Ethics and moral philosophy Books

Book SynopsisThe intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius composed his now famous Meditations as a personal diary while he struggled to understand himself and the world.  It is one of the greatest works of philosophy, being uniquely accessible and wide ranging because he wrote not as emperor, but as a man among other men.  The reflections cover most human concerns including the spectre of death, one’s role in society, emotions, human rationality, virtue, and the gods.  This edition is complete and unabridged and contains Introduction, Notes, Glossary and an Appendix containing correspondence with this tutor Fronto.

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Book SynopsisThe Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a life-changing book. Among others, it contains the following reflections:"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." "You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." "When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ..." "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a life-changing book. It contains the private meditations of the most powerful man in the Roman world, the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, as he wrestled with the complexities of his life using the wisdom of Stoic Philosophy. Meditations is written in lucid, accessible language and, interestingly, we see that the problems and perplexities of this philosopher-King are much like ours. Marcus Aurelius was impressively able to live out his philosophical ideals-such as the importance of gratitude, mindfulness, simplicity and life-long learning, of seizing the day, and of remembering the shortness of life-while administering the Roman Empire.Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) was the last of the five "good Roman emperors". The Emperor Hadrian adopted Titus Aurelius Antoninus, thereby choosing him to succeed him, and arranged for Antonius to adopt Marcus, and thus, from a young age, Marcus was groomed for power. During this time, he devoted himself to philosophy with passion and diligence. At the age of forty he became Emperor and was known as Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. Remarkably in a culture of absolute power, he insisted that his adoptive brother and co-consul, Lucius, be elevated to co-emperor. The historian Herodian, a contemporary, wrote:"he gave proof of his learning not by mere words or knowledge of philosophical doctrines but by his blameless character and temperate way of life."Marcus Aurelius is now best remembered for Meditations, which is, perhaps, the greatest single work of Stoic philosophy.Stoic philosophy is, above all, practical. It uses reason and the careful observation of human life to address the problems of daily life. It is also universal-the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the freed slave Epictetus were both prominent Stoic philosophers. In recent years, Stoic philosophy has provided invaluable life lessons to people in many spheres of life including prisoners of war and Holocaust survivors, psychiatrists, and those in the business world. Indeed, modern Stoic thought "hold[s] fascinating promise for business and government leaders tackling global problems in a turbulent, post-recession slump," (Forbes).This edition is complete and unabridged and contains Introduction, Notes, Appendix containing correspondence with his tutor Fronto, and a Glossary.

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Book SynopsisVirtue as Identity offers a study of how virtue is learned and identity acquired through the selection and internalization of values. A large part of this process is externally imposed through culture. Another, perhaps more important part of the process is the result of individual and collective sensibilities. The book emphasizes the role of emotions and emotional sensibility in our choice of values. The book re-affirms traditional morality as the foundation of our individual and collective identities. The author argues that emotions as well as rational decisions guide the value choices we make and the ideals of character that we presuppose on a political level as much as they do in our private lives. Thus the societies we live in are a reflection of our identities, or the identities of the majority. This opens up radical questions about the identities of the dissenting minorities, the proper concept of a moral or value-community, and the real reach and value of tolerance in modern democracy.Trade ReviewI find Fatić’s social and political critiques praiseworthy.... Many of Fatić’s suggestions for improvement are also apt and well-reasoned... Fatić’s social commentary is expert and refreshing. * Philosophical Practice *This thoroughly argued and well written book will cause a lot of controversy because it challenges some basic notions of philosophy, psychology and even law, which assume a moral autonomy of the individual. Fatić deftly argues in favour of a society that cares about its members in a moral sense rather than just satisfies material interests. His logic also has some unexpected and disturbing consequences: If there is no moral autonomy of the individual, then western born jihadists confront the deficiencies of western societies whose lack of care has triggered such radical defections. -- Klaus Bachmann, Professor of Political Sciences at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, PolandAleksandar Fatic delivers a trenchant critique of post-liberalism's moral bankruptcy, and the depravities inculcated by its centrally-institutionalized values. He argues lucidly and passionately for the re-empowerment of local organic communities as antidotes to the monolithic turpitudes and dysfunctional policies of post-liberal statism. -- Lou Marinoff, Professor of Philosophy, The City College of New YorkTable of ContentsIntroduction / 1. Value, Virtue and Character-Formation /2. Solidarity in a Participatory Democracy / 3. Sympathy and Love: Max Scheler / 4. Culture and the Learning of Identity / 5. Emotions, Value and Social Status / 6. The Possibility of Freedom in Learned Identities / 7. Trust, Social Capital and the Integrative Community / 8. Virtue and Collective Identities / 9. What is there to be Learned From ‘Organic Communities’? / 10. Conclusion: An ‘Illiberal’ Perspective on Identity and Value / Bibliography / Index

