Chapman University Digital Commons

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  Of Mottos and Morals

  Mike W. Martin

  Whether in slogans, catchphrases, adages or proverbs, we encounter mottos every day, but we rarely take time to reflect on them. In Of Mottos and Morals: Simple Words for Complex Virtues, Martin explores the possibility that mottos themselves are worthy of serious thought, examining how they contribute to moral guidance and help us grapple with complexity.

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  Paradoxes of Happiness

  Mike W. Martin

  Should happiness be pursued directly and deliberately, keeping our eyes on the prize? Doing so is self-defeating, according to the paradox of happiness, for it undermines meaning and even enjoyment. Instead we should participate in activities and relationships that we find inherently meaningful, rather than solely because of the happiness we hope to find in them. Then, with any luck, happiness will come indirectly. I believe this paradox expresses an important truth, albeit by using a dollop of hyperbole. Indeed, it expresses a number of truths that are highlighted by dividing the paradox of happiness into a dozen more specific paradoxes concerning aims (hedonism, self-interest), success, freedom, and attitudes.

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  Balancing Work And Leisure

  Mike W. Martin

  What does it mean to live a balanced life, and in particular to maintain balance between work and leisure? Balance is often celebrated for its contribution to happiness. Yet happiness is also one of the main criteria for telling when lives are balanced. Other criteria include health and moral responsibility. As elsewhere, these criteria are multifaceted and sometimes conflicting in good lives.

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  Creativity: Ethics and Excellence in Science

  Mike W. Martin

  Creativity explores the moral dimensions of creativity in science in a systematic and comprehensive way. A work of applied philosophy, professional ethics, and philosophy of science, the book argues that scientific creativity often constitutes moral creativity the production of new and morally variable outcomes. At the same time, creative ambitions have a dark side that can lead to professional misconduct and harmful effects on society and the environment.

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  Adultery

  Mike W. Martin

  Sexuality has captured the imagination of thinkers since antiquity. It has inspired numerous creative works and posed myriad ethical, legal, and social challenges. Unlike other references, which discuss the biology of sex, this encyclopedia explores sexuality as the subject of philosophy. Through more than 150 alphabetically arranged entries on thinkers, topics, movements, religions, and concepts, the encyclopedia locates sexuality in its humanistic and social contexts.

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  From Morality to Mental Health: Virtue and Vice in a Therapeutic Culture

  Mike W. Martin

  In this wide-ranging, accessible book, Martin asks: are we replacing morality with therapy, in potentially confusing and dangerous ways, or are we creatively integrating morality and mental health? Martin touches on practical concerns like love, work, self-respect, self-fulfillment, guilt, depression, crime, violence, and addictions. He uses examples from popular culture as well as drawing on a line of thought that includes Plato, the Stoics, Freud, Nietzsche, and contemporary psychotherapeutic theories. In the end, Martin convincingly shows how both morality and mental health are inextricably intertwined in our pursuit of a meaningful life

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  Conflict of Interest and Physical Therapy

  Mike W. Martin and Donald L. Gabard

  'In a chapter entitled “Conflict of Interest & Physical Therapy”, authors Martin & Gabard offer a cogent definition. They write simply, “conflicts of interest are situations in which individuals have interests that significantly threaten their role responsibilities, or would do so for a typical person having their role.” Likewise, Davis describes the standard view of conflict of interest as a situation in which a person P is in a relationship requiring P to exercise some judgment on another’s behalf and P has an interest “tending to interfere with the proper exercise of that judgment”. With regard to professional conflicts of interest, both definitions suggest that the person in question is licensed to make a judgment by virtue of the individual’s professional status and that the individual is then accountable to others within and outside his/her profession for that judgment. Several authors also emphasize the importance of avoiding even the appearance of conflict of interest. In “Law’s Blindfold”, David Luban writes that the credibility of a judge’s ruling is threatened by the appearance of impropriety since “justice must not only be done but be seen to be done” lest the impartiality of the judge be questioned.'

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  Meaningful Work: Rethinking Professional Ethics

  Mike W. Martin

  As commonly understood, professional ethics consists of shared duties and episodic dilemmas--the responsibilities incumbent on all members of specific professions joined together with the dilemmas that arise when these responsibilities conflict. Martin challenges this "consensus paradigm" as he rethinks professional ethics to include personal commitments and ideals, of which many are not mandatory. Using specific examples from a wide range of professions, including medicine, law, high school teaching, journalism, engineering, and ministry, he explores how personal commitments motivate, guide, and give meaning to work.

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  Virtuous Giving: Philanthropy, Voluntary Service, and Caring

  Mike W. Martin

  Writing for the general reader, Mike Martin explores the philosophic basis of philanthropy—"virtuous giving." This book will be welcome reading for anyone who has pondered what caring and giving mean for a good society.