Module 1 sorts of character traits that these cultures find

admirable. These are the elements of what we

ILO: can call conventional morality—the system of
widely accepted rules and principles, created
At the end of this module, the students should by and for human beings, that members of a
be able to: culture or society use to govern their own lives
and to assess the actions and the motivations
1. explain the nature of morality/ethics. of others.
2. create their own moral starting points
Conventional morality can differ from society to
society. The conventional morality of Saudi
What Is Morality? Arabia forbids women from publicly
Before investing yourself in the study of an contradicting their husbands or brothers, while
academic subject, it would be useful to first Denmark’s conventional morality allows this.
have some idea of what you are getting People in the United States would think it
yourself into. One way—sometimes the best— immoral to leave a restaurant without tipping a
to gain such an understanding is by good waiter or bartender, while such behavior
considering a definition. When you open your in many other societies is perfectly OK.
trigonometry text or chemistry handbook, you’ll
likely be given, very early on, a definition of the Critical Morality
area you are about to study. So, as your
When we talk about morality in this course, we
teacher, I would seem to have a duty now to
will be referring to moral standards that are not
present you with a definition of morality.
rooted in widespread endorsement, but  rather
Even if we want to we just simply can’t. There are independent of conventional morality and
is no widely agreed-on definition of morality. can be used to critically evaluate its merits.
The absence of a definition does not leave us
It’s possible, of course, that conventional
entirely in the dark, however. (After all, no one
morality is all there is. But this would be a very 
has yet been able to offer informative
surprising discovery. Most of us assume, as I
definitions of literature, or life, or art, and yet
will do, that the popularity of a moral view is not
we know a great deal about those things.)
a guarantee of its truth. We could be wrong on
Indeed, we can get a good sense of our
this point, but until we have a chance to
subject matter by doing these four things:
consider the matter in detail, I think it best to
assume that conventional morality can
1. Being clear about the difference
sometimes be mistaken. If so, then there may
between conventional and critical morality
be some independent, critical morality that
2. Distinguishing the different branches of
moral philosophy and their central (1) does not have its origin in social
questions agreements;
3. Identifying starting points for moral
thinking (2) is untainted by mistaken beliefs,
4. Contrasting morality with other irrationality, or popular prejudices; and
normative systems, including religious ones
(3) can serve as the true standard for
determining when conventional morality has
Conventional Morality got it right and when it has fallen into error.
Suppose you take a sociology or an That is the morality whose nature we are going
anthropology course, and you get to a unit on to explore in this course.
the morality of the cultures you’ve been
studying. You’ll likely focus on the patterns of
behavior to be found in the cultures, their
accepted ideas about right and wrong, and the
 The Branches of Moral points for ethical reflection. They believe that
moral reasoning is simply a way of rationalizing
Philosophy our biases and gut feelings. This outlook
encourages us to be lax in moral argument
We all know that there are lots of moral and, worse, supports an attitude that no moral
questions. So it might help to impose some views are any better than others. While this
organization on them. This will enable us to sort of skepticism might be true, we shouldn’t
see the basic contours of moral philosophy and regard it as the default view of ethics. We
also to better appreciate the fundamental should accept it only as a last resort.
questions In the meantime, let’s consider some fairly
in each part of the field you are about to study. plausible ethical assumptions, claims that can
There are three core areas of moral get us started in our moral thinking. The point
of the exercise is to soften you up to the idea
philosophy: that we are not just spinning our wheels when
1. Value theory thinking
morally. There are reasonable constraints that
 What is the good life? can guide us when thinking about how to live.
 What is worth pursuing for its own sake? Here are some of them:
 How do we improve our lot in life?
 What is happiness, and is it the very same 1. Neither the law nor tradition is immune
thing as well-being? from moral criticism. The law does not have
the final word on what is right and wrong.
Neither does tradition. Actions that are
2. Normative ethics
legal, or customary, are sometimes morally
mistaken.
 What are our fundamental moral duties? 2. Everyone is morally fallible. Everyone
 What makes right actions right? has some mistaken ethical views, and no
 Which character traits count as virtues, human being is wholly wise when it
which as vices, and why? comes to moral matters.
 Who should our role models be? 3. Friendship is valuable. Having friends is
 Do the ends always justify the means, or a good thing. Friendships add value to your
are there certain types of action that should life. You are better off when there are
never be done under any circumstances? people you care deeply about, and who
care deeply about you.
3. Metaethics 4. We are not obligated to do the
impossible. Morality can demand only so
 What is the status of moral claims and much of us. Moral standards that are
advice? impossible to meet are illegitimate. Morality
 Can ethical theories, moral principles, or must respect our limitations.
specific moral verdicts be true?  If so, what 5. Children bear less moral responsibility
makes them true? than adults. Moral responsibility assumes
 Can we gain moral wisdom? If so, how? an ability on our part to understand options,
 Do we always have good reason to do our to make decisions in an informed way, and
moral duty? to let our decisions guide our behavior. The
fewer of these abilities you have, the less
Moral Starting Points (part 1) blameworthy you are for any harm you
might cause.
6. Justice is a very important moral good.
One of the puzzles about moral thinking is
Any moral theory that treats justice as
knowing where to begin. Some skeptics about
irrelevant is deeply suspect. It is important
morality deny that there are any proper starting
 that we get what we deserve, and that we plausible. Hard thinking might weaken our
are treated fairly. confidence in some cases. The point,
though, is that without such scrutiny, it is
perfectly reasonable to begin our moral
 Moral Starting Points (part 2) 
thinking with the items on this list.
Third, many of these claims require
interpretation in order to apply them in a
7. Deliberately hurting other people requires satisfying way. When we say, for instance,
justification. The default position in ethics is that equals ought to be treated equally, we
this: do no harm. It is sometimes morally leave all of the interesting questions open.
acceptable to harm others, but there must be (What makes people equals? Can we treat
an excellent reason for doing so or else the people equally without treating them in
harmful behavior is unjustified. precisely the same way? And so on.)
8. Equals ought to be treated equally. People
who are alike in all relevant respects should A morality that celebrates genocide, torture,
get similar treatment. When this fails to happen treachery, sadism, hostility, and slavery is,
—when racist or sexist policies are enacted, for depending on how you look at it, either no
instance—then something has gone wrong. morality at all or a deeply failed one. Any
morality worth the name will place some
9. Self-interest isn’t the only ethical importance on justice,  fairness, kindness, and
consideration. How well-off we are is important. reasonableness.
But it isn’t the only thing of moral importance.

Moral Status
Morality sometimes calls on us to set aside our
own interests for the sake of others.
10. Agony is bad. Excruciating physical or
emotional pain is bad. It may sometimes be https://www.youtube.com/watch?
appropriate to cause such extreme suffering, v=smuhAjyRbw0
but doing so requires a very powerful
justification.
11. Might doesn’t make right. People in power
can get away with lots of things that the rest of
us can’t. That doesn’t justify what they do. That
a person can escape punishment is one thing
—whether his actions are morally acceptable is
another.
12. Free and informed requests prevent rights
violations. If, with eyes wide open and no one
twisting your arm, you ask someone to do
something for you, and she does it, then your
rights have not been violated— even if you end
up hurt as a result.
There are a number of points to make about
these claims.

 First, this short list isn’t meant to be

exhaustive. It could be made much longer.
 Second, we are not claiming that the
items on this list are beyond criticism. We
are only saying that each one is very