ethical arguments
Debates about right
Ethical arguments are reasons offered to support or oppose a position on moral grounds—what's right, wrong, fair, or just.
They appeal to principles like harm, consent, duty, or consequences rather than purely practical concerns: The ethical arguments against torture aren't about effectiveness.
In debates, distinguishing ethical arguments from legal or strategic ones clarifies what kind of objection is being raised.
- bioethicsMoral philosophy for medicine
- do no harmAvoid causing injury
- casuistryApplying principles to particulars
- utilitarianismGreatest-happiness moral theory
- ends justify meansOutcomes legitimize any methods
deontology · devil's advocate · rebuttal · consequentialism · non-cognitivism · playing God · prescriptivism · prima facie duties · lesser evil · egoism · moral high ground · relativism · stakeholder analysis · trolley problem · thought experiment · moral dilemma · slippery slope · point
- ethicsmorality, deontology, dignity, sanctity of life, utilitarianism
- ancient philosophyPlato, Aristotle, Socrates, Platonism, Epicureanism
ethical argumentscost-benefit analysis
Systematic comparison of advantages, disadvantages
realpolitik · profit motive · survival instincts · self-interest · legal arguments
ethical argumentssophistry
Deceptive reasoning
demagoguery · moral bankruptcy · propaganda · manipulation · motivated reasoning
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