MODES of ETHICAL REASONING

1. Ethical Subjectivism -- moral judgments are individuals' opinions
2. Emotivism -- moral judgments are simply emotional responses
3. Social Contract Theory -- moral judgments are simply conventions determined by a particular society
4. Deontological (rule-based) theories:
   1. Divine Command Theory -- moral judgments are "God's will"
   2. Natural Law Theory -- moral judgments are "the dictates of reason"
   3. Kant's "Categorical Imperative": "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." (Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, 1785; cited in Rachels, 115)
5. Teleological (goal-based) theories:
   1. Ethical Egoism -- a moral act is what benefits me
   2. Utilitarianism -- a moral act is what causes the greatest amount of happiness for the most people concerned, i.e.,
      1. Right actions are those that have the best consequences
      2. In assessing #1, the amount of happiness or unhappiness caused is the only relevant consideration (= hedonism)
      3. Each person's welfare is equally important
6. Rachels' "Morality Without Hubris:""We ought to act so as to promote impartially the interests of everyone alike, except when individuals deserve particular responses as a result of their own past behavior." [James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York, etc.: McGraw-Hill, 1986), 143]
7. Virtue-based ethics