A question of ethics.

How do we begin an authentic ethical search? Where do we look for answers? Who will help us in our search? There does not appear to be any way of finding answers to such questions. And yet, when faced with ethical crises, we often look for answers in the form of prefabricated solutions. We rely on the teaching of others, usually from the past, to inform us with their own wisdom. We look to the great moral philosophers like Plato and Kant, or refer our questions to the teaching of a higher Being. We examine the past decisions of political leaders, or perhaps even those of our own parents and grandparents. Referring our own dilemmas to the teaching and wisdom of others, although certainly understandable, never proves to be ad­ equate. Despite a wealth of resources surrounding the issues of ethica 1 and moral life, our current age is one that has experienced not a decline, but a resu~gence of ethical crises. Although it is beyond the scope of this essay to provide solutions for all of these, what I hope to do here is redirect our inquiry of ethical life toward a new path that will take a fresh approach to some of our most critical ethical dilemmas, particularly those surrounding questions of difference in culture and identity in the modern world. My approach, while certainly theoretical, is intended to inform our practical concerns. The encounter with ethics that I propose presents enormous risk and many challenges. Yet it is only through engaging such a question