Conversations on Ethics

Conversations on Ethics
Author: Alex Voorhoeve
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2011-04-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191616958

Can we trust our intuitive judgments of right and wrong? Are moral judgements objective? What reason do we have to do what is right and avoid doing what is wrong? In Conversations on Ethics, Alex Voorhoeve elicits answers to these questions from eleven outstanding philosophers and social scientists: Ken Binmore Philippa Foot Harry Frankfurt Allan Gibbard Daniel Kahneman Frances Kamm Alasdair MacIntyre T. M. Scanlon Peter Singer David Velleman Bernard Williams The exchanges are direct, open, and sharp, and give a clear account of these thinkers' core ideas about ethics. They also provide unique insights into their intellectual development - how they became interested in ethics, and how they conceived the ideas for which they became famous. Conversations on Ethics will engage anyone interested in moral philosophy.

Textual Conversations in the Renaissance

Textual Conversations in the Renaissance
Author: Zachary Lesser
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2006
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780754656852

A group of leading scholars here investigate the varied ways in which the Renaissance incorporated conversation and dialogue into its literary, political, juridical, religious, and social practices. Across a range of texts and genres, the essays focus on the importance of conversation to early modern understandings of ethics; on literary history itself as an ongoing authorial conversation; and on the material and textual technologies that enabled early modern conversations.

Conversations on the Edge

Conversations on the Edge
Author: Richard M. Zaner
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2004-01-08
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9781589013049

At the edge of mortality there is a place where the seriously ill or dying wait—a place where they may often feel vulnerable or alone. For over forty years, bioethicist cum philosopher Richard Zaner has been at the side of many of those people offering his incalculable gift of listening, and helping to lighten their burdens—not only with his considerable skills, but with his humanity as well. The narratives Richard Zaner shares in Conversations on the Edge are informed by his depth of knowledge in medicine and bioethics, but are never "clinical." A genuine and caring heart beats underneath his compassionate words. Zaner has written several books in which he tells poignant stories of patients and families he has encountered; there is no question that this is his finest. In Conversations on the Edge, Zaner reveals an authentic empathy that never borders on the sentimental. Among others, he discusses Tom, a dialysis patient who finally reveals that his inability to work—encouraged by his overprotective mother—is the source of his hostility to treatment; Jim and Sue, young parents who must face the nightmare of letting go of their premature twins, one after the other; Mrs. Oland, whose family refuses to recognize her calm acceptance of her own death; and, in the final chapter, the author's mother, whose slow demise continues to haunt Zaner's professional and personal life. These stories are filled with pain and joy, loneliness and hope. They are about life and death, about what happens in hospital rooms—and that place at the edge—when we confront mortality. It is the rarest of glimpses into the world of patients, their families, healers, and those who struggle, like Zaner, to understand.

Marxism and the Call of the Future

Marxism and the Call of the Future
Author: Bob Avakian
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2005
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780812695793

This book offers readers a rare chance to witness a mainstream thinker challenge an outlaw-activist. Avakian and Martin wrestle with big questions that have to do with the state of the world and the possibility for radical change. The scope and relevance of Marxism, and the nature and reach of communist revolution, are at the heart of this rich and lively dialogue. Avakian and Martin probe a wide range of issues: the place of ethics in a transformative revolutionary politics; Kant, Rousseau, and Hegel; Marx and the question of colonialism and Eurocentrism; the Maoist experience in China; sustainable agriculture and the task of overcoming the urban-rural divide; imperialism and lopsided development in the world, and the effects on social structure and revolution; animal rights; secularism and religion; the post-911 agenda of the U.S. ruling class, the political-social-cultural landscape of the U.S., and the prospects for resistance and revolution; Marxism and the question of homosexuality; the challenges confronting radical and communist intellectuals and the possibilities for engaged, creative intellectual work today.

The Little Book of Big Ethical Questions

The Little Book of Big Ethical Questions
Author: Susan Liautaud
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2022-04-05
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1982132248

Perfect for your next dinner party discussion, The Little Book of Big Ethical Questions presents some of today’s most thought-provoking ethical questions in a welcoming, easy-to-discuss Q&A format, with guidance from a renowned ethicist. Often a single question can spark a meaningful exchange—like “Would you apply for a job you know your friend is applying for?” Or “Should voting be mandatory?” Or what about police using facial recognition technology? Questions like these spur us to consider: What would I have done? Is there one correct answer? And ultimately: How can ethics help us navigate these situations to find the best outcome for ourselves and others? An ethicist who advises leaders and organizations worldwide, Susan Liautaud asks intriguing questions that encourage lively discussion across a range of subjects, from family and friends to health and technology to politics, work, and consumer choices. She then walks through the ways you might approach each situation to find the best answer for you. Grab the book, gather a few friends, and dive in!

