The Elements of Moral Philosophy 8th Edition by James Rachels and Publisher McGraw-Hill Higher Education. It covers the major trends in contemporary theory (Kantian Deontology; Utilitarianism; Social Contract Theory; Virtue Theory) and for each acknowledges the strengths and also the more devastating criticisms. Refresh and try again. I cannot say that I agreed with James Rachels, on many matters, since there was a definite bias towards Utilitarianism. The end gives us a brief synthesis into a satisfactory moral theory of the author, although it falls prey to some of the same faults he was admonishing onto the other theories. It is safe to say that I struggled, but I was still able to pass the class. It explains a number of moral theories and topics, including cultural relativism, subjectivism, divine command theory, ethical egoism, social contract theory, utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and deontology. The print version of this textbook is ISBN: 9780078119064, 0078119065. The end gives us a brief synthesis into a satisfactory moral theory of the author, although it falls prey to some of the same fau. It’s not your typical textbook. The Elements of Moral Philosophy is a 1986 ethics textbook by the philosophers James Rachels and Stuart Rachels. Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. I. Rachels, James, 1941–2003. He doesn't present the reader with all the facts at once- instead he gives them piecemeal. Since then, his son Stuart has written the fifth edition and the sixth edition, which was released in April 2009. He received his Ph.D. in 1967 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, studying under Professors W. D. Falk and E. M. Adams. Divine command theory died a horrible death over two millennia ago when Euthyphro, much like certain "top" reviewers of Rachels' book, postured and bumbled along in an attempt to defend his illusory moral expertise. If the way one speaks tells us something about the content of what they are saying, you should already be able to guess Rachels’s own philosophical background. I definitely kept an openmind while reading it and I can say that I honestly understood alot of the points that were being made even if I may not have completely agreed. Any observer of our culture would know that this is the kind of morality that we would produce. p. cm. Originally appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, this essay has been reprinted 300 times and is a staple of undergraduate education. I took a college-level ethics class, and this book was paired with The Right Thing to Do: Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy. Very deceptive, manipulative, and completely dishonest...I don't know why I'm giving it 2 stars. Rather, what he does is to boil down every theoretical syste. Now, that said, I feel compelled to give a quick list of the cons and pros of "The Elements of Moral Philosophy. He received his Ph.D. in 1967 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, studying under Professors W. D. Falk and E. M. Adams. Materials presented in this book are well ordered (like most other textbooks on ethics), but the main problem with this was the manner of presentation and the way he critisied different approaches in ethics. However, these assumptions are part of the warp and woof of the modern American worldview, so they are almost invisible to the unwary reader. I have a newfound respect for many different cultures, species, logics and such. Overall, I think this can be a valuable book for students and lay people alike. Welcome back. This book gave me alot of insight on the views of morals and so on. http://www.jamesrachels.org/stuart/EMP.htm, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Elements_of_Moral_Philosophy&oldid=907417852, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 July 2019, at 19:12. Mainly covers the main ideas throughout history, such as virtue ethics and utilitarianism. Rachels doesn’t give us a history of ethics, or an introduction to the philosophers who have developed such theories. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. The Elements of Moral Philosophy by James Rachels and Stuart Rachels is a best-selling text for undergraduate courses in ethics.Thirteen thought-provoking chapters introduce readers to major moral concepts and theories in philosophy through clear, understandable explanations and … The Elements of Moral Philosophy, James Rachels, Stuart Rachels The Elements of Moral Philosophy, by James Rachels and Stuart Rachels, is an ethics textbook. It has helped me understand and recognize the way people argue when having discussions. Can Ethics Provide Answers? Rejecting theories by drawing contradiction with another (supposedly) wider accepted theory, is not only problematic, but also unbearable and misleading. However, these assumptions are part of the warp and woof of the modern American worldview, so they are almost invisible to the unwary reader. Therefore my review will be incomplete but I will update the review as I go on##. The book uses real-life examples in explaining the theories. This was the overview of Western moral philosophy I've wanted, and I will have to read it again to start to get a hold on the ideas. Over his career, Rachels wrote 5 books and 85 essays, edited 7 books and gave about 275 professional lectures. James Rachels, the distinguished American moral philosopher, was born in Columbus, Georgia, and graduated from nearby Mercer University in 1962. The book has been translated into Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Persian and Albanian. ", I read this when I had a quite deep interest in philosophy and ethics - why should I or shouldn't I think or act this or that way. 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