Changes

Positions in applied ethics inevitably follow from those one adopts in meta-ethics and normative ethics. For example, if someone believes that 'good' is simply an expression of what people like or dislike, their positions on issues such as abortion will inevitably reflect their own personal feelings. Whereas, if they believe that 'good' means obedience to divine commands, they will seek to discover what are God's commands before answering this question.

Positions in applied ethics inevitably follow from those one adopts in meta-ethics and normative ethics. For example, if someone believes that 'good' is simply an expression of what people like or dislike, their positions on issues such as abortion will inevitably reflect their own personal feelings. Whereas, if they believe that 'good' means obedience to divine commands, they will seek to discover what are God's commands before answering this question.

Similarly, if someone is a utilitarian, their ethical judgement will be driven by whatever they think causes the most pleasure or happiness for the most people. They may well conclude that sexual freedom causes the most pleasure or happiness, and thus adopt liberty as their basic sexual ethic. Whereas, if someone is a deontologist, they may hold that certain sexual acts are wrong, regardless of how much happiness or pleasure results, and thus adopt a sexual ethic which rejects those acts unconditionally.

Similarly, if someone is a utilitarian, their ethical judgement will be driven by whatever they think causes the most pleasure or happiness for the most people. They may well conclude that sexual freedom causes the most pleasure or happiness, and thus adopt [[liberty]] as their basic sexual ethic. Whereas, if someone is a deontologist, they may hold that certain sexual acts are wrong, regardless of how much happiness or pleasure results, and thus adopt a sexual ethic which rejects those acts unconditionally.

Applied ethics is an enormously broad field. The following is a necessarily incomplete list of some of the issues it seeks to address:

Applied ethics is an enormously broad field. The following is a necessarily incomplete list of some of the issues it seeks to address:

* [[Values]]

* [[Values]]

** [[Conservative values]]

** [[Conservative values]]

** [[Libertarian values]]

** [[Libertarianism|Libertarian values]]

** [[American values]]

** [[American values]]

** [[Small town values]]

** [[Small town values]]