50 Ethics Ideas You Really Need to Know

50 Ideas You Really Need to Know

by Ben Dupré

Questions of ethics - about how we should act, our responsibilities to one another, the difference between right and wrong - have long been debated by philosophers the world over and form the foundations of government, culture and religion. Here, in concise, easy-to-read chapters, Ben Dupré explains the fundamentals of this discipline and how it is relevant to our lives today. Covering essential ethical concepts, including relativism, the golden rule and utilitarianism, as well as high-profile issues such as terrorism, censorship and the death penalty, 50 Ethics Ideas You Really Need to Know will lead you through the moral maze - and rattle your conscience in the process.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Productivity

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2013

About the author

Ben Dupré read Classics at Exeter College, Oxford, before pursuing a career in publishing. Until 2004 he was children's reference publisher at Oxford University Press.

He is the author of Places of Destiny (published in the US as Where History was Made), 50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know, 50 Political Ideas You Really Need to Know and the bestselling 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know.

A devotee of baseball and early music, Ben lives in Oxford with his family.

Reviews

[Sina Homayooni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever find yourself in a situation where you think you've got the one true ethical answer and that others are doing you/somebody else wrong? Read this!

We tend to grow up with the notion that the answer to ethical dilemmas are obviously the one we've been familiarized with. One can only get rid of this bias by rising above where he/she is and getting a good view on all ethical concepts.

This book offers a very comprehensive, yet brief summary of different ethics ideas: from Kantian Ethics to Utilitarianism, from Free Will to Justice, from Terrorism to Torture, etc.

[Kevin Keating · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. 50 lessons on ethics, each only about 4 pages. Just about the right amount of context to make you wonder but not enough to be tedious. Very enjoyable. It kinda leaves you wanting more info or maybe a discussion on people's points of view on some of these conundrums. Might be good for an opener in class every day.

[Hamid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The study of ethics helps a person to look at his own life critically and to evaluate his actions/choices/decisions.It assists a person in knowing what he/she really is and what is best for him/her and what he/she has to do in order to attain it. Study of moral philosophy can help us to think better about morality.
Moral philosophy can help us clarify our moral positions when we make judgements. It improves out perspective, and makes it more reflective and better thought out.
Study of moral philosophy can help us sharpen our general thinking processes. It trains our mind to think logically and reasonably and to handle moral issues with greater clarity. Ethics becomes inevitable as by nature human being is a ‘social’ being, a being living in relationship with other fellow beings and with the nature around. Situations in real life are not always black and white. Rules, law, codes do not cover each and every aspect of our lives. Hence in many circumstances our ethics guide us through difficult situations.

[Giota]

“50 διλήμματα ηθικής για τη ζωή και τον κόσμο” ψάχνουν απάντηση…
Συνεχίζοντας την προσφιλή του τακτική ο Ben Dupré , έπειτα από τις «50 μεγάλες ιδέες που άλλαξαν τον κόσμο» και τις «50 φιλοσοφικές θεωρίες για τη ζωή και τον κόσμο», μας συστήνει τα «50 διλήμματα ηθικής για τη ζωή και τον κόσμο» που κυκλοφορούν από τις εκδόσεις Διόπτρα.
Οι κατηγορίες στις οποίες τα κατατάσσει είναι τα ηθικά θεμέλια, πώς πρέπει να ζούμε, αρετές και άλλες καλές ιδιότητες, φαυλότητα κι άλλα ελαττώματα, οι άνθρωποι και τα άλλα ζώα, βιοηθική και παγκόσμια ηθική.
Έχουμε συνειδητότητα για το πόσο ιερή είναι η ζωή μας;
Ποιος φταίει για τη φτώχεια;
Τί πρεσβεύει ο πρεσκριπτιβισμός;
Ποιο είναι το πρώτο πράγμα που θα κάνατε, αν φορούσατε το «δαχτυλίδι του Γύγη» που θα σας έκανε αόρατους;
Είναι καλύτερο να είσαι ένας Σωκράτης δυσαρεστημένος ή ένας ανόητος άνθρωπος ικανοποιημένος;
Πώς ορίζεται στη ζωή ο μηδενισμός και η ανοχή;
Συμφωνείτε με το σπισισμό;
Ποια η άποψή σας για τη θανατική ποινή;
Θα επεμβαίνατε ποτέ στο DNA σας (θα χειραγωγούσατε το γενετικό σας κώδικα) προκειμένου να αποφύγετε καταστάσεις όπως η παχυσαρκία, η ομοφυλοφιλία, η τάση εγκληματικότητας, αποκτώντας ένα προσχεδιασμένο μωρό;
Αυτά είναι ένα μικρό δείγμα των διλημμάτων που καλούμαστε να απαντήσουμε ή απλώς να αναρωτηθούμε στη ζωή μας. Καταγεγραμμένα με γλαφυρότητα, αλλά και με στοχευμένα παραδείγματα, ο συγγραφέας μας χαρίζει άλλο ένα ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο που περιλαμβάνει τα κυριότερα διλήμματα ηθικής που αντιμετώπισε ο άνθρωπος ανά τους αιώνες.
«Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero: Αδράξτε τη μέρα, δείξτε λίγη εμπιστοσύνη στο αύριο…»

https://www.clevernews.gr/50-dilimmat...

