Technological
advances and cultural anomie are among the forces have combined to make moral
discourse more difficult, more complex, and more elusive than ever before.
Technology has impacted the relationships between individual and society,
individuals and each other, and the entire spectrum of what it means to be
human. While individuals seek to assert their autonomy and independence, nearly
everything they do in public (and often what they do in private) is subject to
some form of data capture, surveillance, or monitoring. Within a culture that
values personal expression, human progress, and self esteem, human embryos are
treated as laboratory artifacts, and babies are commoditized. As moral
relativism takes hold across multiple institutions and societal structures, the
idea of punishment–indeed, the idea of crime–has become problematic.

Many writers and
thinkers have added their voices to a cacophony of monologues that is sometimes
misunderstood to be some form of moral discourse. Much of what is proffered is
held out as some fresh insight or some clever analysis, but in reality consists
of little more than separate streams of unwarranted opinions and emotivist
blatherings. Occasionally an ethicist will make specific ethical claims, will
support such claims with evidence and argument, and it will map such claims to
one or more ethical theories in a way that makes sense.

 Meanwhile,
there are many books in print dedicated to moral issues. Many of them consist
of anthologies of excerpts from the writings of moral philosophers, political
commentators, and ethicists. Some are themed (medical ethics, professional
ethics, business ethics, etc.), and many are targeted for use in specific
college courses in philosophy, psychology, or other undergraduate or graduate
ethics-related courses.

Ovadia Ezra
neither offers a polemic on moral issues, nor presents a collection of snippets
from the writings of moral philosophers. Instead, in Moral Dilemmas in Real
Life, Ezra dives directly into specific social and ethical issues, outlines
the moral parameters and essential questions that are highlighted by such
issues, makes recommendations regarding the moral theories and ethical
epistemologies that are likely to offer helpful insights in each case, and
charges the reader with the responsibility of completing the analysis and are
arriving at practical conclusions. In so doing, Ezra draws from a rich supply
of philosophers, ethicists, jurists, and social scientists (whose works, in
turn, are referenced in several hundred footnotes).

One of the issues
addressed by Ezra is the right of privacy. The author draws from legal
precepts, virtue theory, and the insights of various social philosophers in an
effort to show the nuances and limitations of the concept. Several specific
circumstances, wherein the right to privacy is at issue, are described:
questions about the protection of the identity of suspects who are under
investigation for a crime (but who have not been charged with a crime); the
protection of the medical records, especially of celebrities, artists,
politicians, professional athletes, etc.; and gag orders protecting the
identity of convicted juvenile offenders who have arrived at the age of
majority. Each of these cases are addressed from the perspective of various
normative theories, and each are explored in light of judicial pronouncements,
the observations of social commentators, and the insights of various social
critics.

Separately, Ezra
considers the right to "be let alone." That is, the right to live and
work without being unnecessarily confronted or encumbered by, or intruded upon,
by government (despite the need of law enforcement agencies to ensure safety
and security in an increasingly dangerous world). To flesh out this dilemma,
the author selects to interesting cases: proposed legislation requiring
Internet service providers to retain records — including contents — of
e-mails and Internet transmissions for a period of seven years; and, the
expansion of DNA information banks beyond the immediate needs of law enforcement
and medical databases. Both of these cases, and the analyses provided by the
author, and help the reader to appreciate the enlarging the scope of both
technology and the resultant ethical issues.

Other issues,
approached in the same manner, include freedom of expression in academia and
the media, mercy killing, the selling of human organs, genetic engineering and
reproduction, "parental" rights of relatives and generations,
procreation after death, babies as commodities, punishment of sex offenders and
those who engage in domestic violence, and capital punishment (especially in
regard to the mentally disabled). For each of these dilemmas, the author offers
well-researched insights, specific cases, and suggestions that prompt the
reader to think carefully and critically about the underlying moral questions.

Even though this
book is scholarly and intellectually uncompromising, it is accessible by most
readers. In part, this is because the book is written in a style that is
pleasant, engaging, and inviting. And it is also because, as Ezra puts it,
"any thinking person is required, so it seems, to be concerned, involved,
or–at the very least–conversant with the ins and outs of ethical
argument." (p. ix) The moral dilemmas presented by Ezra are selected and
sifted for the edification of any "thinking person" who would wish to
begin a journey toward an understanding of well-informed applied ethics.

©
2007 Albert D. Spalding

Albert D. Spalding, JD, is an associate professor at Wayne State University School of Business
Administration.  He teaches legal studies and ethics.

Categories: Ethics