How to Arrive at a Considered Opinion: A Method of Analyzing Moral Issues in the Public Debates

This book is written for the non-philosophy major taking "Contemporary Moral Issues" or "Intro to Ethics" courses. It provides a method to research any complex moral issue in hundreds of print, periodical, and Internet research sources, and gives a model of the method applied to the question of capital punishment. It helps students to learn how to analyze a moral issue and teaches them valuable skills of evaluating evidence and discerning between "right" and "wrong" in cases where rights are in conflict.Contents: Preface; Introduction: Basic Concepts and Terms; First Step: Define the Moral Issue; Second Step: Study the Issue's History; Third Step: Ask: "What Do the Moral Philosophies Say?"; Fourth Step: Ask:^D< "What Does Justice Require?"; The Method Applied: Is Capital Punishment Moral?; Appendix: Figures, Charts and Graphs; Index.