Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics

Study overview of the reviewed opening

George Matthews begins with familiar moral dilemmas and asks what it would mean to examine them critically. Moral philosophy addresses both particular choices and the assumptions supporting judgements about right and wrong. The introduction treats ethical reasoning as an inquiry that goes beyond custom, received opinions and immediate feelings.

Three approaches organise that inquiry. Descriptive ethics investigates how people actually deliberate and behave. Normative ethics examines the case for principles that should guide action. Metaethics steps back to ask about the justification and status of moral thinking itself. Keeping these questions distinct helps a student recognise whether a passage explains behaviour, recommends a standard or challenges the basis of moral evaluation.

The introduction then outlines the volume’s theoretical sequence: relativism, religious approaches, virtue, egoism and social contracts, utilitarianism, Kantian duty, feminist ethics and evolutionary ethics. It identifies connections and disagreements between approaches rather than presenting a single settled answer. Character, outcomes, autonomy and social power become different points of entry into moral reflection. This guide summarises the introduction’s framing and chapter overview; it does not substitute for the arguments developed within the eight chapters.

Book contents

1. Aren’t Right and Wrong Just Matters of Opinion? On Moral Relativism and Subjectivism
2. Can We Have Ethics without Religion? On Divine Command Theory and Natural Law Theory
3. How Can I Be a Better Person? On Virtue Ethics
4. What’s in it for Me? On Egoism and Social Contract Theory
5. Utilitarianism
6. Kantian Deontology
7. Feminism and Feminist Ethics
8. Evolutionary Ethics

Questions for study

The following prompts are Academic Master’s editorial material.

• How do descriptive, normative and metaethical questions differ?
• What would count as a reason for accepting a moral principle?
• How might two theories frame the same dilemma differently?

Sources and coverage

Introduction to the Book read in full (PDF pages 17–20); contributors, licence and contents checked.

Source edition · Source licence