the original sources. Clear summary in final two chapters of foundational/metaethical approaches. Have used this for non-majors for 20 years.

    Reply
  11. Derek Pierson

    I would highly recommend Stephen Darwall's "Philosophical Ethics: An Historical and Contemporary Introduction" (Westview Press). It has the distinct advantage of covering both contemporary ethical positions (e.g. error theory, non-cognitivism, and theological voluntarism) and the most noteworthy of moral philosophers, historically speaking (viz., Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche). It also features an excellent glossary.

    Reply
  12. John Tilley

    Mark Timmons’s Moral Theory: An Introduction is first rate (for normative ethics). It's more advanced than most introductory texts, though still introductory.

    Hopefully, the next edition of Timmons’s text will be a better-made book (with a sturdier, less-apt-to-break binding). The first edition (2002) was well made, but it seems that Rowman & Littlefield cut a few corners in producing the second edition (2013). Excellent content, though.

    Also first rate:
    Julia Driver, Ethics: The Fundamentals.
    Russ Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics.

    An oldie but goodie (though probably out of print):
    Fred Feldman, Introductory Ethics (1978).

    Reply
  13. Matt

    A serious problem with the (otherwise not bad) Rachels (now Rachels and Rachels) volume that Alan White mentions above is its obscene price. The 8th edition (which may not even be a real book – I can't say for sure) retails for something like $84 new, for a slim volume, most of which is slight re-workings of stuff written years ago. It's a great example of coming up w/ new editions and/or "innovations" (like on-line "extras") to try to kill the used book marked. There is literally no way that it makes sense to have students buy this book for $84, or anywhere close to that. One might get around this by assigning an earlier edition, where used volumes are common, but the way this book is sold is pretty gross. I suppose it could be used as a self-contained example of unethical behavior. Given that there are lots of other good books that won't impose such high costs on students, and that won't reward the gross publishing practices here, I think this book has to be given a pass, even though the content is useful for teaching.

    Reply
  14. John Tilley

    Two more oldies but goodies (way out of date, but still valuable on many topics):
    Richard Brandt, Ethical Theory: The Problems of Normative and Critical Ethics (1959).
    Jonathan Harrison, Our Knowledge of Right and Wrong (1971).

    Reply
  15. V. Alan White

    A brief reply to Matt: my campus employed a rental program that made Elements affordable for students, although it also locked down the edition used for a period of at least 5 years. For example, I used a recent but not the latest edition for about 10 of the last years I taught (I'm now retired). But otherwise I agree that the cost of such a little book in paperback is way, way too high. These days purchasing texts is a very heavy burden on students, and I concur that imposing such costs on students is something that instructors must consider.

    Reply
  16. Moral philosophy grad student

    A quick meta-comment in line with the complaints about the Huemer, but perhaps even more relevant: I second Shelly Kagan's book, but mostly because it is a very good introduction to what a large portion of those currently practicing normative ethics *think* normative ethics is. It aims to present the entire conceptual landscape in neutral terms. These terms are frequently assumed by many philosophers. (I've seen it in talks, I've seen it in papers.) But these terms are not neutral and they actually make it hard to see how a non-consequentialist view is compelling, maybe even minimally coherent. So read it for these lessons! Jens Timmerman has a really interesting Aristotelian Society talk about exactly this.

    Reply
  17. High School Teacher

    Seconding two of the comments here: Rachels' Elements is what originally got me hooked on philosophy when I was in high school and does a great job at having chapters that both speak to each other but can be read alone.

    But teaching it to high schoolers now, the price gouging is pretty obscene. It's a short book with minimal tweaks across editions. There's no way it should be over $50, especially given its target audience. Luckily chapters in the book helped me justify distributing a pdf.

    Reply
  18. alexander stingl

    I always thought Susan Neiman's Evil in Modern Thought was something that could work well with students. Her book centers very much around questions one would ask when beginning the moral philosophical enterprise. In her book, especially noteworthy to me was how she undermined those that ridicule Kant's rigor (not even lie to a murderer's face) by taking context and consequences seriously and thought to their practical conclusion. The writing is accessible and clear.

    Reply
  19. Steven Hales

    Jussi Suikkanen's _This is Ethics_ (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014) is inexpensive at $36 and quite comprehensive: see the ToC at https://www.wiley.com/en-us/This+Is+Ethics%3A+An+Introduction-p-9781118479858

    Reply
  20. Julian

    Robert Arrington, Western Ethics: An Historical Introduction, Wiley-Blackwell. The book is written in an accessible manner, is quite comprehensive in its scope, is explicit in its focus on the Western tradition and is historically informed.

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