Updated and revised, Ethics: The Basics, Second Edition introduces students to a rich variety of ethical concepts, principles, theories, and traditions while providing them with the conceptual tools necessary to think critically about ethical issues.

Presented in a convenient, reader‐friendly format, chapters lay out the foundation of the discipline while introducing a series of living ethical traditions—each with its own associated set of ethical concepts and principles. Major questions and core ideas are considered from the perspective of different historically‐influenced philosophical approaches to ethics, including virtue, natural law, social contract, utilitarian, deontological, and care ethics. In addition, the volume reviews several western and non‐western ethical traditions, along with selected religious interpretations of ethical principles, and includes a variety of supplementary materials to reinforce concepts and aid in comprehension.

Retaining all of the core elements and features that have earned Ethics: The Basics its place as one of the most popular and accessible texts for introductory ethics courses, Mizzoni has also added several new features to this edition, including a series of boxed inserts highlighting various concepts and arguments, problems, and meticulously‐curated lists of related online resources. Ethics: The Basics, Second Edition provides students with a solid foundation of fundamental principles, along with the valuable critical‐thinking skills necessary to navigate the moral quandaries of today’s complex world.

I. The General Nature of Ethics

Read each of the statements below and score it with a number between 0 and 10, with 0 being “totally disagree” and 10 being “totally agree.”

1. ____ There are some universal ethical values.
2. ____ We can’t just ask if something is good/evil/right/wrong; we must always ask, `good/evil/right/wrong where, when, and for whom?’
3. ____ Right/wrong is always a function of a society’s beliefs and no more than that.
4. ____ There aren’t any universal ethical values.
5. ____ Ethical values and principles have a deeper source than simply a society’s collective beliefs.
6. ____ There are some unchanging ethical standards, some things are just good and other things are just evil.

Scoring for the General Nature of Ethics

If your General Nature of Ethics Total score is between 50 and 70, you seem to believe in Ethical Universalism.

If your General Nature of Ethics Total score is between 10 and 50, you seem to believe in Ethical Relativism.

II. Practical Ethics: How do you think you should decide whether what you are doing is ethical or not?

Read each of the statements below and score it with a number between 0 and 10, with 0 being “totally disagree” and 10 being “totally agree.”

1. ____ I should make sure I am not doing a bad action hoping that good will come out of it.
2. ____ I should look to see whether I am caring for those with whom I am in close relationship.
3. ____ I should look to see if I am destroying human goods or values.
4. ____ I should look to see how deeply rooted in care my action is.
5. ____ I should look to see that I am acting in accord with human nature.
6. ____ I should look to what kind of person I want to be.
7. ____ I should ask whether it would be reasonable and rational for someone to agree to follow this moral rule.
8. ____ I should attend to the needs of those it is in my power to help.
9. ____ I should look at my action and make sure it is respectful of persons and their rights.
10. ____ I should look to see what outcome my action will have on all who will be affected by it.
11. ____ I should look to see if others are also willing to agree to follow this moral rule.
12. ____ I should ask `what kind of person would do this?’
13. ____ I should look to see whether I am preserving human goods and values.
14. ____ I should check whether what I am about to do will bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
15. ____ I should look to see what my duties are, and not focus on the outcome of my action.
16. ____ I should attend to the rules that are necessary for social living.
17. ____ I should ask `what character trait am I exhibiting if I do this?’
18. ____ I should look to see if my motive is to seek goodness for goodness’s sake.
19. ____ I should look to make sure that the end will justify the means.
20. ____ I should think about how I would like to be remembered.
21. ____ I should examine if my action will have the best consequences for all concerned.

Scoring for Practical Ethics

In each of the following six boxes, add up the scores you gave for the questions in Part II.

Let’s begin with a few ethical questions. Do murderers, because of their actions, deserve the death penalty? Is executing murderers morally justified because it will likely have more good consequences for society than sentencing them to life in prison?