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Book SynopsisDeath comes for us all – eventually. Philosophers have long been perplexed by how we ought to feel about death. Many people fear death and believe that death is bad for the person who dies. But is death bad for us, and if so, how is its badness best explained? If we do not survive death –if death is simply a state of nothingness – how can death be bad for us? If death is bad for us, do we have good reason to live as long as possible? Would an immortal life really be a good human life – or would even an immortal life eventually become tedious and make us long for mortality? This volume presents fourteen philosophical essays that examine our attitudes toward mortality and immortality. The topics addressed have become more urgent as scientists attempt to extend the human lifespan, perhaps even indefinitely. This book invites the reader to critically appraise his or her own attitudes toward death and immortality by exploring the ethical, metaphysical, and psychological complexities associated with these issues.Trade ReviewThis new collection of essays considers whether and when death is bad for those who die, as well as whether and when it would be good to live forever. The collection will be of great value to anyone who thinks seriously about mortality, and is a welcome addition to the literature on the philosophy of death. -- Steven Luper, Murchison Term Professor, and Philosophy Department Chair, Trinity UniversityThis is a wonderful collection of original contributions on cutting-edge topics and literature of great human interest, with a helpful introductory essay. -- John Fischer, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of California, RiversideThat the essays in this volume have stimulated so many questions in this short review should be taken as a testament to their interest -- and hence to the excellence of this volume as a whole […] Immortality and the Philosophy of Death is an extremely valuable addition to the philosophical literature on these fascinating issues. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction, Michael Cholbi / Part I: Is Death Bad for Those That Die? / 1. Victims, Christopher Belshaw / 2. Reconsidering Categorical Desire View, Travis Timmerman / 3. Epicureanism, Extrinsic Badness, and Prudence, Karl Ekendahl and Jens Johansson / 4. Lucretius and the Fear of Death, Frederik Kaufman / 5. The Harms of Death, Duncan Purves / 6. Seeds: On Personal Identity and Resurrection, Sophie-Grace Chappell / Part II: Living with Death / 7. Fearing Death as Fearing the Loss of One’s Life: Lessons from Alzheimer’s Disease, David Beglin / 8. Constructing Death as Form of Failure: Addressing Mortality in a Neoliberal Age, Beverley Clack / 9. Love and Death, Dan Werner / 10. Learning to Be Dead: The Narrative Problem of Mortality, Kathy Behrendt / 11. Love and Death: The Problem of Resilience, Aaron Smuts / Part III: The Value of an Immortal Life / 12. Immortality, Identity, and Desirability, Roman Altshuler / 13. Resources for Overcoming the Bordeom of Immortality in Fischer and Kierkegaard, Adam Buben /14. Immortality and the Exhaustibility of Value, Michael Cholbi / Index