[Pedro David Reyes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un libro decepcionante, impreciso y justificando las ideas preconcebidas de Ben Dupré, por ejemplo en el prologo debería poder diferenciar entre "matar" y "asesinar", en el capitulo 32 cita y mal interpreta Exodo 21:22-25 señalando que la lógica "lex taliones" concluye en violar a un violador, ¡pero que forma de errar!, Exodo 21 narra previamente que si hay una pelea y hieres a alguien no te vengaras ojo por ojo y diente por diente, sino que pagaras lo que esta persona estuvo sin trabajar y le curaras, solo en caso de asesinato hay pena capital, y ese punto llega el famoso "ojo por ojo y diente por diente" se refiere a aquel que golpea a una mujer embarazada y mata al bebe en el vientre, Ben Dupré debe leer al menos el capitulo entero si no es que todo Exodo, para no descontextualizar lo que va a citar en su libro y llegar a conclusiones absurdas e injuriosas

Queda manifiesto que una moral/ética no tiene sentido si no es universal y bajo una autoridad superior (Dios), pues no puede ser en función de la cultura debido a que lo que en una cultura es bueno en otra es malo y aun en una misma cultura en función del tiempo una acción es buena o mala dependiendo cuando ocurrió, los utilitaristas, por ultimo leer la doctrina del humanismo (una moral humana sin Dios) me recuerda al Genesis "Y la serpiente dijo a la mujer: Ciertamente no moriréis. Pues Dios sabe que el día que de él comáis, serán abiertos vuestros ojos y seréis como Dios, conociendo el bien y el mal", la historia de la humanidad siempre atéstada de abusos, corrupción, crimen organizado, guerras, asesinatos y violaciones, ¿acaso no niega la historia al humanismo?

Al final es útil como una breve guía para investigar por cuenta propia

[Chris Seltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would argue about whether or not the average person "really needs to know" all of the ideas in this book.

With that said, I do think it covers many important topics.

I wish the book were arranged differently, and I wish it included more case studies and moral dilemmas since I think those are the best way to explore these ideas.

I could also point out some more nit-picky things. The book blends philosophical ethics with moral psychology when it would be better to distinguish between them. While Kantian ethics are included, they are just one form of deontological ethics. A deeper dive into this area is merited since deontological perspectives contrast greatly with utilitarian approaches.

Those are minutia and somewhat a matter of taste, so I'm inclined to say that the average reader won't be bothered by them.

[Randolph King · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and was disappointed. It does provide a brief overview to 50 interesting topics, but it provides too little information. It does little more than just whet the appetite, not even enough to figure out if a more in-depth study would be interesting to you.

I did like the layout. Each topic is two pages. There is a block of related information, a timeline of 4-5 major events related to the topic, and the text has about 3 or 4 tipics in easy-to-see section.

The quality of information is good when you have no, or very little, prior knowedge on the topic. But it is light reading and good as a reminder or refresher.

[Micha K · Rating 5 out of 5]

got this book for free at my school library as they were removing all the old books
told my mom i git it for free
sthe thought i stole it
IMAGINE THE IRONY OF STEALING A BOOK ON ETHICS-
whats funnier is that all the books they were discarding were so worn and this one was paracically new-
anyways, this book is good, you may need to familiarise yourself with some philosophical terms tho

[Am Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book for the layman philosopher - this one introduces concepts such as "the good life", "free will", "kantian ethics", "moral intuitions", "virtue ethics", "the golden rule", "lifeboat ethics" (though it was labelled "lifeboat earth") and many more. It also discusses things like crime & punishment, the death penalty, torture, censorship, terrorism, animal rights, cloning, genetic engineering, etc. The later chapters cover broader topics like the environment, life, death, war, capitalism, and poverty. The tone of the writing gets a lot less objective by the end of the book though, and you get a sense that the author is rebuking certain schools of thought (especially Hardin's lifeboat ethics).

[Raj Hashim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book if you want to get a quick summary of great ideas/topics of discussion. The topics are broken into categories (how we should live?, moral foundation, vices and other bad things etc.) so you can always jump into the topics you enjoy and read about them. I would say this is a great "introductory" book, the big flaw being it does not go deep enough on any topic. I would almost equate it to reading the "summary" section of a Wikipedia page. I would highly recommend this book, because while it has its flaws, its a book that will open up your curiosity to learn more.

[Qx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good introduction to metaethics!
I felt that the book sort of degenerated a little at the back, with applied ethics, but I think that is because living in this age, most of us already know the arguments for and against abortion and eating animals and all that.

Strongly recommended for anyone with a budding interest in ethical philosophy. Clear, informative explanations arranged in a logical order, with relevant quotes from philosophers you can read up on.

[Germán · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un muy buen libro que sintetiza en pocas páginas las principales corrientes morales y éticas, junto a sus mayores dilemas, y que permite al lector encontrar cuáles le interesan más para ahondar en una futura lectura. Recomendado!

[Alejandro López · Rating 5 out of 5]

A que caray con la ética. Interesante, recomendable y además invita a la investigación para poder entender más el tema.

[Adam James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, sure.

[Oswaldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Temas breves, pero bien abordados. Nivel intermedio.