Best ethics texts recommendations?

[RamistThomist]

What are some foundational ethics texts that are accessible? Although a lot of older Reformed dogmatics have expositions on the Ten Commandments which are quite good, I have in mind stand alone volumes. These are the ones I am familiar with:

1. Davis, John Jefferson. Evangelical Ethics. Decent intro to basic issues.
2. Feinberg, Ethics for a Brave New World. From a dispensational perspective but does a good job approaching tough situations today regarding bio ethics.
3. Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics. Not endorsing the content but many treatises on ethics interact with him.
4. Geisler, Norman. Ethics: Issues and Options. Yeah, he's Geisler but at the time situation ethics was the bogeyman and Geisler does a decent job with it.
5. MacIntyre, Alasdair. A Short History of Ethics. Explains why different thinkers chose the ethical options they did, given their philosophical background. When MacIntyre wrote this, he had just converted from Marxism. He does a good job dealing with Marx and Hegel (insert: Hegel is bad) but he is pretty weak on major Christian thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas et al. Interestingly enough, Bahnsen recommended this text.
6. Oliver O'Donovan. He has recently released several new texts on ethics which are more accessible than his wonderful Resurrection and Moral Order. O'Donovan is dense and he assumes a wide knowledge of the history of philosophy, but his writing is steeped in Scripture and prayer.
7. O'Donovans, Oliver and Joan Lockwood. Bonds of Imperfection. A collection of fantastic essays on problems in Christian social philosophy throughout church history. The essays on usury, Book 19 of City of God, and Wycliffe are worth the price of the book many times over.
8. -------------------------. From Irenaeus to Grotius. A collection of primary sources on Christian reflections on political philosophy, along with the O'Donovan's erudite introductions.
9. O'Donovan, Oliver. The Desire of Nations. A non-theonomic, yet sympathetic account of how Christendom is a reaction to the church's witness to the powers.
10. Budziszewski, J. Written on the Heart: A Case for Natural Law. I'm not sure where I stand on his conclusions, but he does a great job on Locke and Bentham. (trigger warning: He is a thomist and a Roman Catholic)
11. Budziszewski , J. Evangelicals in the Public Square. A fine analysis and critique of various models of Evangelical engagement, dealing with Carl Henry, Schaeffer, and John Howard Yoder. (see above trigger warning).

 

[Philip]

Moral Theory by Mark Timmons is a good intro to the major philosophical schools. Timmons is not a Christian, but his analysis is fairly good.

Another good one is C. Stephen Evans' God and Moral Obligation, which reconstructs Divine command theory.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Consider Scott Rae's book:

"Nowhere in Scripture does a cultural norm take priority over a clear mandate from God’s character or biblical principles. Culture is certainly taken into account when it comes to applying the virtues and principles, but that is a far different matter than culture determining what the moral norms ought to be."

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Why Study Ethics?
2. Christian Ethics
3. Ethical Systems and Ways of Moral Reasoning
4. Making Ethical Decisions
5. Abortion and Embryonic Stem Cell Research
6. Reproductive Technologies
7. Biotechnology, Genetics, and Human Cloning
8. Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
9. Capital Punishment
10. Sexual Ethics
11. The Morality of War
12. Ethics and Economics


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310291097

 

[RamistThomist]

Consider Scott Rae's book:

"Nowhere in Scripture does a cultural norm take priority over a clear mandate from God’s character or biblical principles. Culture is certainly taken into account when it comes to applying the virtues and principles, but that is a far different matter than culture determining what the moral norms ought to be."

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Why Study Ethics?
2. Christian Ethics
3. Ethical Systems and Ways of Moral Reasoning
4. Making Ethical Decisions
5. Abortion and Embryonic Stem Cell Research
6. Reproductive Technologies
7. Biotechnology, Genetics, and Human Cloning
8. Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
9. Capital Punishment
10. Sexual Ethics
11. The Morality of War
12. Ethics and Economics


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310291097

Of course, I forgot Moreland and Rae's Body and Soul, which is not only a fantastic primer for anthropology, but has great chapters on the pro-life debate.

 

[Peairtach]

I enjoyed reading John Frame's "Doctrine of the Christian Life".

He has a section which shows the inadequacy of any other foundation for ethics- religious or non- religious - than the God of the Bible. He is very much focussed on his "tri-perspectivalism" - normative, existential, situational - but this is fine as long as you always remember the normativity of God's Word always has priority. Frame also follows the normative perspective in dealing with various issues, until he comes to the Second Commandment and makes a pig's ear in overturning the Regulative Principle of Worship in the name of reformulating it. He also sanctions gambling in certain cases, for some reason or other. He allows for certain recreations on the Sabbath and pictures of Christ.

