Who Holds the Moral High Ground? by Colin J Beckley and Elspeth Waters 96 pp., £8.95/$17.90, 9781845401030 (pbk.) January 2008, Societas, Vol.32 Available at reduced (subscription) price via: Books homepage Search Inside the Book at Amazon.com Search Inside the Book at Amazon.co.uk Order your copy

Meta-ethical attempts to define concepts such as ‘goodness’, ‘right and wrong’, ‘ought’ and ‘ought not’, have proved largely futile, even over-ambitious. Morality, it is argued, should therefore be directed primarily at the reduction of suffering, principally because the latter is more easily recognisable and accords with an objective view and requirements of the human condition. All traditional and contemporary perspectives are without suitable criteria for evaluating moral dilemmas and without such guidance we face the potent threat of sliding to a destructive moral nihilism. This book presents a possible set of defining characteristics for the foundation of future moral evaluations and engagements, taking into consideration that the historically maligned female gender may be better disposed to ethical leadership.