Ethics

Contents
Preface
Is there a Golden Rule?
	Doing as you would be done by
	Golden rules
	The demands of consistency
	Tarnished gold
Do the Ends Justify the Means?
	Doing wrong for the sake of what is right
	Coming down to consequences
	Reframing the question
	The end of means and ends?
Is Terrorism Ever Justified?
	The legitimacy of all necessary means
	Why not violence?
	Beyond the moral abacus
	Countering terror
Should We Favour Our Families and Friends?
	The ethics of preferential treatment
	Each counts for one
	Rejecting utility
	Special relationships
How Much Should We Give to Charity?
	The duty to rescue
	The argument for obligation
	Responsibility
	The duty to trade fair
	Living, not just existing
Are Drug Laws Morally Inconsistent?
	The link between law and morality
	Morality and the law
	The inconsistency of culture
Do Animals Have Rights?
	Expanding the moral circle
	Wrongs of rights
	Animal rights, animal responsibility?
Is Abortion Murder?
	The value of human life
	The sanctity of life
	The value of human life
	Drawing lines
	Fuzzy life
Should Euthanasia Be Legal?
	The right to end your own life
	The tragic imprecision of law
	The morality of assisted suicide
	Double effect
	A clearer confusion
Is Sex a Moral Issue?
	Ethics beyond prudery
	Ethics and morality
	Sex and the good life
	The return of ethics
Can Discrimination Be Good?
	Sameness, difference and equality
	Group think
	Correcting for injustice
	Discriminating judgements
Is Free Trade Fair Trade?
	The ethics of global business
	Defending the free market
	Free and fair?
Should We Protect the Environment?
	On whether nature can be harmed
	The invention of nature
	What are we harming?
	Whose environment?
Are We Responsible for Our Actions?
	Criminality and being in your right mind
	Illness and ignorance
	No more normal?
What is a Just War?
	The rights and wrongs of armed conflict
	The principles
	Just war in Afghanistan?
	Just war in Iraq?
Is Torture Always Wrong?
	How to stop a ticking bomb
	The case for torture
	Never say never
What Can Science Tell Us about Morality?
	What facts tell us about values
	From is to ought
	What science has to say
	Informing yes, determining no
Is Morality Relative?
	The variability of moral codes
	Anything goes?
	Absolutely relative
	Flexible absolutes
	Religious relativism
	One size doesn’t fit all
Without God, is Everything Permitted?
	The link between morality and religion
	An ancient dilemma
	Where goodness lies
Can All Moral Dilemmas Be Resolved?
	The limits of ethics
	There must be an answer
	The final choice
Endnotes