Doing Ethics...

Welcome to Doing Ethics

Pick an ethical issue and then answer two questions: "What action should I take?" and (as I take this action) "What kind of person should I be?"

In doing ethics we answer these questions by considering rules (about our duty and rights) and stories (about our character and relationships).  Our answers to these questions become our ethical presumption (our moral hypothesis) as to how we should act and, as we act, who we should be.

We test this presumption against the likely consequences of acting on it, to see if these outcomes confirm or challenge our presumption.  If we predict that the negative outcomes will outweigh the positive, we should review our reasoning and perhaps even set aside our ethical presumption.

This is doing ethics.  We begin with what we know about what is right and being good to formulate a presumption, which we test by considering what will happen if we act on it. 

Want to learn more about this pragmatic approach? For an adventure, join a hike on "mount ethics."  Or, check out a  visual presentation on ethical reasoning.

Click on the hyperlinks to the left to read about taking the right action, being a good person, constructing moral presumptions, and predicting the likely consequences of our actions.

Want to apply the approach to contemporary issues?  

Click on one of the hyperlinks below, or at the top of the page, to consider ethical issues concerning the Environment, economic Globalization, Health care, the Rule of law, or Sex.

For a more detailed explanation of this approach to applied ethics, you may wish to purchase Doing Ethics in a Diverse World by Robert Traer and Harlan Stelmach or Doing Environmental Ethics by Robert Traer.  

Thanks for visiting.

For other web sites and books published by Robert Traer go to http://doingfaith.com.

Blog: Doing Ethics

When it doesn't seem like you have much choice, that's when the choice you make matters most.

This seems to be our predicament, as we face climate change, increasing air and water pollution, and rising prices for gas and food.

How should we respond to this crisis?  In a new book, Doing Environmental Ethics, I offer an answer.

Join me in wrestling with this and other ethical issues by visiting my Doing Ethics blog. Your thoughts may help me and others, and putting your ideas into words always clarifies our thinking.

This is doing ethics.  Conversing together, challenging and questioning, sorting out what we really believe, and changing our minds sometimes. 

Remember. What you do, and who you are, matters.  Always.

With hope...Bob