Common/shared values
I have been thinking about these again. I feel that often people talk about shared values without articulating them very much. Google the phrase and you get some quite different views on what they might be. Some take a more secular approach. Liberty, the human rights group sees human rights themselves as an expression of shared values. Click here to watch some of their short videos on these. The Guardian Newspaper ran a series on something called citizen ethics with contributions from scholars and writers. These took a rather more critical and virtue based approach. Neither of these say very much about religious and philosophical differences however and the perceived sense of civilizational clash. Other approaches seem more inclusive of religious perspectives. Runzo has written something interesting here. There is an interesting Scottish attempt called values in harmony and there is the statement by the Parliament of World Religions called Towards a Global Ethic.
Environmental Ethics at York St John
I enjoyed meeting the students who came to the Thinking Conference at York St John University last week. The questions were good too. I had talked a little about applying theories to environmental ethics . I had mentioned that I though Kant’s centrality of the person and the necessity of universalizability was helpful in understanding why we should be just in not pursing industrial policies that harmed others living in low lying parts of the world which suffer from rising sea levels. It seems to me that the Categorical imperative is a really helpful way of thinking about about responsibilities, our duties to others, and the need to follow ourselves the rules about how we develop. I think Kant wants us to think foreward to the Kingdom of Ends and so the future matters. So we must not only think about the here and now. But I still think we need habit forming ethics to help deal with the practical problem of how to get people to live more simple lives.
You can download the talk here.
In one of the feedbacks someone raged about Gaia theory. If you are out there and want to make a point, this is what this site is for.
Puzzle of God by Peter Vardy
The Puzzle of God
By Peter Vardy (FOUNT:UK,1990)
ISBN 0 00 599223 – 0
Peter Vardy was described by Theology as “a gifted communicator. He is the best popularizer of philosophy of religion currently working in Britain.”. This book provides a readable introduction to the Philosophy of religion covering all the classic arguments and discussions. There are questions for each section and a reading. It is suitable for A Level and should be considered for your class sets.
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy by Honderich
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy
edited by Ted Honderich (OUP:Oxford, 1996)
ISBN 0-19-866132-0
The Observer described it as “that rarest on things: a philosophical work that is genuinely entertaining … by far the best – and best value – philosophical reference book on the market.” Another excellent contribution to the reference shelf.
The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers by Urmson et al
The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers
Ed J.O. Urmson & Jonathan Ree (Routledge, London, 1991)
ISBN 0415078830
An alternative paperback dictionary of philosophy with readable definitions, adequate for students and teachers who don’t want to splash out on the more expensive titles.
Dictionary of Philosophy by Flew
Dictionary of Philosophy
Ed Anthoney Flew (PAN: London, 1979)
ISBN 0330283596
A very helpful paperback dictionary of philosophy with readable definitions, adequate for students and teachers who don’t want to splash out on the more expensive titles.
Philosophy in practice by Morton
Philosophy in practice, an introduction to the main questions
by Adam Morton, (BLACKWELL: Oxford, 1996)
A very different kind of introductory philosophy textbook, focussing on activities rather than simply theories. It is very well suited to A Level teachers and students and makes for interesting lessons as it is activity based. As each chapter progresses easy explanations move on to harder ones with activities sewn into the progression.
A Companion to the Philosophy of Religion by Quinn et al.
A Companion to the Philosophy of Religion
Edited by Philip L. Quinn and Charles Taliaferro
(BLACKWELLS, Oxford, 1997)
ISBN 0-631-21328-7
An essential addition to the Reference shelf for teachers with articles from many authors on all the mian topics.
How to Understand God by Morin
How to Understand God
by Dominque Morin (SCM Press: London, 1990)
ISBM 0-334-024-51-x
An excellent resource and candidate for class sets with chapters onteh Philosophical approach, the histiry of God, the influence of the modern world on images of God today, God and Science, Human freedom, proofs for the existence of God, and Evil. It has readable text on the topics and longer extracts from many key sources making it very valuable.
Philosophy of Religion by Richards
Philosophy of Religion
By H J Richards (Heinemann:Oxford, 2000)
ISBN 0-435-30259-0
Designed to be accesible to students covering the key topics for Philsoohy of Religion this text book is a useful contribution inlcuding many short queotes from the classic thinkers, short texts introducing the main issues for all the classic topics. Chapters include God talk, the arguments for teh existence of God, the Nature of God, Religious Experience, Evil, Science, Miracles, The Afterlife, and the death of God. A useful book especially for starting off enquiries and very usefl at AS.
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