Theology, Ethics and Philosophy 589

In sum, The Recalcitrant Imago Dei suggests a welcome new direction

for philosophy of religion, one that takes human consciousness seri-
ously. I believe this is a timely and promising intervention, but I would
like to see it developed both within the context of analytic philosophy
itself and, above all, in relation to other disciplines interested in human
nature, theology in particular.

Andreas Nordlander
Lund University

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Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics, Scott B. Rae, Zondervan,

2009 (ISBN 978-0-310-29109-1), 375 pp., hb $ 34.99

Moral choices: An introduction to ethics, presents a comprehensive study

on some topical issues in ethical matters. The book, which contains
twelve chapters, starts with an introductory question – Why study
ethics? In his response to this question, Rae gives various reasons for
studying ethics. Such reasons includes: ethical questions are at the heart
of life’s vital issues, human being faces moral choices everyday and
finally, ethics is important in facing a number of issues such as abortion,
euthanasia, same-sex marriage etc. After this, the author introduces
some key terms in ethics to general readers.
Chapter 2 focuses on the Christian ethics that the author examines
from both the Old and the New Testaments’ perspectives. From the Old
Testament’s angle, Rae discovers that law is the core of the Old Testament
ethics and that holiness is its unifying theme. From the New Testament
perspective, Rae observes that emphasis is not as much on institutional
morality and social ethics as it is on morality for the church. It was also
discovers that New Testament ethics shows believers as members of the
kingdom and creates a special place for the poor. Divine command
theory, which is regarded as an important part of Christian ethics, was
also discussed. He concludes this chapter with Natural law, which he
describes as controversial to both moral philosophy and Christian ethics.
Chapter 3 examines ethical systems and various ways of moral rea-
soning. Prominent among these ways are: Ethical Egoism propounded
by Thomas Hobbes, utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and Stuart Mill,
Deontological ethics of Immanuel Kant, Emotivism of David Hume
and relativism, which was jointly advocated for by William Graham
Sumner, Ruth Benedict, Melville Herskovits, and John Ladd. The author
concludes this chapter with the discussion on virtue theory, which he
calls aretaic ethics.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
590 Theology, Ethics and Philosophy

Chapter 4 contains a model for making moral decision on some

knotty moral dilemmas such as: business ethics, medical ethics, and
international business ethics. The author presents a procedure for such
decisions. The procedure includes: gathering of facts, determining the
ethical issues, determining the virtues, listing of the alternatives, com-
paring the alternatives, considering the consequences and then making
of decision. He hopes that this model will be of help in resolving an
ethical dilemma.
Chapter 5, ‘Abortion and Embryonic stem cell Research’, presents a
detailed study on abortion –one of the controversial ethical issues. The
author examines abortion from the four major perspectives – legal,
biblical, pro-choice, and Embryo and Stem cell Research. He aims at
getting the readers to the heart of the problem.
In Chapter 6, Rae deals with the issue of ‘Reproductive Technolo-
gies’, the term he refers to as various medical procedures that are
designed to alleviate infertility. Such procedures include: artificial
insemination, invitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood. Until
recently according to the author, adoption was the only known method
by which infertile couple could have a child. However, various moral
questions in relation to this reproductive technology have been raised.
While some are in support of it some are very restrictive in what is
morally acceptable. Because of the achievement of productive technolo-
gies so far and the emergence of the new ones that are not yet in the
mainstreams but may be popular in the future, the author envisages
bright future for Reproduction Technologies.
Chapter 7, which is a follow up to Chapter 6, discuses biotechnology,
genetics, and human cloning. The author reveals that biotechnologies
emerged from the realm of scientific fiction to everyday reality. He also
examines some progress made by genetics and quickly adds that the
major progress in genetics is genetic information. The aim of this is to
map the entire human genetic code so as to find as many genetic links
and predispositions to disease as possible. He also presents the issues
of human cloning that generated series of moral questions. He con-
cludes that before any scientific technology could be made available, its
moral reflection must be put into consideration.
Chapter 8, which is on physician-assisted suicide and Euthanasia
clearly shows that some of the ethical issues relating to the end of life
are still controversial. Some states such as Oregon and Washington
legalized it while to some states such as Michigan, it is illegal. The
author highlights the three major ways through which a physician can
render assistance to hasten the death of a patient. These are: termination
of life support (T L S), physician-assisted suicide and Euthanasia. Rae
further examines the three major backgrounds to End-of-life issues. He
concludes this section with various arguments brought against assisted
suicide and Active Euthanasia. It is argued that both methods are ways
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Theology, Ethics and Philosophy 591

of playing God and that the suffering of the patient may be a redemp-
tive one. He then warns that life is valuable to God, therefore society
should be morally conscious in supporting euthanasia and assisted
suicide.
Chapter 9 focuses on the divided attitude of society towards capital
punishment. While some are advocates of capital punishment some are
opponents. At the same time some are in-between the two divides.
They are known as procedural abolitionists. Rae observes that capital
punishment expresses an appropriate demand for justice in society,
provides a unique deterrent against crime and that capital punishment
is not cruel and unusual punishment. In his argument against it, he
claims that death penalty undermines the dignity of man and cheapens
human life. The author concludes this chapter on the note that the
debate over capital punishment is on-going and that society is still
divided over both moral and legal aspects of the death penalty.
In Chapter 10, Rae examines another crucial ethical issues – sexual
ethics. He refers to this as ethical issues raised by variety of sexual
relationships and arrangements both inside and outside of marriage.
Biblical position on various sexual arrangements such as homosexual-
ity, same-sex marriage, premarital sex, and safe sex were carefully
examined. He rounds off this chapter on the need to restores sexual
purity.
Chapter 11 discusses moral justification of war. He examines various
war expeditions both in the bible and the contemporary society and
centers it on whether the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were morally
justified operations. He further examines major views on the morality
of war such as pacifism and just war.
Chapter 12, which is the last chapter, emphasizes the importance of
business ethics. Rae links the failure of some industries and collapse of
many banks to the widespread perception that the business community
has lost its moral compass and that greed is the overriding principle
governing how business is done. The author further examines some
specific issues in business ethics such as in international business,
human resource management, environment, accounting, and finance.
Scott B. Rae’s Moral Choices is a rich and well-informed work on
ethics. Its strength lies in the use of cases and questions for discussion.
It is a book that one cannot be tired of reading. However, the book
would have been more richer if ethics in other faiths is reviewed in
addition to Christian ethics. Nevertheless, Ray is a renowned ethicist
whose work should be widely read. The book is therefore recom-
mended for students of Philosophy, Religious studies, and anyone that
is interested in current ethical issues.

Ogunleye Adetunbi Richard

Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.