Background
Radest, Howard Bernard was born on June 29, 1928 in New York City. Son of Louis and Gussie (Permison) Radest.
( The current development of biomedical ethics is a sourc...)
The current development of biomedical ethics is a source of radical critique not only in the clinic, but also in the classroom. This volume argues that today's moral education is too abstract to be effective and would benefit from the adoption of the practical approach which is typical of biomedical ethics—thinking with cases. In presenting this approach, Radest explores various issues of moral epistemology and advocates the urgency of realism and decision in ethics. The use of a rich and complex literature drawn from biomedical ethics, pedagogy, and philosophy serves to stimulate the reader to think through the moral complexity and ambivalence of modern experience.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/027596194X/?tag=2022091-20
(The experiment in moral religion called Ethical Culture w...)
The experiment in moral religion called Ethical Culture was begun in America in the turbulent years following the Civil War. In 1876 its guiding impetus came from Felix Adler, whose quest for idealism drew to a "common ground" men and women from different walks of life, different faiths, even with different interpretations of moral religion. This diversity vitalized the movement that held as its "credo" the need to dissociate religion from myth, to evaluate changing values, and to incorporate what was worthwhile in contemporary values into the daily lives of men and women. This is an official history of Ethical Culture from its founding in 1876 up to its 75th Anniversary. Prof. Radest spent years compiling an archive of the movement's history from interviews with members who recalled the glowing early years of social reform and philosophic controversy, from letters and personal memoirs by Leaders, and from scrupulous research into the programs and policies initiated and evolved over the years. It is never dry history: a history of Ethical Culture is a history of its times. So many programs of social reform received impetus or were aided by the society - schools, settlement houses, home visits by nurses, legal aid, child-care, civil rights. Reading "Toward Common Ground" accesses persuasive evidence that the vitality of Ethical Culture is retained in its commitment to idealism as a challenge for the present and future. And the reading will be rewarding for all who are interested in American history - religious or social.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0692280073/?tag=2022091-20
(Fire, flood, earthquake, famine, pestilence, and warfare ...)
Fire, flood, earthquake, famine, pestilence, and warfare are no strangers to our experience. Once, we sought to placate the gods who brought these evils upon us. Today, clinicians, engineers, and politicians replace priests, prophets, seers, and shamans, and we―Americans in particular―think to impose our will upon the world. In times of catastrophe, issues of good and evil surrender to rapid, nearly automatic, operational response. Yet the catastrophic event poses unavoidable moral choices, ones that are more politically and emotionally complex since 9/11 and our "War on Terrorism." This book benefits from the emergence of bioethics as it has evolved from its clinical roots to address policy, politics, and social practice far removed from that origin. At the same time, the clinical focus on narratives and cases provides a tangible center for ethical reflection. It reminds us that ethics is about persons and their choices, a perspective often lost to abstraction when ethics is left to the ministrations of academe. By treating the catastrophic event as both a category and a genre, Bioethics connects to aesthetics and so enables us to enrich ethical inquiry by ranging from pandemic, hurricane, and flood to terrorist attack.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0739135279/?tag=2022091-20
(Felix Adler, founder of the Ethical Culture Societies and...)
Felix Adler, founder of the Ethical Culture Societies and of the Ethical Culture Fieldston Schools, was a social reformer and a religious radical. This book explores his proposals for the democratization of the moral ideal and the application of this concept to the reconstruction of industrial society. Challenging the moral credentials of both capitalism and socialism, he proposed a «vocational democracy» in which the talents of each human being were to be expressed in vocation, in politics, and in schooling. As a reformer, he moved freely from the world of experience to the world of ideas. As a religious radical he drew upon this dialectical move to reconstruct what he called the «spiritual» universe. Opposed to otherworldliness, it was for him an evolutionary outcome of the process of «ethicizing» experience, that is of reconstructing work, school, and politics in the light of the moral ideal. Unlike the utopians, however, he insisted that frustration and the «pains of experience» were inevitable. Although a progressive and a radical, he avoided the trap of facile optimism. He developed, therefore, an unusual integration of religious liberalism, social and educational reform, and a tragic sense of life.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0820436828/?tag=2022091-20
( Beginning with the thesis that Humanism has its roots b...)
Beginning with the thesis that Humanism has its roots both in the Enlightenment and in Transcendentalism, this book explores the consequences of taking such a point of view. Radest criticizes the desertion of Enlightenment values such as freedom, human solidarity, and rationality, as well as the failure of Humanists to understand the subjective and emotional features of their history. Out of this exploration, which is a consequence of both personal experience and philosophic analysis, Radest concludes that Humanism, and by implication, modernism are still dynamic and relevant modes of response to the problems of human beings.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275949699/?tag=2022091-20
( There is currently much confusion about the nature of h...)
There is currently much confusion about the nature of humanism and a good deal of interest in its point of view. As the object of attack and suspicion by fundamentalists, conservatives, and traditional religionists, Howard B. Radest believes that humanism deserves a clear and responsible treatment. He accomplishes this in this book by clarifying the nature of humanism in historical and current thought. The Enlightenment, Radest states, gave birth to a number of humanist values that are still being worked out in today's societies. He reconstructs how humanist values have been considered dangerous by those who fear a change in the status quo. Humanism, Radest maintains, is the true descendant of the age of reason and freedom. In this unique volume, humanism is viewed as being misunderstood by both traditionalists and the humanists themselves. Radest does not wish to disparage traditional beliefs, but he emphasizes that humanism is a legitimate philosophical, ideological, and religious alternative--a party to the current struggle for a postmodern life philosophy. The Devil and Secular Humanism examines humanism in a more comprehensive way than most current literature, and it includes an assessment of the prospects for humanism in the years ahead. It will be of great use to a literate, but nontechnical, audience who are engaged in philosophy, religion, law, and politics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/027593442X/?tag=2022091-20
( The teaching of ethics and moral values in the schools ...)
