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Moral Reasoning
Many acts—such as lying to a friend—are not illegal, but they still seem immoral.
Thus, even if such an act is legally permitted, this does not show that it is morally
permitted. That is a separate issue, and it is one that many people care deeply about,
because they want to do what is moral and avoid doing what is immoral. But how
can we show that an act is moral or immoral? One kind of argument will not do.
We can often show that an act is illegal by citing official pronouncements by judges
and legislators, such as precedents and statutes. In contrast, morality is not decided
by any official. There are no authoritative books in which we can look up whether a
certain act is immoral without asking whether that book is correct. This affects the
nature of moral arguments and the criteria for evaluating them. We cannot appeal to
any documents or officials to justify our moral beliefs, so moral beliefs must be based
on something else. The kinds of arguments that can be used to justify moral beliefs
will be the topic of this chapter.Moral Disagreements
People often disagree on moral questions. When these disagreements arise,
it is often difficult—and sometimes impossible—to resolve them. At times
these disagreements turn on questions of fact. If one person thinks that an
action will have a particular consequence, and another thinks that it will not,
they might well disagree on the moral worth of that action. For example,
those who have defended the United States’ decision to drop atomic bombs
on Japan have often claimed that it was the only way to end the war quickly
without creating a great number of casualties on both sides. Many critics of
this decision have denied this factual claim.
Moral disagreements can also arise from disagreements about moral
principles. To many people, it is immoral to have sex outside marriage. To
others, it is immoral to interfere with such acts.
Despite such disagreements, it is surprising how much agreement
there is on general moral principles. In our society, most people accept a
great many moral principles as a matter of course. If a policy has no other
consequence but to produce widespread misery, it is rejected out of hand.97364_ch19_ptg01_383-422.indd 383 11/15/13 5:45 PM
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