Steve Wilkens - Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics: An Introduction to Theories of Right and Wrong

An Introduction to Theories of Right & Wrong

STEVE WILKENS

To my wife, partner and friend Debra

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Preface & Acknowledgments

Those of us in higher education who are committed to Christianity often hold on for dear life in a delicate balancing act called textbook selection. On the one hand, we want to avoid "ghettoization"-look- ing only at Christian ideas and critiquing them from a perspective that is familiar only to Christians. On the other hand, when issues beyond the specific confines of Christian thought are addressed, we would like the Christian tradition to get the recognition and attention we believe it deserves.I have been surprised and dismayed at the number of otherwise fine texts in ethical theory that completely omit or severely restrict discussion of the religious dimension of ethics. This seems odd for at least two reasons. First, throughout the greater part of Western intellectual history it was assumed that ethics was closely integrated with religious considerations. Second, the vast majority of my compatriots will at least state that God has something to do with right and wrong. Thus to deprive people of the opportunity to explore ways the divine and the good may be related is to fail to address the questions being asked.If you are looking for a Christian perspective on the usual range of ethical issues and topics, there are a number of very good texts to choose from. However, it seems that ethical theory has often received somewhat limited attention. Often it is covered only briefly as an introduction to a consideration of specific topics; or when it is covered in depth, a significant academic background is assumed.The thesis of this book is that ethical theory is an inescapable part of our world. We all think theoretically in this arena of life; we just do not always know that we do it. If this is true for Christians as well as non-Christians, it is worthwhile to consider these ways of looking at the world. What distinguishes this text from most others available is that it assumes that certain fundamental features of a Christian worldview are valid tools to bring to the table in evaluating our moral bases. At the same time, it employs the usual means of critiquing ethical theory-logical consistency, possibility of universalization, consequences, and the like.Only one name goes on the cover of a book, but in reality there are many people who make it possible. Here are some whom I would like to thank for their contributions:

O My colleagues in the Haggard School of Theology, who have offered support and helpful suggestions-especially John Culp and Gayle Beebe, who read portions of the manuscript.

Tim Fenderson, who read the text and offered suggestions and encouragement.

O My students, who allow me to test ideas and constantly keep me aware of how much I have to learn.

O Flash and Zeke, for their careful supervision of the project from start to finish.

Rodney Clapp, my editor at InterVarsity Press, who has been a terrific joy to work with, as has the helpful staff at IVP.

Debra Wilkens, for supporting my teaching habit instead of insisting that I get a real job.

Bumper Stickers &
Eti ical Systems

For most of us, life moves at a fast pace. Messages come at us from every direction and compete for our precious time. And if we have anything to say to the world, it had better fit on a bumper sticker or in a five-second sound bite. Otherwise, our audience is gone. And it better have a "hook." If it isn't packaged in a way that sticks in our memory, competing messages will shove it aside. Companies pay big money to advertising agencies that are successful in imprinting the image of a product in the public mind. Candidates hire advisers to help them shape messages that will be heard and remembered. I recall hearing a radio interview that featured a man who makes a living by showing people how they can squeeze their philosophies of life onto seven-character personalized license plates. (It took him an hour to explain why this is important.) Whether you are a candidate vying for office, a reporter writing a story or a freeway philosopher tooling down the highway, you care about communicating succinctly and convincingly.Ethical views are not exempt from this trend toward compacting our positions. When we ask for advice, overhear conversations at the next table or read the latest self-help book on getting our lives in order, the ideas often are communicated in a slogan format that can be delivered, received and digested quickly and easily. In other words, ethical counsel comes to us in quick statements, what I will call "bumper stickers" (for the sake of brevity, of course), like those at the beginning of this chapter.

Getting Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics

It should not take too much reflection to conclude that we need to be careful about staking the important ethical decisions in our lives on a "bumper sticker." The problem is not that any advice that can be delivered in a small amount of space is necessarily wrong. The problem is that the ideas expressed in these bite-sized pronouncements have broader implications.Ideas are built on certain assumptions, and if the assumptions are untrue or only partly true, what we build upon them is shaky. Moreover, the idea communicated in a "bumper sticker" is connected with other ideas. Thus, while the ethical aspect that is explicit in the "bumper sticker" may look good at first glance, other ideas that follow from it may not be so attractive. Most of us have heard or used the cliche "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," and it can sound like worthwhile advice. But what if the standard practices of the "Romans" stand in direct conflict with your moral or religious convictions? This is why we need to get behind the cliche itself. Such assumptions and connections are not made explicit in the shortened versions of ethical systems. Before we commit ourselves to any "bumper sticker," we want to make certain that we can accept all that is implied in the slogan. In short, we have to get beyond "bumper sticker ethics" to see what else is in the package.That is what this book is about. If you look at the "bumper stickers" above, you may notice that they do not give specific solutions to specific problems (although in certain contexts an answer may be strongly suggested). Instead of direct answers, they provide the germ of a process for making decisions. For example, when we say "It's your duty," we imply that solving an ethical problem begins with recognizing our obligations to ourselves and other people, even when the results of following through on those obligations may not be attractive to us. Moreover, we can see quickly that this will involve a way of approaching moral decisions different from a "bumper sticker" like "Look out for Number One."The process of how we work through moral issues is called an ethical system. My strategy in this book will be to use "bumper stickers" as a point of departure to explore ethical systems. This approach is possible because we can find a short, popular expression that captures the essence of just about every major ethical system. The difference between the "bumper sticker" and the system itself is not content; rather, the system makes explicit what is only implicit in the slogan. Instead of accepting "bumper stickers" at face value, the system fills in the blanks and provides arguments about why its views are better than other options. Only when we dig deeper into bumpersticker-sized bits of moral directive can we know if an ethical perspective will bear the weight of a lifetime of moral decisions.Next page