The ethical imagination : journeys of the human spirit

Science and technology force us to ask some of the most challenging and unprecedented ethical questions in the world today. These issues encompass what it means to be human, how we relate to others and our world, and how we find meaning in life. How we can find a shared ethics for an interdependent world? In her 2006 CBC Massey Lectures, ethicist and McGill University professor Margaret Somerville tackles some of the most contentious issues of our times, and proposes a brilliant new kind of ethical language and thought to help us navigate them. PHI005000 In This Timely, Topical, And Cogently Argued Book, Somerville Asks: What Does It Mean To Be Human Today, When Mind-altering Scientific Breakthroughs Are Challenging Our Fundamental Ideas Of Ourselves, How We Relate To Others And The World Around Us, And How We Find Meaning In Life? Some Of The Controversial Topics Somerville Touches Upon Are Our Growing Acceptance Of New Reproductive Technologies, And Our Conundrums Over The Genetic Modification Of Plants And Animals. She Eloquently Proposes That It Is Only Through Our Willingness To Undertake A Journey Of The Human Imagination -- By Heeding Our Stories, Myths, And Moral Intuition -- That We Can Truly See, Understand, Speak About, And Relate To The World Around Us, And Thereby Develop An Ethics To Guide Us.--pub. Website. Going On The Ethical Wallaby: Searching For A Shared Ethics -- A Poetry Of Ethics: Creating A Language Of The Ethical Imagination -- Old Nature, New Science: Respecting Nature, The Natural, And Life -- From Homosapiens To Techno Sapiens: Protecting The Essence Of Being Human -- Past Virtues For A Future World : Holding Our Humanness On Trust. Margaret Somerville. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In the 2006 CBC Massey Lectures -- the bestselling and most eagerly anticipated lecture series of the year -- renowned ethicist and McGill University professor Margaret Somerville tackles some of the most contentious issues of our times, and proposes a brilliant new kind of ethical language and thought to help us navigate them. In this timely, topical, and cogently argued book, Somerville asks: What does it mean to be human today, when mind-altering scientific breakthroughs are challenging our fundamental ideas of ourselves, how we relate to others and the world around us, and how we find meaning in life? Some of the controversial topics Somerville touches upon are our growing acceptance of new reproductive technologies, and our conundrums over the genetic modification of plants and animals. She eloquently proposes that it is only through our willingness to undertake a journey of the human imagination -- by heeding our stories, myths, and moral intuition -- that we can truly see, understand, speak about, and relate to the world around us, and thereby develop an ethics to guide us. Developing a boundary-crossing ethics by paying attention to our stories, myths, and moral intuition.