Paul Ramsey

Excerpt from Nine Modern Moralists The greatness of the men whose insight and reﬂections are the subject of the following chapters is obviously a sufficient justification for this volume. The reader who simply wants to learn what was felt and thought and believed by some of the outstanding minds of the immediate past and of the present can, it is hoped, do so by reading the chapters of this book as expository essays. Here he will find their thought anatomized; and, in relatively brief compass, it may be possible for him to become seriously engaged in thinking their thoughts after them. Certainly, no one can come to an understanding of the latest and best of contemporary ideas and ideals by going around these men; only by going through them can one gain a deeper understanding of himself and of our epoch. That is the first purpose of this book: to provide an introduction to nine selected modern moralists. The second purpose is constructive and critical. Exposition and ex planation by themselves are not the aim of these chapters. The highest tribute one can pay any thinker, or any body of writing, is to wrestle with it; and this may well be the best way to bring out the innermost and most vital meaning of what any man has said. I trust that in this wrestling I have nowhere simply commanded an issue to be gone, or have ignored the real meaning or the strength of an idea or point of view in rejecting or reformulating it. The procedure employed in criti cism is always an internal one. This is to say that it always seems best to. Go as far as one can with another man's thought, developing it up to the point where some criticism or objection or revision unfolds itself, as it were, from within the system or structure of thought under examina tion. In this way the most constructive results may be expected from criticism; and, in this way also, constructive and critical essays may fairly aim to be explanatory ones. As expository essays the chapters that follow may be taken one at a time and in any order, or one or more without the others. Their con structive and critical purpose, however, connects them all together. The author has been somewhat surprised at the extent to which this is true, when preparing for publication these papers which were written in some cases years apart. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Nine Modern Moralists (Classic Reprint)

Problems encountered as science makes genetic control of man a real possibility. Includes discussions of asexual reproduction of men, frozen semen banks, and breeding human beings for special purposes.

The Ethics of Genetic Control

Fabricated Man

Robert Paul Ramsey

The tremendous changes in society's attitudes toward abortion, euthanasia, the right to die, and other related life-and-death issues are reflected in recent court decisions and in new legislation. This important book by one of America's leading writers in the field of medical ethics analyzes these legal issues at the ethical level, showing how our laws and practices affect and reflect the morality of our times. Ramsey is concerned with medicine, ethics, law, and with medical and public policy. He examines relevant laws and court decisions that make policy, but not without a healthy measure of moral argument and critical assessment. Among the recent legal issues that he analyzes in detail are the decision of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in the Quinlan case; the rights of defective newborn infants; the Edelin negligent manslaughter case; the "conscience clauses" in our federal code and in state statutes; the Supreme Court's landmark decision on abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth; and California's Natural Death Act. Ramsey studies the reasoning behind the court's decision or the law and holds up these legal processes as mirrors in which we can see reflected the state of moral questions as they are perceived by contemporary society. A perceptive and well-informed social critic, he provides an ethical assessment of the discourse going on concerning issues of medical practice and public policy. "What [Ramsey] has to say must be of compelling interest to everyone concerned with the moral problems of medicine, life and death and not merely to those who share his faith. This is . . . probably the single most important text in the area of medical ethics written in modern times. . . . It is a book that cannot itself be summarized; it has to be read."--Alasdair MacIntyre, The New Republic "Ramsey's arguments . . . reflect great moral passion as well as his usual rigorous analysis."--James F. Childress, Religious Studies Review "Ramsey forces one to think deeply and systematically about issues that cannot be reduced to maxims or formulas. His work serves both as a challenge and as an inspiration."--New England Journal of Medicine "A monumental feat. Ramsey is neither a physician nor a lawyer, but I venture to say that he has much to offer members of each profession - and a great deal to offer the average reader. His analysis of the legal issues at the 'edges of life' and his critical assessment of the relevant court decisions are brimful, probing and provocative. A meaty book, beautifully written."--Yale Kamisar Ethics at the Edges of Life was selected as an outstanding book for 1979 in the Scholarly Books category of the National Religious Book Awards.

