Morality and public policy

Anthologies in applied ethics have devoted substantial attention to practical issues of personal morality, such as abortion, euthanasia, and famine relief. Much less attention has been given to examining ethical problems of public policy, such as school vouchers, gun control, immigration, drug legalization, and same-sex marriage. And much of the important work that has been done on these topics is for the most part uncollected and relatively inaccessible.

This anthology breaks new ground in bringing together challenging essays which deal with these and other moral issues inherent in the policies of government. The focus of this new anthology is on a wide range of topics, all of which raise compelling ethical problems, and all of which are hotly contested in contemporary public discourse. The selected readings are current, many written by leading philosophers, and the authors provide helpful introductions to each of the readings.