Ethics for everyone : a skills-based approach / Larry R. Churchill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Churchill, Larry R., 1945- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics.

Physical Description:

xiii, 189 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"This book maps the moral terrain in the grounded reality of human experience without relying on theories or systems of ethics as the primary orienting strategy. Moral awareness needs first to be appreciated for what it is before it is made to conform to theories or systems. And moral consciousness is not a steady or stable set of perceptions; as we change so do the moral challenges that most concern us"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Dimensions of Moral Experience p. 9

Varieties of Moral Perplexity p. 9

Curiosity and Wonder as the Impetus for Ethics p. 10

Ethics Belongs to Everyone p. 12

The Humanizing Function of Ethical Dialogue p. 15

Ignorance, Learning (and Relearning) What Moral Values We Hold p. 18

Ethics as Ongoing p. 20

Obstacles to Ethics p. 21

1 Moral Arbitrariness p. 21

2 Absolute Certainty p. 23

3 Perfectionism p. 25

The Aims of Ethics p. 26

Teaching, Learning, and "Catching" Ethics p. 28

2 Basic Skills I p. 31

Probing Skill: Interrogating Our Moral Prehistories p. 31

Decentering Skill: Taming Moral Vanity and Recognizing Others p. 38

Relinquishing Skill: Giving Up the Comforts of Moral Certainty p. 43

Emotional Skill: Learning from Our Feelings p. 47

Cognitive Skill: Thinking Slowly p. 50

3 Basic Skills II p. 53

Imaginative Skill: Expanding the Reach of Our Empathy p. 53

Assertive Skill: Claiming Our Own Moral Authority p. 56

Connective Skill: Linking Goodness and Happiness p. 59

Narrative Skill: Story-Making at Intersecting Life Trajectories p. 61

4 Exercises Using the Skills p. 71

Nineteen Exercises in Eight Groupings p. 71

Curiosity about One's Moral Sensibility p. 72

Broad Empathy p. 73

Conceptual Agility p. 73

Identifying Emotional Registers p. 74

Sensitivity to Suffering p. 75

Moral Certainty/Uncertainty p. 75

Moral Authority p. 76

Happiness p. 77

Assessing Responses p. 77

5 Some Common Pitfalls p. 79

The Trap of Either/Or Thinking p. 79

Expecting Too Much from Theory p. 81

The Desire for a Unifying Definition of Ethics p. 86

Restricting What Experiences Have Ethical Weight p. 89

Treating Mysteries as Moral Problems p. 92

6 Moral Concepts in Practice I p. 95

The Anchoring Value of Truth p. 96

Forgiveness and Freedom p. 101

The Varieties of Love p. 104

The Moral Uses of Spirituality p. 107

The Persistence of Hope p. 111

7 Moral Concepts in Practice II p. 115

Voluntary and Nonvoluntary Responsibilities p. 115

Justice and the Measure of Impartiality p. 118

Liberty and Its Limits p. 122

Contextualizing Rights p. 125

Conscience: Within-Not Above-the Moral Fray p. 128

How Death Enables Ethics p. 132

8 Skills and Concepts for Ethics beyond the Lifespan p. 137

Skills and Concepts in the Context of Global Warming p. 138

Five Morally Debilitating Features of Our Current Thinking p. 141

1 Focus on the Present p. 142

2 Political Ineptness p. 143

3 Humans as the Crown of Creation p. 144

4 Consumerism p. 145

5 Mechanistic Views of Nature, Including the Human Body p. 146

Getting Grounded p. 147

9 Cracking the Case, and Cases to Consider p. 151

Cracking the Case p. 151

Cases to Consider (or to Rewrite as Cracked Cases) p. 159

1 Adderall for Nonprescription Uses p. 159

2 Programming a Self-Driving Car p. 160

3 Buying and Selling Organs p. 161

4 Businesses That Provide Services Selectively p. 162

5 The Magnifying Effects of Social Media p. 163

6 Choosing the Sex of One's Children p. 164

7 Vaccine Refusal: Personal Health and Public Health p. 165

8 Cows and Global Warming p. 166

9 Age as a Screen for Expensive Therapies p. 167

10 Arming Schoolteachers p. 168

11 Paying Student-Athletes p. 169

12 Divisive Monuments p. 170.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Churchill, Larry R., Ethics for everyone

ISBN:

9780190080891

0190080892

OCLC:

1122682278

Publisher Number:

99984106028