ABSTRACT
This chapter provides various approaches to ethics. It considers some abortion arguments that appeal to antecedent moral principles. Most people pick the norm that fits their moral intuitions, which usually goes with how they were brought up. The chapter also considers some arguments about abortion based on moral principles. Ima Relativist: "Morality is about social conventions. Ima Prescriptivist: "Moral judgments are prescriptions (or imperatives), not truth claims. But their logical structure gives us a way to reason about abortion, by appealing to consistency and golden-rule (GR)". Many argue that abortion often maximizes good consequences. An abortion can avoid disgrace to an unwed mother, disruptions of school or career, and financial burdens. Abortions can harm women psychologically and promote callous attitudes toward human life. Catholic teaching has strongly condemned abortion. Applying GR to abortion is similar, but here we switch from a blindness drug to a death drug.
