Underlying all of the ethical issues researched within ECSA’s other Research Themes are deeper issues of ethical theory.  These include questions such as the following:

• Is the right thing to do determined by what has the best consequences?
• What is the relationship between doing the right thing and being a good person?
• Is it feasible to codify good moral judgement as a set of rules?
• What obligations do individuals owe to groups of which they are a member?
• What is the relationship between morality and reasons for action?
• How can we resolve the tension between judging people and having a sympathetic understanding of them?
• How do we resolve disputes in ethics?
• What principles for arbitrating conflicting ethical commitments are defensible in a society such as ours?
• What does evolutionary theory tell us about the nature of ethics?
• How widely should ethical concern extend?
• What insights can be drawn from the great ethical thinkers of the past?
• What are the most important and fundamental differences between the different rival ethical theories?

These and other related questions form the set of overlapping interests of the Ethical Theory group, which draws together Adelaide-based experts from Philosophy and other cognate disciplines.