I

ntr
oduct
iont
oGener
alEt
hicsandEt
hical
Val
ues

Et
hicscov
erst
hef
oll
owi
ngdi
l
emmas:

howt
oli
veagoodl
i
fe

ourr
ight
sandr
esponsi
bil
i
ties

t
hel
anguageofr
ightandwr
ong

mor
aldeci
sions-whati
sgoodandbad?

Appr
oachest
oet
hics

Meta-
ethi
csdeal
swit
hthenatureofmor alj
udgement
.Itl
ooksatt
he
or
igi
nsandmeaningofet
hicalpr
inci
ples.

Nor
mat i
veethi
csi
sconcer
nedwit
hthecont
entofmor
alj
udgement
sand
t
hecri
teri
aforwhati
sri
ghtorwr
ong.

Appl
iedethi
cslooksatcont
rov
ersi
alt
opi
csl
i
kewar
,ani
mal
right
sand
capi
talpuni
shment

Mor
alr
eal
i
sm

"
Iti
swr
ongt
omur
der
"

Moralreal
ism i
sbasedontheideathatt
her
earerealobj
ect
ivemor
alf
act
s
ortr
uthsintheuniv
erse.Mor
alstat
ementsprov
idefact
uali
nfor
mat
ion
aboutthosetr
uths.

Fouret
hical
'i
sms'
Subj
ect
ivi
sm

"
Idi
sappr
oveofmur
der
"

teachesthatmor al
judgmentsarenothi
ngmor ethanstat
ementsofa
person'
sf eel
ingsoratt
it
udes,andthatet
hical
statementsdonotcont
ain
factual
truthsaboutgoodnessorbadness.

Whenaper
sonsay
s"mur
deri
sbad"whatar
etheydoi
ng?

That'
sthesortofquest
ionthatonlyaphi
losopherwoul
dask,
buti
t'
s
actual
lyaver
yusefulwayofget t
ingacl
earideaofwhat'
sgoi
ngonwhen
peopletal
kaboutmoralissues.

Ar
eet
hical
stat
ement
sobj
ect
ivel
ytr
ue?

Emot
ivi
sm

"
Downwi
thmur
der
"

theethi
calproper
ti
esoft
heworldandthethi
ngsinitexistandr
emaint
he
same, r
egardl
essofwhatpeopl
ethi
nkorfeel-orwhetherpeopl
ethi
nkor
feel
aboutthem atall
.

i
sthevi
ewthatmor
alcl
aimsar
enomor
ethanexpr
essi
onsofappr
oval
or
di
sappr
oval
.
Thissoundslikesubj
ect
ivi
sm,butinemoti
vi
sm amor al
stat
ementdoesn'
t
provi
dei nf
ormati
onaboutthespeaker
'sf
eel
ingsaboutt
hetopi
cbut
expressesthosefeel
i
ngs.

Pr
escr
ipt
ivi
sm

"
Don'
tmur
derpeopl
e"

Whati
sEt
hics

God-
basedet
hics-super
nat
ural
i
sm

Prescr
ipt
ivi
ststhi
nkthatet
hical
stat
ement
sar
einst
ruct
ionsor
recommendat i
ons.

SoifIsaysomethi
ngi
sgood,
I'
mrecommendi
ngy
out
odoi
t,andi
fIsay
somethingi
sbad,I
'mt
ell
i
ngyounott
odoit
.

Super
nat
ural
i
sm makesethicsi
nsepar
abl
efr
om r
eli
gion.I
tteachest
hatt
he
onl
ysour
ceofmoralr
ulesisGod.

So,somet
hingi
sgoodbecauseGodsay
siti
s,andt
hewayt
oleadagood
l
if
eistodowhatGodwants.

I
ntui
ti
oni
sm

I
ntui
ti
onist
sthi
nkthatgoodandbadarer
ealobj
ect
ivepr
oper
ti
esthatcan'
t
bebrokendownint
ocomponentpart
s.Somethi
ngi
sgoodbecauseit
's
good;
itsgoodnessdoesn'
tneedj
ust
if
yingorpr
ovi
ng.

Wher
edoeset
hicscomef
rom?

Consequent
ial
i
sm

Thisistheethicalt
heor
yt hatmostnon-
rel
igi
ouspeoplet
hinkt
heyuse
everyday.Itbasesmorali
tyontheconsequencesofhumanacti
onsandnot
ontheactionst hemsel
ves.

Consequent
ial
i
sm teachest
hatpeopleshoul
ddowhat
everpr
oducest
he
gr
eatestamountofgoodconsequences.

Onefamouswayofput
ti
ngt
hisi
s't
hegr
eat
estgoodf
ort
hegr
eat
est
numberofpeopl
e'
.

Godandr
eli
gion

Humanconsci
enceandi
ntui
ti
on

ar
ati
onal
mor
alcost
-benef
itanal
ysi
sofact
ionsandt
hei
ref
fect
s

t
heexampl
eofgoodhumanbei
ngs

adesi
ref
ort
hebestf
orpeopl
eineachuni
quesi
tuat
ion

pol
i
tical
power

Non-
consequent
ial
i
sm ordeont
ologi
cal
ethi
cs

Non-consequenti
ali
sm i
sconcer
nedwit
htheacti
onsthemsel
vesandnot
wi
tht heconsequences.I
t'
sthet
heor
ythatpeopl
eareusi
ngwhentheyref
er
t
o"thepr i
nci
pleofthethi
ng".
Itt
eachesthatsomeact sareri
ghtorwr
onginthemsel
ves,
what
evert
he
consequences,andpeopleshoul
dactaccor
dingl
y.

Whatusei
set
hics?

Vi
rt
ueet
hics

Vir
tueet
hicslooksatv i
rt
ueormoralcharacter
,rat
herthanatethicaldut
ies
andrul
es,ortheconsequencesofacti
ons-indeedsomephi losophersof
thi
sschooldenythattherecanbesuchthingsasuniversal
ethicalrul
es.

Toputitver
ysimply,v
irt
ueethicsteachest
hatanact
ioni
srightifandonly
i
fiti
sanactionthatav i
rt
uouspersonwoulddointhesamecircumstances,
andthatavi
rtuouspersonissomeonewhohasapar ti
cul
arl
ygood
char
acter
.

Et
hicscanpr
ovi
deamor
almap

Et
hicscanpi
npoi
ntadi
sagr
eement

Et
hicsdoesn'
tgi
ver
ightanswer
s

Et
hicscangi
vesev
eral
answer
s

Si
tuat
ionet
hics

Sit
uati
onethi
csrej
ect
spr
escri
pti
verul
esandarguest
hatindi
vi
dual
ethi
cal
decisi
onsshoul
dbemadeaccordi
ngtotheuni
quesit
uat
ion.

Rat
hert
hanf
oll
owi
ngr
ulest
hedeci
sionmakershoul
dfol
l
owadesi
ret
o
seekthebestf
orthepeopl
einv
olv
ed.Ther
earenomoral
rul
esorr
ight
s-
eachcaseisuni
queanddeserv
esauniquesol
uti
on.

Et
hicsandi
deol
ogy

Somephi l
osophersteachthatethi
csi
st hecodif
icat
ionofpol
it
ical
ideology
,
andthatthefuncti
onofethicsistost
ate,enf
orceandpreserv
eparticul
ar
pol
it
icalbel
iefs.

Theyusuall
ygoontosaythatet
hicsi
susedbyt
hedomi
nantpol
i
tical
eli
te
asatooltocont
rol
every
oneelse.