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Book fact of the day
Are ethicists more moral than the rest of us? This result should warm the heart of Richard Posner:
I noted that ethics books are more likely to be stolen than non-ethics books in philosophy (looking at a large sample of recent ethics and non-ethics books from leading academic libraries). Missing books as a percentage of those off shelf were 8.7% for ethics, 6.9% for non-ethics, for an odds ratio of 1.25 to 1.
There is further data analysis at the link, hat tip to Bookslut.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 14, 2007 at 06:30 AM in Books, Philosophy | Permalink
Comments
What counts as "theft"? If it's just that the book has been missing a certain number of days past due, it might be simply that ethics professors are more lazy or forgetful than the rest of us. I, personally, tend to rack up fines because I keep books checked out for months and occasionally forget I have them.
Posted by: Steven Schreiber at Jan 14, 2007 10:46:42 AM
I knew a kid in middle school with a huge collection of stolen "Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted" signs. Maybe the people stealing ethics books just appreciate the irony?
Posted by: Xavier at Jan 14, 2007 11:03:08 AM
Not sure how the stats were done but it may be a simple question of speed with which books missing are replaced. Within the general category are books that are probably replaced rapidly when it is noticed they are missing and this may skew the results. It seems unlikely that missing books on ethics are replaced as assiduously as say the latest book on charting techniques for day trading, to pull an ironic example out of the air. A possible explanation.
Posted by: am at Jan 14, 2007 1:27:29 PM
Many years ago, I was standing in line at the library behind a man asking about a copy of the Satanic Bible. I was rather amused when she told him that all of their copies had been stolen.
Regarding the ethicality of ethicists, I've noticed that bioethicists quoted in the news usually side with disease and death against medical technology, and almost always for really stupid reasons. Bioethicists, at least, are far below average.
Posted by: Brandon Berg at Jan 14, 2007 3:24:12 PM
A note for those not familiar with Posner's morality stuff:
Just over xmas I downloaded his lecture "Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory" from the harvard law review. The writing is (as usual) clear and accessible. Just read the first 60 pages for the bit on morality.
If you have a gut feeling that moral relativism is the case, you'll find a good defense of it there. In addition, he argues that whether moral theory is about anything or not, it's definitely ineffective since it provides no incentives. Plus you get a glimpse of his theory of moral entrepreneurship---but that's spelled out better in the book of the same title as the lecture.
Bottom line: I, a nonspecialist, recommend it to you other nonspecialists. It's a good read.
Posted by: Lee at Jan 14, 2007 7:15:22 PM
Also, I have a theory that many people are drawn to certain fields because of their own problems or confusion. Not all, of course, but the presence of those who do drags down the average. For example, a person with psychological problems may be more likely to be interested in psychology, and thus to become a psychologist. I once knew a woman who decided to go into social work because she'd had many problems of her own in adolescence, and I doubt she was unique in that respect.
Ethicists may be similar.
Posted by: Brandon Berg at Jan 14, 2007 8:02:14 PM
I find it ironic whenever I observe university Professors who teach ethics (mostly in Marketing and Management Depts.) dismissing their lectures early on a regular basis.
These same Professors are typically the ones that misquote Milton Friedman's approach to ethics as being just to "maximize profits" (never mind that Milton Friedman's statement also makes it explicit that the pursuit of profit must be "within the rules of the game" by which he means "engaging in free and open competition" with neither "fraud" nor "deception")
Posted by: indiana jim at Jan 15, 2007 9:51:13 AM
It's nice to see that people who steal books realize they need to learn about ethics.
Posted by: Nathan at Jan 15, 2007 3:29:49 PM
Hi
Best wishes。
Allow me to offer my heartiest wishes.
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