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Book SynopsisWhat does pleasure have to do with morality? What role, if any, should intuition have in the formation of moral theory? If something is ‘simulated’, can it be immoral? This accessible and wide-ranging textbook explores these questions and many more. Key ideas in the fields of normative ethics, metaethics and applied ethics are explained rigorously and systematically, with a vivid writing style that enlivens the topics with energy and wit. Individual theories are discussed in detail in the first part of the book, before these positions are applied to a wide range of contemporary situations including business ethics, sexual ethics, and the acceptability of eating animals. A wealth of real-life examples, set out with depth and care, illuminate the complexities of different ethical approaches while conveying their modern-day relevance.This concise and highly engaging resource is tailored to the Ethics components of AQA Philosophy and OCR Religious Studies, with a clear and practical layout that includes end-of-chapter summaries, key terms, and common mistakes to avoid. It should also be of practical use for those teaching Philosophy as part of the International Baccalaureate.Ethics for A-Level is of particular value to students and teachers, but Fisher and Dimmock’s precise and scholarly approach will appeal to anyone seeking a rigorous and lively introduction to the challenging subject of ethics.

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Book SynopsisJoel Anderson is Professor of Moral Psychology and Social Philosophy at the Ethics Institute in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Utrecht University, the Netherlands. In his work, he develops a relational and intersubjectivist conception of autonomy, a recognitional account of critical social theory, an extended approach to self-regulation and disability studies, and a social ethics of technology. He is currently working on a book on Autonomy Gaps and editing a collection about how technology is Disrupting the Human. He is also a principal investigator in the research consortium Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT.nl).Lily E. Frank is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. Her research encompasses biomedical ethics, biotechnology, moral psychology, and ethics of technology. Currently, she investigates topics such as moral expertise, the moralization of health conditions, and the interplay between technology and moral progress. She also explores reproductive ethics, including issues like abortion and the development of artificial uteruses. Frank serves as a Senior Researcher at the 4TU Center for Ethics and Technology and is a board member of the TU/e Center for Humans and Technology. Andreas Spahn is Associate Professor in the Philosophy and Ethics research group at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. He has worked and published on ethics of behaviour change technologies and persuasive technologies, ethics of energy systems, and environmental ethics, as well as on the role of ethics in engineering education. Spahn is a member of the management team and senior researchers in the 4TU Center for Ethics and Technology, as well as in the ESDiT research program on Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies.

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Book SynopsisNathalie Nya teaches philosophy at John Carroll University and the University of Akron.

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Book SynopsisLawyers who write about responsibility tend to focus on criminal law at the expense of civil and public law; while philosophers tend to treat responsibility as a moral concept,and either ignore the law or consider legal responsibility to be a more or less distorted reflection of its moral counterpart. This book aims to counteract both of these biases. By adopting a comparative institutional approach to the relationship between law and morality, it challenges the common view that morality stands to law as critical standard to conventional practice. It shows how law and morality interact symbiotically, and how careful study of legal concepts of responsibility can add significantly to our understanding of responsibility more generally. Central to this project is a distinction between two paradigms of responsibility -- the criminal law paradigm and the civil law paradigm. Whereas theoretical discussions of responsibility tend focus on conduct and agency, taking account of civil law reveals the importance of outcomes and the interests of victims and society to ideas of responsibility. The book examines from a distinctively legal point of view central philosophical questions about responsibility such as its relationship with culpability (challenging the common view that moral responsibility requires fault), causation and personality. It explores the relevance of sanctions and problems of proof and enforcement to ideas of responsibility, as well as the relationship between responsibility and distributive justice, and the role of concepts of responsibility in public law. At the heart of this book lie two questions: what does it mean to say we are responsible? and, what are our responsibilities? Its aim is not to answer these questions but to challenge some traditional approaches to answering them and more importantly, to suggest fruitful alternative approaches that take law seriously.Trade Review...an impressive and comprehensive discussion of the treatment of responsibility in the law-a discussion that ranges across nearly every field of law, and across jurisdictions, supported by detailed references to cases and supplemented by knowledgeable summaries of commentary by lawyers, legal philosophers, and moral philosophers. Brian H. Bix Ethics Oct 06 Peter Cane has written an impressively wide-ranging and illuminating booka truly commendable piece of work. Cane's book deserves a large audience among legal, moral, and political philosophers. Matthew H. Kramer, Cambridge University Philosophical Review May 2005 ...it offers a notably clear and robust formulation of a social approach towards responsibility... he has plenty of interesting and illuminating insights to offer...lawyers and philosphers alike will learn a great deal from this careful dissection of topics... Jeremy Watkins Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol 26, No 3 (2006), pp 593-608 This is a wide-ranging, highly sophisticated work which looks at concepts of responsibility in law across a range of areas. Alan Norrie Adelaide Law Review May 2002 'Responsibility in Law and Morality' is a challenging and valuable book. Although I have criticised Cane's account of responsibilty in this review, I do not wish to leave the reader with the impression that his book is anything but valuable and rewarding it is an illuminating study of responsibilty in law. It is my view that modern lawyers have a great deal to learn from its approach. Accordingly, apart from being essential reading for anyone interested in legal theory, the book has much to teach any lawyer with even the smallest interest in the justifications of legal liability. Allan Beever Melbourne University Law Review May 2002Table of Contents1. Moral and Legal Responsibility 2. The Nature and Functions of Responsibility 3. Responsibility and Culpability 4. Responsibility and Causation 5. Responsibility and Personality 6. Grounds and Bounds of Responsibility 7. Realising Responsibility 8. Responsibility in Public Law 9. Thinking about Responsibility References Index

