Ethics in Public Administration: A Philosophical Approach / Edition 1

by Patrick J. Sheeran

Overview

Ethics in Public Administration provides public administrators with a theoretical knowledge of ethical principles and a practical framework for applying them. Sheeran reviews the place of ethics in philosophy, links it to political and administrative theory and practice, and analyzes the ethical theories and concepts from which ethical principles are derived.

Before delving into ethics as part of philosophy, Sheeran provides the reader with a brief overview of philosophy and its principal subjects, including ontology, epistemology, and psychology. He offers several definitions of ethics, and discusses both the objectivist (absolutist) and interpretivist (situation ethics) perspectives. Sheeran focuses on the subject matter of ethics, human actions, and their morality, exploring Natural Law, man-made law, and conscience as sources for determining the morality of human action. In later chapters, he applies his discussion of ethics to such controversial policy issues as suicide, murder, abortion, sterilization, capital punishment, war, lying, and strikes. Recommended for graduate and upper division undergraduate courses in public administration, public policy, management, and administrative behavior.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275943110
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/30/1993
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

PATRICK J. SHEERAN holds a Doctorate in Public Administration, a Masters in International Relations from the University of Southern California. Sheeran is a former Catholic priest, and has taught various graduate courses in public administration, including ethics, at the University of Southern California, George Mason, and Shenandoah Universities. He is the author of Women, Society, the State and Abortion: A Structuralist Analysis (Praeger, 1987).

Table of Contents

Status of Ethics in Public Administration
Philosophy and Ontology as the Foundation of Ethics
Epistemology and Psychology as the Roots of Ethics
The Focus of Ethics Is Human Actions
The Morality of Human Actions
Laws, Rules, Regulations, and Conscience as Sources of Ethical Guidance
Human Rights and Duties—Duties Toward Ourselves
Duties Toward Other Human Beings
Man's Rights to Private Property
Social Ethics—The Rights and Duties of Man as a Member of Society
Conclusion