Peter Singer is well known as an ethicist who has contributed much to current debates in ethics and public policy. He has published on topics ranging from vegetarianism to famine relief to bioethics, always with something interesting to say, and often with something provocative as well. How Are We to Live? adds to Singer’s work in the area of applied, or practical, ethics. This book is not as deeply challenging as some of Singer’s earlier work. However, it is not intended (...) for an audience composed exclusively of professional philosophers. It is written for people who feel that ethics doesn’t speak to the concern of living a full and fruitful life, who believe that ethics, at best, is too narrow to guide us in a wide spectrum of decisions, and, at worst, is for “suckers.” This sentiment is one that professional ethicists encounter all too frequently. Singer’s book does a splendid job of addressing these sorts of concerns. He does so with a light touch, without being too moralistic. It is easy to read, engaging, and will appeal to a wide audience. Thus, the book accomplishes its goals admirably. (shrink)

B'Imagine that you could choose a book that everyone in the world would read. My choice would be this book.' Roger Crisp, Ethics -/- Many people have an uneasy feeling that they may be missing out on something basic that would give their lives a significance it currently lacks. But how should we live? What is there to stop us behaving selfishly? In a highly readable account which makes reference to a wide variety of sources and everyday issues, Peter Singer (...) suggests that the conventional pursuit of self- interest is individually and collectively self-defeating. Taking into consideration the beliefs of Jesus, Kant, Rousseau, and Adam Smith amongst others, he looks at a number of different cultures, including America, Japan, and the Aborigines to assess whether or not selfishness is in our genes and how we may find greater satisfaction in an ethical lifestyle. (shrink)

In this much-needed account of what has gone wrong in our thinking about the environment, Val Plumwood digs at the roots of environmental degradation. She argues that we need to see nature as an end itself, rather than an instrument to get what we want. Using a range of examples, Plumwood presents a radically new picture of how our culture must change to accommodate nature.

The study of work in the Tokugawa period by intellectual historians has revealed the linguistic and ritual ways in which work was ideologically represented during that time. Work, however, is not an activity which belongs only to the realm of ideology; the actual 'form' of work is dictated by economic and technological factors. This study focuses on Ishida Baigan and Ninomiya Sontoku, who both acted as key channels through which ideology and economy were amalgamated, the meaning of work identified and (...) intellectual expression given to it. Ishida and Ninomiya are often cited as role models used by the late-Meiji and prewar governments to impose self-sacrifice and blind submission onto the people, rather than as media for the social construction of work in the Tokugawa years. Few Japanese scholars specialising in Ishida and Ninomiya are familiar with the theoretical, empirical and anthropological studies of work developing in Western scholarship; attempts have yet to be made to approach the thought of Ishida and Ninomiya from such perspectives, and, as a result, their importance in the social construction of work in the Tokugawa era has not been fully acknowledged. Neither of the two thinkers advocated passive adaptation to a portional role in society, nor submission to a particular role given by a superior: Ishida argued for a worker's active participation in decision-making in business affairs and for skills to maintain efficiency in the implementation of collective tasks (inter-personal and managerial skills). Ninomiya advocated the management of time, technology and the labour force in pursuing agricultural work. Ishida spoke of work for the benefit of the long-term prosperity of the household; Ninomiya viewed work not only as the means to secure the material prosperity of an individual but as a 'cumulative agency' for the successive betterment of the household for generations to come. In contrast to the accepted view of them as thinkers exclusively in favour of submission and hard labour, they acted as intermediaries through which elements of management and long-term vision were incorporated into the concept of work. (shrink)

This book is about decision making. Its underlying theme is that we cannot move directly from basic Christian Insights to key areas where ethical choices have to be made without some kind of empirical investigation, with all the hazards which that brings. And the more detailed the analysis and recommendations drawn from the investigation, the greater the difference of opinion will be, This makes it important to work on particular topics in groups, looking for agreement at a middle level on (...) a general direction: this is important where the situation is polarized, as it often Is. The studies collected here relate to three areas: ecumenical Christianity, economics and politics. The subjects discussed include the development of social ethics in the Church of England, the future of Protestant ethics, the end of the Protestant work ethic, the New Right, political theology, liberation theology, penal theory and practice and the demoralization of modem society. (shrink)