Books by James Rachels


James Rachels wrote six books and edited seven others. The links below provide information about all the books he wrote, as well as two he edited.

These books can be downloaded:

  Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (1990)
  The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality (1986)

James Rachels' collected essays:

  Can Ethics Provide Answers? And Other Essays in Moral Philosophy (1997)
  The Legacy of Socrates: Essays in Moral Philosophy (edited by Stuart Rachels) (2007)

James Rachels' textbooks:

  The Elements of Moral Philosophy (5th ed. by Stuart Rachels, 2007) An introduction to ethics.
  Problems from Philosophy (2nd ed. by Stuart Rachels, 2008) An introduction to philosophy.

Calling these books "textbooks" does them a disservice. They are not dry and didactic. They do not contain study questions. Jim believed that textbooks should not look and feel like textbooks.

These anthologies go along with The Elements of Moral Philosophy and Problems from Philosophy:

  The Right Thing to Do: Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy (4th ed. by Stuart Rachels, 2007)
  The Truth about the World: Basic Readings in Philosophy (2nd ed. by Stuart Rachels, 2008)