A Practical Companion to Ethics

by Weston, Anthony

• ISBN13: 9780195105346
• ISBN10: 0195105346
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-09-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

A Practical Companion to Ethics is an accessibly written, concise introduction to the basic attitudes and skills that make ethics work, like thinking for oneself, creative and integrative problem-solving, and keeping an open mind. This unique volume illuminates the broad kinds of practicalintelligence required in moral judgment, complementing the narrower theoretical considerations that often dominate ethics courses. It offers practical instruction in problem-solving by demonstrating how to frame an ethical problem and deal effectively with ethical disagreements. This book alsoaddresses issues of the heart--the call to responsiveness and care that underlies formal ethical theories. Appendices offer students advice about writing papers and offer instructors a range of creative and participatory ways to teach ethics. The optimistic tone and brisk pace of the narrative provide an entertaining and intelligent guide to "everyday" morality. This highly practical volume is idealfor courses in introductory ethics, with applications in any course related to critical thinking and applied ethics.

Table of Contents

Each chapter ends with a ""For Practice and Thinking"" section and Notes.

Preface

Introduction

Getting Started

Who Needs Ethics?

The Dogmatist and the Rationalizer

Ethics and Diversity

Ethics and Religion

Coming to Terms

Let the Stories Be Stories

Thinking for Yourself

Creative Problem-Solving in Ethics

The Need for Inventiveness in Ethics

How to Expand Your Options

How to Reframe Problems

Don't Polarize--Connect

""Right versus Right""

Pieces of the Puzzle

Going Ahead Together

The Ongoing Journey

Ethics as a Learning Experience

Looking Farther

The Expanding Circle

Appendix: Writing an Ethics Paper

Four Kinds of Writing in Ethics

Making a Case

Two Quick Examples

Resources

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.