Ethics

by Richard S. Gilbert, Unitarian Universalist Association

Invites participants to apply their beliefs, values, and convictions to particular ethical situations. Using a "Moral Compass," participants address various ethical dilemmas. Each session focuses on one dimension of moral decision making: authority, motivation, responsibility, the situation, intention, relationships, values, and character. Gilbert suggests a number of situations culled from history, literature, current events, and the participants' own lives. Eight sessions.

Genres: Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[David Glasgow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third and final book in the BYOT series, “Ethics” avoids the technical shortcomings of its predecessors—both the first and, to a less egregious degree, second volumes of the series were sloggish, inconsistent reads—and presents thoughtful content pleasantly unencumbered by “preacher-ese” language.

Each of the eight sessions of “Ethics” focuses on a different facet of ethical decision-making, and the preparatory readings, in-class case studies, and reflection questions are well-crafted to take the reader past first-jerk responses into the realm of sincere, thoughtful morality. (One of the most powerful assumptions that infuses the text, for instance, is that two well-meaning people may, in fact, reach very different, even contradictory, conclusions about the same ethical dilemma.)

Here as with the previous volumes, I read the book on my own in preparation for a class that will discuss the volume as a whole, rather than having the opportunity to discuss each session with a group of others over an 8-week period. Unlike the “Introduction” and “Exploring” volumes of the series, though, I will be recommending “Ethics” to my local congregation as an excellent small-group study guide.