Moral Soundings
Readings on the Crisis of Values in Contemporary Life
Contributions by Albert Borgmann The University of Montana, Richard Rorty, Steven Fesmire, Christina Hoff Sommers, Edward W. Said, Stanley Kurtz, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jerry L. Walls Houston Baptist Universit, Jerry Weinberger, Leon Kass, Jane Smiley, Janet C. Gornick, Jean Bethke Elshtain The Laura Spelman Rockell, Thomas Pogge, Isabel V. Sawhill, Richard Pipes, Cornel West Union Theological Seminar, James Twitchell, David Marsland, David Bosworth Edited by Dwight Furrow
Publication date:
22 April 2004Length of book:
328 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersDimensions:
233x156mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780742533691
Moral Soundings takes a fresh new approach to introducing students and general readers to contemporary ethics. Rather than surveying the standard fare in a typical anthology format, Furrow collects diversified essays around a structured theme: does Western culture face a moral crisis of values? Prominent voices in the humanities and social sciences provide a range of perspectives on a concentrated set of ethical questions dealing with such topics as family values, the morality of capitalism, the benefits and dangers of new technologies, global conflict, and the role of religion.
Unlike point/counterpoint books that often oversimplify the complexity of ethical questions, the readings in Moral Soundings provoke critical engagement and help students to recognize and emulate the logical development of arguments-all in engaging and easily accessible language. Readings are supplemented with helpful chapter introductions, study questions, and strategically placed editorial commentary to encourage further discussion and reflection. These features make Moral Soundings an ideal primary or supplementary text for undergraduate courses in ethics, contemporary moral issues, and social and political philosophy.
Unlike point/counterpoint books that often oversimplify the complexity of ethical questions, the readings in Moral Soundings provoke critical engagement and help students to recognize and emulate the logical development of arguments-all in engaging and easily accessible language. Readings are supplemented with helpful chapter introductions, study questions, and strategically placed editorial commentary to encourage further discussion and reflection. These features make Moral Soundings an ideal primary or supplementary text for undergraduate courses in ethics, contemporary moral issues, and social and political philosophy.
While the readings in Moral Soundings raise specific issues about capitalism, family life, biotechnology, religion, and global conflict, the editor's introductions and 'interventions' relate the readings to different conceptions of autonomy and different evaluations of those conceptions. This unity-in-diversity format should work very well in the classroom.