Would You Eat Your Cat? by Jeremy Stangroom

 

This book presents us with several ethical conundrums to get us to think about moral philosophy and how we see the world. The somewhat twee world of the conundrums is populated with twins Bill and Ben, the policeman Inspector Horse and special agent Zack Glower. Once you get past the awful puns and jokes the conundrums themselves are accessible enough and deal with things like torture, abortion and just punishment. Flick to the back of the book and you get the ‘responses,’ which discusses possible answers and implications, and a ‘moral barometer’, which tells you what your response can tell you about yourself. The latter frequently states the obvious and reads like a magazine quiz. The responses are incredibly limited at times and frequently rely on ‘most of us would say’ which is unsatisfactory when the book promises to ‘broaden your mind and challenge your beliefs'. Arguments are prematurely curtailed and huge chunks are ignored; in the response to ‘is it wrong to commit suicide?’ we are given a couple of weak answers and then told that none of the other arguments are ‘particularly persuasive’. If you do read this book, it's best read with other people so that you have someone to have a full discussion with; you'll learn more about yourself that way. [Anna Howatt]