Foundations of Ethics and Moral Philosophy
What the domain tests
Foundations of Ethics and Moral Philosophy asks you to distinguish ethics from morality, custom, law and religion, and to use normative theories to justify a judgment. The exam favours clear definitions and short applications over name-dropping.
Core framework
- Descriptive ethics reports what people believe; normative ethics asks what they ought to do; metaethics examines the meaning of moral terms; applied ethics handles cases such as medicine or environment.
- Consequentialism judges acts by outcomes; utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill) seeks the greatest happiness, with Mill adding quality of pleasures and the harm principle.
- Deontology (Kant) judges acts by duty and the categorical imperative: act only on a maxim you could will as universal law, and treat persons as ends, never merely as means.
- Virtue ethics (Aristotle) asks what a good person would do; eudaimonia is flourishing, and virtues are a mean between extremes.
- Indian traditions frame ethics through rita (cosmic order), dharma, karma, ahimsa and nishkama karma (action without attachment to results).
Worked example
A student finds a wallet with cash and an ID. A utilitarian might return it because trust and social welfare increase. A Kantian returns it because keeping it cannot be universalised and treats the owner as a means to gain. A virtue ethicist asks what an honest, self-controlled person would do. The reasoning matters: name the theory, apply it to the act, then note a limitation, such as utilitarianism ignoring rights.
Traps
Do not equate ethics with law or religion; legality is not always morality. Do not confuse psychological egoism (a descriptive claim) with ethical egoism (a normative claim). Relativism is not the same as tolerance. Do not use 'situation ethics' as a label for any flexible choice. Keep metaethics separate from applied judgments.