Before Ethics

Beneath the manicured landscape of modern philosophy lie deeply rooted problems that continue to produce toxic fruit. The steady presence of racism, colonialism, sexism, ableism, and much more, are repeated reminders that we cannot make ethical decisions without rigorous deconstruction of the roots—the language, culture, and history we use to engage these problems.

Before Ethics is about the deep-seated assumptions and leanings that repeatedly influence the practice of ethical reasoning. Among the most dangerous of these is a passive disposition toward moral problems, a default of neutrality and innocence. Presented with a deluge of “choices” for decision-making, students hunt for the theory that affirms their prior suspicions rather than leads them to change. Through a series of excavations—of ideas, stories, cultures, practices, history, and language—this book prepares readers to think critically and deeply about the ideas they bring into ethical reasoning, and what roots might need to be ripped out.

Severson traces modern problems back to ancient origins, deconstructing the ethical leanings of Plato’s Meno, Homer’s Odyssey, the Old English poem Beowulf, the Indian classic text The Bhagavad Gita, the Jewish legend of the Golem, and dozens of other sources. For instance, the practice of American chattel slavery, and its devastating aftermath, does not appear in a vacuum—it is a manifestation of ancient ideas that are continually refashioned to support oppression in new times. The United States abolished slavery, plucking up a weed from its garden, but left in place the ideas, systems, and power structures that made slavery possible.

In seven related “digs,” Before Ethics excavates the roots of modern ethical theories alongside related moral  problems. Severson writes with urgency; there is a great cost to passive, disengaged, neutral approaches to ethics. This book does not propose a new ethical theory, but instead relentlessly insists that ethics must address the taproots of today’s suffering. This is an impatient book. It abandons passivity and neutrality, and rushes toward ethics that work against racism, against oppression, and for justice.