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Chapter 1: Ethics and Ethical
Reasoning

Why Study Ethics?
 There are differing views of moral rights and wrongs
 Matters are not always easy to judge

What is Ethics?
 The set of values or principles held by individuals or
groups
 A study of the various sets of values that people do have
 Ethics is a branch of philosophy; moral philosophy
 Normative Ethics
 Metaethics
 Philosophical questions can be asked about many
subjects

Ethics and Religion
Chapter 1 continued

Ethics and Religion
 Ethics and religious grounding
 Religion as a motivation for morality

Ethical and Other Types of
Evaluation
Descriptive judgments
Normative judgments
Differences between the two

Ethical Terms
Right/Wrong
Good/Bad
Ought/Ought not
Chapter 1 continued

Ethics and Reasons
Rational or Emotional
Inituitionism or emotive

Ethical Reasoning and Arguments
Reasons
Conclusions
Premises

Evaluating and Making Good Arguments
Soundness
Value assumptions
Conceptual matters
Factual assertions
Chapter 1 continued
The connection of Ethical Theory,
Ethical Principles, and Ethical
Judgments
 Can Ethics Be Taught?

 A matter of knowledge
 A matter of motivation
Chapter 1 continued

Plato’s Euthyphro
◦ The First Definition of Piety
◦ The Second Definition of Piety
◦ Is the pious holy because it is loved
by the gods or is it loved by the
gods because it is holy?
Chapter 1 continued

Stevenson - The Emotive Meaning of
Ethical Terms
◦ How can ethical questions be made clear?
- The question of relevance
- The question of goodness
◦ The Traditional Interest theories
- Ethical terms are instruments
- Emotive meaning and the dynamic use
of words