Morality's muddy waters : ethical quandaries in modern America

Author/Creator:

Cotkin, George, 1950-

Publication/Creation:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2010

Format:

Book

Edition:

1st ed.

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

Morality's muddy waters : ethical quandaries in modern America / George Cotkin

Subjects/Genre

Subjects:

Ethics--United States--History--20th century--Case studies
Ethics--United States--History--21st century--Case studies
Ethical problems--Case studies
Bombing, Aerial--Moral and ethical aspects
World War, 1939-1945--Moral and ethical aspects--United States
My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, 1968--Moral and ethical aspects
Racism--Moral and ethical aspects--United States
Capital punishment--Moral and ethical aspects--United States
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Moral and ethical aspects
United States--History--1945-

Description/Summary

Table of Contents:

Problems of evil -- A sky that never cared less -- The moral mystery of My Lai -- The hate state : empathy and moral luck -- Just rewards? : capital punishment -- Muddiness and moral clarity : the iraqi situation -- Conclusion: Tortur and the tortured.

Bibliography:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary:

In the face of an uncertain and dangerous world, Americans yearn for a firm moral compass, a clear set of ethical guidelines. But as history shows, by reducing complex situations to simple cases of right or wrong we often go astray.In Morality's Muddy Waters, historian George Cotkin offers a clarion call on behalf of moral complexity. Revisiting several defining moments in the twentieth century-the American bombing of civilians during World War II, the My Lai massacre, racism in the South, capital punishment, the invasion of Iraq-Cotkin chronicles how historical figures have grappled with the problem of evil and moral responsibility-sometimes successfully, oftentimes not. In the process, he offers a wide-ranging tour of modern American history.Taken together, Cotkin maintains, these episodes reveal that the central concepts of morality-evil, empathy, and virtue-are both necessary and troubling. Without empathy, for example, we fail to inhabit the world of others; with it, we sometimes elevate individual suffering over political complexities. For Cotkin, close historical analysis may help reenergize these concepts for ethical thinking and acting. Morality's Muddy Waters argues for a moral turn in the way we study and think about history, maintaining that even when answers to ethical dilemmas prove elusive, the act of grappling with them is invaluable.

Language:

English

Language Note:

English

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (273 p.)

General Note:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9936714884102486

ISBN:

9780812222494
0812222490
9781283897532
1283897539
9780812204834
0812204832

OCLC Number:

979628017
794700605

Other Identifiers:

doi: 10.9783/9780812204834