Issues in Ethics

Vaknin, Samuel, 1961-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.0

Word count: 187 words
Chapters: 1

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Issues in Ethics by Samuel VakninAuthor: Vaknin, Samuel, 1961-,Language: English, Class: BJ: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Ethics, Social usages, Etiquette, Religion, Release Date: Jun 1, 2005

Editor's review

This book is Vaknin's English-language collection of essays on ethical issues, classified under philosophy and ethics and released free by Project Gutenberg. Its value lies not in systematic textbook-style exposition but in placing ethical questions directly before the reader through fairly straightforward argumentation, making it suitable as an introductory text for approaching ethical discussion. The issues are close to real-life judgment and prompt reflection on the relationship between everyday moral choices and public ethics. As a public-domain e-book, it is easy to obtain and convenient to browse and excerpt at any time. Readers should approach it with questions in mind, comparing it against their own experience as they read, and need not aim to finish it in one sitting. It is well suited to readers who wish to encounter ethical discussion in the original English or who want short materials for organizing a reading group.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Introductory readers interested in ethics who want to read original English texts
Reading-group leaders who need short materials to organize discussion
Advanced learners who want to train English reading through ethical issues
General readers concerned with everyday moral judgment and public ethics

Not a good fit for

Ethics students who need a systematic textbook and a clear knowledge framework
Readers who only want a Chinese translation and are unwilling to deal with the English original
Philosophy researchers who expect rigorous academic argument and bibliographic citation

Reading tips

Split the reading by topic, writing down your own judgment after each session before continuing.
Keep a notebook and mark viewpoints you disagree with separately as material for discussion.
Read alongside other introductions to ethics to help locate the level of discussion in this book.
Skip unfamiliar English expressions at first; grasping the line of argument matters more than word-for-word translation.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a complete, systematic ethics textbook?

No. It is closer to discursive writing built around ethical issues than to a textbook that lays out knowledge points chapter by chapter. For systematic study, pair it with a proper introduction to ethics; this book works as supplementary reading or discussion material.

Can readers with average English read this book?

They can try, but patience is required. Read a passage first to grasp the main idea, then return to the details, and do not look up every unfamiliar word. If the reading proves difficult, start with a Chinese introduction to ethics to build background before returning to the English original.

Is this book suitable for classroom use?

It can serve as supplementary material for classroom discussion, but it is not recommended as the sole textbook. Teachers can select issues from it for debates or writing tasks while supplementing with other materials to ensure a complete knowledge structure.

Comments

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About the author

Vaknin, Samuel, 1961- Author

Samuel Vaknin (1961– ) has limited publicly available information about his life and education; his identifiable profile rests mainly on a substantial body of writing across several fields. Twenty-eight of his works are held in the collection, spanning a wide range of subjects: from Russian Roulette: Russia's Economy in Putin's Era, an observation of the transitional economy, to Narcissistic and Psychopathic Leaders, Terrorists and Freedom Fighters, and Crime and Corruption, which analyze political psychology and public issues, as well as Essays on God and Freud and encyclopedic works on philosophy and economics. His writing is marked by clear theses and careful conceptual exposition, and he habitually brings psychological concepts to bear on power and institutions, giving his arguments a strongly critical and diagnostic tone. His work will appeal to readers interested in political psychology, corruption, and post-Soviet transition.