ABSTRACT
Ethics position theory suggests perceivers begin by considering consequences and consistency with moral standards; an action that harms others or runs counter to traditional moral standards triggers moral scrutiny. Inconsistencies in moral judgments of torture during wartime. Differences in ethics positions are also systematically associated with variations in people’s moral beliefs. Studies of people making moral judgments and the positions they take on moral issues such as capital punishment and abortion support ethics position theory’s most basic prediction. Moral judgments are similar in some ways to other types of social inferences. A person who believed that capital punishment is a moral necessity. Intuitionism suggests that individuals do not rely on a strictly rational moral calculus as they weigh risks, benefits, and principles, but are also guided by their implicit, intuitive reaction to events. Responsibility allocation peaks when persons voluntarily perform a given action in order to achieve a certain foreseeable goal of a certain societally determined quality.
