This text presents a systematic approach to ethical theories, shedding light on their historical roots as well as contemporary concerns. Throughout, the author presents assessments of various theories, helping students develop a viewpoint that engages them in doing ethics rather than passively reading about the theories of others. In addition, by placing individual theories in the broader content of moral philosophy's basic problems, the book gives students a clear sense of the issues stemming from concern with ethics of virtue versus ethics of conduct, ethics of rules and principles versus moral particularism, and relativism versus universalism.