Ethics: The Art of Character

An engaging, thought-provoking, illustrated analysis of the classical principles of ethics applied to everyday dilemmas.

Ethics: The Art of Character is the quintessential little book of big ideas. It draws on the work of Aristotle, Socrates, Plato–and on the words of Dante, Spinoza, Kant, Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Chuang Tzu.

Ethicist Gregory Beabout describes Aristotle’s lectures as aimed, not at the young, but at listeners experienced in life … with a desire to pursue the common good and in possession of a sense of what it is to live a beautiful, meaningful life. This wise little book contemplates the quest for courage, justice, temperance, wisdom, empathy, humility, and much more–timeless goals that also remain timely. A chapter on Ethics in Real Life invites the reader to explore two contemporary dilemmas and puzzle out the ethical choices when the situations present a clear choice whether or not to do something that appears wrong, in order to avert an apparently greater evil. Featuring chapters on medical ethics, workplace ethics, and environmental ethics, Ethics: The Art of Character distills the wisdom of the ages into a sixty-four-page, unforgettable life lesson.