Portland Public Library

Behaving badly, the new morality in politics, sex, and business, Eden Collinsworth

eng

Includes bibliographical references

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Behaving badly

bibliography

961007827

Eden Collinsworth

the new morality in politics, sex, and business

What is the relevance of morality today? Eden Collinsworth enlists the famous, the infamous, and the heretofore unheard-of to unravel how we make moral choices in an increasingly complex and ethically flexible age

Part One. Confronting the unreliable provenance of morals -- Wherein I begin with the definition of the word -- According to a convicted murderer, it has to do with character -- A neuroscientist explains the evolutionary origins of morality -- A brief history of mankind's attempts to rein in bad behavior -- Part Two. Morality's scorecard -- The editor of the Financial Times provides a cost-benefit analysis of principles -- Instructions on how not to cheat -- Pros and cons of doing the right thing -- The law: tools of control, or instruments of enlightenment? -- The political function of ethics -- Part Three. Sex as moral provocateur -- Monogamy (not so much anymore) -- The screen as a siren -- Testosterone: morality's enemy, as well as its hero -- Immoral women: or just those having a better time? -- Part Four. Taking the bother out of morality -- Celebrities as standard-bearers -- Reality defined -- The web wonders what's so great about the truth -- Ethically sanitized warfare -- Immorality's black sun -- Part Five. The future, or something like it -- The moral vagaries of making babies -- Mapping a post-gay culture -- Is it progress if we barter with ethics? -- Programming morality in robots (they'll show us how) -- So who, exactly, gets to set the new rules? -- Wherein I conclude by looking forward