Talking About Ethics

Talking About Ethics
Author: Michael S. Jones
Publisher: Kregel Academic
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0825477360

An accessible introduction to ethics through engaging dialogues Talking About Ethics provides the reader with all of the tools necessary to develop a coherent approach to ethical decision making. Using the tools of ethical theory, the authors show how these theories play out in relation to a wide variety of ethical questions using an accessible dialogue format. The chapters follow three college students as they discuss today's most important ethical issues with their families and friends, including: • Immigration • Capital punishment • Legalization of narcotics • Abortion • Premarital sex • Reproductive technologies • Gender identity • The environment, and many more The engaging dialogue format illustrates how these topics often take shape in the real world, and model critical thinking and Christian ethical decision making. Study aids in each chapter include overviews, sidebars, reflection questions, glossaries, and recommended reading. Ideal as a textbook for undergraduate ethics courses, it is also accessible enough for high school classes and personal study.

Understanding Systems: Conversations on Epistemology and Ethics

Understanding Systems: Conversations on Epistemology and Ethics
Author: Heinz Von Foerster
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2003-07-24
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780306467523

How real is reality? Are our images of the world mere inventions, or does an external reality correspond to them? Is it possible to know the truth? These are questions that physicist and philosopher Heinz von Foerster and journalist Bernhard Poerksen debate about in their conversations. Together, they explore the borders of our capacity for knowledge. They discuss the seeming objectivity of our sensual perception, the consequences of "truth terrorism" and the connections between knowledge and ethics, sight and insight.

Judaism, Race, and Ethics

Judaism, Race, and Ethics
Author: Jonathan K. Crane
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2020-03-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0271086696

Recent political and social developments in the United States reveal a deep misunderstanding of race and religion. From the highest echelons of power to the most obscure corners of society, color and conviction are continually twisted, often deliberately for nefarious reasons, or misconstrued to stymie meaningful conversation. This timely book wrestles with the contentious, dynamic, and ethically complicated relationship between race and religion through the lens of Judaism. Featuring essays by lifelong participants in discussions about race, religion, and society— including Susannah Heschel, Sander L. Gilman, and George Yancy—this vibrant book aims to generate a compelling conversation vitally relevant to both the academy and the community. Starting from the premise that understanding prejudice and oppression requires multifaceted critical reflection and a willingness to acknowledge one’s own bias, the contributors to this volume present surprising arguments that disentangle fictions, factions, and facts. The topics they explore include the role of Jews and Jewish ethics in the civil rights movement, race and the construction of American Jewish identity, rituals of commemoration celebrating Jewish and black American resilience, the “Yiddish gaze” on lynchings of black bodies, and the portrayal of racism as a mental illness from nineteenth-century Vienna to twenty-first-century Charlottesville. Each essay is linked to a classic Jewish source and accompanied by guiding questions that help the reader identify salient themes connecting ancient and contemporary concerns. In addition to the editor, the contributors include Sander L. Gilman, Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank, Aaron S. Gross, Susannah Heschel, Sarah Imhoff, Willa M. Johnson, Judith W. Kay, Jessica Kirzane, Nichole Renée Phillips, and George Yancy.

The Ethics of Identity

The Ethics of Identity
Author: Kwame Anthony Appiah
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2023-10-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 069125477X

A bold vision of liberal humanism for navigating today’s complex world of growing identity politics and rising nationalism Collective identities such as race, nationality, religion, gender, and sexuality clamor for recognition and respect, sometimes at the expense of other things we value. To what extent do they constrain our freedom, and to what extent do they enable our individuality? Is diversity of value in itself? Has the rhetoric of human rights been overstretched? Kwame Anthony Appiah draws on thinkers through the ages and across the globe to explore such questions, developing an account of ethics that connects moral obligations with collective allegiances and that takes aim at clichés and received ideas about identity. This classic book takes seriously both the claims of individuality—the task of making a life—and the claims of identity, these large and often abstract social categories through which we define ourselves.