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Book SynopsisLawyers who write about responsibility tend to focus on criminal law at the expense of civil and public law; while philosophers tend to treat responsibility as a moral concept,and either ignore the law or consider legal responsibility to be a more or less distorted reflection of its moral counterpart. This book aims to counteract both of these biases. By adopting a comparative institutional approach to the relationship between law and morality, it challenges the common view that morality stands to law as critical standard to conventional practice. It shows how law and morality interact symbiotically, and how careful study of legal concepts of responsibility can add significantly to our understanding of responsibility more generally. At the heart of this book lie two questions: what does it mean to say we are responsible? And, what are our responsibilities? Its aim is not to answer these questions but to challenge some traditional approaches to answering them and more importantly, to suggest fruitful alternative approaches that take law seriously.Trade Review...an impressive and comprehensive discussion of the treatment of responsibility in the law-a discussion that ranges across nearly every field of law, and across jurisdictions, supported by detailed references to cases and supplemented by knowledgeable summaries of commentary by lawyers, legal philosophers, and moral philosophers. Brian H. Bix Ethics Oct 06 Peter Cane has written an impressively wide-ranging and illuminating booka truly commendable piece of work. Cane's book deserves a large audience among legal, moral, and political philosophers. Matthew H. Kramer, Cambridge University Philosophical Review May 2005 ...it offers a notably clear and robust formulation of a social approach towards responsibility... he has plenty of interesting and illuminating insights to offer...lawyers and philosphers alike will learn a great deal from this careful dissection of topics... Jeremy Watkins Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol 26, No 3 (2006), pp 593-608 This is a wide-ranging, highly sophisticated work which looks at concepts of responsibility in law across a range of areas. Alan Norrie Adelaide Law Review May 2002 'Responsibility in Law and Morality' is a challenging and valuable book. Although I have criticised Cane's account of responsibilty in this review, I do not wish to leave the reader with the impression that his book is anything but valuable and rewarding it is an illuminating study of responsibilty in law. It is my view that modern lawyers have a great deal to learn from its approach. Accordingly, apart from being essential reading for anyone interested in legal theory, the book has much to teach any lawyer with even the smallest interest in the justifications of legal liability. Allan Beever Melbourne University Law Review May 2002Table of Contents1. Moral and Legal Responsibility 2. The Nature and Functions of Responsibility 3. Responsibility and Culpability 4. Responsibility and Causation 5. Responsibility and Personality 6. Grounds and Bounds of Responsibility 7. Realising Responsibility 8. Responsibility in Public Law 9. Thinking about Responsibility References Index

