The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics

So while going to visit my daughter in Missouri during the holidays, I left the original book on the plane with a week to go until mid-terms. I ordered this as a replacement book and asked for fast shipment as I was leaving MO by the end of the week. This book was at my daughters house within 2 days. many thanks!!!!!

The author makes at least one egregious mistake, repeatedly confusing two different literature genres. Given that this textbook is analyzing ethics via literature, it's a pretty basic and critical error. It matters because the ethical questions dealt with vary greatly by genre and even sub-genre. The student is likely to draw incorrect conclusions as a result. It calls into question the thoroughness of the author's research, and for that matter the editing.

The text is disjointed without any discernable outline. Trying to prepare PowerPoint programs to accompany the chapters was, as a result, very difficult. I looked at the test banks and was unhappy to find that the items contained in the quizzes were either poorly covered in the text or not at all. It's as if the quizzes were written for another, more challenging text. So.. guess I'll be making new quizzes along with preparing the PowerPoint programs. I admit, I'm spoiled with all the other McGraw-Hill texts I've used. Well-written texts, wonderful online resources including PowerPoint programs and eCollege capsules that are professionally created and follow a consistent outline of each chapter - they are heavenly. This book does have some interesting narratives from movies, but I found myself going to YouTube for the actual videos for my students. I'll look at other ethics books McGraw-Hill has to offer.

This was a mandatory class text. It was difficult to read, dry and boring.
I had to read it, because our class assignments, quizzes, and tests revolved around the book information.
I struggled with it every step of the way.

I recently came across this unfortunate mess of a textbook. A couple of observations:

In an effort to be 'all things to all people' this textbook ends up doing nothing well.
It tries to take a topical approach, but mixes in ancient, modern, eastern, and western views in an almost incoherent way without rhyme or reason to the order of the chapters.

It also includes lots of material that aren't properly part of ethics. Plato's theory of the forms and such. It's good background material, but it really breaks up the continuity of the book.

It tries to be 'relevant' by adding some film analogies at the end of each chapter. A few of these are well done, but others are completely off. For example, The Truman Show is compared to Plato's Myth of the Cave. This completely misses the point of the movie since it is an existentialist metaphor designed to show the thought of Jean Paul Sartre (one of the main characters even dresses like him). Furthermore, something like 'The Matrix' or 'The 13th Floor' would have been infinitely more effective for this illustration.

Along the same theme, there is some rather mediocre 'philosophy of narrative' given early in the book. While I love using stories to make ethical points and illustrations, this section again detracts from the continuity of the book. If you want to teach ethical theory, find a better book. I prefer The Moral Life by Pojman.

There are also some blatantly biased sections. For example, in the chapter on 'Virtue Ethics' two Anti-Christian stories from the fifth century are shared and presented as examples of religious terrorism. What this has to do with virtue ethics is beyond me. Furthermore, these tragic crimes are misattributed to 'Christian Fundamentalists' (bizzare since fundamentalism is invented in the early to mid 20th century as a response against "liberal Christianity'). Clearly the author has an axe to grind.

I was introduced to this book online today. And being a massive fan of the cyberpunk genre of fiction I was stunned to find that a so called academic book didn't even bother to study what a popular genre of science fiction is. She confused post apocalyptic with cyberpunk. That's akin Blade Runner for Mad Max.

Do your homework Rosenstand. If you can't get something any Google search can easily explain then your research is garbage.

I've nearly finished my first (and only) semester teaching an "Intro. to Ethics" class from this book. I didn't choose it, and have found a replacement which (I believe) will be more substantive and sophisticated.

Rosenstand's grasp of essential concepts are often weak to the point of being embarrassing; a particular example is her discussion of teleology in the chapter on Aristotle, which is overly anthropomorphic and an attempt to project Christian views on the pre-Christian philosopher. And her use of pop culture examples to illustrate philosophical concepts are stretched and often hokey.

By the way, my students hated this book, too.

I bought this book for my introduction to ethics college course and after reading the first few chapters, decided I was definetely not selling it back to the college bookstore. This book provides a clear and easy to read format for understanding the more difficult works of the classic philosphers, as well as interweaving the moral lessons in modern movies and books. By relating ethical frameworks to movies you've seen, one is able to gain a clear understanding of ethical thought as taught by the "masters" of moral philosophy. The class is over, but I am still reading this book for enjoyment.

I purchased the book for a social ethics course and found the ethics portion to be pretty enjoyable to read. My only complaint was that the book had superfluous narratives to relate the philosophical/ethical subject matter. I felt that the book could be edited down, imo.

Other than that the book was a great price and delivered promptly via expedited shipping! Book was well over half-off the price had I purchased at my campus bookstore. Thanks the store! :)

I highly recommend this book to students, teachers, and anyone who wants to get more out of their movie rentals. Rosenstand uses literature and films to introduce the reader to some of the main themes and theories of moral philosophy. It's great for "Introduction to Ethics" courses, or as a resource for video ideas to spice up your classes -- or your Saturday nights.

I read and studied this book during my third year at UCO. This was our text book for the semester. The class was called "Contemporay Moral Problems" dealing with philosophers and their beliefs in ethics and morals. Religion, women, and right and wrong is covered in this book. This is a great book for anyone who wants to know more on ethics and philosophers

I highly recommend this book to students, teachers, and anyone who wants to get more out of their movie rentals. Rosenstand uses literature and films to introduce the reader to some of the main themes and theories of moral philosophy. It's great for "Introduction to Ethics" courses, or as a resource for video ideas to spice up your classes -- or your Saturday nights.

I read and studied this book during my third year at UCO. This was our text book for the semester. The class was called "Contemporay Moral Problems" dealing with philosophers and their beliefs in ethics and morals. Religion, women, and right and wrong is covered in this book. This is a great book for anyone who wants to know more on ethics and philosophers