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James Franklin is the author of The Science of Conjecture: Evidence and Probability Before Pascal; Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia; What Science Knows: And How It Knows It; and An Aristotelian Realist Philosophy of Mathematics. He is honorary professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, where he taught mathematics for nearly forty years and set up the world's first course on professional issues and ethics in mathematics. He is the editor of the Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. He was awarded the 2005 Eureka Prize for Research in Ethics for work on the parallels between objectivity in mathematics and in ethics.
Does the concept of the 'dignity' of persons really cut the ethical mustard? Franklin thinks it does. He argues that all the key ethical notions-rights, duties, virtues, vices, harms, consequences-derive their meaning from the idea of the 'dignity' (or 'worth') of persons. He articulates and defends a rich and complex conception of human worth, one which goes far beyond the current focus on the capacities for consciousness, willing and choosing, and includes our individuality and our emotional connectedness with others. In making his case, Franklin engages with today's main ethical theories-and theorists!-and does so in a engagingly crisp and persuasive manner. - Bernadette Tobin, director, Plunkett Centre for Ethics at Australian Catholic University This accessible book puts forth a coherent and original theory of ethics by grounding ethics on the qualities of humans that make ethical decisions necessary. Ethics, Franklin explains, should not supply ready-made formulas for making choices, but rather deepen understanding about why dilemmas exist, and why choices matter. In clarifying that the foundation of ethics lies in the worth of persons, Franklin meets this challenge. -Aaron Rhodes, senior fellow, Common Sense Society, and author of The Debasement of Human Rights A sound ethics must be grounded in a sound metaphysics, and specifically in an account of what makes human beings by nature radically different from anything else in the world. Philosophers once knew this, but in recent decades it has been forgotten, much to the detriment of moral theory. A new book defending the traditional view by a thinker of the caliber of James Franklin is a most welcome development. -Edward Feser, professor of philosophy, Pasadena City College
