Contemporary Moral Problems

87. Don Marquis: Why Abortion Is Immoral

  1. What is Marquis’s argument against abortion?
  2. Do you think that Marquis’s argument is sound? Why or why not?

88. Francis J. Beckwith: Arguments from Bodily Rights

  1. Why does Beckwith reject Thomson’s argument?
  2. How might an abortion-rights person reply to Beckwith?

89. Mary Anne Warren: On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion

  1. How does Warren define “person”? Is her definition plausible?
  2. What is Warren’s argument for the permissibility of abortion? Evaluate her argument.

90. Judith Jarvis Thomson: A Defense of Abortion

  1. How does Thomson use her thought experiment about the famous violinist to make her case?
  2. Does Thomson think that any abortion is permissible? If not, what kinds of abortions are permissible on her account? What kinds would be wrong?

91. Jane English: The Moderate Position: Beyond the Personhood Argument

  1. Do you agree with English’s moderate position on abortion? Why or why not?
  2. According to English, when is abortion permissible? When is it not permissible?

92. Burton Leiser: The Death Penalty Is Permissible

  1. What is Leiser’s argument for the permissibility of the death penalty?
  2. Do you agree with Leiser? Why or why not?

93. Hugo Adam Bedau: No, the Death Penalty Is Not Morally Permissible

  1. Why does Bedau think that neither the deterrence nor the retributive argument is plausible?
  2. What is the equal-justice argument against capital punishment? Do you accept this argument? Explain.

94. Lawrence Blum: “Racism”: Its Core Meaning

  1. What is Blum’s definition of racism? What does he mean that many things that are racial are not necessarily racist? Do you agree?
  2. How would Blum reply to the claim that “all white people are racists”? How might he respond to the theory that racism is “prejudice plus the power to coerce.”

95. Kwame Anthony Appiah: Racisms

  1. Why does Appiah think intrinsic racism is a moral failing? Do you agree?
  2. What is the difference between extrinsic and extrinsic racism? Can either view be changed through the presentation of evidence?

96. Peter Singer: Famine, Affluence, and Morality

  1. Do you have a duty to give aid to the needy in other countries? Why or why not?
  2. Do we have obligations to ourselves and to our family and friends that we would have to abandon if we adopted Singer’s notion of duties to the needy? Are we mistaken about the strength of these duties as Singer implies?

97. Garrett Hardin: Living on a Lifeboat

  1. Is Hardin’s analysis of world hunger and our moral obligations simplistic, as some critics say? Why or why not?
  2. Will aiding the poor invariably increase their suffering? Are some ways better than others? Explain.
Back to top