Boxing the Moral Compass

Ethics is the study of right conduct. Nearly every decision we make and every action we take involve decisions between acts we ought to pursue and those we ought to avoid. Our laws, our legislature, our courts, and our government are institutional reflections of our ethics. Our transgressions, our crimes, and our vices all reflect our ethical failings, while our altruism, charity, and self-sacrifice reflect our ethical aspirations. Wherever humans have enjoyed any freedom to decide their own actions, there is ethics. Boxing the Moral Compass is an introduction to moral reasoning. It has two main divisions: the first presents the various ethical theories that provide the compass points, and the second explains how these theories can assist each of us in navigating the turbulent waters of today's most controversial ethical dilemmas. Together, they provide the foundation for navigating your own way through life. This book does not presume to tell you what path you should take; rather, it aspires to equip you to chart your own moral course. This is an ethics text about how to think, not what to think. After exploring the foundations of moral reasoning, you are invited to apply these concepts to contemporary issues such as abortion, capital punishment, warfare, and many other divisive subjects. By the end of this book your positions on these issues may not have changed, but you will better understand why you hold your views, and you will better understand why others hold opposing views. Ethics helps to identify what is good and right and provides direction for achieving personal happiness and human flourishing. Without ethics, decisions would be random and aimless. There could be no goals, no plan of action, and no way to choose between the endless different options available within the limited number of days afforded to each of us. To explore ethics is to engage in a self-examination of the deepest import. Socrates asserted that "The unexamined life is not worth living." As you encounter the ethical concepts presented in this book, I urge you to continually glance inward and examine your own ethical attitudes and beliefs.