Contemporary Debates In Moral Theory (contemporary Debates In Philosophy)

CONTEMPORARY DEBATES IN PHILOSOPHY CONTEMPORARY DEBATES IN MORAL THEORY EDITED BY JAMES DREIER Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory Contemporary Debates in Philosophy In teaching and research, philosophy makes progress through argumentation and debate. Contemporary Debates in Philosophy presents a forum for students and their teachers to follow and participate in the debates that animate philosophy today in the western world. Each volume presents pairs of opposing viewpoints on contested themes and topics in the central subfields of philosophy. Each volume is edited and introduced by an expert in the field, and also includes an index, bibliography, and suggestions for further reading. The opposing essays, commissioned especially for the volumes in the series, are thorough but accessible presentations of opposing points of view. 1 Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Religion edited by Michael L. Peterson and Raymond J. VanArragon 2 Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science edited by Christopher Hitchcock 3 Contemporary Debates in Epistemology edited by Matthias Steup and Ernest Sosa 4 Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics edited by Andrew I. Cohen and Christopher Heath Wellman 5 Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art edited by Matthew Kieran 6 Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory edited by James Dreier Forthcoming Contemporary Debates are in: Cognitive Science edited by Robert Stainton Metaphysics edited by Ted Sider, Dean Zimmerman, and John Hawthorne Philosophy of Mind edited by Brian McLaughlin and Jonathan Cohen Social Philosophy edited by Laurence Thomas Political Philosophy edited by Thomas Christiano Philosophy of Language edited by Ernie Lepore and Kent Bach Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory Edited by James Dreier © 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148–5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of James Dreier to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Contemporary debates in moral theory / edited by James Dreier. p. cm. – (Contemporary debates in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0178-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-0178-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0179-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-0179-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Ethics. I. Dreier, James. II. Series. BJ1012.C6572 2005 171 – dc22 2005009843 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10 on 12.5 pt Rotif Serif by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong Printed and bound i