Every moral philosophy offers a description and prescription of how we ought to live and why

Cleaning out stacks of paper, I came across the following that I had written longhand sometime in the past year on the back of a magazine-sized envelope. I have some vague recollection that it was on some camping trip with the boy scouts. I don't recall quite what the purpose was that I intended to use this. Just in case it comes back to me, here it is.

From Dictionary of Contemporary Religion in the Western World, edited by Christopher Partridge, 2002. Page 77 an essay Religion and Ethics by E.D. Cook.

Ethics - That branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

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It is perfectly possible for people to hold ethical views and behave morally without being religious. But it is clear that each and every religion embodies and propounds some kind of ethic, fundamental values, framework for moral decision making, expectations of and recommendations for appropriate behavior and some notion of sanctions for failing to act morally.

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Ethical teaching and decision making in philosophy have tended to concentrate on principles (deontology), consequences (teleology) or virtue and character as the basis of morality. There are usually four main foci in ethical reflection - in deciding right, wrong, good or bad: (1) the agents (the one who acts or fails to act); (2) the motives (aims, purposes, and intentions); (3) the nature of the action itself, and (4) the principles at stake and the likely results and consequences.

Deontology is based on some form of law, principles or categorical imperative: act so that you treat others as ends in themselves rather than as means to some other end. Teleology stresses the results of actions: for example, aim for the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Virtue or character ethics emphasizes that the good person exhibits positive virtues and will nearly always behave appropriately.

Every moral philosophy offers a description and prescription of how we ought to live and why. Underlying such ethical approaches are beliefs about the nature of human beings and what leads to human flourishing, what are good and worthy goals and purposes, and some account of human motivation and the place of rules and guidelines in human behavior.

All of us seem fascinated by moral issues. Matters of life and death, justice, sexual expression, relationships, work, the environment, social and political organization and responsibilities are heated topics to debate. Such questions affect us individually and collectively. They are not only theoretical questions; they are an integral part of how we live together and how we order our social life. Morality matters. Moral philosophy and ethics can play a key role in clarifying and directing our thoughts and actions.