ABSTRACT
The core ethical perspectives of justice, care and critique provide what Richard Peters calls the form for ethical considerations.1 They contain ethical principles that help make choices reasonable. They guide conduct, but they do not supply the content of moral choices. We always find ourselves in specific circumstances which provide the content of our choices; the ethical frameworks help us to see what principles are involved in the choices which that set of circumstances presents us. Hence, guided by the ethic of caring, I may choose to settle a grievance indirectly through the mediation of a mutual friend. The ethic of caring does not determine that I have to settle the grievance this way. It simply makes that a reasonable and sensible choice in those circumstances. Similarly, I may choose to say no to the one more drink ‘for the road’. The ethic of justice (observance of the law) or the ethic of care for myself and others make this a sensible choice. What I want to do now is supply some of the content to our ethical school. Guided by these ethical frameworks, what are essential elements which would constitute an ethical school?
