Synopses & Reviews
Life throws ethical questions at us every day, some momentous and difficult, some fairly trivial and easily worked out. To help the average person deal with such puzzling issues, the website AskPhilosophers.org brings together a panel of distinguished philosophers who use their knowledge of the history of philosophy, as well as their own life experiences and native ingenuity, to respond to questions sent in from all over the world.
What Should I Do? is a collection of some of the most interesting questions about ethics to have appeared on the website during its first five years. The questions addressed here come from young and old, from the educated to the barely schooled. The philosophers offer down-to-earth, often personal responses--indeed, stimulating, engaging, and candid conversations--that point readers in a helpful direction and refine further reflection. The book explores questions about how to behave toward one's friends, members of one's family, those we love, and even toward oneself. It looks at the moral dilemmas faced in professional relationships, in our treatment of animals, in our use of the environment, and even in our relation to God. Broadening still further, we find questions about the morality of a nation's actions, such as its right to punish its citizens or to wage war against other nations. Finally, the book considers some of the many questions people have about the nature of morality itself.
A delightfully fresh look at philosophical questions, What Should I Do? will encourage readers to think a bit more deeply about the moral questions they frequently encounter, and will provide them with the tools to do so.
Synopsis
Is it ever OK to be dishonest? Is it wrong to enjoy violent video games, or to cheat on one's tax returns? Should we be vegetarians? When is war justified? Are there any moral facts, or is morality relative?
Life throws ethical questions at us every day. Some are momentous and difficult, while others are relatively trivial and easily worked out; still others lodge themselves in our heads and bother us for years. We regularly encounter controversial issues (such as prostitution, abortion, or racial profiling), tricky conundrums (Would I be wrong to take advantage of my teacher's forgetfulness? When should I allow my teenage daughter to have a boyfriend? Are we responsible for our emotions?), and classic problems (What is the relation between religion and morality? Is suicide wrong? Why should we be moral?)
Philosophers have engaged with these questions for as long as there have been philosophers, but most people have had no exposure to the wide variety of arguments and positions that they have offered. The website AskPhilosophers.org has sought to fill this void, bringing together a panel of distinguished philosophers who use their knowledge of the history of philosophy, as well as their own skills and ingenuity, to respond to questions sent in from all over the world. What Should I Do? is a collection of some of the most interesting questions about ethics to have appeared on the website during its first five years. It is a delightfully fresh book that will encourage readers to think a bit more deeply about the moral questions they frequently encounter, and will provide them with the tools to do so.
About the Author
Alexander George is Professor of Philosophy at Amherst College. He is the editor of
What Would Socrates Say? Philosophers Answer Your Questions About Love, Nothingness, and Everything Else and the author of a humor book
Sense and Nonsensibility: Lampoons of Learning and Literature (with Lawrence Douglas). He founded AskPhilosophers.org in 2005.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. The Personal
Children Love and Sex Abortion Emotion Sincerity Death Suicide
2. The Public
Medicine Business Sports and Games DT Interacting with Others DT Environment DT Animals DT Religion
3. The Political
Justice Rights Government Law Punishment War
4. The Nature of Morality
Moral Truth Moral Knowledge Moral Theories Putting Morality into Practice
Biographical Information
Suggested Readings
Index