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I think what this book demonstrates is that a certain kind of common sense isn't sense at all, but rather a cynical tyranny of half-truths. It is disingenuous, in that it attempts to borrow the prestige of technical language exactly while also writing in a register of humor, so that any attempt to see past it would provoke the guard reflect of not being in on the joke. Another frequently-used convention is to use upper-case words to make conceptual entities seem justified, well-known, and cohesive, while offering no definition or justification of those entities as common phenomena. For example, I could call it Sophistical Trickery to make such a move, but I really don't mean anything more than sophistical trickery no matter how much the emphasis seems to imply. However, beyond the matter of style, there is what this little book of systems ethics forgot: what it is good to do, given the state of living within systems.

Such is the dogmatism of this volume that I fear this negative review might cause partisans to label me as some kind of "systems thinker" or "change agent", for which the book spares no tar. What I am an apologist for is straightforward speaking, careful scholarship, and thoughtful analysis. The great tragedy of this book is that in spreading the tar around it covers good intuitions with bad argument.

There are good intuitions; I might say that there is a lot of half-truth to be found here, and in particular the last sections, which suggest guidelines, are useful. Here is what is useful to know about this book: don't build systems, but instead solve the problems you encounter directly. I think this is right, but let me say something further: don't be afraid to build frameworks, to build guidelines, to build processes, to nonetheless undertake design and undertake it creatively. You should resolve the matters in front of you as straightforwardly and conclusively as possible, but with all of the preparation, care, and design you think is truly appropriate to the task.

The author notes that everything is a system, and all systems attempt to preserve themselves: therefore, we are systems and our obligation is our own care. We are within a profusion of systems, so it is for us to preserve the practices that demonstrate their capacity to care for us, and don't just do things because they are there to do, but because they genuinely promote flourishing as we see it.