Intro: this was part of an exercise to structure an argument similar to the style utilized by St. Thomas Aquinas in his work Summa Theologica.
Are the principles of ethics certain?
Objection 1: The principles of ethics are uncertain as ethical analysis is the product of studying the varied moral and immoral decisions of humans. John Oesterle states, “the subject matter of ethics is variable, since it consists of free human acts… It is this variability of subject matter that prevents our having absolute certitude in all parts of moral knowledge.” 1 Human actions are varied while one may justify his or her actions, thereby deeming them moral, another may take offense to these actions deeming them immoral.
Objection 2: Principles that seem certain retain an element of uncertainty. Oesterle notes this writing, “the principle stealing is wrong is certain, but its certainty may be diminished in trying to apply it to complex human actions.” 2 It is easy to observe that robbing a convenience store is always wrong. However, this certainty that stealing from a convenience store is wrong diminishes if the owner of the convenience store is an immoral tyrant who steals from his employees, is the only proprietor in a blighted area and routinely overcharges his clients, and the one committing the theft is only stealing enough to provide sustenance to his or her starving child.
On the contrary, Immanuel Kant asserts in his Principle of Universal Law, “Act only in accordance with a maxim that you can at the same time will to be a universal law or principle.” 3 While human actions are indeed varied, the choices individuals make should only be made if they are certain that it would be fine for all people to make the same decision without regard to circumstance. Human behavior is varied and extenuating circumstances can cloud moral clarity, but when actions are analyzed through first asking the question, “Would it be acceptable for anyone at any time to do this,” moral clarity quickly takes shape. Ethics offers many lenses for analysis of human behavior. This can lead one to believe that the principles are uncertain; however, with the construct of specific lenses, the principles are certain. For example, while the principles of utilitarian ethics and natural law ethics are different and may lead to different conclusions, within those systems of ethical analysis are firm rules that subscribants must adhere to in order to make ethically sound decisions.
^1^John A. Oesterle, Ethics: The introduction to moral science (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1957), 1.
^2^Oesterle, Ethics
^3^Richar Burnor, Yvonne Raley, Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011),9.
