A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox

A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox offers a uniquely practical and hands-on introduction to ethics. Thoroughly optimistic, the book invites students to approach ethical issues with a reconstructive intent--to "break out of the box" in order to make room for more and better options than the rigid "pro" and "con" positions that have developed around tough problems like abortion and environmental ethics. In this book, ethics is treated not as an invitation to issue summary moral judgments or to construct and evaluate moral theories, but as an ongoing set of real-life challenges that call for multiple, integrated, and open-ended kinds of intelligence. Anthony Weston covers the skills that are vital to making real progress in ethics, including critical thinking, creative problem-solving, moral vision, mindful speech, and many more. Readers will find refreshing examples of real people and communities who have made progress in reframing and resolving ethical dilemmas by thinking and acting in constructive and innovative ways. Instructors can readily use the experiential and applied activities inspired by this "toolbox" of skills to design an interactive and collaborative ethics course, and students will find the resources and the encouragement to carry those skills into practice. A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox addresses a broad spectrum of compelling ethical issues, including abortion, sexual choices, what and how we eat, crime and punishment, fair trade, environmental justice, and many others. Provocative selections from a wide range of philosophers, essayists, community activists, and students are interwoven with Weston's own discussions. The text is enhanced by an extensive "Exercises and Notes" section at the end of each chapter and a detailed appendix that offers instructors advice on how to use this book in the classroom. New to the Second Edition: * A reorganized structure that covers a wider range of topics, grouped into four parts: Getting Started; Moral Values; Ethical Practice; and Making a Difference * A more diverse selection of sources that pays more attention to multicultural representation and religious ethics * New and additional readings from moral philosophers, first-rate writers, community activists, and college students, including Alice Walker, Ursula LeGuin, Bertrand Russell, Kwasi Wiredu, Aldo Leopold, and many others * A new chapter on "Mindful Speech" by Spoma Jovanovic, a leading figure in Communication Ethics * An all-new Part IV on how to make a real ethical difference * Ten review questions in each chapter that can also be used as test questions * A second appendix, "Experiential Teaching in Ethics," by Sharon Hartline of Radford University

Table of Contents:
EACH CHAPTER ENDS WITH "FOR REVIEW" AND "EXERCISES AND NOTES" SECTIONS; PART I. GETTING STARTED; 1. ETHICS AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE; What Is Ethics?; Why Study Ethics?; Reading: Sarah Stillman, "Made by Us"; 2. ETHICS-AVOIDANCE DISORDERS; Flying by Instinct; Offhand Self-Justification; Dogmatism; Relativism; 3. ETHICS AND RELIGION; An Approach to Religious Ethics; Let the Stories Be Stories!; Thinking for Yourself; 4. ETHICAL TALK: GROUND RULES; How to Have a Fruitless Debate; How to Have a Useful Discussion; Reading: Mary Jacksteit and Adrienne Kaufmann, The Common Ground Network for Life and Choice, "Common Ground Rules"; 5. SERVICE AND SERVICE-LEARNING; Calls to Service; Visits to a Homeless Shelter; Reading: Danusha Veronica Goska, "Living Ideals"; Reading: Courtney Martin, "The Ethics of Transformation"; PART II. MORAL VALUES; 6. TAKING VALUES SERIOUSLY; Varieties of Values; Attending to Values; Readings for Analysis; Alice Walker, "Am I Blue?"; Ted Kerasote, from Bloodties; 7. THE ETHICS OF THE PERSON; Persons Face-to-Face; Reading: Emmanuel Levinas, "Ethics and the Face"; Made in the Image of God; Reading: Pope John Paul II, from "Evangelium Vitae"; Kant's Categorical Imperative; Reading: Immanuel Kant, from Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals; Rights, Equality, Justice; 8. THE ETHICS OF HAPPINESS; Hedonism; Reading: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, from Flow; Utilitarianism; Reading: J. S. Mill, from Utilitarianism; Reading: Bertrand Russell, from "The Harm that Good Men Do"; Can Utility Be the Single Measure of Values?; 9. THE ETHICS OF VIRTUE; An Abundance of Virtues; A Greek View of Virtue; Reading: Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics; Chinese Views of Virtue; Reading: Lao Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching; Cultivating Virtue; Reading: John Sullivan, from Living Large; 10. THE ETHICS OF RELATIONSHIPS; Care Ethics; Reading: Nel Noddings, from Caring; Ethics and Community; Reading: Kwasi Wiredu, from "The Moral Foundations of an African Culture"; The Expanding Circle; Reading: Aldo Leopold, from "The Land Ethic"; PART III. ETHICAL PRACTICE; 11. CRITICAL THINKING; Facts and Sources; Inferences; Definitions; 12. JUDGING LIKE CASES ALIKE; Consistency Is a Challenge; How to Restore Consistency; Invented Cases; Reading: Colin McGinn, "Speciesism"; 13. MINDFUL SPEECH, BY SPOMA JOVANOVIC; Words Matter!; Deepening Ethical Dialogue; Reading: Spoma Jovanovic and Roy V. Wood, from "Speaking from the Bedrock of Ethics"; 14. WHEN VALUES CLASH; Both Sides Could Be Right; Integrating Values; Big Decisions; Reading: Roger Rosenblatt, "How to End the Abortion War"; 15. CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING; The Need for Inventiveness in Ethics; Creative Exploration; Creative Provocations; 16. REFRAMING PROBLEMS; Opening Up a Problem; Reading: Fran Peavey, "Strategic Questioning"; Three Methods; Reframing the Abortion Debate; 17. MORAL VISION; Working from a Vision; Environmental Visions?; Reading for Analysis: Ursula K. Le Guin, "May's Lion"; PART IV. MAKING A DIFFERENCE; 18. YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE; Self-Possession; Sexual Choices; Reading: Keith Clark, from Being Sexual ... and Celibate; Reading: Carol Queen, from Real Live Nude Girl; Eating; 19. YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; The Power of One; Becoming a Change-Maker; Reading: Paxus Calta-Star, "Not Deterred"; Reading: Ian Frazier, from On the Rez; Reading: Vern Huffman, "Stories from the Cha Cha Cha"; Reading: Fran Peavey, "Questioning the Media's View of Women"; This Means You!; 20. MAKING CHANGE TOGETHER; Communities Making Change; Joining a Change-Making Community; Reading: Martin Fowler, "The Restorative Justice Movement"; Reading: Luke Cole and Sheila Foster, "The Environmental Justice Movement"; Notes for Teachers: The Toolbox in the Classroom; Experiential Teaching in Ethics, by Sharon Hartline