A pregnant woman who drinks alcoholic beverages while pregnant stands the chance that her baby will be born with hearing and vision problems, motor‐skill problems, language‐use problems, or memory or attention problems. Is it morally permissible – is it ethically right – for a woman to drink alcohol while pregnant? We need some way to assess the importance of the risks involved.

How would we begin to answer ethical questions like these? Are there ethical standards we can use to help us answer ethical questions? If so, where do these ethical standards come from? Do ethical standards come from one’s society? Do they come from God or religion? Are they in some way derived from rationality and logic? Perhaps ethical standards are derived from human nature that has been designed by God. Or maybe ethical standards somehow sprang from our human nature that has been shaped by millions of years of evolution.

Each of these questions about ethical standards is closely related, yet slightly different. One way to sum up what they all have in common is to say that they are concerned with the origins of ethics. As we will see in this book, people have attempted to formulate and support answers to these philosophical questions about ethics for many centuries, stretching far back into antiquity. Philosophers, in addition to thinking about such questions and attempting to formulate answers to them, are known for their skill in grouping questions together as a first step in organizing our thoughts on these issues. As a way of organizing the above cluster of questions, we can describe the cluster as the philosophical problem of the origins of ethics.

Solving the problem and fully answering its questions would involve providing a well‐developed account of where ethical standards come from. Someone might claim that philosophical questions do not have answers and therefore philosophical problems cannot be solved. But that couldn’t be the case in this situation; for each of us surely uses ethical standards (at least some of the time), and these ethical standards surely came from somewhere! Where did they come from? Solving this problem might be an exceedingly difficult task, but why would it be impossible to solve? The challenge is in providing a convincing and well‐supported case for where ethical standards actually come from. And even if we have a well‐supported case, experience tells us that we might still be wrong! The difficulty, then, is not that there are no answers to these philosophical questions about ethics, but that it is hard to be sure which answers are the correct answers.

There are other philosophical problems in ethics related to the philosophical problem of the origins of ethics; that is, there are other philosophical questions about ethics that can be thematically clustered. For instance, do we always learn ethics from others, or are there ethical standards somehow prepackaged inside our hearts and minds? If we always learn ethics from others, and ethical standards are wholly derived from one’s society, then doesn’t that imply that all ethical standards are relative, since each society is different and has its own unique history? And, on the other hand, if ethical standards come from our individual hearts and minds, doesn’t that also imply that ethical standards are relative, since each individual person is different and unique?

Thinking about the close relationship between ethics and society might prompt us to wonder what life would be like and how human beings would behave if they didn’t live in civilized society. Would ethical standards apply to these people? How would these people become aware of ethical standards and principles? This particular cluster of questions that centers on the issue of whether ethics is always a direct function of society can be considered the philosophical problem of relativism. This is a philosophical problem of ethics that is all the more pressing as globalization advances, that is, as global interactions of societies become more extensive.

In attempting to answer questions about the origins of ethics and the seeming relativity of ethics, many thinkers have had to closely examine human nature. But what is human nature? The difficulty in answering this question ushers in yet another philosophical problem close to the heart of ethics: the philosophical problem of human nature. One way to begin to get a handle on this problem is to focus on human characteristics. Which characteristics are essential to being a human person? Rationality? Emotional intelligence? Made in the image of God? Do men and women have different essential characteristics? If men and women have different characteristics, would that mean they use different ethical standards? Is there, then, such a thing as a feminist ethics, as opposed to a masculine ethics?

Another important dimension of human nature that bears upon ethics is the question of whether human beings are selfish creatures who act only to benefit themselves. Is it the case that when people help others in need, for instance, they are truly motivated by genuine concern for others? Or are they calculating how they themselves will need help in the future? Are human beings social creatures who genuinely care for the well‐being of others? For many centuries, thinkers have pursued answers to this cluster of questions that forms the philosophical problem of human nature; the same is true for the problem of the origins of ethics, and the problem of relativism.

