Philosophical Ethics A Guidebook For Beginners

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Jordan Tucker

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Aug 5, 2024, 6:53:39 AM8/5/24

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The information about Western philosophy in this textbook is adequate for a short ("crash course") introductory course on ethics. My main disappointment is about the lack of information about philosophers and diverse viewpoints; for example, there is no mention of care ethics. There are very few contemporary philosophers mentioned, only a couple female thinkers, and I am not sure if there were any thinkers mentioned who are people of color. I also was looking for a text with more examples of Eastern/non-Western philosophical viewpoints. This is not that textbook. Additionally, the "Further Exploration" section in a couple chapters (chapters 8 and 9) was blank.

The historical information provided about various philosophical theories will remain relevant for years to come, although the addition of contemporary and diverse viewpoints would help make this textbook more relevant to 21st century students. Also, some of the controversial ethical topics at the end of this book, such as euthanasia and the death penalty, have appeared in ethics textbooks for decades. More contemporary topics would make this textbook more appealing to a larger group of students.

One of the strengths of this textbook is that it is written for college-age students at the beginning of their studies. The language, tone, and syntax are all appropriate for that specific audience. This is one of the best philosophy textbooks I have seen for this particular age student in terms of clarity. The end-of-chapter slideshow summaries also aid in helping students understand the information that was already clearly written in the chapters themselves.

Another strength of this book is that the author explains terms and uses them consistently. He also utilizes the same organizational structure for most of the chapters (the exceptions are the chapters about specific controversial ethical topics).

A third strength of this book is that both the chapters themselves and sections within chapters could easily be assigned on their own to students without the students needing to read the entire chapter or textbook. In particular, the sections within the chapter on "Fallacies and Biases" could stand on their own.

It was very easy to follow the flow of topics from one chapter to the next. The book begins with a few chapters focused on concepts students need to understand before moving on to chapters covering specific ethical theories; it then moves to the discussion of contemporary controversial topics.

While the book does not include any culturally insensitive or offensive examples, it also does not provide a global view of ethical theories and thinkers. As noted in my comments about "Comprehensiveness," there are very few contemporary philosophers mentioned, only a couple female thinkers, and I am not sure if there were any thinkers mentioned who are people of color. Also, Eastern/non-Western philosophical viewpoints were not addressed. Additionally, the examples from contemporary media, such as characters from The Flintstones and The Office, seemed skewed to a particular demographic that is not necessarily the students in our classrooms.

While there are chapters I would assign to my students, such as the chapter on "Fallacies and Biases," because they are clearly written and provide foundational information about ethics, I would not use this entire textbook because it does not provide a global view of ethics and because of the lack of diversity in ethical theories, thinkers, and examples.

The text covers the main areas of Ethics beginning with a useful discussion of logic and critical reasoning. The author discusses how arguments are analyzed and evaluated and then points out the most common types of fallacious reasoning encountered in moral debates. This introduction is then followed by an examination of the problems associated with Ethical Relativism and Ethics and Religion. After the weaknesses of these approaches to morality are pointed out Prof. Matthews then unpacks four of the most common Ethical Theories: Egoism, Social Contract Theory, Utilitarianism, and Kantian Ethics. These theories are then applied in an examination of several hot button issues that we struggle with today. The various chapters would have benefited from a variety of pedagogical devices such as review questions, moral dilemmas, etc. that would be useful in stimulating student discussion. The text does not have an index or glossary.

The various positions and theories were presented in a clear and accurate way. The text is not meant to be an exhaustive account of these ideas. Any instructor who adopts this text will wish the author had expanded on this or that theme, but in the end attentive students will have a good understanding of usefulness of Philosophical Ethics and how it can be used to improve their lives through better decision making.

In his discussion of applied ethics the author elaborates upon five issues: Euthanasia, Liberty and its Limits, Crime and Punishment, Animals and Ethics, and Environmental Ethics. I would hope that a contemporary ethics text would address the issues of race and racism, feminism, as well as controversies surrounding gender identity.

I felt Prof. Matthew's conversational tone and humorous remarks would be very appealing to high school early college students as well as undergraduates who are being exposed to a philosophy course for the first time. The jargon of the profession is avoided where possible, leaving students with an accessible text that still deals with complex issues. Often, arguments are broken down into their simple premises and conclusion making is easy for students to identify their weaknesses.

The text follows the traditional pattern of well designed ethics courses, beginning with an overview. This one is presented with the help of Socrates. Students can follow the progression of how philosophers think as they search for viable moral theories that can be effectively used to make better decisions when confronted with difficult moral dilemmas.

Each unit of the text is no more than two or three pages long. These pages are broken up into clearly defined paragraphs allowing students to easily follow the topics without being overwhelmed. Instructors will no doubt want to expand upon certain topics that are of greater interest to them. The format of the text would easily allow them to do so.

In the initial discussion of Utilitarianism as an ethical theory there was no mention of the well known distinction between act and rule utilitarianism. I was pleased to see this come up later in the examination and critique of the death penalty, but students might be better served if this were made part of the original treatment of the theory.

The text works much better on a desktop or laptop where the table of contents located in the left margin is visible. One can easily click their way through the various topics and always know where they are in the overall text. When I attempted to read this work on a tablet that feature wasn't as readily available, so it took more effort to scroll back and forth through the text.

Generally, I think the text would work well in an introductory ethics course, but it would have to be supplemented by the instructor. Students would benefit from exposure to longer excerpts from primary sources and review and discussion questions would also be useful as an addendum to the various chapters. I appreciate the hard work and dedication that Prof. Matthews has done in preparing this work and I am sure my future students will appreciate it even more when they find out how much money they will be saving by using an open source text.

Living the Good Life presents a brief introduction to virtue and vice, self-control and weakness, misery and happiness. The book contrasts the thought of Aquinas with popular views, such as moral relativism, values clarification, utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, and situation ethics. Following the Socratic dictum "know thyself," Steven J. Jensen investigates the interior workings of the human mind, revealing the interplay of reason, will, and emotions. According to Aquinas, in a healthy ethical life, reason guides the emotions and will to the true human good. In an unhealthy life, emotional impulses distort the vision of reason, entrapping one in futile pursuits. In the human struggle to gain self-mastery, a person must overcome the capricious desires that enslave him to false goods.

Jensen ably guides readers through Aquinas's philosophy and explains the distinction between the moral and intellectual virtues. The moral virtues train our various desires toward the true good, helping us discard our misguided cravings and teaching us to enjoy what is truly worth pursuing. The virtue of justice directs our hearts to the good of others, freeing us from egoism in order to seek a good shared with others. The intellectual virtues train the mind toward the truth, so that we can find fulfillment in human understanding. Most important, the virtue of prudence directs our deliberations to discover the true path of life.

Intended as a text for students, beginners of philosophy will gain access to a key aspect of Aquinas's thought, namely, that true happiness is realized not in the animal life of passion and greed but only in the reasonable pursuit of human goods, in which we find true peace and rest from the distractions of this world.

Steven J. Jensen is associate professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Houston and specializes in the areas of ethics and medieval philosophy. He is the author of Good and Evil Actions: A Journey through Saint Thomas Aquinas and editor of The Ethics of Organ Transplantation.