In over 200 separately-authored entries, this reference surveys both the historical and contemporary relations between religion and society. A selection of the world's leading scholars from varying disciplines and denominations cover all aspects of philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, economics and government, providing a brief definition of each term, a description of the principal ideas behind it, its history, development and contemporary relevance, and a detailed bibliography giving the major sources in the field. The Dictionary is prefaced by an introduction (...) outlining the scope and diversity of coverage. * Synthesizes theology, social thought, social philosophy and ethics * Prestigious editors and an international team of Consulting Editors * Selected entries include: AIDS, Domestic Violence, Madness, Prophecy, Terrorism, Women's Ordination, Fundamentalist Liberation Theology, Surrogacy. (shrink)

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Medical Ethics contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on ethical reasoning and its key components; medical ethics, professional medical ethics, and bioethics; and topics in clinical ethics.

A practical and thought provoking introduction to the most important ethical issues in medicine today. Over 700 entries, from short essays to brief definitions of key terms and concepts, have been contributed by leading clinicians and medical ethicists.

Historical Dictionary of Ethics, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 600 cross-referenced entries on the important terms, concepts, theories, and thinkers from all areas and eras of the history of ethics.

Approximately 200 entries to scientific or medical topics of interest because of their ethical or moral implications. Intended primarily for laypersons and professionals in the United Kingdom, but also throughout the world. Each entry gives definition, discussion (1-several pages), cross references, references, and contributor's name. 1st ed., 1977.

Covers the whole field of Christian ethics, past and present, for every interested reader.

Discussions of over 200 selected ethical problems that face the practicing physician on a daily basis. Alphabetical arrangement of problems, ranging from abortion to Zen. Entry includes lengthy discussion and references.

The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics is an invaluable reference work. Included are articles on basic ethical concepts; biblical and theological ethics; philosophical traditions; major non-Christian religious traditions; psychological, sociological, political, and other concepts important to Christian ethics; and, finally, substantial problems, such as war, usually including both information and options. With 620 entries cover a spectrum of topics that concern thinking people everywhere, providing clear, concise and accurate information about ethical concerns.

The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics provides clear, concise and highly informative definitions and explanations of the key concepts in one of the most important fields in contemporary business.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics ed. by Joel B. GreenTimothy J. SandovalDictionary of Scripture and Ethics Edited by Joel B. Green grand rapids, mi: baker academic, 2011. 912 pp. $60.00.An important addition to the scholarly literature that relates the Bible and ethics, the Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics (DSE) stands as a marker of how far that scholarly enterprise has come in the last (...) forty years. As the volume’s editor notes, if a generation ago James Gustafson lamented the paucity of efforts to link scripture and ethics, this is no longer the case in either ethics or biblical studies (1).DSE (to which I contributed one entry) is comprehensive, containing entries on a range of ethical topics and every biblical book. The volume includes an introduction delineating the organizational principles of the dictionary and three fine essays sketching the ethical shape of scripture, the history of relating scripture to ethics, and methodological issues in this endeavor. Published by a Christian press with entries betraying a mix of conservative (Catholic, evangelical) and liberal perspectives, DSE is oriented toward Christian scripture and Christian ethics. This is no criticism but an observation about DSE’s scope in relation to its title (21).In its approximately nine hundred pages, DSE contains some entries on ethical topics that barely allude to the biblical tradition while other entries on biblical material read not much differently from a standard Bible dictionary entry. Yet most articles on topics in ethics helpfully point to key biblical texts associated with the topic. Many others also deftly relate the history of thinking on an ethical issue and its biblical foundations. Most entries on the Bible likewise successfully sketch how biblical texts explore moral matters, and these articles regularly point out ethical “problems” that many biblical texts evoke for contemporary readers (e.g., concerning nationalism, violence, sexuality, and the like).Those of us in biblical studies who seek to articulate what Hans Frei called the “abiding significance” of the Bible sometimes falter in this effort, offering [End Page 222] stale, strained, or canned ideas about what passage X or Y “might mean for us today.” We falter, perhaps, because we have been deeply formed by the historical-critical study of the Bible. We thus often lack a vocabulary and logic, a different sort of discourse that does not merely translate into ethical and theological terms the exegetical findings we arrive at as classically trained biblical scholars but also engages in a quite different sort of exegetical work. In particular, the entries in DSE that treat broader topics in ethics will expose biblical scholars to different modes of relating critically to the texts than we are accustomed to. DSE will thus prove particularly useful for those of us who wish to explore and cultivate an exegetical practice as well as an identity as exegetes that is distinct from what emerges when we apply the historical and other critical tools that our training has bequeathed us (33).Ethicists can be assured that the entries on the Bible reliably sketch basic, current discussions in biblical studies although inevitably specialists will quibble over details and occasionally over broader issues—something the editor notes happens even between entries within DSE (2). As one of those quibbling specialists, I hoped to find an entry on “hermeneutics” or “biblical hermeneutics” in a volume so concerned with biblical interpretation, though a number of articles do, more or less, address such issues. I must leave it to ethicists to discern the quality and consistency of DSE entries on ethics.In short, DSE may offer only a first step for students and scholars seeking to relate scripture and ethics, but it is an important step.Timothy J. SandovalBrite Divinity SchoolCopyright © 2016 Society of Christian Ethics... (shrink)

