Religious and Ethical Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century.
Daly, Daniel J.
Religious and Ethical Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century.
Edited by Paul O. Myhre. Winona, MN: Anselm Academic, 2013. Pp. 282.
$29.95.
Myhre has produced a strong volume of essays for undergraduates
covering contemporary issues in ethics. With a conversational style, the
authors introduce students to key thinkers and theories in the current
use of technology, medical ethics, war and peace, food ethics, political
ethics, environmental ethics, and economic ethics. The format reinforces
the style: a preface announces each chapter's goals, and questions
for reflection and discussion are inserted in the middle and at the end
of each chapter. The questions, however, mainly ask students to reflect
on their own experiences, thus possibly drawing them away from wrestling
with and comprehending the text.
The collection succeeds where M. has found teachers/scholars who
know how to communicate complex ideas to students through an engaging
use of examples. Highlights include Maureen O'Connell's
opening essay, which is a clear and cogent introduction to religious
ethics; James Caccamo's chapter on the ethics of digital
communication technologies; Julie Hanlon Rubio's balanced, but
challenging, piece on the ethics of food consumption; and the chapters
on access to health care and AIDS by Aana Marie Vigen and Kimberly
Vrundy, respectively.
The collection is ideal for a course covering contemporary ethical
issues, or, as a late-semester resource for a course in foundational
religious ethics. As with many volumes designed to take up a variety of
applied topics in ethics, the chapters here are often more descriptive
than theological or prescriptive, as they assume students are conversant
with concepts in religious ethics. As a result, students will benefit
most from the text after studying the various schools of ethical method.
While the book's title indicates that this is a text in religious
and ethical perspectives, the preponderance of attention is given to
Christian thinkers and concepts. However, some chapters contain
sufficient treatment of non-Christian thought to engage students in the
rudiments of interreligious ethics. Faculty who seek an extended
treatment of how various religious traditions address contemporary
ethical issues will need to look elsewhere.
Daniel J. Daly
Saint Anselm College, NH
DOI: 10.1177/0040563914538732
