Morality Play: Case Studies in Ethics

by Jessica Pierce

Morality Play is an ideal supplement for ethics courses, offering a case study approach that is both flexible and practical. It provides three alternative methods of organization for universal teaching approaches: contemporary moral problems, ethical theories, and moral principles. The introduction illustrates how to effectively use case studies in the classroom and provides a short review of the fundamentals of argumentation and critical thinking. Featuring ten new case studies, the latest edition continues to spotlight some of the most controversial, thought-provoking issues in ethics today. Themes such as crime and punishment, life and death, habitat and humanity, liberty and coercion, and value and culture are made relevant through insightful case studies drawn from newspaper accounts, legal opinions, and other factual sources. The cases present discrete problems designed to make readers examine their abstract notions about morality.

Genres: Philosophy

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2004

About the author

Bioethicist Jessica Pierce, Ph.D., is the author of the book The Last Walk: Reflections on Our Pets at the Ends of Their Lives (University of Chicago, 2012). Some of the questions she explores are: Do animals have death awareness? Why is euthanasia almost always considered the compassionate end point for our animals, but not for our human companions? Is there ever a good reason to euthanize a healthy dog? Why do people often grieve more deeply for their pets than they do for people? What is animal hospice?

Her other books include Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, Morality Play, Contemporary Bioethics: A Reader with Cases and The Ethics of Environmentally Responsible Health Care.

Reviews

[Tess McDonald]

I love ethics classes and I hate textbooks. Fun though.

[Tyler Paxton]

I read this textbook for my ethics class. Overall it was pretty interesting, the case studies were very thought provoking- my only issue is for this to be used as a text book in 2024, it’s a little dated.

[Kate]

Some of the guiding questions are strange and/or do not feel like they effectively get to the heart of the case, so as a teaching aide this book certainly has to be augmented, but it's a really good jumping off point for some discussions.

[Rachael Martin]

Required reading for my ethics class. Had some very thought-provoking cases.

[Mason Cruse]

I bought this for my university class. it's a collection of scenarios and questions so that you can debate with others. I think the topics chosen are varied and good for debate.

[Crystal Martin]

I read it solely because it was required reading for school . Lol