The _Dictionary of World Philosophy_ covers the diverse and challenging terminology, concepts, schools and traditions of the vast field of world philosophy. Providing an extremely comprehensive resource and an essential point of reference in a complex and expanding field of study the _Dictionary_ covers all major subfields of the discipline. Key features: * Cross-references are used to highlight interconnections and the cross-cultural diffusion and adaptation of terms which has taken place over time * The user is led from specific terms (...) to master entries which provide valuable historical and cultural context * Each master entry is followed by at least two suggestions for further reading on the subject, creating a substantial bibliography of world philosophy * References extend beyond philosophy to related areas such as cognitive science, computer science, language and physics Subdisciplines covered include:* aesthetics * ethics * sociopolitical philosophy * the philosophy of law * epistemology * logic * the philosophy of science * the philosophy of mind * the philosophy of culture and history * metaphysics * the philosophy of religion Entries are drawn from West Africa, Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Latin American, Maori and Native American philosophy including the important and so far largely neglected instance of Pre-Hispanic thought: Nahua philosophy. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:BOOK REVIEWS 375 7he Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Edited by JAMES F. CHILDRESS and J mrn MACQUARRIE. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986. Pp. xvii + 678. $29.95. This is a second, revised edition of The Dictionary of Christian Ethics, prepared by John Macquarrie and published in 1967. This new edition follows Macquarrie's conception of a dictionary, but expands it. It includes several subject areas, basic ethical (...) concepts, biblical ethics, theological ethics, philosophical ethics, non-Cbistian ethics; psychological, 8ociological, political, and other relevant concepts; and articles on substantial issues such as war and abortion. The criterion for selection, as stated by the editor, was the importance of the topic for Christian ethical reflection. The aim was to indicate both what is agr.eed upon and what is controversial. About 40% of the entries from the first edition have been included. These are generally updated so as to include recent developments. The selection of subjects, the way in which they are treated and the list of contributors, reflect the ecumenical character of contemporary Christian ethics. The dictionary includes a host of valuable contributions. Readers who consults the work will no doubt evaluate the entries in terms of their particular purposes. This reviewer found most useful the entries which expla~ned particular basic concepts, for example Autonomy; those dealing with schools of thought, for example, Platonic Ethics, Marxist Ethics, or the contribution of particular traditions, for example, Jewish Ethics, Puritan Ethics, Official Roman Catholic Social Teaching, Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethics, and the many entries dealing with Biomedical Ethics and peace issues. 'rhere are a number of articles on topics which are most important, but for which it is often difficult to find a succinct and comprehensive treatment; such are the contributions on "Embodiment," and " Feminist Ethics." There are a number of useful entries on urg.ent contemporary questions such as Energy and Environmental Ethics. Practical questions such as the care of the aged and the ethics of counseling are also addressed. Each article has a short bibliography appended. Numerous cross-references to other relevant entries are most helpful in providing complementary information. There is a thorough index of names. The dictionary is not conceived as a compendium of the accepted or " official " ethical teachings of churches or religious traditions. Mention could be made, however, of the entry on " Official Roman Catholic Social Teaching." '¥here such teachings exist, they am usually indicated. There are some cases where the churches and/or traditions clearly differ. The approach which is most helpful to ethical debate is to acknowledge such differences clearly, with an appropriate statement of the relevant teaching. The editor himself (James F. Childress), in his own contributions, fol- 376 BOOK REVIEWS lows this p1'0cedure. Some Roman Catholic readers may find the articles on Abortion and Contraception, while excellent in other ways, less satisfactory in this respect. The general focus seems intended to be " middle of the road "; more conservative or radical groups may find their views insufficiently represented. No doubt some of the positions presented would be disputed by Christian ethicists. But the treatment of difficult points is balanced and fair. There are, unfortunately, some inaccuracies. The following examples deserve mention. In the article on Nullity, the Roman Catholic annulment is wrongly equated with papal dissolution of the marriage bond. In the article on Virtue, it is said that St. Thomas held that along with the infused supernatural virtues there are "infused natural virtues." St. Thomas spoke ratht>r of infused theological virtues and infused moral virtues (I. II, Q.63, 3.) In the article on deterrence, it is stated that the strategy of "mutual assured destruction ", dating from the 1960s, still provides the framework of American deterrence strategy. This point would be challenged by some representat.ives of the military, who claim that M.A.D. has not been policy for some years. The same article interprets the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter, The Challenge of Peace. as basing its (conditional) acceptance of nuclear deterrence on the distinction between threatening to do an immoral aet without intending to do it, and threat coupled with the intent. That is, deterrence is aceepted as a "bluff." This is not a correct reading... (shrink)

