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An Ethical Compass: Coming of Age in the 21st Century
In 1986, Elie Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his victory over “the powers of death and degradation, and to support the struggle of good against evil in the world.” Soon after, he and his wife, Marion, created the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. A project at the heart of the Foundation’s mission is its Ethics Prize—a remarkable essay-writing contest through which thousands of students from colleges across the country are encouraged to confront ethical issues of personal significance. The Ethics Prize has grown exponentially over the past twenty years. “Of all the projects our Foundation has been involved in, none has been more exciting than this opportunity to inspire young students to examine the ethical aspect of what they have learned in their personal lives and from their teachers in the classroom,” writes Elie Wiesel. Readers will find essays on Bosnia, the genocide in Rwanda, sweatshops and globalization, and the political obligations of the mothers of Argentina’s Disappeared. Other essays tell of a white student who joins a black gospel choir, a young woman who learns to share in Ladakh, and the outsize implications of reporting on something as small as a cracked windshield. Readers will be fascinated by the ways in which essays on conflict, conscience, memory, illness (Rachel Maddow’s essay on AIDS appears), and God overlap and resonate with one another. These essays reflect those who are “sensitive to the sufferings and defects that confront a society yearning for guidance and eager to hear ethical voices,” writes Elie Wiesel. “And they are a beacon for what our schools must realize as an essential component of a true education.”
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
400 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2010
13 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
About the author
Thomas L. Friedman
43 books1,851 followersThomas L. Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and, columnist—the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes and the author of six bestselling books, among them From Beirut to Jerusalem and The World Is Flat. In a book review for The Village Voice, Edward Said criticized what he saw as a naive, arrogant, and orientalist account of the Israel–Palestine conflict in Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem.
In January 1995, Friedman took over the New York Times Foreign Affairs column. “It was the job I had always aspired to,” he recalled. “I had loved reading columns and op-ed articles ever since I was in high school, when I used to wait around for the afternoon paper, the Minneapolis Star, to be delivered. It carried Peter Lisagor. He was a favorite columnist of mine. I used to grab the paper from the front step and read it on the living room floor.”
Friedman has been the Times‘s Foreign Affairs columnist since 1995, traveling extensively in an effort to anchor his opinions in reporting on the ground. “I am a big believer in the saying ‘If you don’t go, you don’t know.’ I tried to do two things with the column when I took it over. First was to broaden the definition of foreign affairs and explore the impacts on international relations of finance, globalization, environmentalism, biodiversity, and technology, as well as covering conventional issues like conflict, traditional diplomacy, and arms control. Second, I tried to write in a way that would be accessible to the general reader and bring a broader audience into the foreign policy conversation—beyond the usual State Department policy wonks. It was somewhat controversial at the time. So, I eventually decided to write a book that would explain the framework through which I was looking at the world. It was a framework that basically said if you want to understand the world today, you have to see it as a constant tension between what was very old in shaping international relations (the passions of nationalism, ethnicity, religion, geography, and culture) and what was very new (technology, the Internet, and the globalization of markets and finance). If you try to see the world from just one of those angles, it won’t make sense. It is all about the intersection of the two.”
In January 1995, Friedman took over the New York Times Foreign Affairs column. “It was the job I had always aspired to,” he recalled. “I had loved reading columns and op-ed articles ever since I was in high school, when I used to wait around for the afternoon paper, the Minneapolis Star, to be delivered. It carried Peter Lisagor. He was a favorite columnist of mine. I used to grab the paper from the front step and read it on the living room floor.”
Friedman has been the Times‘s Foreign Affairs columnist since 1995, traveling extensively in an effort to anchor his opinions in reporting on the ground. “I am a big believer in the saying ‘If you don’t go, you don’t know.’ I tried to do two things with the column when I took it over. First was to broaden the definition of foreign affairs and explore the impacts on international relations of finance, globalization, environmentalism, biodiversity, and technology, as well as covering conventional issues like conflict, traditional diplomacy, and arms control. Second, I tried to write in a way that would be accessible to the general reader and bring a broader audience into the foreign policy conversation—beyond the usual State Department policy wonks. It was somewhat controversial at the time. So, I eventually decided to write a book that would explain the framework through which I was looking at the world. It was a framework that basically said if you want to understand the world today, you have to see it as a constant tension between what was very old in shaping international relations (the passions of nationalism, ethnicity, religion, geography, and culture) and what was very new (technology, the Internet, and the globalization of markets and finance). If you try to see the world from just one of those angles, it won’t make sense. It is all about the intersection of the two.”
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 15, 2012
This book is a collection of essays that have won the Elie Wiesel prize for Ethics, awarded by Wiesel's foundation to the winners of a competition among undergraduate essay writers over the past two decades. The writers are tasked with drawing on their own experiences or those of their family to reflect upon an ethical issues, especially current, unresolved, and highly visible ones. I started this because I am assisting in developing some educational materials on ethics and wanted to broaden the scope of materials that I considered. I must admit to mixed expectations, however. These are very difficult issues and it is seldom the case that undergraduates - even very smart and even wise ones -- can make much progress in sorting them out. This is not to denigrate these authors but only to note that the professors, policy wonks, theologians, or journalists writing on these topics were also once very smart undergraduates too.
