101 Ethical Dilemmas

Rating:
Summary: perfect toilet-reading
Review: The only time I ever decided to write a piece of fan mail it was to the author of a philosophy book. There. Now you know the full depth of my sadness, but I know you will accept me as I am.

The book was 101 Philosophy Problems by Martin Cohen. It was full of such puzzles as if an object can only ever be in one place at one time, how anything can be moving? Or if you replace every component of a ship piece by piece, at what point does it become a different ship?

At the end you got all Cohen's own thoughts on the questions, always thought-provoking, funny and iconoclastic about the whole business of philosophy.. Apart from anything, it's the most perfect toilet-reading I know.

The brilliant thing about it was that, while so many other philosophy books make your brian shut down after 3 pages , leaving you feeling baffled and stupid Cohen simply got you thinking for yourself. He made it all so lucid, comprehensible and fun, you felt all the other philosophy writers must be charlatans, blinding yo with gobbledegook to make themselves feel clever.

Another great value of the book is that Cohen is committed to the ancient but now somewhat eccentric idea that philosophy should not just be abstract conundrums but should equip us to live better lives.

101 Ethical Dilemmas is the natural sequel to that wonderful book, and as the title suggests it focuses more specifically on ... well, work ti tout for yourself.

Many of the issues Cohen invites us to grapple with here are pressing concerns in modern life. He deals with civil disorder against evil corporations, internet shopping, designer babies, job applications, 'collateral' damage', war against tyrants, cinematic sex, CCTV surveillance, US state terrorism, the abolition of poverty and the wisdom of George W. Bush.

In amid this are al the nuts-and-bolts issues. Can the end justify the means? Is it right to lie when the truth will hurt? Do we only behave decently because of social restraints? Do we judge right and wrong with our feelings or reason? Why, if at all, should humans be treated from other animals? Are good intentions more important than good results?

Cohen also casts an ethically critical eye over the parables of Jesus, as well as the teachings of Buddha and various Church fathers.

This book is rather harder work than its beloved predecessor. As if making a concerted effort to educate as well as inspire us, Cohen includes many passages from the great philosophers. Consequently, this second 101 is twice as long as the first.

Sometimes he weaves the quotations into dialogue, or, for example turns a long extract from Descartes into a lecture given while he dissects a live chimpanzee. Creative, certainly, but it can actually make the philosophy all the harder to follow.

Likewise the playfulness of Cohen's questions can sometimes leave you wondering what he's actually getting at.

Above all though, its great to have some of this stuff. It's entertainment that trains you to think more intelligently about discerning right and wrong and about how you choose to act. God knows, in 2003 we need that.

If you're interested, get the first book first (unless you have a particular reason to prefer 'ethics' to 'philosophy') There'll be plenty of time to graduate to the other one when you're smitten, and write fan mail.

I never did write that letter, in the end. But then neither has the book ever left my toilet side.