Thinking Ethically: A Handbook for Making Moral Choices

by Scott Gelfand, Ph.D.

This book is timely and explores ethical questions … What’s new about Gelfand’s book is the claim that persons with quite different moral, political, and policy positions actually have a shared commitment to a variety of fundamental premises regarding what’s ethical. Realizing this will be of real value to a great many readers.

Daniel Sullivan, Ph.D., President Emeritus of St. Lawrence University

There are any number of reasons to love this book, but perhaps the most immediate one is that, at a moment of deep public disillusionment, “Thinking Ethically” shows us a path to hope. In clear and accessible prose, Scott Gelfand makes a reasoned, common-sense case for believing that we are not as different from one another as we might think, and he also gives us a morally complex but practicable method for connecting both to our best selves, and to others.

Mark Brewin, Ph.D. Dr. Brewin Associate Professor Communications University of Tulsa

This book explores a variety of moral issues through real-life examples, including promise keeping, lying, adultery, favoring friends and loved ones, harming innocent people for the good of the majority, and the obligation to give to charity. Using common issues, it explores different points of view to illustrate how people make moral judgments and decisions.

The Oklahoman

Do we really need to be divided from those whose opinions are different from our own?

And are there ways that we can overcome these differences and divisions?

Exploring a variety of moral issues through engaging, real-life examples—including promise keeping, lying, adultery, favoring our friends and loved ones, harming innocent people for the good of the majority, the obligation to give to charity, and other ethical quandaries, Thinking Ethically: A Handbook for Making Moral Choices doesn’t tell you what to think or do! Using common—as well as hot-button—issues, it explores different points of view to illustrate how people make moral judgments and decisions.

While conclusions may differ, this thought-provoking guide shows that people share the same moral foundations of honesty, kindness, promise-keeping, and a commitment to not harming others—and recognizes that our shared values can help heal other divisions! By explaining how we can all use our natural ability to think, debate, and evolve, this enlightening book offers numerous valuable insights, including …

How to navigate conflicts when confronted with views that are contrary to your own

How to respond to hateful or prejudiced speech

How to communicate with and understand others during divided times

How disagreements can strengthen relationships rather than break them

How similar moral beliefs and commitments are shared across society

How complicated choices and pitfalls test moral principles

How to better understand your own moral decisions and judgments—as well as those of others!

Ultimately, this book is an invitation to self-reflection: What kind of person do you want to be? What is morally right and wrong? How do your moral values shape your decisions? Morality can sometimes be complicated and complex, but it’s not like physics. Anyone can do it, and this informative, accessible, and easy-to-understand book can help! By fostering empathy, compassion, and curiosity, Thinking Ethically is your guide to moral decisions, dilemmas, and debates—and overcoming divisions.

About Scott Gelfand, Ph.D.

Scott Gelfand, PhD, JD, is a certified philosophical counselor and professor in the Department of Philosophy at Oklahoma State University, where he has taught a variety of undergraduate courses, including Ethical Theory, Philosophy and Culture, and Introduction to Philosophy. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Maryland and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. His academic publications focus on a variety of issues in ethics, including theoretical ethics, biomedical ethics, and research ethics. He’s devoted the last decade of his career to trying to better understand moral and political division in the United States as well as ways to heal or alleviate this division, leading to his first book for a general audience, Thinking Ethically: A Handbook for Making Moral Choices. He lives in Chicago.