Prisons systematically dehumanise the imprisoned. Visualised through mugshots and surveillance recordings, the incarcerated lose control of their own image and identity. The criminal justice system in the United States does not only carry out so-called justice in ways that compound inequality, it also minimises the possibility for empathetic encounters with those who are most marginalised. It is therefore urgent to understand how prisoners are portrayed by the carceral state and how this might be countered or recuperated. How can understanding the visual representation of prisoners help us confront the invisible forms of power in the American prison system? Ethical Portraits investigates the representation of the incarcerated in the United States criminal justice system, and the state’s failure to represent those incarcerated humanely. Through wide-ranging interviews and creative nonfiction, Hatty Nestor deconstructs the different roles of prison portraiture, such as in courtroom sketches, DNA profiling, and the incarceration of Chelsea Manning.

Throughout Germany’s tumultuous twentieth century, photography was an indispensable form of documentation. Whether acting as artists, witnesses, or reformers, both professional and amateur photographers chronicled social worlds through successive periods of radical upheaval. The Ethics of Seeing brings together an international group of scholars to explore the complex relationship between the visual and the historic in German history. Emphasizing the transformation of the visual arena and the ways in which ordinary people made sense of world events, these revealing case studies illustrate photography’s multilayered role as a new form of representation, a means to subjective experience, and a fresh mode of narrating the past.

This book investigates the historical evolution of 'humanitarian photography' - the mobilization of photography in the service of humanitarian initiatives across state boundaries.

How are we to see the Old Testament's characters--typically a tangle of both virtue and vice--as models for our own ethical living? It is clear that Scripture intends for us to embody some qualities while eschewing others, and at times these are immediately obvious: David's wholehearted pursuit of God is admirable, while his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah are deplorable. But more often than not we are left with shades of gray, not really knowing whether the narrator approves, disapproves, or is indifferent to the behavior of these characters. The present work seeks to address this issue, situating itself at the fault line of the problem: character portrayal. It argues that often what we take to be the narrator's silence about a character is not silence at all; rather, the narrator is simply speaking in ways that we are not attuned to. By becoming attuned to the voice of biblical narrative and by understanding its role in ethics, therefore, we are better able to understand the characters as resources for our own ethics. This work develops its ideas by leveraging pertinent literary and ethical models, which are then trained upon a particular case in point: the Gideon account in Judges 6-8.

Alice Crary offers a transformative account of moral thought about human beings and animals. Instead of assuming that the world places no demands on our moral imagination, she underscores the urgency of treating the exercise of moral imagination as necessary for arriving at an adequate world-guided understanding of human beings and animals.

What is God like? Answering this is the great quest of human existence. Because God is so different from us, we struggle to describe him. While doctrinal statements about God certainly have their place in Christian understanding, the Bible more often uses God's actions and roles to help us know him better. Indeed, some of the most helpful insights in Scripture arise when God is compared to something else: a rock, an eagle or a tower. And many "human" metaphors--metaphors taken from the world of actions and relationships--bring us even closer to understanding of God. In Portraits of God, Allan Coppedge suggests we look carefully at God as our Father, Redeemer, King, Judge, Priest and Creator. These portraits taken together give us an understaning of the Holy One for which no single category is adequate. These images work their way through the whole of Scripture. They are the doorway allowing us into the mysteries of God's very being. In Portraits of God, Coppedge offers a comprehensive survey, picturing a God who wants to be known personally and who has profoundly communicated himself. Coppedge finds the inexhaustible nature of God to be one of holiness reflected in and best described by the language of diverse roles. Approaching God in this way transforms us, as churches and individuals, to reflect God's own holy character. This is a book for students, pastors and churchgoers alike. Anyone desiring to know more deeply and wholly the Christian God revealed in the Bible will find in Portraits of God a treasure of scholarship and truth.

Tom Cooper combines the power of storytelling with analytical insight to help all of us - whether we are students, teachers or just curious readers - think more clearly about what it takes to make the best ethical decisions we can, even under difficult circumstances. A fascinating and inspiring read. Tamar Schapiro, Professor of Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tom Cooper's portraits of courage, an eclectic compendium of stories of leaders who faced monumentally difficult moral choices, remind us of the importance of the interplay of philosophy and history: Philosophical abstractions mean little outside the context of their application. Spanning 25 centuries, from Queen Esther and Socrates to Rachel Carson and John F. Kennedy, Doing the Right Thing takes 12 "ethics exemplars" and with grace and clarity -- and considerable insight -- transforms them into an original and compelling account of what it takes to "open your mind" and "open your heart." Theodore L. Glasser Professor of Communication, Stanford University Moral courage of people in power is never irrelevant. But if ever there was a time in which it was so searingly relevant it surely is today. And Tom Cooper is the perfect chronicler to bring this to our rational attention, via a series of twelve portraits of great ethical movers of history. Deeply researched, keenly reasoned, colorfully written with memorable detail, Cooper's book will, with any luck, inspire and guide great moral leaders in our time and well into the future." Paul Levinson, Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University I regard Tom Cooper as one of the world's leading contemporary communication ethics specialists. This, his latest book, carries all the passion, theoretical richness, and original insights which I associate with his work overall. Richard Lance Keeble, Professor of Journalism, University of Lincoln and Liverpool Hope University This profound book teaches moral philosophy with ingenuity. Its stunning transformation of moral philosophy into public discourse is historic. Doing the Right Thing has the promise of becoming a twenty-first century classic. Clifford Christians, Research Professor of Communication, University of Illinois