A Practical Companion to Ethics

By Anthony Weston

Book Overview

A Practical Companion to Ethics, Third Edition, is a concise and accessible introduction to the basic attitudes and skills that make ethics work, like thinking for oneself, creative and integrative problem-solving, and keeping an open mind. This unique volume illuminates the broad kinds of practical intelligence required in moral judgment, complementing the narrower theoretical considerations that often dominate ethics courses. It offers practical instruction in problem-solving by demonstrating how to frame an ethical problem and deal effectively with ethical disagreements. The book also presents ethics as an ongoing learning experience, helping students to deal with both the complexities of their individual lives and with the larger issues that exist in the world around them.
The third edition retains the most popular features of the previous edition, including challenging and relevant end-of-chapter exercises; brief text boxes that define key terms and review core strategies; and short dialogues that illustrate ethical dilemmas. The optimistic tone and brisk pace of the narrative provide an entertaining and intelligent guide to "everyday" morality. The third edition includes a more extensive treatment of ethics and religion (Chapter 2), which provides the framework for a moral dialogue that reaches across sectarian divides. It also contains a revised final chapter on the continuously unfolding nature of ethical understanding and an expanded appendix that gives detailed advice on writing various types of ethics papers. Ideal for introductory courses in ethics and applied ethics, A Practical Companion to Ethics, Third Edition, can also be used in any course related to critical thinking.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195189906
• ISBN13: 9780195189902
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.5" x 0.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Thinking of Ethics

I love the approach of this book. I've always thought and taught that ethics are action or behavior oriented. That it's not enough to have good intentions. Mr. Weston presents an excellent argument that ethics goes "beyond living out our values to thinking them through." He encourages everyone to look critically at the both sides of issues and look for commonalities that unite rather than differences that divide. A Practical Companion to Ethics is not only a quick and easy read, it also provides concise examples that clearly illustrate points that are more complex. If you are even remotely interested in ethics or values or where you stand on larger issues you will find value in the many approaches that are logically organized within its 94 pages. - Karen L. Jett, CMA author of Grow Your People, Grow Your Business

Good Supplementary Text

I use this book as a supplementary text for a few of the philosophy courses I teach. As an introductory-level, supplementary text, it is quite helpful. One of Weston's core themes is how to promote constructive dialog, and how to avoid dialectical dead-ends. In a world beset with simplistic moral dualism, this is a handy toolkit.

A Great Companion

I used this book as a basic introduction to Ethics with an introductory class. The easy to read and concise nature of the author was very helpful. The book wouldn't stand alone, but very useful as a supplementary text. Good sections in back for students and teachers. The section on Values Conflict is also good. I definitely would use this book again.