Comparison of Ethical Theories

1)The Different Theories All Seem to Have Some Kernel of Truth

Divine Command
Religions enjoin us to behave well and, whatever their failings, do provide ethical models.
Cultural Relativism
Clearly, we are deeply influenced by our culture, and cultures/societies try to preserve
themselves and look out for their members.
Emotivism
There is no question that much of our behavior is influenced by our emotions and that, by
and large, we have social feelings.
Hedonism
The pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain are major factors in life, and there are
higher and lower pleasures.
Egoism
There is no question that people look out for Number 1 much, if not most of the time, and
most ethical theories grant that, at least up to a point, this is okay. How could we survive without
self-love?
Deontology
A sense of justice and injustice, of doing your duty, is ubiquitous among human beings,
however much they may fail to live up to ethical principles.
Utilitarianism
There is no question that we are constantly calculating what to do in terms of pleasures and
pains, i.e. benefits and harms, and much of the time we attempt to quantify this behavior.
Virtue Ethics
We certainly are creatures with both good and bad habits, which pervade our consciousness
and our behavior.

2) Comparing Crude and Sophisticated Versions of Ethical Theories

Ethics based on religion: the divine command theory
CRUDE: standard criticisms: religious commands may conflict, is goodness independent of
God, sometimes religions command what seems to be evil
SOPHISTICATED: God and good may be identified, religion is the source of ethics for
many people; rational theology attempts to resolve difficulties and contradictions.
Ethics based on society or culture
CRUDE: cultural commands often radically conflict with each other; what cultures
command may be obviously evil.
SOPHISTICATED: clearly, we are strongly influenced by our culture; we should be
sensitive to cultural differences and not be ethnocentric; besides, there are cultural universals.
Emotivism
CRUDE: ethical terms reduce to mere expressions of emotion or desire: I like it, I dont
like it. This denies rationality to ethics.
SOPHISTICATED: Hume and Mill: ethics is based on fellow-feeling or sympathy
(Humes term).
Egoism (divided into psychological and ethical egoism)
CRUDE: dog-eat-dog selfish egoism.
SOPHISTICATED: Ayn Rands Objectivism: its in our rational self-interest to cooperate
with others. Aristotle: you cant respect and love others if you dont love and respect yourself.
Rand and Aristotle: who would want to live without friends?
Hedonism
CRUDE: the pursuit of pleasures is the end of life, usually understood physically
SOPHISTICATED: Epicureanism (refined pleasures), the higher pleasures of Mill, the
eudaimonism of Aristotle.
Deontology (ethics based on duty)
CRUDE: unsophisticated interpretations of Kant, combined with ignorance of Cicero

SOPHISTICATED: distinguishing the ideal realm (Kants Kingdom of Ends) from the
phenomenal world in which we live; recognizing a hierarchy of duties.
Social contract theory
LESS SOPHISTICATED: belief in a literal social contract
MORE SOPHISTICATED: the contract can be implied in various ways
Utilitarianism
CRUDE: all pleasures are created equal and straightforward quantitative judgments can be
made among them
SOPHISTICATED: we constantly distinguish between higher and lower pleasures.The
higher pleasures include a love of ethical behavior, virtue, and justice.
Virtue ethics
CRUDE: ethics identified with an incomplete list of virtues: incomplete or superficial
reading of Aristotle
SOPHISTICATED: justice is the highest virtue, encompassing the others; ethical virtue is
closely allied with intellectual virtue; ethical virtue seen in relationship to duty.