This Dictionary provides a wide range of coverage on a topic that has played a significant role in human society, from the early theoreticians and thinkers who proposed republican, democratic, and authoritarian innovations; to those who sought equality of classes, races, and genders; to those who insisted on hierarchy under a supreme leader, or god; and to those who had more practical economic, social, and ethical plans. This historical dictionary covers the most vital information on the persons, plans, and attempts (...) associated with utopianism that have been seen since ancient times. An introductory essay, chronology, 600 dictionary entries, an extensive bibliography, and an appendix listing the names and locations of utopian communities worldwide enable the reader to explore the Western mind's desire to improve the world and the lives of the people within it as utopianism has persisted over the centuries. (shrink)

This one-volume encyclopedia of logic introduces the central concepts of the field in a series of brief, non-technical, cross-referenced dictionary entries. The 352 alphabetically arranged entries give a clear, basic introduction to a very broad range of logical topics.

This Dictionary presents a broad range of topics relevant in present-day global bioethics. With more than 500 entries, this dictionary covers organizations working in the field of global bioethics, international documents concerning bioethics, personalities that have played a role in the development of global bioethics, as well as specific topics in the field.The book is not only useful for students and professionals in global health activities, but can also serve as a basic tool that explains relevant ethical notions and terms. (...) The dictionary furthers the ideals of cosmopolitanism: solidarity, equality, respect for difference and concern with what human beings- and specifically patients - have in common, regardless of their backgrounds, hometowns, religions, gender, etc. Global problems such as pandemic diseases, disasters, lack of care and medication, homelessness and displacement call for global responses.This book demonstrates that a moral vision of global health is necessary and it helps to quickly understand the basic ideas of global bioethics. (shrink)

