Includes bibliographical references and indexes

Notes on contributors -- Introduction / James Dreier -- pt. 1. Normative theory -- Is the rightness of action determined by the value of consequences? -- 1. The consequentialist perspective / William Shaw -- 2. Against maximizing act consequentialism / Peter Vallentyne -- 3. Reasons without demands : rethinking rightness / Alastair Norcross -- Can contract theory ground morality? -- 4. Moral contractarianism as a foundation for interpersonal morality / Samuel Freeman -- 5. Can contract theory ground morality? / Philip Pettit -- Are the virtues the proper starting point for ethical theory? -- 6. Are virtues the proper starting point for morality? / Rosalind Hursthouse -- 7. Virtue theory / Julia Driver -- pt. 2. Reason and motivation -- Are moral requirements derived from reason? -- 8. Reason, sentiment, and categorical imperatives / Samuel J. Kerstein -- 9. Must we weep for sentimentalism? / Simon Blackburn -- Is motivation internal to moral judgment? -- 10. How do moral judgments motivate? / Sigrún Svavarsdóttir -- 11. Moral motivation / R. Jay Wallace

pt. 3. Moral facts and explanations -- is morality fully factual? -- 12. Moral factualism / Peter Railton -- 13. Morality without moral facts / Terry Horgan and Mark Timmons -- Do moral facts and properties explain anything? -- 14. Moral explanations defended / Nicholas L. Sturgeon -- 15. Moral epistemology and the because constraint / Nick Zangwill -- Are there general moral principles? -- 16. Ethical generality and moral judgment / Robert Audi -- 17. Defending moral particularism / Mark Norris Lance and Margaret Olivia Little -- Index of subjects -- Index of names

This text brings together fresh debates on the most controversial issues in moral theory. Each question is treated by a pair of opposing essays written by eminent scholars