Aside from these three rather theoretical problems of ethics, there is a more basic and fundamental ethical problem, one that we face all the time (and it is the philosophical problem of ethics that occupies most of this book). The problem is captured in the following question: How should I determine the right thing to do? Or, more broadly expressed, how should I live my life? What counts as a life lived well? What kind of person should I become? We will call this the problem of conduct. As opposed to the three previous ethical problems mentioned, this one is very practical. The answers to the questions at the core of this problem will require us to take action: it is a philosophical problem about what we should do.

Just to give you some idea of the immense range of solutions to this fundamental ethical problem, consider some of the following philosophical questions that are relevant. The questions themselves provide clues to how different people have attempted to solve the problem of conduct.

Is ethics about doing one’s duty, being responsible; or is ethics about being happy and working toward making others happy? Is ethics about doing what’s best for me? Am I responsible for the person I am, the choices I make, the characteristics I possess, and the happiness I attain? What is happiness? Does happiness have to do with pleasure or spirituality? Can human beings really achieve happiness in this life, or is an afterlife needed for complete human happiness and fulfillment? How is ethics informed by religion? Is the golden rule a Christian ethical principle? How is ethics informed by science? How is ethics shaped by society? How might ethics be derived from rationality? If ethics is derived from rationality, does that mean that only rational beings count, morally speaking? Or are non‐rational beings worthy of respect, too? What are rights? Are they something all humans possess, or do only rational beings possess them?

In attempting to solve the philosophical problem of conduct, in this book we will consider an extensive assortment of ethical concepts, principles, theories, and traditions. I introduce you, the reader, to a range of ethical concepts, ethical principles, ethical theories, and ethical traditions that you can consider as you attempt to solve this problem for yourself. You are living a life right now, so you have no choice but to attempt to deal with the problem and answer the following questions, How should I live my life? What counts as a life lived well? What kind of person should I become? What makes an action morally right or wrong? And how should I determine the right thing to do? In this book, what I am offering is a framework to help you organize a truly bewildering array of philosophical questions about ethics. Part of the framework I offer is the fourfold distinction between ethical concepts, principles, theories, and traditions.

Let’s take a further look at the framework. Ethical concepts are the most basic building blocks of ethics. An introduction to ethics will involve becoming familiar with a range of concepts such as virtue, rights, duty, happiness, freedom, etc. Next come principles. An introduction to ethics will gather together basic ethical principles that most people have heard of, like the golden rule, or the principle “the end does not justify the means.” But an introduction to ethics will also include lesser‐known principles, such as the principle of utility and the categorical imperative.

The ethical theories and traditions discussed will range from those first formulated in ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago, to those first formulated in the twentieth century. We can think of an ethical theory as an attempt to pull together a collection of ethical concepts and principles into a coherent whole in order to answer an ethical question or solve an ethical problem. An ethical tradition, by contrast, is a theory that has taken on a life of its own. An ethical tradition has a theoretical center that passes from generation to generation but it also stays alive through the actions and practices of actual people. An ethical tradition is a living theory, not merely an abstract theory in a theoretician’s mind. We ourselves, for instance, probably conduct our lives within the broad outlines of a particular ethical tradition. We may not readily be able to articulate the details of this ethical tradition or the ethical theory that underlies it, but it is surely there nonetheless.

Part of the difference between an ethical theory and an ethical tradition is that over time a theory may be changed and modified. For instance, the virtue ethics approach of Confucius is different from Aristotle’s virtue ethics approach, which is different from a Christian virtue ethics. Similarly, the utilitarian ethical approach of Bentham in the 1700s is different from Mill’s utilitarian ethical approach in the 1800s, which is different from Singer’s utilitarian ethical approach in the 1900s; so there is not one utilitarian or virtue theory, but rather, there is a utilitarian ethical tradition and a virtue ethics tradition.