I think that some American Reformed have fallen out of love with Frame, if they ever liked him, because of his books on worship, but we can eat the meat and leave the bones.

Apart from these points I don't remember disagreeing with him. He has sections on the relationship of the Great Commission and Creation Mandate, and on Christ and Culture and some nuanced views on "theonomy" and education.

A very readable 1,000 pages.

A much smaller but also readable and useful work is Jochem Douma's "Responsible Conduct".


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[Justified]

I've heard good things about John Murray's Principles of Conduct.

 

[DMcFadden]

What? No Machiavelli???

 

[RamistThomist]

I've heard good things about John Murray's Principles of Conduct.

It slipped my mind. Yeah, it's quite good and I like how he grounds his ethics in Vos's system of interpretation. He also makes a number of rather surprising moves in that book.

 

[RamistThomist]

Althusius, Johannes. Politica. I like how Althusius suggests dividing up into units of ten.

 

[ZackF]

Aquinas' commentary on Aristotle's Ethics may be worth taking a look at.

 

[TylerRay]

I think that some American Reformed have fallen out of love with Frame, if they ever liked him, because of his books on worship, but we can eat the meat and leave the bones.

Apart from these points I don't remember disagreeing with him. He has sections on the relationship of the Great Commission and Creation Mandate, and on Christ and Culture and some nuanced views on "theonomy" and education.

Richard,

The part that I have emboldened constitutes more problems some of us have with Frame. I think that folks on your side of the pond have handled some of these things more responsibly, historically. Frame is a hardcore Neo-Kuyperian, and that's where his creation mandate, cultural transformation, and theonomist views spring from.

 

[MW]

The part that I have emboldened constitutes more problems some of us have with Frame. I think that folks on your side of the pond have handled some of these things more responsibly, historically. Frame is a hardcore Neo-Kuyperian, and that's where his creation mandate, cultural transformation, and theonomist views spring from.

To which may be added his multi-perspectivalism with its "situational" perspective that is accorded a quasi-revelational status.

 

[RamistThomist]

My hesitation with Frame is whether his tri-perspectivalism works with archetypal/ectypal knowledge. It may or may not. It's kind of like a loose tooth. I'm afraid to bite down on it.

I thought about including Aquinas's sections on natural law, but I figured most people didn't want to wade through sections of the Summa.

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

My hesitation with Frame is whether his tri-perspectivalism works with archetypal/ectypal knowledge. It may or may not. It's kind of like a loose tooth. I'm afraid to bite down on it.

I thought about including Aquinas's sections on natural law, but I figured most people didn't want to wade through sections of the Summa.

They could also try this volume, which I think is extracted from the Summa Theologica.

 

[Peairtach]

My hesitation with Frame is whether his tri-perspectivalism works with archetypal/ectypal knowledge. It may or may not. It's kind of like a loose tooth. I'm afraid to bite down on it.

I thought about including Aquinas's sections on natural law, but I figured most people didn't want to wade through sections of the Summa.

Well you seemed to have a quite broad list there anyway, broader even than Frame. As I say, with Frame or Aquinas or Aristotle or whoever, someone of reasonable Reformed maturity knows to eat the meat and leave the bones.

I'm not afraid of Frame's tri-perspectivalism because I know that God's Word is normative over every situation and over people's feelings and motives. If Frame has some weird notion that feelings and situations trump God's Word, I reject that.

When it comes down to particular conclusions Frame is mostly orthodox, apart from the RPW, a relatively lax view on the Sabbath, accepting pictures of Jesus and a lax view of gambling. I think his Vantillian discussion about how false religions and philosophies don't have a basis for ethics is very good, and may be worth reading for many.

I wouldn't recommend him to a novice.

As regards Kuyperianism and "transformationalism" I'm maybe inclined a bit that way myself, although I'm under no illusions that such things don't happen without genuine conversions and that the Christian can be too focussed and in the wrong sort of way on transforming this passing world.

I believe Christians should think and write on the organisation of society and state in the light of Scripture, but reject "theonomy" which is an abuse of Scripture, like Pentecostalism not making a careful distinction between the essence and administration of the Covenant.

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[Philip]

I thought about including Aquinas's sections on natural law, but I figured most people didn't want to wade through sections of the Summa.

Thomas' virtue ethics are included in Summa of the Summa

 

[RamistThomist]

I thought about including Aquinas's sections on natural law, but I figured most people didn't want to wade through sections of the Summa.

Thomas' virtue ethics are included in Summa of the Summa

I had forgotten about that. I gave my copy away after I read it some years ago.

 

[Clark-Tillian]

Westminster Larger Catechism QQ 91-154 is an excellent place to begin, although it's a subtext.