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English 12P: Writing about Ethics
Writing Effective Sentences
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Be concise.
Eliminate redundant words, such as the expression large in size or near in time,
and avoid valueless modifiers, such as very, just, really, and actually.
Use the simplest sentence structure possible, and place sentence elements in
proper syntactic order—subject, then verb, and then object. Use occasional
inversion for emphasis.
Emphasize important ideas by placing them at the beginning or end of a sentence.
In a list of three or more grammatical structures, place the most important item
last.
Coordinate related independent clauses using a comma and a conjunction or a
semicolon. The correct coordinating conjunction—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so—
indicates the relationship between the clauses. Only use a semicolon as a
conjunction when the two clauses have an equivalent relationship. You may,
alternatively, use a semicolon with a subordinating conjunction and a comma to
clarify a relationship; however, this construction should be used sparingly.
Use subordinating constructions to distinguish the relationship between main
ideas and elaborating or modifying details. Since dependent clauses cannot
function separately, they should not contain the most important ideas in a
sentence.
Comparative elements within a sentence should be constructed in parallel
arrangements, particularly infinitives, prepositions, and articles.
Items in a series should be stated in parallel grammatical terms: all prepositional
phrases, all adjectives, all nouns, or all verb phrases.
Correlative conjunctions must always be used in pairs. Refer to the following list:
either…or, both…and, neither…nor, not…but, not only…but also, just as…so, and
whether…or.
Use a variety of sentence forms and sentence lengths. Vary between simple,
complex, compound, and complex forms, and intersperse long, grammatically
complex sentences with brief, direct sentences. Short sentences can be used for
emphasis.
As often as reasonably possible, use active verbs. Linking verbs—am, is, are, was,
and were—convey no sense of relationship between ideas. But they are
sometimes necessary. Develop a habit of marking them during proofreading and
considering ways to rephrase the sentence with an active verb.
Exercise
Mill and Kant have one thing in common with each other, they both believe in the theory
of value. The similarities stop there. Both of these men have two distinct viewpoints of just what
exactly the theory of value means. For utilitarianisms, such as Mill, they believe that when
making a decision, the decision should be made so that more pleasure will come from choosing
this than pain. Mill thinks one should look at all the options available, and then pick the option
that has the most pleasure, and least pain for everyone involved. (Sayre-McCord, 15, March,
2004) He goes on to say that the whole goal of this theory is happiness. Happiness is the end that
we are all trying to meet and the means we use should be the ones that have the most pleasure out
of all the options available. This whole theory is based on the outcomes, or consequences, of the
actions a person performs.
This is drastically different from Kant. Kant is more focused on why a person made the
decision they did, instead of the actual decision or outcome that results from the choice. Kant
claims that a person is morally right when the act out of a “goodwill.” He defines goodwill as a
duty one has to do the right thing. This means you shouldn’t regard yourself or someone else as a
mean to an end, rather, think of them as an end. In other words, don’t use people and dispose of
them once they are no longer needed. Kant’s theory of value is more directed towards how
decisions are made and focus on a different perspective of what the “morally right” thing is. Mill
and Kant can only agree on one thing, that there is a theory of value. Since both have two totally
opposite views on what or how we get it, these two can not be considered alike at all.