Essay Topics on Ethics

Write an essay to answer/address ONE of the following:

1. If you could get away with anything, would you behave the way Gyges does? Why or why not? (ground your reasons in one or more of the ethical theories)

2. When people make moral judgements, should they ask, “What should I do?” (utilitarianism, deontology) or “What sort of person should I be?” (virtue ethics)

3. What are some differences between “traditional” approaches to morality and feminist approaches to morality? Do feminist approaches offer correctives for the traditional approaches?

4. What are some implications of neuroscience for ethics? Does the work of Patricia Churchland extend ethical theory or is it a break from it?

5. What characteristics do you believe are essential for a theory of justice? Do any theories that we have discussed so far, come close to offering a complete theory of justice?

6. Does Hobbes’s view provide a guide for an ethical and just state? Why or why not?

7. Explain John Rawls’s notion of justice as fairness. What are some policy implications that arise from his idea?

8. Why do relativism and ethical egoism present “challenges to morality”? Are there any versions of these views that could provide an ethical framework?

9. Can Kant’s ethics be compatible with utilitarianism? Does WD Ross’s moral intuitionism bring deontology and teleology together? 

10. What theory underlies the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights? 

In order to complete the assignment, 

1) choose at least 2 posted materials to base your answer on

2) summarize the relevant sections from those readings (or materials) that support your answer

3) argue (present reasons) for your position.

4) offer examples that support your answer 

5) consider objections to your position

6) address the question(s); do not just write all the information you can gather about the subject(s)