Review by Choice Review
Bernstein (New School for Social Research) presents a strong case for moving ethical inquiry in a new direction. A new direction is necessary, he argues, because theological ethics apart from the framework in which it is embedded has lost its hold in contemporary secular cultures, because virtue ethics isolated from its base in Aristotelean naturalism has lost its intelligibility, and because utilitarian ethics presents insuperable obstacles to dealing with moral injury exemplified by the many and frequent acts that violate and destroy both the bodies and the identities of victims. Using rape and torture as paradigmatic cases of moral injury, the author invites ethicists to begin their analysis and theory construction by focusing on victims and addressing, as he writes in his introduction, "what makes ... pains suffered morally wrongful ones." The next move, Bernstein argues, should be toward reconstructing ethical reflection and guidance based on victims' ability to recover through regaining trust in the world and reconstruction of the damaged self through relations to others. Human dignity, the opposite of rape and torture, can be lost and restored, for it is the inherent and intrinsic worth of human beings. Bernstein's presentation is clear, original, and persuasive. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Larry J. Alderink, Concordia College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
