Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong

Book was in perfect condition, and it only took about 3 days to get it!

Pojman does an excellent job of covering a lot of ground in this relatively short book. The writing is clear and easy to understand. However, I would not say that this book invites readers to discover their own ethical theories, as the back cover claims, because Pojman clearly discounts certain ethical theories and embraces others. Rather than discovering right and wrong on one's own, the reader instead is led down a path that discounts relativism and embraces objectivism and virtue ethics. Those aren't bad conclusions to reach, but the author should let the reader reach those conclusions instead of reaching them for him. It can be frustrating to read as Pojman declares a moral theory incorrect when, as the reader, one still sees merit in it.

If this book were intended to be a treatise or an original work, maybe I would have some objections. But aiming only to write an introduction of ethics, Louis Pojman has achieved the best one can do, and I don't know of any real competitor in the market. It is the clearest, the most readable and still a very clever introduction to ethics. In his book, Pojman discusses with a clear head items like relativism, ethics of virtue, deontological ethics, and utilitarianism, which he shows to be probably the most available option.

Readers familiar with ethical literature will notice that the title of Pojman's book is similar to that of the late J.L. Mackie's book on ethics, _Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong_. The differences in titles reflect the differences in opinion among the two authors: Mackie was a relativist while Pojman is an objectivist. Despite Pojman's rejection of relativism, though, he does an admirable job of presenting both sides fairly. He also writes in a clear and conversational way, making this introductory text accessible to everyone. Finally, his book is comprehensive; it includes a discussion of egoism, self-interest, and altuism; the question, "Why should I be moral?"; religion and ethics; and metaethics.

Dr. Pojman (poy-man) does a brilliant job of presenting the ethics rooted in Arisitotle and Aquinas and the thought of the moderns, such as Kant, in a very easy read. This s a fabulous book for anyone.