Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics 2nd Edition by Simon Blackburn (PDF)

Description

Writing with wit and elegance, Simon Blackburn tackles the basic questions of ethics in this lively book, highlighting the complications and troubling issues that spring from the very simple question of how we ought to live. Blackburn dissects the many common reasons for why we are skeptical about ethics. Drawing on examples from history, politics, religion and everyday personal experience, he shows how cynicism and self-consciousness can paralyze us into considering ethics a hopeless pursuit. He assures us that ethics is neither futile nor irrelevant, but an intimate part of the most important issues of living–of birth, death, happiness, desire, freedom, pleasure, and justice. Indeed, from moral dilemmas about abortion and euthanasia, to our obsession with personal rights, to our longing for a sense of meaning in life, our everyday struggles are rife with ethical issues. Blackburn distills the arguments of Hume, Kant and Aristotle down to their essences, to underscore thetimeless relevance of our voice of conscience, the pitfalls of complacency, and our concerns about truth, knowledge and human progress.Blackburn’s rare combination of depth, rigor, and sparkling prose, along with his distinguished ranking among contemporary philosophers, mark Being Good as an important statement on our current disenchantment with ethics. It challenges us to take a more thoughtful reading of our ethical climate and to ponder more carefully our own standards of behavior.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐My book review of Being Good: An Introduction to Ethics by Simon Blackburn published by Oxford University Press first published in 2001, ISBN 0-19-210052-1 $8.18. The book is about the beginning of ethics and its foundation.The author wanted to give the reader some threats to ethics, some ideas of ethics, the background and foundation for ethics. He wanted to put his own spin on ethics plus mix in the views of some of the greatest philosophers in our history. The work is mostly written from the author’s point of view, but he does often offer the view of other philosophers and ordinary people. The author did not try to convince the reader on any of his views; he only wanted to state his opinion and that of other scholars. The general field for the book is ethics which the title suggests. The intended audience is the average person interested in understanding the legacy of ethics. The author’s writing style is very informal. He does not use a lot of words that normal people would not understand. The book is organized into three parts, part one is titled the Seven Threats to Ethics, part two is titled Some Ethical Ideas and part three is titled Foundations. I think the book is very well organized. It starts out by explaining ethics and then goes into some ethical ideas by introducing the thoughts of other philosophers and gives you the foundations by which you should stand on your ethics. The author’s style of writing does fit his intended audience. The chapters seem to flow in chronological order. The separation of the three parts of the book really helps the reader understand what is coming next. You can get a sense from reading the chapter that you are currently reading on what is coming next plus the author makes references to what will be covered in upcoming chapters. The book did not change the way I thought about things before I read it. I do not think this was the author’s intent. I thought the examples that the author gave about the Old Testament of the Bible was interesting. In the Old Testament animals were mistreated, children were mistreated, people were allowed to be enslaved, and the mistreatment of women. The author went on to discuss how the New Testament was more compassionate. He stated that rules are different to different people based on their teachings and the society that they live in. The author did make one point that made me change a saying that I often say, “When in Rome do as the Romans”. The author asked if the Romans were doing something nasty, am I supposed to do it too. The book was interesting. It covered many aspects of ethics and gave a general background. The book did not focus on one subject concerning ethics. I have never read a book that was completely about ethics. The author did keep my interest. The one thing that puzzled me about the author was the way the author talked about women. Whenever he gave a negative example about something he would use “she”, but when he was using a positive example he would never say she. The author discussed that there were fewer women in countries like China and India, but based on the numbers and statistics there should be more women in those society. In summary the book was interesting reading. The author did discuss current issues like abortion, but did not state which side of the debate he was on. The author’s goal was to give the reader a quick background on ethics from the beginning to its foundation. I think the author succeed in his goal. Another good point that the author made was that death was the greatest mystery, but if you believed in life after death there was no need to fear death. Overall this was a very good book to read. It kept my interest which is not easy to do.

⭐It’s a short book (which makes sense since it’s an introduction) and easy to read. The author clearly put thought into how to best present the material.

⭐Blackburn does a great job of explaining what ethics – the study of right or wrong behavior – is not. He basically demonstrates how all the things we think ethics originate from (God, nature, etc.) actually are not such a reliable source after all. He also talks about some modern topics , such as abortion and rights. Overall, the book is about what is not or probably not the source of ethics. If you want a positive case for ethics, look elsewhere.

⭐I bought this for my son for college and it arrived on time and as expected

⭐In many ways, this book is a good introduction to basic ethical theories. However, Blackburn’s handling of feminism and religion are surprisingly biased due to the objective nature of other subjects in the book (such as death and abortion). His overemphasis on Christianity, and glossing over of other religions damages a lot of the points he attempts to drive home in the first section of the book. Overall, it is well written, but not without some detrimental faults.

⭐A good introduction to many important issues in ethics, but it could vbe more clear about some of them. The language is good and a person who doesn’t know much abou philosophy can enjoy it without geting bored.

⭐I bought this book on the recommendation of one of my professors, and this combined with a few introductory books on philosophy really helped me gain a full understanding of what ethics really is and how to gain a good grasp on it without using the classic fall back of religion.

⭐It should be noted that Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics contains the same content as Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by the same author. New wrapping, that’s all. Other than that, it is an extremely good and concise overview of ethics.

⭐Thoroughly concise and enjoyable piece by a respected author. After reading this and looking in the mirror, you may not see a saint, but you need not see a monster either.

⭐Simon Blackburn is a genius in comprehensive writing on the psychological subject.Third book I’ve read and ploughed trough it, no worries: very good to read.

⭐Book is good if you are into or studying philosophical thought. Some very interesting ideas, love it.

⭐Moral issues explored in a condensed form.

⭐A fantastic book and a great introduction to morality!

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