ABSTRACT
In seeking to understand the world, one issue every individual faces is whether she accepts the notion of objective right and wrong: does she believe that judgements about human action simply express the preferences of a particular individual or does she believe that there is a correct perspective on human action that everyone should adopt? The traditional (but not unanimous) answer to this question has been that there are indeed right and wrong answers about how people should act. Recently, however, scepticism about ethics has become much more extensive and today it is not clear whether our society as a whole should be characterised as accepting or rejecting the possibility of objective moral claims. One reason for this shift is the success of science, which has called into question traditional moral views and has prompted various kinds of relativism. It has also discouraged the idea that there are fundamental differences between human action and the behaviour of other animals or, indeed, causally determined processes in non-living things. Other intellectual developments have also undermined moral beliefs. The modern challenge to religion, for example, casts doubt on the status of ethics-at least to some it has seemed that if God is dead, everything is permitted. Progress in formulating psychological, social and cultural explanations of how and why beliefs are formed poses a further threat, since it suggests that our moral judgements should not be taken
at face value. Overall, there seems a real question as to whether, knowing what we do, we can still believe in right and wrong. This issue looks surprisingly different when considered from a less theoretical perspective. Measured against our actual practice the suggestion that ethical thinking has lost its hold in our society seems exaggerated. Paradoxically, the modern world seems characterised not only by scepticism about ethics but also by the clash of strongly held moral views. Take the controversy about abortion. This debate highlights the divisions that can arise in our society, but it also refutes the suggestion that modernity and moral certainty are antithetical. Indeed, it could be argued that in some ways people today are more ethical than their forebears insofar as certain aspects of human life that were previously not believed to raise moral issues are now seen as doing so. The rise of vegetarianism and of new concepts such as animal rights suggest that, far from withering away in our society, ethical notions are gaining new force and fresh applications. Despite theoretical misgivings about ethics, the modern world seems strongly attracted to ethical ways of thinking and on occasion seems willing to embrace moral codes even more demanding than those held in earlier times.
