I don’t seem to hear preachers or politicians talk about a seven-day creation of the universe in recent years. Instead, fundamentalists have turned to evolution. They insist the Genesis picture demands God creates fully-developed species, clearly separated from one another. Of course, they use much more emotionally laden language, such as, “I refuse to believe […]
The simplest Christian ethic is based on what Jesus said and did. It begins by believing Jesus said exactly what he meant. It discerns that he lived by what he said. And it assumes if we are to follow him, we are to do the same. Other New Testament writers and the early Church pretty […]
Sandel ends his book championing a new politics of the common good, and suggests four possible themes that would support it. Citizenship, sacrifice, and service. He writes “If a just society requires a strong sense of community, it must find a way to cultivate in citizens a concern for the whole, a dedication to the […]
If I asked you who you are, chances are you would describe yourself with a list of the groups to which you belong: your family, neighborhood, ethnic group, town, and nation, as well other social affiliations. Sandel claims these communities shape our ethics as much, if not more, than abstract rational reasoning or voluntary choices. […]
Aristotle believed humans are political creatures by nature. He thinks this is apparent when we see how our speech enables us to relate to one another quite differently than beasts or gods. Politics not only gathers us into communities for defense against foreign powers, but also for using rational speech rather than physical violence to […]
Rawls acknowledges after we establish a fair situation, it immediately is lost as factors such as birth, education, talent, skill, and situation come into play. The question becomes whether we simply accept this or seek some compensation for the weak. For example, are affirmative action programs a form of justice? Is promoting equality by giving […]
We’re looking at how we find the moral principles to determine what is right, just, and good. Kant believed we could this with human reason alone. Theoretically, every rational individual will come up with duties natural to all people. John Rawls, probably the most distinguished writer on justice in recent time, sees the same limitations […]
If the first question in ethics is whether there is justice or right written into all things out there, the second is how do we know what that is. So far Sandel has tried to show utilitarianism, libertarianism, and the free market are helpful as guidelines, but their advocates ultimately rely on other principles and […]
Sandel’s second test of the approaches he has examined so far concerns paying someone else to carry your baby. He begins with the Mary Beth Whitehead case in which a couple makes a contract for someone else to bear their child. When the mother reneges on the contract, the courts have a tough time deciding […]
The big question in modern ethics is agreeing on what is just in a pluralistic, often democratic world. How do we determine the right thing to do, if we all do not accept the authority of a king, a god, or some common values? The modern answer is often to turn in default to the […]
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