This volume is one of four in the Pocket Dictionary Series and belongs on the shelf of teachers and preachers. Others would likewise benefit from them. The books are brief but unusually accurate, affordable, and easy to use. This volume contains over 300 terms and ideas under the general topic of ethics.

The IVP publishers state, “Not only does it take you where your desktop dictionary was not designed to go, it doubles as a basic A-to-Z survey or refresher course in ethics.” They are right on target. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading through some of the definitions of things such as: advertising ethics, birth control, cybernetics, dialectic ethics, disarmament, employment, homosexuality, health care, and I could go on and on with other topics.

There is a wide range of topics including some on the more philosophical technical side such as deontological ethics or Kant’s moral arguments to situation ethics. There are also more practical topics such as sin and shame, legalism, hospitality, Human Genome Project, copyright and a host of other topics.

The definitions are concise yet with enough content to get the main idea of each term. The authors reference other related topics that can add to one’s understanding of the concept or idea. I have selected an example of how a term or concept is defined to illustrate the value of this book. I participated in a study on the following topic for over a year: “test tube babies…A popular designation for children produced by the ‘reproductive technologies’ of ‘in vitro fertilization’ and embryonic transfer. In these processes, egg and sperm are combined in the laboratory to produce a human ‘zygote, which is then transplanted to a host womb for development.’” That is a concise, descriptive, and reliable description.

Businessmen, teachers, ministers, students would particularly benefit from having this quick pocket guide. The other three books in the series deal with philosophy and apologetics, biblical studies, and church history.

-Charles Dunahoo

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