Ethics and Moral Philosophy

Watch

• Ethical dilemma: Who should you believe? - Alex Worsnip ↗TED-Ed
• How Ethics Can Help You Make Better Decisions | Michael Schur | TED ↗TED
• Understanding Ethics, Morality, Values and Integrity ↗MANIFESTED PUBLISHERS
• Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 01 "THE MORAL SIDE OF MURDER" ↗Harvard University

Read

• Nicomachean Ethics ↗A foundational text establishing virtue ethics, it offers a timeless inquiry into human flourishing and the character traits necessary for a good life.Aristotle
• Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals ↗The seminal articulation of deontological ethics, this work posits that moral actions derive their worth from duty and universalizable maxims, not consequences.Immanuel Kant
• Utilitarianism ↗The definitive exposition of consequentialist thought, arguing that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness and wrong as they produce the reverse.John Stuart Mill
• Famine, Affluence, and MoralityA powerful, provocative argument for the moral obligation of affluent individuals to alleviate global poverty, challenging conventional notions of charity and duty.Peter Singer
• The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double EffectA foundational paper in applied ethics, it introduces the 'trolley problem' and explores moral dilemmas through the lens of intention versus foresight.Philippa Foot
• After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory ↗A trenchant critique of the Enlightenment project's failure to establish a rational basis for morality, advocating for a return to Aristotelian virtue ethics within a historical tradition.Alasdair MacIntyre

Voices to follow

• Peter Singer ↗A provocative utilitarian, he has reshaped debates on animal welfare, global poverty, and effective altruism, often challenging conventional moral intuitions.Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University
• Martha Nussbaum ↗Her extensive work on the capabilities approach, emotions, and justice offers a profound humanistic perspective on ethical and political life.Professor of Law and Philosophy, University of Chicago
• Kwame Anthony Appiah ↗A leading voice on identity, cosmopolitanism, and moral philosophy, he explores how we can live ethically in a diverse and interconnected world.Professor of Philosophy and Law, New York University
• Michael Sandel ↗Known for making complex moral and political philosophy accessible, he engages the public in critical discussions about justice, community, and the common good.Professor of Government, Harvard University

Glossary

• ConsequenceA consequence is the result or outcome of an action you take. In ethics, we often think about the good or bad consequences of our choices on ourselves and others. For example, a consequence of studying hard for an exam is getting a good grade.
• DutyA duty is something you are expected or required to do, often because it's the right thing to do or because of your role. It's a moral obligation. For example, it's a student's duty to complete their homework.
• EmpathyEmpathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, putting yourself in their shoes. It helps you consider how your actions might affect others. For example, showing empathy means trying to understand why your friend is upset, even if you don't agree with them.
• EthicsEthics is the study of what is right and wrong, and how we should live our lives. It helps us think about the reasons behind our moral choices. For example, a discussion about whether it's right to use AI in schools to grade essays involves ethics.
• JusticeJustice means fairness in how people are treated, how resources are shared, and how rules are applied. It's about making sure everyone gets what they deserve and that wrongs are corrected. For example, a fair legal system aims to provide justice for victims and offenders.
• Moral DilemmaA moral dilemma is a tough situation where you have to choose between two or more actions, and each choice seems to have a good and a bad moral side. It feels like there's no perfect solution. For example, if you see your best friend cheating on a test, you face a moral dilemma: do you report them or stay silent?
• MoralityMorality refers to your personal beliefs and rules about what is good or bad, right or wrong. These beliefs often come from your family, culture, or personal experiences. For example, your personal morality might tell you it's wrong to cheat on a test, even if you could get away with it.
• PrincipleA principle is a basic rule or belief that helps you decide what to do in different situations. It's like a guideline for your behavior based on your values. For example, the principle "treat others as you want to be treated" guides many people's actions.
• ResponsibilityResponsibility means being accountable for your actions, choices, and their effects on yourself and others. It's about owning up to what you do. For example, if you borrow a friend's book, you have the responsibility to return it safely and on time.
• RightsRights are basic things that all people are entitled to have or do, simply because they are human. These can include the right to education, freedom of speech, or safety. For example, every child has a right to an education.
• ValueA value is something you consider important and worthwhile, which guides your choices and actions. Values can be things like honesty, kindness, or fairness. For example, if you value honesty, you'll likely tell the truth even when it's difficult.
• VirtueA virtue is a good character trait or quality that helps a person act in a morally right way. Examples include courage, honesty, compassion, and patience. For example, showing the virtue of kindness means you might help a classmate who is struggling.

Threads 10

Where this connects to other fields, and why it's worth knowing.

• Climate Change Science

  How much we pollute today changes who is even born in the future, since different lives lead to different babies. So we can't say we 'harmed' a specific future person, because a cleaner path would have created totally different people. Our normal way of judging right and wrong quietly stops working.

• Israel-Palestine Conflict Political Science

  In experiments, offering people money to give up a sacred belief backfires, they refuse, and offering more money makes them angrier, not more willing. The price tag itself feels like an insult. That's why some land and faith conflicts can't be solved with cash: to the people in them, putting a number on the sacred is a betrayal.

• Sustainable Development Environment

  Normal 'be good' rules are built around people you can see and hurt right now. But protecting people 200 years from now means caring about humans who don't exist yet and can't complain. Our everyday sense of right and wrong has no built-in tool for that, which is why the future is so easy to ignore.

• Environmental Justice Environment

  A philosopher named Rawls had a test: design society without knowing who you'll be born as, rich or poor, before you're allowed in. Nobody playing fair like that would ever choose the pollution setup we actually have, where the poor breathe the worst air. Environmental unfairness is basically what happens when we forget to run that test.

• Healthcare Systems & Access Health

  You've heard the trolley problem: one life or five, who do you sacrifice? In a crowded hospital with one ventilator left, that isn't a brain-teaser, it's a decision a doctor has to make right now, for real people. Every rule about who gets the last machine turns philosophy class into an hourly, life-and-death job.

• Voting Systems & Social Choice Mathematics

  Imagine trying to fairly blend everyone's votes into one 'best' choice for the group. A mathematician named Arrow proved it's impossible; no voting system can be fair in every way at once. That's a problem for the moral idea of doing 'the greatest good,' since it assumes you can add up what's best for everyone.

• Catastrophic & Existential Risk Global Challenges

  Preventing irreversible harm raises questions about obligations to future people and justice for those affected now. Ethics helps distinguish a factual risk estimate from a judgement about what deserves protection.

  Sources: Beyond ‘Error and Terror’: Global Justice and Global Catastrophic Risk ↗ · Dr Toby Ord ↗

• Games, Play & Interactive Media Arts & Design

  The FTC’s Epic Games cases concerned children’s privacy and unwanted purchases. They make game design an ethical question about informed consent, protection of children and responsibility for foreseeable harms, alongside a legal question about what protections a platform must provide.

  Sources: FTC — Epic Games privacy and unwanted-charge settlements (2022) ↗

• Sport, the Body & Society Health

  UNESCO’s sport charter names fairness, respect, inclusion and integrity as values of sport. Decisions about cheating, discrimination and access therefore ask more than who wins: they ask what participants owe one another and which rules make a competition defensible. These are normative commitments, not measured benefits of every sport.

  Sources: UNESCO — International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport (2015) ↗

• Space Exploration & the New Space Age Science

  NASA’s planetary-protection procedures address contamination carried by spacecraft to other worlds and risks associated with returning material. This makes exploration an ethical question about stewardship and obligations to future investigators, as well as an engineering question about preserving reliable evidence in searches for life.

  Sources: NASA JPL — Planetary protection: mission implementation ↗