A Practical Companion to Ethics

A Practical Companion to Ethics, Fifth Edition, is a concise and accessible introduction to the basic attitudes and skills that make ethics work, like thinking for oneself, creative and integrative problem-solving, and keeping an open mind. This unique volume illuminates the broad kinds of
practical intelligence required in moral judgment, complementing the narrower theoretical considerations that often dominate ethics courses. It offers practical instruction in problem-solving by demonstrating how to frame an ethical problem and deal effectively with ethical disagreements. The book
also presents ethics as an ongoing learning experience, helping students to engage constructively with both the complexities of their individual lives and with the larger issues that exist in the world around them.

The fifth edition retains the most popular features of the previous edition, including challenging and relevant end-of-chapter exercises and brief text boxes that define key terms and review core strategies. The optimistic tone and brisk pace of the narrative provide an entertaining and intelligent
guide to "everyday" morality. Ideal for introductory courses in ethics and applied ethics, A Practical Companion to Ethics, Fifth Edition, can also be used in any course related to critical thinking.

"A Practical Companion to Ethics is a concise and accessible introduction to the basic attitudes and skills that make ethics work, like thinking for oneself, creative and integrative problem-solving, and keeping an open mind. This unique volume illuminates the broad kinds of practical intelligence required in moral judgment, complementing the narrower theoretical considerations that often dominate ethics courses. In fact, the book only devotes one chapter (Ch. 3) to traditional ethical theories. It instead focuses on practical instruction in problem-solving by demonstrating how to frame an ethical problem and deal effectively with ethical disagreements. The book also presents ethics as an ongoing learning experience, helping students to deal with both the complexities of their individual lives and with the larger issues that exist in the world around them. It is a hands-on, personal, and optimistic book. Weston will revise the book in light of the reviews. He plans to expand the ethical theory chapter to include the ethics of care; expand the issues covered to include collective responsibility to future generations, e.g., climate change; reorient chapter 6 to focus more on practical action at a larger scale rather than just at the individual level; and somewhat expand guidance on building moral arguments"--

"Challenging, motivating, inspiring, and above all beautifully written, this gem of a book encourages readers to take a mindfulness approach to ethics. This thoroughly readable book will pull your students out of the clutter of a hyper-mediated world and drop them into a world where the things that
really matter are open-ended dialogue and transformative thinking."--Karen Scialabba, Marist College

"A Practical Companion to Ethics is remarkable in many ways. It is a very practical guide to implementing ethical thinking, as contrasted with many introductory texts. The text fills an obvious niche uniquely and very well."--Alistair Moles, Sierra College