In these essays, a diverse group of ethicists draw insights from both religious and feminist scholarship in order to propose creative new approaches to the ethics of medical care. While traditional ethics emphasizes rules, justice, and fairness, the contributors to this volume embrace an "ethics of care", which regards emotional engagement in the lives of others as basic to discerning what we ought to do on their behalf. The essays reflect on the three related themes: community, narrative, and emotion. They argue for the need to understand patients and caregivers alike as moral agents who are embedded in multiple communities, who seek to attain or promote healing partly through the medium of storytelling, and who do so by cultivating good emotional habits. A thought-provoking contribution to a field that has long been dominated by an ethics of principle, "Medicine and the Ethics of Care" will appeal to scholars and students who want to move beyond the constraints of that traditional approach.

The essays included in this volume of the JSCE are fairly typical in that they reflect issues of perennial interest to members of the Society of Christian Ethics--from concerns about poverty and violence to questions about the virtues necessary to avoid a politics of despair. For example, John Langan's essay--which is a revised version of his presidential address to the SCE--focuses on the political situation in the United States after the election of 2004. His meditation on the virtue of hope transcends this specific context and is directly relevant to several of the other essays we publish here. Although we could catalog the many connections across these essays, we leave that to our readers. Suffice it to say that thanks to the talented authors who have shared their work with us; we are delighted to bring out another rich and provocative volume.

Formerly known as "The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics", it will now bear the official title: "Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics". Instead of appearing as an annual, the Journal will appear twice a year - in the spring and in the fall. "The Journal" will continue to be an essential resource for students and faculty pursuing the latest developments in Christian and religious ethics, publishing refereed scholarly articles as well as a professional resources section on teaching and scholarship in ethics - a preeminent source for further research.

"Contents: " Maria Antonaccio, "Asceticism, Ethics, and Contemporary Culture"; John Bowlin, "Tolerance Among the Fathers"; Jennifer Herdt, "Virtue's Semblance: Erasmus and Luther on Pagan Virtue and the Christian Life"; Mary Hirschfeld, "Standard of Living and Economic Virtue: Building a Bridge Between Aquinas and the 21st Century; Jan Jans, "The Belgian Act on Euthanasia"; John Langan, "Hope in and for the United States"; Melissa Snarr, "A New Discipline? Beverly Harrison and 'Malestream' Christian Ethics"; and Linda Hogan, Edna McDonagh, Stanley Hauerwas, "The Case for the Abolition of War in the Twenty-First Century."

"Ideals and Injuries: The Denial of Difference in the Construction of Christian Family Ideals" byGloria H. Albrecht; "The Religious Dimension of Ordinary Human Emotions" by Diana Fritz Cates; "Because . . . Justifying Law/Rationalizing Ethics" byJonathan K. Crane; "Self-Interest, Deprivation, and Agency: Expanding the Capabilities Approach" by Douglas A. Hicks; "Mapping 'Whiteness'" by Alex Mikulich; "The Persistence of Injustice: Challenging Some Dominant Assumptions" by Joe Pettit; "Women, Beauty, and Justice: Moving Beyond von Balthasar" by Susan A. Ross; "Ethics, Law, Economics: Legal Regulation of Corporate Responsibility" by Jonathan Rothchild; "Touch on Trial: Power and the Right to Physical Affection" by Christina Traina; "Humanities and Atrocities" by Sumner B. Twiss; and "Humanities and Atrocities: A Response to Twiss" by Paul Lauritzen.

The study of comparative religious ethics is at a critical juncture, given the growing awareness of non-Christian ethical beliefs and practices and their bearing on social change. Christine Gudorf is at the forefront of rendering comparativeand competingreligious beliefs meaningful for students, especially in the area of ethics. Unlike other texts, Gudorf's work focuses on common, everyday issuesincluding food and diet, work, sex and marriage, proper dress, anger and violence, charity, family, and infirmity and the elderlywhile drawing out ethical implications of each and demonstrating how different religious traditions prescribe rules for action. An introductory chapter reviews standard ethical theory and core elements of comparative religious analysis. Each chapter opens with a riveting real-life case and shows how religious ethics can shed light on how to handle the larger issues, without determining for the reader what a proper ethical response might be. Helpful pedagogy, including summaries, questions, and list of readings, along with special chapter features, charts and photographs and a glossary, combine to make this new text most suitable for the wide array of courses in comparative religious ethics.

A second edition of a fresh and original case-study textbook on environmental ethics. The authors begin with an lucid overview of the field, highlighting key developments and theories in the environmental movement: utilitarianism, deontology, ecocentrism, deep ecology, pragmatism, and religion and ecology. They then present a series of fourteen narratives or cases in three sections: maintaining and managing the ecosystem; restoring and recreating the ecosystem, and ecosystem interventions aimed at innovation. Specific cases deal with such issues as using pesticides in developing countries; preserving ecosystems in Madagascar; the battle of deforestation in Java; disposing of nuclear waste in Nevada; the human cost of restoring coral reefs in Indonesia; the impact of hydropower via U.S. rivers; desertification in China; restoring degraded ecosystems in Nebraska; the legitimacy of genetically modified foods; hunting and the human presence in nature; and xenotransplantation (the transplantation of an organ, tissue or cells between different species). Each narrative is followed by a commentary section, in which the authors help students make connections between ethical theory and the circumstances of the case. This second edition features updates and revisions throughout, along with four new cases: one on water privatization, one on governmental efforts to mitigate global climate change, and two on obstacles that teachers of environmental ethics encounter in the classroom ("Why should I care?"). Also includes an appendix for teachers on using cases effectively in the classroom.