Introduction

Doing the morally right thing sounds like it should be obvious—but let’s be honest, it’s often anything but. Do I tell the truth, even if it might hurt someone? Do I speak up when I see something wrong, or stay quiet to protect myself? Do I go with what feels right, what my community expects, or what leads to the best outcome overall? Ethical life is full of these messy, complex moments. And philosophy steps in to help us ask: What does it mean to do the right thing—and how do we know we’re getting it right?

One big question is: How do I know what’s right? Different moral theories offer different tools. Utilitarianism says we should do whatever leads to the most happiness and the least suffering. Kantian ethics emphasizes respecting others as rational beings with dignity. Virtue ethics tells us to focus on who we’re becoming—our habits, values, and character—rather than just isolated actions. Each of these approaches has something to offer, and each has limits. So, doing the right thing isn’t about finding the perfect rulebook. It’s about developing the wisdom to think critically and compassionately in the face of real-life dilemmas.

That brings us to another big question: What kind of person do I want to be? Ethics isn’t just about what we do—it’s also about who we are. Do we want to be brave? Honest? Kind? Fair? These traits make up our moral character, and developing them takes practice. Aristotle called this virtue, and he thought we grow into good people the same way we learn a skill—by doing it over and over again, making mistakes, and adjusting along the way.

But ethics isn’t just about me. We also have to ask: How do I care for others? Whether it’s our friends, family, neighbors, or even animals on the other side of the world, our moral lives are built on relationships. The ethics of care emphasizes that we’re not isolated individuals making cold calculations—we’re embedded in networks of dependence and responsibility. Sometimes doing the right thing means prioritizing empathy, attending to others’ needs, and recognizing when someone is vulnerable or being excluded.

And finally, there’s the really tough stuff: How do I fight back against an unethical system? What happens when the problem isn’t just one person being mean or dishonest—but a whole structure that keeps people down, excludes voices, or causes harm? From unjust laws to systemic racism, from exploitative labor practices to environmental destruction, some ethical problems are built into the very systems we live in. So ethics also asks us to think collectively: How do we resist injustice? How do we make change? And how do we stand in solidarity with others, even when it’s risky?

This chapter is your ethical toolkit for thinking through all of this. By the end, you’ll have explored different ways of doing ethics, reflected on your own values, and hopefully started to build the kind of moral imagination that sees not just what is, but what should be—and how we might get there together.

Throughout this chapter, you’ll engage with a diverse set of readings that bring these big questions to life. For example, Ben Davies’s “Utilitarianism and Animal Cruelty: Further Doubts” challenges us to think critically about whether maximizing overall happiness is always enough—especially when it comes to how we treat non-human animals. Helga Varden’s work on Kantian ethics invites us to reflect on dignity and respect for persons as central to doing the right thing. Readings on care ethics push us to center relationships, vulnerability, and emotional attentiveness as moral priorities, while pieces like “Blogging to Counter Epistemic Injustice” and “Technology, Dementia, and Ethics” show what it looks like to challenge injustice and care within systems that often fail to do either. These texts don’t give us easy answers—but they offer powerful tools, arguments, and voices to help us wrestle with what ethical living really means in a complex world.