What makes actions right and wrong: morals and ethics

¶ … Ethics

Ethical decision-making paradigms are often presented as a contrast between situational ethics, or individuals who make ethical decisions on a case-by-case basis, and ethics based upon sweeping moral systems (Hursthouse 2007). In general, I favor the latter schema, but I also see value in the former. I think that overall is too easy to rationalize bad behavior based upon situational needs. That is why I stated that 'it is always wrong to kill innocents during wartime,' even though I fully acknowledge that even in just wars, innocents are killed. If everyone upheld the higher moral standard of not killing innocent non-combatants, there would perhaps be no wars, or at least less costly wars. Setting ethical standards, in my view, should be about setting ethical ideals, even though we live in an imperfect world, and can never uphold any ethical system in its entirety.

It is all too easy to shrug one's shoulders and say that it is impossible to live an ethically pure life regarding other people, the environment, and even in terms of the standards we set for our individual self-improvement. Without high goals, change is impossible. That is why I believe it is important to have some kinds of general moral rules, even if they are not able to be obeyed at all times in the 'real world.' Instead of thinking up exceptions, we must do all we can to make these rules 'work.'

I am not inflexible -- far from it. I think self-defense is morally permissible when physically attacked, and to steal when starving is acceptable, even though under most circumstances I believe violence and stealing is wrong. However, that is because I uphold the principle of preserving human life above all else, not because I am advocating an inconsistent ethical position. Ethical systems can be principled, but still contain reasonable exceptions without being purely relativistic. I acknowledge that there are many different types of moral situations under which one must apply one's principles.

Q2: Support

My moral system most closely mirrors what could be called a 'virtue ethics' position: I believe in moral standards, but I believe that learning how to be a virtuous and compassionate person who is empathetic to others is the best way to live morally in the world (Hursthouse 2007). It is important to have high standards and yet to also be able to apply those standards to the complexities of real-life situations. Virtue ethics is not totally subjectivist in nature -- total subjectivism suggests that everyone decides what is moral based upon his or her own 'gut instinct' about the specifics of the situation. Being a moral person means having some personal sense of a larger ethical idea, such as not always putting one's self first.