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Long Table of Contents

Chapter One Moral Arguments and Morality

1. Moral Discussions
2. Moral Philosophy
3. The Burden of Proof
4. Moral, Amoral, and Immoral

Chapter Two Doubts about Morality

1. The Retreat to Relativism

Naïve Moral Relativism
Subjective Moral Relativism
Situational Moral Relativism

2. Moral Skepticism
3. Moral Realism and Moral Anti-realism
4. Non-Cognitivism
5. The Error Theory

The Argument from Relativity
The Argument from Queerness

6. Moral Realism vs. Moral Anti-realism

Chapter Three Divine Commands and Attitudes: Religious Morality

1. Gods as Enforcers
2. Revelation and Divination
3. What to Believe?
4. Divine Commands and Moral Obligation

God’s Power
Ownership and Creation
God as Parent
For the Love of God
Goodness and Perfection

5. Another Argument—Intelligible and Unintelligible Beings
6. Conclusion

Chapter Four Reason and Experience: Secular Morality

1. Secular Moralists
2. Three Empiricist Attempts to Develop a Secular Morality
3. The Projection of Moral Sentiments—Hume and Mackie
4. Immanuel Kant
5. Intuitionism
6. Making Moralism True by Definition

Subjective Definitions
Non-subjective Definitions

7. Conclusion

Chapter Five A Survey of Moral Theories

1. Metaethics
2. Normative Ethics
3. Non-moral Uses of Evaluative Language
4. Value
5. Obligation

Consequentialism
Objections to Utilitarianism
Deontology

6. Rights

Chapter Six Amoralists, Critics, Pseudo-amoralists, and Moral Abolitionists

1. Criticizing Amoralism
2. Pseudo-amoralists

Callicles
Nietzsche

3. From Amoralism to Moral Abolitionism

Chapter Seven Desires and Emotions

1. What to do about Desires and Emotions
2. A Middle Way—Have Fewer or Weaker ones

The Epicureans
The Stoics
Greek and Roman Techniques
Buddhism
Karma Yoga
Wu-wei

3. Conclusion

Chapter Eight Decisions and Socialization

1. Making Decisions
2. Our Decider
3. Socialization

Punishment and Reward
Alleged Natural Consequences
Supernatural Encouragement
Lies and Deception
World-views
Slogans and Aphorisms
Guilt and Shame
Ritual
“Moral” Fiction
Humor
Music
Morality

Chapter Nine Language and a Clear View

1. Language
2. Cleaning our Tools

Vagueness
Ambiguity
Emotive Meaning
Grumbling and Muttering
Catastrophizing

3. Search for the Cure

Sextus Empiricus
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Buddha and the Buddhists

4. Tools for Clarity and Health

Chapter Ten The Ways of Harmony and Control

1. The Way of Control

The Legalists
Confucius and the Confucians
Plato

2. The Way of Harmony

Hemispheric Specialization, Dominance, and Imperialism
Smashing Hemispheric Imperialism
Reprogramming for Harmony

3. Examples and Exercises

Weather
Bees and other Dangerous Animals
Vegetables and other Disagreeable Eats
Driving a Car
Walking in a (Large) Crowd
Looking at things from a Different Point of View
Listening
Yielding and Compromising
Giving
Forgiving
Saying “Joy to the World” and Meaning it

4. Conclusion

Chapter Eleven Applied Ethics, Part One

1. Applied Ethics

The Interest in Applied Ethics
Applying Ethics

2. Abolishing Morality
3. Thought Experiments and Actual Decisions
4. Crime, Punishment, and the Death Penalty
5. Reproductive Issues

Abortion
Stem Cell Research
Contraception

6. Suicide and Euthanasia

Chapter Twelve Applied Ethics, Part Two

1. People
2. War
3 Animals
4. The Environment
5. Censorship
6. Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
7. Last Conclusion

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