Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics

by Wilkens, Steve

• ISBN13: 9780830839360
• ISBN10: 0830839364
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-30
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

Ideas have consequences. And sometimes those ideas can be squeezed in to slogans, slapped on bumper stickers and tweeted into cyberspace. These compact messages coming at us from all directions often compress in a few words entire ethical systems. It turns out that there's a lot more to the ideas behind these slogans--ideas that need to be sorted out before we make important moral decisions as individuals or as societies.In this revised and expanded edition of Steve Wilkens's widely-used text, the author has updated his introductions to basic ethical systems:cultural relativismethical egoismutilitarianismbehaviorismsituation ethicsKantian ethicsvirtue ethicsnatural law ethicsdivine command theoryHe has also added two new chapters:evolutionary ethicsnarrative ethicsWith clarity and wit Wilkens unpacks the complicated ideas behind the slogans and offers Christian evaluations of each.

Author Biography

Steve Wilkens (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) is professor of theology and ethics at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. His books include Hidden Worldviews (coauthored with Mark L. Sanford) and two volumes in Christianity Western Thought (coauthored with Alan G. Padgett).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. 9
Bumper Stickers and Ethical Systems	p. 11
When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do
Cultural Relativism	p. 28
Look Out for Number One
Ethical Egoism	p. 43
I Couldn't Help Myself
Behaviorism	p. 59
Survival of the (Ethical) Fittest
Evolutionary Ethics	p. 77
The Greatest Happiness
Utilitarianism	p. 97
It's Your Duty
Kantian Ethics	p. 113
Be Good
Virtue Ethics	p. 129
The Moral of the Story Is
Narrative Ethics	p. 147
All You Need Is Love
Situation Ethics	p. 164
Doing What Comes Naturally
Natural Law Ethics	p. 178
God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It
Divine Command Theory	p. 196
Unraveling the Options	p. 213
Notes	p. 223
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.