Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents:

Introduction: The scope of the book-- The order of inquiry-- Three tests for right action-- The ethics of love-- The first test, the consequences of an action for happiness-- The second test, the principle of universalization-- The third test, treating persons as ends in themselves-- A suggested fourth test: respect for the wisdom of a tradition-- Christian ethics as a rational exercise-- Christian ethics and Jesus of Nazareth

Issues relating to violence: The approach to practical issues-- The idea of the just war-- The different meanings of 'pacifism'-- The use of torture in the conduct of war-- The issue of nuclear war-- The problem of abortion (A) the strictly moral question-- The problem of abortion (B), the moral-legal question-- The problem of capital punishment-- Some other issues relating to violence, the example of the seal hunt

Issues relating to sex: Morality and the purpose of sex-- Sex and marriage-- Sex outside marriage-- The morality of birth control-- Homosexuality-- Some other issues relating to sex

Issues relating to politics: The nature and value of the state-- Left and right-- The justification of rebellion-- The problem of censorship

Personal ethics: Knowing the good and the good-- The nature of moral goodness-- Character and will-- The virtues and the way to goodness-- Moral goodness and the influence of grace-- The interconnection and the influence of grace-- The interconnection between personal ethics and practical issues

A Christian moral philosophy: The meaning of 'good'-- The objectivity of moral judgments (A)-- Six phrases in the history of natural law-- Three basic problems with utilitarianism-- God and the good-- The objectivity of moral judgments (B)-- The defence of the natural law approach-- The tests for right action, the example of the ownership of Jerusalem