Major Ethics Course Questions

Return to Ethics

1. What are moral values and where do they come from?
2. How are moral values related to other kinds of valuing that humans engage in?
3. What kind of theory is a moral theory? (meta-level question)
4. What are the major theoretical approaches to ethics from philosophers?
5. To what extent does our psychology and identity explain our political orientation, moral beliefs,and behavior?
6. To what extent is being moral about resisting our psychology vs. working with it?
7. What is justice?
8. How are personal and political morality related?
9. What is political and moral difference?
10. How should I think about and interact with people who hold very different moral, political, or religious outlooks than I do?
11. Are there cultural values that most or all cultures identify with "being civilized"?
12. When am I justified in being partial to my own people?
13. Is empathy important to cultivate in being moral?
14. Are we really as responsible for our behavior as we think?