Part I: Ethics

Chapter 1

Study questions for What is Ethics?

  1. Give examples of things that are or have been illegal but are not immoral; and give examples of things that are immoral but are not illegal.
  2. Explain, in your own words, why morality probably isn’t based on religion.
  3. Are there any features – other than overridingness and universality – that make a rule a moral rule?
  4. Explain, in your own words, the basic differences between metaethics, normative ethics and applied ethics.

Multiple Choice Questions

Further reading for What is ethics?

Bennett, Christopher (2010). What Is This Thing Called Ethics? Routledge. [Another helpful introductory chapter on morality and moral thinking.]

Rachels, James and Rachels, Stuart (2011). The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 7th edition. McGraw-Hill Publishing. [This thorough and comprehensive introduction has a helpful first chapter on defining ‘morality’.]