Denise (Syracuse U.), White (U. of California, Irvine), and Peterfreund (Syracuse U.) provide an introductory student text on ethics, featuring 28 selections arranged chronologically from 427 B.C.E. to the present. In the 11th edition, the chapters are now divided into two parts, classical and modern, to emphasize the historical and theoretically divergent relationship between philosophers; dates of birth and death of the philosophers have been added to the table of contents as a reference tool; and a new chapter added on J.L. Mackie's Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong . There is no subject index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Long-hailed for skilled editing that enables students new to ethical theory to explore many seminal and complex primary sources that contribute to the canon of ethical theory, GREAT TRADITIONS IN ETHICS has become the standard historical anthology for introducing ethical theory. Combining informative chapter introductions that provide biographical, historical, and theoretical contexts; well-placed comments inserted within the readings; and ample, but not overwhelming, reading selections, this anthology will constructively challenge students to critically engage the most crucial ideas, thinkers, and readings in the history of ethical theory.
