Vice Virtue In Everyday Life

The public furor over issues of same sex marriages, gay rights, pornography, and single-parent families has erupted with a passion not seen since the 1960s. This book gathers seventeen eminent philosophers and legal scholars who offer commentary on sexuality (including sexual behavior, sexual orientation, and the role of pornography in shaping sexuality), on the family (including both same-sex and single-parent families), and on the proper role of law in these areas. The essayists are all fiercely independent thinkers and offer the reader a range of bold and thought-provoking proposals. Susan Moller Okin argues, for instance, that gender ought to be done away with--that differences in biological sex ought to have "no more social relevance than one's eye color or the length of one's toes"--and she urges that we look to same-sex couples as a model for households and families in a gender-free society. And Cass Sunstein suggests that the Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia (which overthrew the ban on interracial marriages in Virginia) might be a precedent for overturning laws that bar same-sex marriage: just as Loving overturned miscegenation laws because they were at the service of white supremacy, Sunstein shows, the laws against same-sex marriages and homosexuality are at the service of male supremacy, and might also be overturned. Of vital importance to anyone interested in sexuality, homosexuality, gender, feminism, and the family. Sex, Preference, and the Family both clarifies the current debate and points the way toward a less divisive future.

A comprehensive and provocative collection of both classical and contemporary voices in perennial ethical debates, VICE AND VIRTUE has established itself as one of the truly outstanding anthologies for Introduction to Ethics Courses. In contradistinction to many other introduction to ethics books that focus on the application of moral theories to various institutionally based social dilemmas, VICE AND VIRTUE is unabashedly committed to the exploration of private, individual virtue and responsibility. This book provides both an overview of seminal ethical theories as well as many stimulating readings chosen to encourage students' own reflection on how these abstract theories impact decisions they face individually in their everyday lives.