Kirjahaku

Raising the war on political correctness to a new and higher intellectual level, Philip Devine sheds fresh light on the whole question of cultural standards and the fashionable notion of multiculturalism. While acknowledging the diversity of ways of life and the differing belief systems that arise from and justify those ways of life, the author attacks the current exploitation of diversity to justify a militantly intolerant relativism. His wide-ranging and erudite work connects cultural issues to our real-world existence as biological and historical beings, pulling together ideas of bioethics, education, and the structure and purpose of families. This work will be of interest to those fighting the culture wars across the humanities and social and behavioral sciences.

The natural law tradition, which takes as central to moral discussion an appeal to our common humanity, provides a sustainable and attractive approach to problems of ethics and morals. This volume presents a contemporary version of natural law ethics, one that does not rely for support on the authority of Aristotle or St. Thomas Aquinas, however much it is indebted to them and their followers for inspiration and arguments. The author discusses the mutual relations of four key moral concepts—the good, virtue, duty, and rights—as well as their application to various issues, including environmental concerns, homosexuality, and suicide. While examining the role of morality in a way of life and the relation between morality and religion, he defends the natural law tradition against a range of philosophical and theological opponents.