Product Description

This concise, accessible text emphasizes doing ethical analysis and thinking critically about ethical issues, rather than focusing on ethical theory or the history of ethics. Ruggiero's readers are invited to apply ethical principles to issues that exemplify the kinds of moral challenges encountered in everyday life. It engages students' minds, stimulates enthusiasm, and makes teaching more effective and rewarding.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25539 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Customer Reviews

Challenging inquires
In the first part of the book, Riggiero provides scenarios to dismiss ethics based on the majority view, relativism, feelings, conscience, and culture. This is counter to those who propose following your "gut", or "do what feels good". In the second part of the book, he offers a procedural ethics based on obligation, moral ideas, and consequences.

The real meat of the book are "inquiries"; examples of ethical problems for the reader to work. They also promote a vague uneasiness of how difficult some of these short scenarios are. The uneasiness is useful and caused me to think deeper about the dilemmas. Students who are used to memorization, or looking for a "correct answer" may be frustrated. This book is not about the history of ethics (and that chapter is perhaps too sparse), or ethical theory, but about the process of thinking. My own desire for more worked samples, may indicate my uneasiness and search for a crutch of a supplied answer. I would urge also each professional reader, to look at his own professional organization's code of ethics, in light of possible scenarios that may be encountered.

A splended, and marvelous book on ethics
I thought this book was a very well written book on Ethics. I used it for my Ethics class in junior college, and it was so well written, and very concise. It discusses ethical issues, as well as teaches the reader how to make good ethical choices. It discusses in each chapter in depth how each process in the decision process should be made, and gives many dilemmas, and examples at the end of each chapter. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Ethics

leaves much to be desired, but good for beginners.
A quick run-down for the lazy:
- The overview of philosophical thinkers is absurdly short.
- The history of ethics is also woefully abrubt.
+ it's fairly easy to read.
- lacks depth of analysis, contains strawman argument, circular logic, and other logical flaws.
- author insists on existance absolutes
- author frequently mixes up the meanings of ethics and morality.

Ruggiero focuses on pro-western attitudes, Christians, and christian apologists in the formation of his theories. He quotes studies out of context and uses rediculous extremes to underline 'grey areas' of argument. Often times the 'challenges' or questions in his text are flatly one sided or all too easy to answer.

I view this as a high school level text, wholly inadequate for college use, and decidedly biased.

Nevertheless, it's a good starting point for someone young and curious about ethics. I don't think it ever hurts to consider viewpoints, even faulty ones. Though I agree with much of the thrust of ethical position/slant of the text, I bridle at the abuse of logic and the strained conclusions.

Always be on the lookout for strawman argument, argument by anecdote, and appeal to emotions. These are huge logical flaws which destroy any argument no matter how well intended.