ABSTRACT
The author discusses that an ethical theory should be seen as an attempt to explicate what in ideal circumstances would constitute right conduct, rather than as an attempt to provide unambiguous prescription for conduct in the imperfect world one inhabit. He devotes to clarify the use of basic terms such as 'good', 'right', and 'ethical theory'. He intends to outline the broad assumptions about the nature of an ethical theory that he is taking for granted and, consequently, the kind of proof to which it is amenable. He seeks to do no more than give a thorough explication of a certain theory of utilitarianism, articulating its central concepts clearly and fully, stressing logical implications and pointing out its internal consistency, clarifying and explaining away popular misapprehensions, and grounding the whole in certain widely accepted assumptions about the nature of morality.
