Democracy and Social Ethics by Jane Addams

It is well to remind ourselves, from time to time, that “Ethics” is but another word for “righteousness,” that for which many men and women of every generation have hungered and thirsted, and without which life becomes meaningless. Certain forms of personal righteousness have become to a majority of the community almost automatic. But we all know that each generation has its own test, the contemporaneous and current standard by which alone it can adequately judge of its own moral achievements. To attain individual morality in an age demanding social morality, to pride one’s self on the results of personal effort when the time demands social adjustment, is utterly to fail to apprehend the situation. This book is a study of various types and groups who are being impelled by the newer conception of Democracy to an acceptance of social obligations involving in each instance a new line of conduct.
Jane Addams (1860-1935), known as the “mother” of social work, was a pioneer American settlement activist, public philosopher, sociologist, protestor, author, and leader in women’s suffrage and world peace. In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States.
Contents:
Democracy and Social Ethics
Charitable Effort
Filial Relations
Household Adjustment
Industrial Amelioration
Educational Methods
Political Reform
Why Women Should Vote
Belated Industry