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Book SynopsisLong before it became fashionable to talk of climate change, drought and water shortages, the authors of this lucid and trenchant dialogue were warning that planet earth was heading for uninhabitability. They exchange viewpoints and insights that have matured over many years of thought, study and reflection. One of the authors is a Westerner - a man of many parts, both wartime resistance fighter and leading industrialist, who founded one of the first think tanks to address seriously the human prospects for global survival. The other represents the philosophical and ethical perspectives of the East - a Buddhist leader who has visited country after country, campaigning tirelessly for the abolition of nuclear weapons and war in all its forms.Engaging constructively and imaginatively with such seemingly intractable problems as population growth, the decline of natural resources, desertification, pollution and deforestation, Ikeda and Peccei show that many of these problems are interrelated. Only by addressing them as part of a web of complex but combined issues, and by working together for peace and justice, can human beings expect to find lasting solutions. The best prospect for the future lies in an ethical revolution whereby humanity can find a fresh understanding of itself in holistic connection with, rather than separation and alienation from, the planet itself.

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Book SynopsisShortly before her death, philosopher Gillian Rose began work on a new book-her Paradiso-thus fulfilling her promise at the end of Love's Work to 'stay in the fray, in the revel of ideas and risk'. Confident even only a week before her death that she could complete the work, all that remains are these fragments. In them, Rose combines the detached insight of one who is taking leave, or who has almost left, with a desire to participate in the joys of life until the last. Exceeding the injunction to 'keep your mind in hell and despair not', Paradiso sketches a movement through the hell and despair of terminal illness to an affirmation of the joys of companionship and memory. Paradiso contains some of Rose's most serene and affirmatory writing, and in that light completes one of the most remarkable philosophical oeuvres of the late twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. There has been an increasing interest in research ethics over the last decade given the increasing ethical regulation of social research. 'Ethical literacy' encourages researchers to understand and engage with the ethical issues that emerge in the process of research. This book provides a short, succinct and accessible overview of the field, highlighting the key issues and everyday ethical dilemmas that researchers are likely to face in different contexts. Covering a range of methods, the book provides clear guidance for researchers on how to identify an approach that fits with their moral and intellectual framework. It explores ethical issues relating to 'traditional' research methods as well as to new and emerging methods and approaches - particularly visual and online methods.Trade ReviewAn excellent text - clear, thoughtful and comprehensive. * Janet Boddy, Reader in Child, Youth and Family Studies, University of Sussex, UK *A well-written accessible introduction to the topic. -- Libby Bishop, Senior Officer Research Data Management, University of Essex, UKThis short book reflects years of experience with qualitative research and presents insights gained from research into ethical approaches. Wiles brings home the point that ethical review is not an exercise like jumping through hoops set out by regulations and once you’ve ticked all the right boxes for the committee you can forget about them and, this is the real benefit of the book, demonstrates how exciting and rewarding the engagement with research ethics is. Research ethic committees may wish to adopt this short book as welcome present to new members. -- Dr. Ulrike Hohmann, Plymouth University, UKA brilliant and insightful book that explores the ethical aspects of qualitative research. Has been recommended to my students for background reading in order to better understand the ethical concerns of qualitative research. -- Amer Khan Shehzad, University of Central Lancaster, UKThis is a useful introductory text for anyone who is new to qualitative research ethics. It is short, well-structured and clearly written ... I was pleased to see that the risk and safety chapter includes not only risks to participants but also risks to researchers, which often seem to be overlooked ... Overall, though, I think Wiles has done a good job of packing a huge subject into a small container. She recognises that readers are likely to need further information, and provides four pages of useful reading and resources. -- Helen Kara * Social Research Association Research Matters Magazine *Table of ContentsContents Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Thinking Ethically: Approaches To Research Ethics Chapter 3 Informed Consent Chapter 4 Anonymity and Confidentiality Chapter 5 Risk and Safety Chapter 6 Ethical Dilemmas Chapter 7 Where Next for Research Ethics? Further Reading and Resources References Normal 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */

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Book SynopsisA study of the Stoic philosophers which concentrates on their ethical teaching. It aims to give a clear account of the principal doctrines held by members of the school and sets them in their historical context.