By its very function a dictionary aims at stable expression amid transitory usage and cannot sacrifice ancient insights to mere novelty. The publication of the first volume of this systematic four-volume Dictionary five years ago during the aggiornamento of Vatican Council II carried the editorial fear that it might be rapidly outpaced by fresh pastoral insights into basic Christian truths. The ecumenical debate still continues, however, and five contributors have now experienced the felicitous transition of this volume’s subtitle. Its tidily (...) firm format is the same and its select articles root themselves scholarly in the sources of Scripture and tradition as well as in theological reasoning supported by philosophy. Intellectual novelty is not cultivated for its own sake but a personal grasp of Christian truth grows inconspicuously within this historico-systematic framework. Thus Monsignor Davis‘analysis of the Development of Doctrine both presents Newman’s original contribution to this endemic topic and carries it forward. The astonishing industry of the Secretary, Fr Crehan aptly represents the hidden drudgery of teamwork as much as the absence of the thorny topic of contraception, presumably postponed to the fuller context of marriage, indicates its discretion. To offer a definitive summary of the Christian leaven working within an expanding ecumenical and secularised readership is a challenging task, which is taken with honourable conciseness in this work. It is a useful antidote to the flood of specialist documentation and paperback comment, wise and otherwise, to have a ready analysis of belief which respects the authority of tradition without fearing the critical light of contemporary understanding. (shrink)

Widely acclaimed as the most authoritative and accessible one-volume dictionary available in English this second edition offers an even richer, more comprehensive, and more up-to-date survey of ideas and thinkers written by an international team of 436 contributors. Includes the most comprehensive entries on major philosophers, 400 new entries including over 50 on preeminent contemporary philosophers, extensive coverage of rapidly developing fields such as the philosophy of mind and applied ethics, more entries on non-Western philosophy than any comparable volume, (...) and increased coverage of Continental philosophy. (shrink)

Featuring hundreds of entries, this authoritative, A-to-Z reference encompasses the full spectrum and history of Western philosophy, covering such topics as logic, metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology, as well as providing incisive profiles of the world's great philosophers, past and present, and their influence. Original.

This is a comprehensive reference source on 18th-century authors writing in the English language about philosophical ideas and issues. It features authors taken from 1689 through to the mid-19th century, the period beginning with John Locke and ending with Dugald Stewart. The word philosophical is used in a wide, 18th-century sense. Therefore, the Dictionary includes epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, education, politics, rhetoric, science, medicine, biology, geology, chemistry and theology.

Having only emerged in the past few decades, Feminist Philosophy is rapidly developing its own thrust in areas of particular importance to feminism-and women more generally-while also reevaluating and reshaping most other fields of philosophy, from ethics to logic and Marxism to environmentalism.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was one of the first Modern philosophers, and as such, one of the most significant. His contributions were often pathbreaking and his imprint still remains on fields such as logic, mathematics, science, international law, and ethics. While publishing relatively little during his life, he was in regular correspondence with important philosophers and even political leaders.

This resource puts theological concepts into everyday situations, showing the meaning of the terms and the importance of living out these doctrines in daily life.

To confront the philosophical system of Rene Descartes is to contemplate a magnificently laid out map of human cognitive endeavour. In following Descartes arguments, the reader is drawn into some of the most fundamental and challenging issues in all of philosophy. In this dictionary, John Cottingham presents an alphabetied guide to this most stimulating and widely-studied of philosophers. He examines the key concepts and ideas in Cartesian thought and places them in the context both of the seventeenth-century intellectual climate and (...) of subsequent interpretation. The entries range over a wide variety of areas including cosmology, physics, theology, psychology and ethics. The book is designed to appeal to the newcomer to Descartes, whether student or general reader, while also providing detailed critical comment and precise textual references for the more advanced reader. Also included are a general introduction describing Descartes' life and works, and bibliographic guide to the Cartesian texts and the mass of interpretative literature on Descartes. (shrink)

