The Fundamentals of Ethics

Ethical egoism is a normative moral theory that values the fulfillment of self-interests as morally good. Actions that are morally wrong are those that do not bring personal benefits. Thomas Hobbes’s work Leviathan is the source of Shafer-Landau’s “Best Argument for Ethical Egoism.”

Ethical pluralism is the belief that there are multiple fundamental moral rules rather than just one. Several moral theories are, by nature, pluralistic. These include ethical relativism, subjectivism, particularism, virtue ethics, and feminist ethics.

Feminist ethics is a new approach to ethics that seeks to include female perspectives into the field of moral theory while rectifying false claims past philosophers have made about women. It engages a pluralistic view of moral philosophy and values care and connectedness as the basics of ethics.

Hedonism is the view that only pleasure, physical and attitudinal, is of intrinsic value. Similarly, unhappiness (or pain) is the only quality that is intrinsically bad. This view is part of value ethics. Its most notable proponents include Epicurus, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill.

Kantianism is a moral theory founded by and named after German philosopher Immanuel Kant. It argues that justice, rather than benevolence, should be the end goal of morality. It is often considered an opposition to utilitarianism because it values the intention of an act rather than its consequence. Acts are only morally correct if their maxims can be universalized.

Moral skepticism is a metaethics outlook. It defends the view that morality does not exist and/or no moral knowledge can be gained. Several theories fall under the category of moral skepticism, including expressivism and error theory.

Natural law is a normative moral theory that claims human nature is the ultimate source of moral guidance. Fulfilling one’s moral duty is moral, while ignoring it is immoral. An action made in accordance with human nature is right and the opposite wrong.

Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that views actions and policies as morally right if they are optimific, meaning they generate the highest net ratio of benefit to misery. It is a consequentialist theory. Jeremy Bentham is considered the founder of utilitarianism, and his successor, John Stuart Mill, further popularized the theory.