Medical and Legal Intersections

Ethics at the Edges of Life

This searching critique of the United Methodist Bishops pastoral letter on war and peace in a nuclear age, by America s foremost Christian ethicist, exposes theological flaws from which flow gaps in moral argument and strangely utopian politics. Never before has In Defense of Creation been more thoroughly analyzed. At the same time Paul Ramsey gives a full-length and detailed comparison of the Methodist document with The Challenge of Peace by the U.S. Catholic Bishops. Issues of nuclear ethics, as seen by the leaders of two major churches, are set fully in view for the first time in a single volume. This ecumenical consultation is broadened by drawing extensively on the writings of Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder. The book s larger purpose is to construe an encounter between Christian just-war tradition and Christian pacifism. This comparative discussion of Christian ethics should be of interest to any reader concerned about the nuclear crisis. Some of the questions confronted in these pages are: What do people mean by nonviolence ? Should we never kill another human being, or never kill another human being unjustly? Do Christian pacifism and Christian just-war teachings have anything in common in their understanding of the Christian moral life? Do different interpretations of the person and work of Jesus Christ give rise to Christian pacifism and to just-war participation? Are these irreducibly different options equally valid for followers of Christ? Do the tests of discrimination and proportion lead to the same prohibitions on war and limits in war in a nuclear age? With an epilogue by Stanley Hauerwas, this volume offers the unusual event of two Methodist laymen engaged in lively debate over their church and the modern world. "

A Critique of the United Methodist Bishops' Pastoral Letter "In Defense of Creation"

Speak Up for Just War or Pacifism

"This treatise on Christian ethics is one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive presentations of the subject we have had in many years. It should be of inestimable value not only to the general reader but also to students and classes in our colleges and seminaries".--Reinhold Niebuhr. Part of Westminster's Library of Theological Ethics series.

Basic Christian Ethics

Paul Ramsey was one of the most important ethicists of the twentieth century. From the publication of his classic Basic Christian Ethics in 1950 until his death in 1988, his writings decisively shaped moral discourse and reflection in the areas of theology, law, politics, and medicine. This collection of Ramsey's most important essays on Christian, political, and medical ethics displays the scope and depth of his vision, highlighting both the character of his theological commitments and the continuing significance of his work for the pressing moral problems of our day. Selections deal with such issues as race relations, sexuality and marriage, war, the meaning of Christian love, abortion, and medical care for the sick and dying. A general introduction by William Werpehowski and Stephen D. Crocco evaluates Ramsey's career and accomplishments and reviews contemporary criticism of his output and legacy. Shorter introductions to each selection point out crucial themes and lines of development in Ramsey's thought.

A Collection

The Essential Paul Ramsey

Albert R. Jonsen

William F. May

As physicians are faced with new and wonderful options for saving lives, transplanting organs, and furthering research, they also must wrestle with new and troubling choices--who should receive scarce and vital treatment, how we determine when life ends, what limits should be placed on care for the dying, and more. This book by renowned theologian Paul Ramsey, first published thirty years ago, anticipated these moral and ethical issues and addressed them with cogency and power, providing the intellectual foundations for the field of bioethics. This second edition of Ramsey's classic work includes a new foreword by Margaret Farley and essays by Albert R. Jonsen and William F. May that help to locate and interpret Ramsey historically and intellectually. Praise for the earlier edition: "For its strong, well-argued positions, its documentation and references, and its assistance in bringing confused strands of thought into focus, The Patient as Person willbe used for many years."--Michael Novak, New York Times "Amid the plethora of books on medical ethics that merely skim the surface, this one solidly examines most aspects of the question--from the definition of death to organ transplantation."--Christianity Today "Notable for its clear moral reasoning and its thorough examination of all morally relevant issues."--Journal of Religion " Ramsey's] study is a masterpiece of thoroughness in evaluating conflicting moral claims which become explicit in crucial medical situations."--Dolores Dooley-Clarke, Philosophical Studies

Explorations in Medical Ethics

The Patient as Person

The patient as person : explorations in medical ethics

Gathers poems by MacLeish, Tate, Eliot, Berrigan, H.D., Merton, Roethke, Shapiro, Williams, Wilbur, Berryman, and Pope John Paul II

Contemporary Religious Poetry

How Shall Modern War Be Conducted Justly?

War and the Christian Conscience

A Study of Shakespeare's Sonnets

The Fickle Glass

With a new foreword by noted theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas, this classic text on war and the ethics of modern statecraft written at the height of the Vietnam era in 1968 speaks to a new generation of readers. Characterized by a sophisticated yet back-to-basics approach, The Just War begins with the assumption that force is a fact in political life which must either be reckoned with or succumbed to. It then grapples with modern challenges to traditional moral principles of "just conduct" in war, the "morality of deterrence," and a "just war theory of statecraft."

Paul Ramsey

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