Ethics is a field that not only looks at ethical and moral ideals that we should have, but also examines actual codes of conduct that people do indeed follow and use, whether consciously or unconsciously. Some ethical codes of conduct are written out and some are orally or socially transmitted. Which ethical concepts and principles do you routinely lean on when you are thinking about whether something is morally right or wrong? Are you presupposing a certain ethical theory or ethical tradition without even realizing it? This book will help you identify your ethical orientation: the ethical concepts, principles, and theories you use and the ethical tradition to which you belong. As a first (rough) start to this process, complete the Ethics Self Orientation exercise that appears before this Introduction.

Because this book is only an introduction to several core philosophical problems in ethics, its aim is not to convince you to agree with the solutions that the author personally favors. You will have to work out the solutions for yourself. The book provides most of the necessary conceptual tools you will need for this project, but it will be up to you to put the tools to work.

The ethics of capital punishment and the ethics of fetal alcohol syndrome are but two of the vast numbers of concrete ethical issues we can work on with these tools. In the context of discussing ethical concepts, principles, theories, and traditions we will engage with various ethical issues. These issues range from life and death issues like abortion, euthanasia, suicide, and animal ethics, to issues of justice like punishment, civil disobedience, and racism, to issues of character, to public policy issues. This is not a book about ethical issues, however; it is a book that simply provides an ethical framework. You can use the framework to help you think about a few core philosophical problems in ethics, or simply use it to aid you in thinking about ethical issues. Readers can use this ethical framework to think through ethical issues that are important to them, issues that may or may not be discussed in this book.

What makes this book unique is that it attempts to lay out clearly and simply a rich collection of ethical concepts, principles, theories, and traditions that are in use in today’s society. A brief introduction like this can be helpful to students who wish to engage in productive discourse about ethical issues in our society.

This book is a product of many years of teaching ethics to undergraduates. Today, there are introductory ethics books in print that include too much material and quickly move beyond the introductory level. This book, however, is genuinely introductory. Undergraduate students should be able not only to read and understand this book, but to master the ethics material in the book. There are plenty of introductory ethics books that claim to offer tools for students to do ethics themselves. But if the students cannot understand and master the tools, how can they possibly use them? The material in this book is meant to be mastered by undergraduate students so that they can apply it to their own thinking about ethics.

Summary of Philosophical Problems about Ethics

This book discusses three theoretical problems of ethics and one practical problem of ethics. The theoretical problems are: (1) the problem of the origins of ethics, (2) the problem of relativism, and (3) the problem of human nature. Various thinkers have suggested different solutions (or answers) to these problems.

1. As a solution to the problem of the origins of ethics we will look at: Ethical Relativism and Ethical Universalism (Chapter 1), Virtue Ethics (Chapter 2), Natural Law Ethics (Chapter 3), Social Contract Ethics (Chapter 4), Utilitarian Ethics (Chapter 5), Deontological Ethics (Chapter 6), Divine Command Ethics (Chapter 6), and Care Ethics (Chapter 7).
2. As solutions to the problem of relativism we will primarily look at Ethical Relativism and Ethical Universalism (Chapter 1). These two theories, though, can take on many different forms. As we will see, we could have a virtue‐based ethical relativism, for instance, or a utilitarian‐based universalism.
3. Solutions to the problem of human nature are offered in various ethical traditions: Universal Ethics, Relative Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Natural Law Ethics, Social Contract Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Care Ethics. Although each of these ethical traditions deals with the problem of human nature, their solutions are not always fully developed.
4. As solutions to the fourth, practical, problem of ethics discussed, the problem of conduct, we will look at Virtue Ethics, Natural Law Ethics, Social Contract Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Care Ethics.

As you can tell, the theories and traditions considered in this book usually provide answers and solutions not only to one ethical problem, but often more than one. Take Social Contract Ethics, for example. It offers solutions to all four ethical problems. The same is true for Virtue Ethics, Natural Law Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Care Ethics. The fact that one theory can offer a solution to four different ethical problems is an indication of the theory’s depth, breadth, power, and plausibility.

Though we will work with four different philosophical problems about ethics, the central theme of the book focuses on the most pressing practical ethical problem each of us faces, the problem of conduct.