Introduction

This section introduces the topics above, including hyperlinks to them and some explanation. You can also go directly to any topic by clicking the hyperlink in the list above.

Why study ethics?

There are two ways to investigate ethics. The first is as an impartial observer, who is a student of history; he identifies behaviors common in societies past and present and analyzes cause-and-effect relationships between behaviors and outcomes. The second is as a decision maker, who is typically seeking recommendations and not merely observations.

All people must inevitably make decisions. Each person typically seeks to:

• Make decisions that bring him happiness without regret
• Encourage other decision makers to make decisions that cause him no harm and that help him to be happy.

If a person deduces cause-and-effect relationships in socities, where certain kinds of behavior result in misery while other kinds of behavior result in widespread prosperity and happiness, that information can be useful. If the decision maker is similar to the other people in those societies, he can expect the same results for himself (or herself). Thus, he can turn an observation into a decision (to adopt the behavior that produces happiness). Similarly he can recommend that behavior to others in the hope that they will adopt it for their mutual success.

Complications!

It becomes more difficult, however, if the decision maker and the ones he hopes to convince have variations among them, so that they don't necessarily all want the same things. Some may be kind and generous; others cruel and stingy. We see across history that sometimes societies have dictatorial leaders of the latter type (cruel and stingy) and for everyone else who would prefer otherwise, they find it very difficult to convince those in power to change.

Philosophers throughout the ages have tried to address this problem, by developing various theories to describe what the "rational" person should do. The difficulty here is that there still remains disagreement about which theory is best. Moreover, people are not always rational so they are not necessarily convinced regardless. Thus, a person may find that some others treat him badly regardless of what argument he may present to them.

Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to try! There are very real consequences of different kinds of behavior, and some of these are indirect and deferred. Often people who make those kinds of decisions don't realize the results they are producing, and how those results can be counterproductive to their own happiness.

The origin of Moral Rules