The books to which reference
is made in the lists of readings, and other books approved by the
instructor, should be kept upon reserved shelves for the constant
use of the class in the further study of questions suggested by
the text or raised in the classroom.
It will be noticed that the disputes and the technical language of
theorists have been throughout so far as possible avoided. The
discussion of historical theories and isms' is unnecessarily
bewildering to the beginner; and the aim has been rather to keep as
close as possible to the actual experience of the student and the
language of everyday life. Far more attention is given than in most
books on ethics to concrete contemporary problems. After all, an
insight into the fallacies of the reasoning of the various ethical
schools, an ability to know what they are talking about and glibly
refute them, is of less importance than an acquaintance with, and a
firm, intelligent attitude toward, the vital moral problems and
movements of the day. I have prayed to be saved from academic
abstractness and remoteness, and to go as straight as I could to the
real perplexities from which men suffer in deciding upon their conduct.
The purpose of a study of ethics is, primarily, to get light for the
guidance of life. And so, while referring to authors who differ from
the views here expressed, I have sought to impart a definite conception
of relative values, to offer a thread for guidance through the
labyrinth of moral problems, and to effect a heightened realization
of the importance and the possibilities of right living.
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