Ethical Life: The Past and Present of Ethical Cultures

How can one be ethical in modern life? In contemporary times, decisions to act according to one’s beliefs can be difficult. Harry Redner here provides a survey of the nature of ethics. He delves into the role of ethics in past and present civilizations, exploring the ancient Israeli, Greek, Chinese, Indian and Persian traditions. Only through understanding these ethical systems, Redner believes, can one understand the current state of ethics. Redner goes on to identify the crisis in ethics of the 20th century on the three analytically distinct levels of society, culture and the individual. This survey of past and present ethical cultures seeks to answer the questions of why and how one should be ethical.