Ethics
has become the burning issue of current moral
philosophical thought, raising the spectre
of responsibility at a time when responsibility
seems entirely replaced by uncertainty and
relativism.
What
is the place of individual choice and consequence
in a post-Holocaust world of continuing genocidal
ethnic cleansing? Is “identity”
now a last-ditch cultural defence of ethnic
nationalisms and competing fundamentalisms?
In a climate of instant information, free
markets and possible ecological disaster,
how do we define “rights”, self-interest
and civic duties? What are the acceptable
limits of scientific investigation and genetic
engineering, the rights and wrongs of animal
rights, euthanasia and civil disobedience?
Introducing
Ethics confronts these dilemmas, tracing the
arguments of the great moral thinkers, including
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes and Kant,
and brings us up to date with postmodern critics.
***
Dave
Robinson has taught philosophy for many years
and is the author of many Introducing titles
including the best-selling Philosophy. He
is now a part-time lecturer in Critical Studies
and lives in Devon.
Chris
Garratt is an illustrator and cartoonist whose
“Biff” comic strip appears weekly
in the Guardian.