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Book SynopsisBahya Ibn Pakuda was born c. 1050, and lived for some time in Saragossa in Spain. His major work was written in Arabic, but it is most well-known by its Hebrew title Hovot ha-Levavot (Duties of the Heart). It enjoyed enormous popularity and was reprinted many times. In the book Bahya investigates the motivation of Jewish practice and embarks on a philosophical enquiry into the nature of God, religion, and man. He was very much influenced by the Neoplatonism of his age, as well as by the Muslim mystics. This edition by Menahem Mansoor is the first translation of the work from the original Arabic text, and this shows a number of variations from the Hebrew version. He has added an Introduction and Notes which draw attention to the influences on Bahya’s thought and to other relevant material. ‘The accepted and normative translation . . . reliable and readable. This book belongs in even the smallest collections of Judaica, as well as of ethical literature.’ ChoiceTrade Review'This will now become the accepted and normative translation ... reliable and readable. This book belongs in even the smallest collections of Judaica, as well as of ethical literature.'ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements Translator's Introduction Notes to Translator's Introduction The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart Introduction 1 On the Unity of God 2 On the Explanation of the Aspects of Meditation upon Creation and God's Abundant Grace Shown in It 3 On Our Obligation of Obedience to God 4 On the Reliance upon God Alone 5 On the Pure Devotion of All Acts to God Alone 6 On Humility before God 7 The Explanation of the Aspects of Repentance, What is Essential to It and Its Consequences 8 On Self-Reckoning for God's Sake 9 On Asceticism, Its Kinds and Advantages 10 On the True Love of God Appendix (translated by David Goldsterin) Selected Bibliography General Index Index of Biblical Passages Index of Talmudic Passages

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Book SynopsisWhat if you aren’t who you think you are? What if you don’t really know the people closest to you? And what if your most deeply-held beliefs turn out to be … wrong? In Stop Being Reasonable, philosopher and journalist Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells six lucid, gripping stories that show the limits of human reason. From the woman who realised her husband harboured a terrible secret, to the man who left the cult he had been raised in since birth, and the British reality TV contestant who, having impersonated someone else for a month, discovered he could no longer return to his former identity, all of the people interviewed radically altered their beliefs about the things that matter most. What made them change course? How should their reversals affect how we think about our own beliefs? And in an increasingly divided world, what do they teach us about how we might change the minds of others? Inspiring, perceptive, and often moving, Stop Being Reasonable explores the place where philosophy and real life meet. Ultimately, it argues that when it comes to finding out what’s true or convincing others about what we know, being rational might involve our hearts as well as our minds. Trade Review‘Relevant and accessible … a witty book.’ -- Jonnie Wolf * The Observer *‘I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.’ -- Ira Glass‘The book is slickly written and relies for its substance on contemporary epistemology and ethics, rather than the usual well-trodden paths of nudge theory and popular psychology.’ -- Dan Brotzel * Press Association *‘Gordon-Smith has written a book that not only questions long-held philosophical belief — can Descartes’ philosophy of doubt drive us from truth? — but one that engages with life in such a way that makes the argument feel existentially urgent.’ * Sydney Morning Herald *‘It is curious and intelligent and deeply researched and genuinely thoughtful, and at the same time consistently entertaining to read … If you want to introduce someone to philosophy, give them this book.’ -- Alex Tighe * Australian Book Review *‘Gordon-Smith does not have all the answers. But she gives us the tools we need to examine our biases and choose how we approach the decisions we need to make. For those of us who suspect the time for being reasonable — and not getting emotional — has passed, this is the book we need.’ -- Astrid Edwards * The Saturday Paper *‘I’ve never read anything quite like this book; it is empathetic, sharply intelligent, and accessible.’ -- Ellen Cregan * Kill Your Darlings *'A frank and thoughtful new voice ... this is an assured and companionable guide through the wilderness of contemporary ethics.' -- Shahidha Bari'This is a funny, sharp-edged and deeply serious book about a mainstream myth: that we all know what rationality demands. A pleasure to read.' -- Amia Srinivasan

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