Chapter One:

Ethics and the Examined Life

 Ethics

• Also called ‘moral philosophy’

• Is the philosophical study of morality
 Morality
• Beliefs concerning right and wrong
• These beliefs can include:
- judgments

- values

- rules

- principles

- theories
What does ‘doing ethics’ mean?

• Deliberating about the rightness or

wrongness of actions
• Examining the soundness of your (and
other people’s) moral outlook
• Questioning whether your moral decision-
making rests on coherent supporting
considerations
The domain of ethics
•Normative Ethics
- the study of the principles, rules, or theories
that guide our actions

- its purpose is to establish the soundness of

moral norms

- Considers questions such as “Is happiness the

greatest good in life?” or “Should the
rightness of actions be judged by their
consequences?”
 The domain of ethics
•Metaethics
- the study of the meaning and logical
structure of moral beliefs
- the purpose is to question all of the
assumptions that inform normative ethics
- considers questions such as “On what
grounds can a moral principle be
justified?” or “Is there such a thing as
moral truth?”
The domain of ethics
•Applied Ethics
- the application of moral norms to specific moral
issues or cases

- the purpose is to learn something important about

the moral characteristics of specific situations,
and about the adequacy of moral norms to
address those specific situations

- considers questions such as “Is physician-assisted

suicide morally permissible?” or “Is the
consumption of animal flesh morally wrong?”
The Elements of Ethics
• The Preeminence of Reason: doing ethics involves, even
requires, critical reasoning

• The Universal Perspective: doing ethics requires that

moral norms and judgments follow the principle of
universalizability--the idea that a moral statement that
applies in one situation must apply in all other situations
that are relevantly similar

• The Principle of Impartiality: when doing ethics, the

welfare and interests of each individual should be given
the same weight as all others

• The Dominance of Moral Norms: When moral principles

or values conflict in some way with nonmoral norms or
values, moral considerations override the others
 Religion and Morality

Whatever your views on religion and morality, an open-

minded approach to doing ethics is more useful and
empowering than you realize.
 Religion and Morality
Believers need moral reasoning.
Most religious commandments and edicts on ethical
issues are at best ambiguous, and at times contradictory.
Only by doing ethics--thinking critically about the
situation--can religious believers interpret religious
directives and try to apply general rules to specific
cases.
 Religion and Morality
When conflicts arise, ethics steps in.
Adherents of one religion may disagree with adherents
of another religion about an ethical issue. Believers
within a religious tradition may disagree with one
another, too. Intelligent resolution of the conflict of
moral claims can be achieved only by applying a neutral
standard. Moral philosophy--the practice of doing
ethics--provides that neutral standard.
 Religion and Morality
Ethics enables productive discourse.
Only with a common set of agreed-upon procedures for
deciding issues and making judgments can people from
different religious traditions (or people from no religious
tradition) talk fruitfully about moral issues. Ethics
provides these procedures. When doing ethics:

1. moral positions should be explained

2. claims should be supported by reasons
3. reasoning should be judged by common
standards