This chapter explicates the main basic forms of ethical theory, such as consequentialism, Kantian non-consequentialism, Intuitionist non-consequentialism, virtue-centered theory, and contractarianism, as well as some other issues related to the basic forms.

2002

Southwest Philosophical Studies, 2009

I explore here the implications of the idea that morality is scalar, that the moral perspective admits of degrees, and that assuming a moral point of view is not an all-or-nothing matter. I am interested in spelling out in what sense a given action-guiding policy may have increasingly greater moral intensity than its competitors, and pointing to the theoretical advantages this idea has for our conceptualizing of the phenomenon of amoralism. Admitting the scalar nature of morality presupposes a certain account of the proper function of moral rules. I follow Catherine Wilson in defining morality as a system of advantage-reducing imperatives. This is further detailed by introducing the three dimensions along which one may measure the overall force of moral regulation, both on the individual and communal levels. We increase the intensity of moral regulation in so far as we move from the prohibition on causing ‘substantial’ physical harm to competitors to the more liberal requirement to abstain from causing any harm whatsoever, and further, to the requirement of giving up one’s advantages to improve the lot of the less fortunate individuals. We increase the strictness of a moral prohibition on causing harm by reducing the number of exceptions that the rule admits of. And we increase the scope of a moral prohibition by including under its protection the ever widening groups of sentient creatures. Correspondingly, a person or a community may become less moral either by restricting the application of the advantage-reducing imperatives to a smaller group, by allowing more exceptions to a rule, or by lowering the standards of the acceptable aggressive behavior towards the competitors and the less fit individuals or communities. This theoretical background allows us to look at the phenomenon of amoralism in a new light. The extreme amoralist (e.g., a psychopath) is no longer seen as different type of human agent, but rather as occupying a certain point on a continuous three-dimensional scale of morality, and whose condition is commensurable with that of the morally concerned agents.

BMJ, 2005

This is a revised version of a chart I previously labeled as a "Meta-Ethical Comparison Chart of Ethical Systems." I used "meta-" in the same sense and meaning that the adjective "meta-linguistic" is used. This was unfortunate as the field of Ethic uses the term meta-ethics to describe the sub-field of ethical inquiry regarding the subject matter of moral philosophy and moral theology dealing with the ontology, epistemology and axiology of ethical choices. My normative ethical theories chart is now more appropriately labelled "Panoramic View of [Normative] Ethical Theories."

2001

SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO (ASSIGNMENT), 2021

Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves questions about morality and the perception of good and evil, of right and wrong, of justice, virtue, and vice. It has the following branches: meta-ethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, moral psychology, and descriptive ethics. These branches have several different schools of thought and subfields, among them are: hedonism, Epicureanism, stoicism, modern ethics, applied ethics, moral psychology, deontology, and teleology or consequentialism. In contemporary moral psychology, evolutionary biology has taken the lead. Prescriptive, or normative ethical theories, explain, or justify, why certain acts ought to be considered right or wrong. If there is anything “easy” about studying ethics it’s fact that there are only two kinds of prescriptive ethical (moral) theories: teleological and deontological theories. Therefore, the focus of this work will be to elaborately discuss the two major classifications of ethical theories (teleological and deontological theories) and at the end adopt a specific ethical approach with substantial reasons to backing it up as a journalist or media practitioner.