Applied Ethics: A Multicultural Approach

The new fifth edition of Applied Ethics covers a wide variety of contemporary moral issues from many cultural perspectives. This approach permits students to appreciate diverse ethical positions different from those they may have been acculturated into. Topics include hotly debated issues such as abortion, euthanasia, racial discrimination and injustice as well human rights, war and violence, gender issues and human cloning.

Larry May is a professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. His long-term research concerns the theory of moral and legal responsibility, especially the concepts of collective responsibility, guilt and shame. He has authored several books on this general theme as well as books on professional ethics, masculinity and medical ethics. He is currently working on a book concerning the concept of a crime against humanity and a war crime, and about who could justifiably be held accountable and prosecuted for such crimes. He is also examining genocide and other aspects of international criminal law.

Kai Wong was a Ph.D. graduate student under Larry May at Washington University in St. Louis. His 2005 dissertation concerned Collective Historical Responsibility and Deliberating about Identity and Responsibility in an Age of Diversity and Ambiguity.

Jill Delston is a current graduate student under Larry May at Washington University in St. Louis.