Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

6-2022

Abstract

What are the fundamental divisions in ethics? Which divisions capture the most important and basic options in moral theorizing? In this article, I reject the ‘Textbook View’ which takes the tripartite division between consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics to be fundamental. Instead, I suggest that moral theories are fundamentally divided into three independent divisions, which I call the neutral/relative division, the normative priority division, and the maximizing division. I argue that this account of the fundamental divisions of ethics better captures the main concerns that normative ethicists have when assessing moral theories. It also helps us make progress in comparative ethics and makes visible theoretical possibilities obscured by the Textbook View.

Keywords

consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, normative ethics, comparative philosophy

Discipline

Ethics and Political Philosophy

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

Inquiry

First Page

1

Last Page

25

ISSN

0020-174X

Identifier

10.1080/0020174X.2022.2092906

Publisher

Routledge

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2022.2092906

Share

COinS