Casuistry and Modern Ethics : A Poetics of Practical Reasoning

Did the Gulf War defend moral principle or Western oil interests? Is violent pornography an act of free speech or an act of violence against women? In this text Richard B. Miller attempts to shed new light on the potential of casuistry case-based reasoning for resolving these and other questions of conscience raised by the practical quandaries of modern life. Rejecting the packaging of moral experience within simple descriptions and inflexible principles, Miller argues instead for identifying and making sense of the ethically salient features of individual cases. Because this practical approach must cope with a diverse array of experiences, Miller draws on a wide variety of diag nostic tools from such fields as philosophy of science, legal reasoning, and theology.