The teaching of ethics and moral values in the schools is an issue that is currently surrounded by public confusion and complaint about the failure of teachers and the teaching system. This thought provoking study examines the foundations of moral education from a philosophical and practical perspective. It analyzes some of the typical expectations that cannot be met in the present day approach, and recommends that the teaching of ethics be treated with 'theater' as the metaphor, dialogue as the genre, and Socrates as the model. Seen as a necessary and unavoidable classroom activity, moral education is presented from a humanist point of view, with emphasis on the developmental approach of Jean Piaget and his followers, while pointing out the limitations of psychological methods. The author's introduction provides a fascinating overview of the realistic concept that the philosopher's world and the school's world must come together; that moral education needs its own space, faculty and curriculum, and cannot be implemented as an extra or added-on program. In the search for clarification of a relevant approach to the teaching of ethics Howard Radest points out that there can be no clear distinct answer of final wisdom on the subject, and that discussion must go on continually. The findings of research studies are blended with the practice of bringing ethical reasoning to the classroom, and a five-level curriculum is outlined in which moral education is introduced without religious prescription, and which allows administrators to think about ethics in education in a pluralistic society. An important work on a subject of continuing significance today, this study will be welcomed by parents, teachers, administrators and religious leaders.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275928578/?tag=2022091-20
( Radest reviews the history and present practice of comm...)
Radest reviews the history and present practice of community service in the United States. While appreciative of the genuine contributions of community service programs to the development of schools and society, the author believes that hidden behind good intentions and willing energies there is a strain of ambivalence that cannot be ignored (such as when a citizen is sentenced by the court to perform a number of hours of community service). He analyzes philosophically and psychologically this ambivalence, employing his experience in the field, his observations of school and community-based programs around the country, as well as his point of view as an educator and social critic.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275941868/?tag=2022091-20
Radest, Howard Bernard was born on June 29, 1928 in New York City. Son of Louis and Gussie (Permison) Radest.
Bachelor of Arts, Columbia University, 1949; Doctor of Philosophy, Columbia University, 1971; Master of Arts (Hillman fellow 1950), New School Social Research, 1951.
Director youth activities New York Society Ethical Culture, 1955-1956. Leader Ethical Culture Society Bergen County, Teaneck, New Jersey, 1956-1964, Ethical Culture Movement, since 1956. Member Council Ethical Leaders, since 1958.
Executive director American Ethical Union, New York City, 1964-1970. Associate professor philosophy Ramapo College, New Jersey, 1971-1973, professor, 1973-1979. Director Ethical Culture Schools, 1979-1991.
Adjunct professor philosophy University South Carolina, Beaufort, 1991—2008. Co-chairman, secretary general International Humanist and Ethical Union, 1970-1986, board trustees, 1986-1997. Associate American Civilization Seminar Columbia University, chairman moral education seminar, 1983-1991.
Advisory board NBC, 1988-1994. Director Camp Elliott, Jeffersonville, New York, 1963, 64. Dean Humanist Institute, 1982-1992.
Dean emeritus; consultant state based programs National Endowment of the Humanities, co-chair ethics committee, Beaufort Memorial Hospital, 1994-1997, chair ethics committee, Hilton Head Hospital, 1994—2008. Member assessment committee Volunteers in Medicine, 1994-1997. Advisory council Human Services Program University South Carolina, 2005—2008.
Consultant Center Public Health Preparedness, South Carolina.
( The teaching of ethics and moral values in the schools ...)
(Beginning with the thesis that Humanism has its roots bot...)
( Beginning with the thesis that Humanism has its roots b...)
(Felix Adler, founder of the Ethical Culture Societies and...)
( The current development of biomedical ethics is a sourc...)
(The experiment in moral religion called Ethical Culture w...)
( There is currently much confusion about the nature of h...)
(Fire, flood, earthquake, famine, pestilence, and warfare ...)
( Radest reviews the history and present practice of comm...)
(')
Member board Encampment for Citizenship, 1963-1971, Mental Health Association Bergen County, Bergen Company Mental Health Board, 1964-1967, Association Moral Education, 1986-1994. Member board past treasurer, vice president New Jersey Welfare Conference, 1958-1964. Member board, past president Health and Welfare Council Bergen County, 1956-1964.
Board managers Bergen Pines County Hospital, 1966-1970. Mem.Bergen County (New Jersey) Democratic Committee, 1970-1971. Member human services leadership council Beaufort County Alliance, 2003—2008.
Served with Army of the United States, 1953-1955. Member American Association of University Professors (treasurer New Jersey council 1973-1974), Committee Sane Nuclear Policy (sponsor New Jersey), American Association United Nations, American Philosophical Association, Society Advancement American Philosophy, North America Committee Humanism (trustee since 1985), South Carolina Philosophical Association, Graduate Faculties Alumni Columbia University (trustee 1989-1991), Network Progressive Educators (steering committee 1988-1991), Highlands Institute for American Religious Thought, South Carolina Medical Association, (ethics committee, 1997—2008), Phi Beta Kappa. Fellow: Ctr.Inquiry (chair, board trustees, ethical community charter school since 2008).
Married Rita Stollman, December 22, 1951. Children: Robert, Michael.