The ninth edition of The Moral of the Story represents 25 years of editions, with the publication year of the first being 1994. It has been a humbling experience for me to contemplate the fact that I have been privileged to teach as well as write about issues that have concerned us for over a quarter of a century-some issues reflecting the changing times and others being timeless discussions about moral issues rooted in our common human nature.

Do the rich descriptions and narrative shapings of literature provide a valuable resource for readers, writers, philosophers, and everyday people to imagine and confront the ultimate questions of life? Do the human activities of storytelling and complex moral decision-making have a deep connection? What are the moral responsibilities of the artist, critic, and reader? What can religious perspectives—from Catholic to Protestant to Mormon—contribute to literary criticism? Thirty well known contributors reflect on these questions, including iterary theorists Marshall Gregory, James Phelan, (...) and Wayne Booth; philosophers Martha Nussbaum, Richard Hart, and Nina Rosenstand; and authors John Updike, Charles Johnson, Flannery O'Connor, and Bernard Malamud. Divided into four sections, with introductory matter and questions for discussion, this accessible anthology represents the most crucial work today exploring the interdisciplinary connections between literature, religion and philosophy. (shrink)

Within the body of Star Trek television series and movies, the concept of personhood stands out in one particular episode that may just be the best episode ever. Its title, “The Measure of a Man”, evokes the famous saying by Greek pre‐Socratic philosopher Protagoras, who claimed, “Man is the measure of all things”. The moral personhood of both Pinocchio and Data really comes from within rather than because of a legal decision: they both learn to be brave, truthful and unselfish, (...) and with conscience as their guide, a moral measure of a human. Immanuel Kant suggests that a truly moral action is one based on a principle that one can frame as a universal moral principle for everyone to follow, every truly moral action implies a duty. Kant anticipated Data's situation, arguing that any rational being should be treated as an end in himself or herself. (shrink)