A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox

by Anthony Weston, Bob Fischer

Overview

Thoroughly optimistic, A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox, Fifth Edition, invites students to approach ethical issues with a reconstructive intent—to make room for more and better options than the rigid "pro" and "con" positions that have developed around tough problems like abortion, climate change, and racism. Employing an accessible, consistently engaging writing style, Anthony Weston and Bob Fischer cover the skills that are vital to making real progress in ethics, including critical thinking, creative problem-solving, moral vision, and genuine dialogue. Provocative selections from a wide range of philosophers, essayists, activists, and students are interwoven with the authors' own discussions.

Now for the first time, a comprehensive suite of digital resources is available for this title, including an Instructor's Manual with chapter outlines and lecture suggestions, a Test Bank including multiple choice and essay questions, and Suggested Resources and Web Links. The text is further enhanced by extensive "Exercises and Notes" sections at the end of each chapter and new and expanded "Going Farther" sections between many chapters. Join instructors and students around the country who are using the experiential and applied activities inspired by this "toolbox" of skills to design interactive and collaborative ethics courses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197617557
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/18/2023
Edition description:	5th ed.
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	9.27(w) x 6.61(h) x 1.12(d)

About the Author

ANTHONY WESTON is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Environmental Studies at Elon University. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Mobilizing the Green Imagination (2012) and A Practical Companion to Ethics, Fifth Edition (OUP, 2020).

BOB FISCHER is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Texas State University and Director of the Society for the Study of Ethics and Animals. He is the author of Animal Ethics (2021), College Ethics, Second Edition (OUP, 2020), and editor of The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics (2019).

Table of Contents

Preface to 5th edition
PART ONE: Embracing Ethics
1. What is Ethics?
Reading 1.1: Weston & Fischer, “Ethics after Covid-19”
2. Ethical Short-Circuits and How to Avoid Them
Reading 2.1: Reni Eddo-Lodge, “Color-Blindness and Other Illusions”
3. Ethics and Religion
Reading 3.1: Luke Timothy Johnson, “Homosexuality and the Church”
PART TWO: Moral Values
4. Taking Values Seriously
Reading 4.1 Alice Walker, “Am I Blue?” (with commentary)
Reading 4.2: Bertha Alvarez Manninen, “The Replaceable Fetus”
5. The Ethics of the Person
Reading 5.1: Philip Hallie, from “Le Chambon”
Reading 5.2: Immanuel Kant, from Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals
Reading 5.3: from The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
6. The Ethics of Happiness
Reading 6.1: J. S. Mill, from Utilitarianism
Reading 6.2: Esperanza Guisán, “An Ethic of Liberty and Solidarity”
7. The Ethics of Virtue
Reading 7.1: Alyse Spiehler, “Living Virtue”
Reading 7.2: Aristotle, from Nichomachean Ethics
Reading 7.3: Lao Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching
Reading 7.4: John Sullivan, from Living Large
8. The Ethics of Relationship
Reading 8.1: Nel Noddings, from Caring
Reading 8.2: Margaret Urban Walker, “Toward an inter-personal ethics”
Reading 8.3: Aldo Leopold, “The Land Ethic”
PART THREE: Skills for Ethical Practice
9. Minding the Evidence
Reading 9.1: Martin Fowler, The Ethical Practice of Critical Thinking
10. Judging Like Cases Alike
Reading 10.1: from Harry Gensler, Ethics and the Golden Rule
Reading 10.2: Amy Glaser, “Beyond Adultism”
11. Dialogue
Reading 11.1: Mary Jacksteit and Adrienne Kaufmann, “The Common Ground Network for Life and Choice”
Reading 11.2: Sophie-Grace Chappell, “How (Not) to Talk About, and To, Trans Women”
12. When Values Conflict
Reading 12.1: Roger Gottlieb, “Can We Talk? Understanding the 'Other Side' in the Animal-Rights Debate”
13. Opening Up Problems
Reading 13.1: Fran Peavey, “Strategic Questioning”
14. Moral Vision
Reading 14.1: William McDonough, “Design for a New World”
End Matter: Resources
Eight Maxims for Making a Moral Difference
1. You Can Do It
Reading M1: Danusha Goska, “Living Ideals”
2. There Are Many Ways
Reading M2.1: Ian Frazier, “On the Rez”
Reading M2.2: Mariam Duindam-Kazanjian, “The Sins of the Father”
3. Making a Difference... as a Student
Reading M3.1: Ramona Ilea and Monica Janzen, “This Means You!”
4. Becoming an Ally
Reading M4.1: Amelie Lamont, “Guide to Allyship”
5. Creative Leveraging
Box: The Good Banker
6. It's Probably Complicated
Reading M6.1: Gina Crosley-Corcoran, “How to explain white privilege to a broke white person”
7. There is No Way to Ethics; Ethics is the Way
Reading M7.1: Charles Eisenstein, from “Standing Rock: A Change of Heart”
8. Bring Your Whole Toolbox
Some Whole-Course Projects
A. Framing a Student Code of Ethics
B. Class Ethical Commitments
C. Personal Ethical Mission Statements
D. Ethical Change Projects
Some Notes for Teachers: Teaching Like a Pragmatist
Index

Editorial Reviews

This is the best textbook in any philosophical subject that I have read. It goes beyond a summary of arguments and presents a moral vision itself—one that encourages inquiry and is open to criticism.” -MARTIN A. COLEMAN, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

“Weston stands above the competition because of his emphasis on developing practical skills for navigating a complex, interrelated world. He includes a wide range of ethical approaches-from Kant to the Lakota to Confucius-and provides the best range of exercises and pedagogical devices that I have seen.” -TAYO BASQUIAT, Bismarck State College

“You will not find any other text for an introductory ethics course that does more to interest, engage, and activate your students in living with ethical responsiveness to the world.” -JAMES H. VANDERMAY, Mid Michigan College

From the Publisher