With a “big tent” understanding of bioethics, this dictionary provides definitions of 755 important terms drawn from a wide variety of contexts: medicine, nursing, behavioral health, forensic science, research ethics, public safety, social work, and epidemiology, on the one hand; bioethics, ethics, law, history, philosophy, and theology, on the other. Bioethical approaches and ethical categories are given their due, as are the major theoretical orientations. Terms from outside the USA, especially the UK, are in evidence. Many Greek and (...) a few Latin equivalents are provided; for example, “cloning.” Cross references abound. That’s Part 1. Part 2 offers single-paragraph introductions, 95 in all, to Historical Figures from a number of fields: medicine and nursing, dentistry and pharmacy, certainly; but there are also philosophers, scientists, environmentalists, public health pioneers, noteworthy psychologists and psychiatrists—along with many others. The religions are not neglected: important Christian thinkers are represented along with nine famous clinicians from the Islamic Golden Age. This resource offers the definitions of important terms and the identifications of historical figures that everyone interested in bioethics should have access to. (shrink)

The public largely supports the use of animals in biomedical research, but only if they are sure that the animals are treated humanely. The scientific community has provided these assurances. Is this a truthful claim? I argue that when examined systematically, the claim that animals in research are treated humanely is not truthful by any existing definition of the word. This article does not argue for or against the morality of using animals in research; rather, the reasoning set forth herein (...) argues that in this use of animals, the scientific community is not being truthful to the public. (shrink)

As colleges and universities seek to invigorate ethics education, they need methods to identify where and describe how ethics is already present across their curricula. Meeting this need is complicated by the fact that much ethics education occurs in courses not explicitly focused on ethics or morality. In this paper, we review recent methodological advances before presenting a new Ethics Course Identification Tool (ECIT) that combines application of an expert-derived weighted dictionary and natural language processing (...) methods to identify ethics-related courses based on their titles and course catalog descriptions, even when the terms “ethic” or “moral” are not present. Two studies, the second a pre-registered replication, revealed considerable interrater reliability among experts in ethics education regarding the ethical relevance of courses. Critically, both studies revealed strong correlations between expert judgments and ECIT scores. This empirical evidence points to a shared understanding of ethics education among experts, and it supports the valid use of the ECIT to rapidly and reliably identify ethics-related courses. Based on these findings, we propose that the ECIT can be used both to advance research on trends in ethics education and to help target interventions to improve ethics education at colleges and universities. (shrink)

THOMSON, Judith Jarvis (1929– ) Judith Jarvis Thomson received her BA from Barnard College in 1950, her MA from Cambridge University in 1956, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1959. Her first teaching position was at Barnard where she was a lecturer from 1955–9, an instructor from 1959–60, and then Assistant Professor from 1960–2. In 1963, she moved to Boston, first as an Assistant Professor at Boston University (1963–4), and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has (...) remained ever since. She became full Professor in 1969, and between 1990 and 1996 held the Laurence S. Rockefeller Chair in Philosophy at MIT. She has received a large number of awards and honours, and contributed in many ways to professional philosophy in America. In 1992, she held the Presidency of the American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division), and in 1999, she gave the Tanner Lectures at Princeton University. She is Chair of the American Philosophical Association's Board of Officers for 2002-5, and gave the Association's Carus Lectures in 2003. She is also widely acknowledged as one of the best teachers of philosophy, and the excellence of the graduate program at MIT is due in no small measure to her influence. Thomson’s philosophical work ranges widely but her main areas of concentration are moral philosophy and metaphysics. In moral philosophy, Thomson has made seminal contributions to all three sub-fields of that discipline, applied ethics, moral theory and metaethics. (Indeed, the nature of her work makes these divisions seem somewhat artificial.) The papers gathered together in Rights, Restitution and Risk, and, since then, papers such as, ‘Self- Defence’, ‘Physician Assisted Suicide: Two Moral Arguments’ and ‘Assisted Suicide: The Philosophers Brief’ (written jointly with John RAWLS, Robert NOZICK, Ronald DWORKIN. (shrink)