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The following pages present the substance of a course of twelve lectures on Democracy and Social Ethics which have been delivered at various colleges and university extension centres. In putting them into the form of a book, no attempt has been made to change the somewhat informal style used in speaking. The we and us which originally referred to the speaker and her audience are merely extended to possible readers. 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. It is as easy for most of us to keep from stealing our dinners as it is to digest them, and there is quite as much voluntary morality involved in one process as in the other. To steal would be for us to fall sadly below the standard of habit and expectation which makes virtue easy. In the same way we have been carefully reared to a sense of family obligation, to be kindly and considerate to the members of our own households, and to feel responsible for their well-being. As the rules of conduct have become established in regard to our self-development and our families, so they have been in regard to limited circles of friends. If the fulfilment of these claims were all that a righteous life required, the hunger and thirst would be stilled for many good men and women, and the clew of right living would lie easily in their hands.

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9781989743256

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Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 - May 28, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, [1][2] sociologist, [3] public administrator[4][5] and author. She was a notable figure in the history of social work and women's suffrage in the United States and an advocate for world peace.[6] She co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses. In 1910, Addams was awarded an honorary master of arts degree from Yale University, becoming the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the school.[7] In 1920, she was a co-founder for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).[8] 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.[9] Maurice Hamington considered her a radical pragmatist and the first woman public philosopher in the United States.[10] When Addams died in 1935, she was the best-known female public figure in the United States.[11] In the Progressive Era, when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers.[12] She helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. In her essay Utilization of Women in City Government, Addams noted the connection between the workings of government and the household, stating that many departments of government, such as sanitation and the schooling of children, could be traced back to traditional women's roles in the private sphere. Thus, these were matters of which women would have more knowledge than men, so women needed the vote to best voice their opinions.[13] She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed to be able to vote to do so effectively. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities.

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