Ethics and Time attempts to locate ethical thinking within the response
to the questions raised by temporal orientation. Time is the matrix and
Moloch of social life and, for the purpose of this book, the starting
point for ethical reflection. Nimi Wariboko boldly attempts to
reconceptualize temporal orientation and begin a new discussion of time
and ethics, using the creative synthesis of ethology, political
philosophy, sociological, and intercultural perspectives. Most academic
discourse contextualizes temporal orientation in terms of either "times
of origin" and time preference. Wariboko identifies a third option,
developing the theory and methodology that render it an object of
ethical analysis and liberatory thought. He suggests that temporal
orientation is the production of new temporalities that allow humans to
manifest their potentialities and creatively resist obstacles that
impede their thriving. Wariboko liberates the notion and habit of
temporal orientation from excessive concern with conservatism and
utilitarianism, showing how ethicists can use the theory of temporal
orientation to question all present temporal conditions in the name of
freedom.