The Moral Sense

By: James Q. Wilson

Narrated by: Nadia May

Wilson admits in the preface of his book that "virtue has acquired a bad name". However, people make some kind of reference to morality whenever they discuss whether or not someone is nice, dependable, or decent; whether they have a good character; and the aspects of friendship, loyalty, and moderation that are all informed by morality. Although we may disguise this language of morality as a language of personality, it is, in Wilson's words, "the language of virtue and vice" which he uncovers in his book. He goes on to say, "This book is an effort to clarify what ordinary people mean when they speak of their moral feelings and to explain, insofar as one can, the origins of those feelings."©1993 James Q. Wilson (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Lucid, elegant, magisterial." (Publishers Weekly)
"Utterly intriguing....A refreshing and timely work." (Kirkus Reviews)

It's OK - Not the Greatest Ever

Mildly interesting if you enjoy moral philosophy and behavioral science.

I was disappointed that the author threw out some tired old canards about male nature being useful in prehistoric times but an impediment in today's society while implying that women are - by nature - sugar and spice and everything nice. It seemed to be a cherry-picked and unbalanced perspective.

The presenter was very good and pleasant to listen to even for long stretches.

Moral….According to who?

A Moral Sense is a great listen for people that see the world through common sense, notice hypocrisy, question authority and question those that enforce values against our own self interest.
This book leaves the reader with more questions than answers on the topic of morality and self governance.
James Q. Wilson holds out an olive branch of interesting theories and topics a student or writer may write a philosophical or argumentative paper on.
It left me feeling that there are an infinite number of ideals and systems to govern oneself and influence others. The examples the author uses brilliantly illustrate the difficulties society faces when trying to organize and aligned them with the right time, place and people. Most often through a lifetime of conditioning, social engineering or force.
The narrator was a little too British and gave the presentation as an ol’ school, mean and temperamental teacher voice.
Fun fact: The author served in government, enjoyed scuba diving and wrote a popular book in the 60’s called, Negro Politics.

very interesting, too long for audio format

it's a very important subject and the author presents lots of perspectives on the issue; it's just hard to follow the detail just listening

Good Book Poor Reader

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, this is a book that is excellent and needs to be contemplated. The reader sounds like she is on speed. Her words are so fast, you cannot absorb the ideas before she is three more points down the road. I had to stop after two chapters and download it to my Kindle so I could think about what he was saying. Somebody get her off her Caffeine

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Nadia May?

Any one who was not just reading words as fast as possible, but thinking about what they were reading

Any additional comments?

I am sad that the reader made this wonderful book impossible for me to listen on audio.

Disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I've read some of Wilson's works, especailly reltated to politics, and have been impressed. I thought this book would take a global view and offer insights into large issues of today. Instead it discusses child development in various cultures. While the examples may be interesting, from an anthropological perspective, I would have liked to see some explicit connection about how adults make decisions. It never brings it into a larger (mature) context of how we act under various situations. I had a hard time understanding the reader. Her voice reminds me of a victorian school marm with an upper-crust English accent. After a while it sounded like chalk acratching on a board.I particuarly didn't like the use of the personal pronoun (as in "I") since Wilson is a man.

Would you ever listen to anything by James Q. Wilson again?

Likely, but I will carefully pay attention to the synopsis. I will not listen to him with the same reader.

Would you be willing to try another one of Nadia May’s performances?

Never!

Did The Moral Sense inspire you to do anything?

No. unless I can figure out how to return to my childhood.