Welcome!

This web-site is designed to give users a very general "introduction to Ethics." The materials offer both historical and thematic perspectives on the subject. Key representatives of the history of ethics are presented and major ethical theories are analyzed and critiqued.

Pat I of the site relies on original sources, excerpts from Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy (Macmillan, 1989), and excerpts from the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The treatment of 'ethical theories' in Part II is often informed by the approach of Beauchamp and Childress in their Principles of Biomedical Ethics (5th Ed.) And the introduction to the topics of Applied Ethics owes much to Brendan Minogue's pedagogical use of institutional review boards in his Bioethics: A Committee Approach. Of course, for a full appreciation of these authors� positions, a reading of their texts is required. I make no claim to fully represent their views.

The section on "Applied Ethics" points to the use of interactive multimedia modules to simulate real world scenarios involving difficult moral choices. Specifically recommended are the CD-ROMs A Right to Die? The Dax Cowart Case and The Issue of Abortion in America. Both were produced by Carnegie Mellon's Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and both were published by Routledge Electronic Titles.



GENERAL PHILOSOPHY RESOURCES: Relevant online materials from the Internet can be accessed through Episteme Links as well as the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Stanford Online Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and the Routledge Online Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Of special importance for the area of Moral Philosophy is Larry Hinman's Ethics Updates site.