Through the Moral Maze: Searching for Absolute Values in a Pluralistic World

The erosion of shared beliefs about right and wrong; the rift between public and private morality; debates about objective standards of value in education; the uncertain fate of religion; and rival answers to the question, Why be moral? - these are some of the tensions present in our increasingly multicultural society. Through the Moral Maze is written for those who are troubled by conflicting points of view on moral and spiritual matters. In the presence of such conflicts, many people wonder about the truth of their own beliefs and ask what values can survive modern challenges to their ethical aspirations. Robert Kane argues that the search for absolute value is a fundamental human quest that need not be abandoned, provided we are willing to think in new ways. His book draws upon the wisdom of the past embodied in our philosophical and religious traditions. But the author insists that if this wisdom is to survive in a world of conflicting cultures, we must face and strive to tame troubling contradictions. Through the Moral Maze takes on a broad range of issues in social ethics, politics, education, and religion. It addresses current controversies about environmentalism, feminism, multiculturalism, and moral education. But above all, it does not shun the fundamental questions about value and the meaning of life that lie behind these controversies.…