Ethics: Norms, Duties, and Consequences
What this domain asks
Moral philosophy asks what makes actions right, what makes lives good, and what moral language means. Candidates should master normative theories-consequentialism (utilitarianism), deontology (Kant's categorical imperative), virtue ethics (Aristotle's eudaimonia and the mean)-plus metaethics (realism, emotivism, error theory) and applied reasoning (trolley problems, duties to aid).
Concepts to hold firmly
- Utilitarianism: maximize overall welfare; act versus rule versions.
- Kantian deontology: act only on maxims you could will as universal law; treat persons as ends, never merely as means.
- Virtue ethics: right action flows from character and practical wisdom, not rules or outcomes.
- Metaethics: moral realism (objective moral facts), anti-realism (constructivism, expressivism, error theory).
- Moral luck and the is-ought gap: descriptive facts do not entail prescriptive conclusions.
Traps
- Equating deontology with "following rules blindly"; Kant's test is universalizability, not social convention.
- Treating virtue ethics as relativism; it appeals to human flourishing.
- Confusing act and rule utilitarianism when evaluating counterexamples.
- Reading the is-ought gap as denying any role for facts in moral reasoning.
Rule of thumb
When a scenario is presented, ask: does the question evaluate the act (consequences or duty) or the agent (character)? Then check whether the stem is normative (what to do) or metaethical (what moral claims mean).
Worked example
"A doctor lies to spare a patient distress. A Kantian objects. Why?" Because the maxim of lying cannot be universalized without undermining trust in communication, and the patient is used merely as a means to comfort.