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Morality

The science of human duty; the rules of human conduct. The function of morality is "to combat the deleterious consequences of human sympathies" (Beauchamp). Its aim is "to contribute to betterment -- or at least non-deterioration -- of the human predicament" (Warnock). "Ethics aims at discovering what are those other properties belonging to all things which are good" (Moore). Moral/ethical principles have the following characteristics, in most but not all formulations: They are (1) supremely authoritative or over-riding as a guide to action; (2) prescriptive, not merely descriptive; and (3) universalizable, to relevantly similar situations. (But see also relativism, as regards the last of these. )

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