The Structure of Moral Reasoning
(Joan Callahan, Ethical Issues in Professional Life)

Premise 1: General Moral Principle (GMP)
Premise 2: Factual claim (FC)
Conclusion: Derivative Moral Judgment (DMJ)
 
Examples:
 
Premise 1: Killing people is wrong. (GMP)
Premise 2: Capital punishment is killing of criminals. (FC)
Premise 3: Criminals are people. (FC)
Conclusion: Capital punishment is wrong. (DMJ)
 
Premise 1: Harming people is wrong. (GMP)
Premise 2: Killing people is harming them. (FC)
Conclusion: Killing people is wrong. (DMJ)
 
Premise 1: One should not lie. (GMP)
Premise 2: On a tax return one signs a statement indicating that the information one has provided is correct. (FC)
Premise 3: If one signs a statement indicating that the information one has provided on a tax return is true when one knows that one has provided false information, then one has lied. (FC)
Conclusion: One should not knowingly provide false information on a tax return. (DMJ)
 
Premise 1: It is wrong to attempt to sway the judicial system in one's own favor (GMP)
Premise 2: Offering a judge a bribe is an attempt to sway the judicial system in one's own favor (FC)
Conclusion: Offering a judge a bribe is wrong. (DMJ)


Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 2 March 2010