The essays as a whole are extraordinary - both well written and insightful. It is hard to pick out favorites, although the conflict-focused essays at the start are very sharp. The other sections also have terrific works, for example the essays on the Mothers of Plaaza del Mayo, the Enola Gay, and the young women who work in Chinese factories. I must reiterate that all the essays are worthwhile and my choices for favorites reflect my interests as much as anything else.
The range of ethical issues is also broad, ranging from identity issues in ethic conflicts to medical ethics to how we think about the victims of epidemics. Some essays even talk about general approaches to ethics and navigating difficult life situations.
I think what I found most interesting about this book, however, was seeing how the winners turned out - since these prizes go back to the early 1990s. These people have gone on to careers that are already influencing our intellectual life. There are some academics, writers, and journalists. Some went on to graduate school while others did not. It is a very distinguished group and the foundation has done well in picking their winners.
It is not the last word in ethics, but then what is? It is certainly worth a read.
The essays as a whole are extraordinary - both well written and insightful. It is hard to pick out favorites, although the conflict-focused essays at the start are very sharp. The other sections also have terrific works, for example the essays on the Mothers of Plaaza del Mayo, the Enola Gay, and the young women who work in Chinese factories. I must reiterate that all the essays are worthwhile and my choices for favorites reflect my interests as much as anything else.
The range of ethical issues is also broad, ranging from identity issues in ethic conflicts to medical ethics to how we think about the victims of epidemics. Some essays even talk about general approaches to ethics and navigating difficult life situations.
I think what I found most interesting about this book, however, was seeing how the winners turned out - since these prizes go back to the early 1990s. These people have gone on to careers that are already influencing our intellectual life. There are some academics, writers, and journalists. Some went on to graduate school while others did not. It is a very distinguished group and the foundation has done well in picking their winners.
It is not the last word in ethics, but then what is? It is certainly worth a read.
July 23, 2018
I bought this book to understand perspectives on ethics and morality. It is a collection of essays by college students. The biggest problem is that most of the 30 essays neither define ethics nor seem to understand what ethics are. Most of the authors write about their feelings and what they perceive as right or wrong. In some cases they prescribe solutions that are purely wishful thinking (people should do this or that).
Most of the essays, while reflecting an honest point of view, are disappointing or in some cases interesting. How they are considered prize winners is hard to fathom. I give many a pass for their youth and the difficulty of these topics with which a Socrates would struggle.
Notable essays that I feel broke through the veil of mediocrity or wordiness or moralizing, are these:
[Illness section]
Suicide and Public Speaking by Kelly Daley (2004)
She articulates her own struggles with a serious illness that has brought severe pain to her everyday since birth. Her insights are profound and her candor disarming. Ultimately she wrestles with God much as Job did, going from rejection to acceptance and self pity to strength.
[On God section]
The Duty of Cock-Eyed Angels by Zohar Atkins (2009)
He looks at acting ethically with our own instincts for selfishness, how does the angel see the train wreck of the past and not stop to awaken us to our actions while heading into the debris of the future? He is Talmudic in his perception seeing the importance of freewill with how what is unfolding can be looked at through various prisms.
Muhammad is Not by Alamdar Murtaza (2009)
Another very personal story about the impact of obtaining his freedom to study in the West and the cost to him in terms 0f having to repudiate his community upon leaving Pakistan.
Ultimately this collection is hardly the 'Ethical compass' promised in the title by a collection of feelings and at times very self righteous moralizing. I would look for some of these essays online to skip the time wading through the rest.
Most of the essays, while reflecting an honest point of view, are disappointing or in some cases interesting. How they are considered prize winners is hard to fathom. I give many a pass for their youth and the difficulty of these topics with which a Socrates would struggle.
Notable essays that I feel broke through the veil of mediocrity or wordiness or moralizing, are these:
[Illness section]
Suicide and Public Speaking by Kelly Daley (2004)
She articulates her own struggles with a serious illness that has brought severe pain to her everyday since birth. Her insights are profound and her candor disarming. Ultimately she wrestles with God much as Job did, going from rejection to acceptance and self pity to strength.
[On God section]
The Duty of Cock-Eyed Angels by Zohar Atkins (2009)
He looks at acting ethically with our own instincts for selfishness, how does the angel see the train wreck of the past and not stop to awaken us to our actions while heading into the debris of the future? He is Talmudic in his perception seeing the importance of freewill with how what is unfolding can be looked at through various prisms.
Muhammad is Not by Alamdar Murtaza (2009)
Another very personal story about the impact of obtaining his freedom to study in the West and the cost to him in terms 0f having to repudiate his community upon leaving Pakistan.
Ultimately this collection is hardly the 'Ethical compass' promised in the title by a collection of feelings and at times very self righteous moralizing. I would look for some of these essays online to skip the time wading through the rest.
January 10, 2011
A good read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews