General Philosophy : Ethics (Moral Philosophy) and Value Theory

Sophia Project

Sophia Project
Online repository for free educational resources in the fields of philosophy and ethics. Visitors can browse both primary sources related to the disciplines of philosophy and ethics and helpful encyclopedia-style summaries of key authors and texts.

Ethics

The field of ethics, or moral philosophy, investigates theories that can systematically describe what makes acts right or wrong. Moral philosophy is usually divided into three categories: metaethics, applied ethics, and normative ethics. Metaethics investigates where our moral values, language, and principles come from and what they mean; it is concerned with “what is morality?” rather than “what is moral?” Applied ethics seeks to apply philosophical tools to examine specific controversial issues and provide practical solutions to moral problems. Normative ethics investigates the moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. Theories within normative ethics include utilitarianism, consequentialism, contractualism, virtue ethics, and more.

Value theory is concerned with theoretical questions about value and goodness of all varieties, questions that often cross the boundaries between normative ethics and the metaethical. It asks how and why people value something, be it a person, idea, or object; thus both moral and natural goods are equally relevant to value theory.

One Nifty Web Resource

Ethics Updates
Founded in 1994 and edited by Lawrence M. Hinman "Ethics Updates is designed primarily to be used by ethics instructors and their students. It is intended to provide updates on current literature, both popular and professional, that relates to ethics."

Sample Subject Headings and Searches

Selected Introductions and Reference Sources for Ethics

Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory
Available through EBSCOhost eBook Collection

A Companion to Applied Ethics
Memorial Library Reference Stacks (2 South)
BJ1031 C585 2003
Non-Circulating

A Companion to Bioethics
Available online through Credo Reference

A Companion to Ethics
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1012 C62 1991

Dictionary of Ethics, Theology and Society
Memorial Library Reference Stacks (2 South)
BJ63 D45 1996
Non-Circulating

Ethical Theory: An Anthology
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1012 E88346 2013

Fundamentals of Ethics
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1012 .S43 2015

Normative Ethics
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1012 K244 1998

Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Provides full text access to differing points of view on current social issues.

Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1012 C675 2006

The Oxford Handbook of Free Will
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1461 F74 2011

Oxford Handbook of Practical Ethics
Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving
BJ1031 O94 2003

Link: Meta-ethics at PhilPapers
Link: Applied Ethics at PhilPapers
Link: Normative Ethics at PhilPapers
Link: Value at PhilPapers

Link: Wikipedia List of Ethicists