Ethical intuitionism comes in both a " rationalist " variety, and a more " empiricist " variety known as moral sense theory.

Wolf has also written on the topic of moral luck, suggesting a reconciliation between the rationalist and irrationalist positions.

Supervised by John Rawls, Nagel has been a long-standing proponent of a Kantian and rationalist approach to moral philosophy.

Cambridge Platonists like Benjamin Whichcote and Ralph Cudworth mounted seminal attacks on voluntarist theories, paving the way for the later rationalist metaethics of Samuel Clarke and Richard Price: what emerged was a view on which eternal moral standards ( though dependent on God in some way ) exist independently of God's will and prior to God's commands.

Hence, he is a moral rationalist.

Thus, this usage encompasses both empiricist and rationalist accounts of non-inferential moral knowledge.

While the empiricist version of ethical intuitionism is standardly called " moral sense theory " ( or sometimes " sentimentalism "), there is no standard name for the rationalist version.

Some, thus, reserve the term " ethical intuitionism " for the rationalist model and the term " moral sense theory " for the empiricist model ( see Sinnott-Armstrong, 2006b, pp. 184 – 186, especially fn.

Generally speaking, rationalist ethical intuitionism models the acquisition of such non-inferential moral knowledge on a priori, non-empirical knowledge, such as knowledge of mathematical truths ; whereas moral sense theory models the acquisition of such non-inferential moral knowledge on empirical knowledge, such as knowledge of the colors of objects ( see moral sense theory ).

Some rationalist ethical intuitionists characterize moral " intuitions " as a species of belief ( for example, Audi, 2005, pp. 33 – 6 ) that are self-evident in that they are justified simply by virtue of one's understanding of the proposition believed.

The four main characters are Miriam, a beautiful painter who is compared to Eve, Beatrice Cenci, Lady Macbeth, Judith, and Cleopatra, and is pursued by a mysterious, threatening man who is her " evil genius " through life ; Hilda, an innocent copyist who is compared to the Virgin Mary and the white dove, and whose simple, unbendable moral principles can make her severe in spite of her tender heart ; Kenyon, a sculptor, who represents rationalist humanism ; and Donatello, the Count of Monte Beni, who is compared to Adam, and amazingly resembles the Faun of Praxiteles ; the novel plays with the characters ' belief that the count may be a descendant of the antique Faun, with Hawthorne withholding a definite statement even in the novel's concluding chapter.

Thus the arguments analyzed by Kohlberg and other rationalist psychologists could be considered post hoc rationalizations of intuitive decisions ; moral reasoning may be less relevant to moral action than Kohlberg's theory suggests.

The rationalist would say that since both of the drivers were equally at fault in failing to check their brakes, it should make no difference that one of them was lucky in not hitting a pedestrian while the other was unlucky – moral fault is independent of consequence.

This argument essentially retains the rationalist claim that equal fault is equally deserving of blame while also retaining the consequentialist claim that different outcomes should result in moral agents feeling and acting differently.

Social intuitionism is a movement in moral psychology that arose in contrast to more heavily rationalist theories of morality, like that of Lawrence Kohlberg.

In addition, his definition of a tragedy invites our attention, because a serious and important action may very well be one that tests the moral fiber of the author or of the characters.

In Krutch's view, this is one way to show how literature may be moral in effect without employing the explicit methods of a moralist.

The possibility, as he asserted, that the Russians may get ahead of us or come closer to us because of their tests does not supply the needed ethical premise -- unless, of course, we have unwittingly become so brutalized that nuclear superiority is now taken as a moral demand.

The hostility to Agnes, it must be admitted, may be exaggerated by the chronicler William of Tyre, whom she prevented from becoming Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem decades later, as well as from William's continuators like Ernoul, who hints at a slight on her moral character: " car telle n ' est que roine doie iestre di si haute cite comme de Jherusalem " (" there should not be such a queen for so holy a city as Jerusalem ").

American philosopher Michael Martin argues that it is not necessarily true that objective moral truths must entail the existence of God, suggesting that there could be alternative explanations: he argues that naturalism may be an acceptable explanation and, even if a supernatural explanation is necessary, it does not have to be God ( polytheism is a viable alternative ).

This latter construal is sometimes expressed by saying " there is no fact of the matter as to whether or not P ." Thus, we may speak of anti-realism with respect to other minds, the past, the future, universals, mathematical entities ( such as natural numbers ), moral categories, the material world, or even thought.

The earliest reference to the idea of non-violence to animals ( pashu-ahimsa ), apparently in a moral sense, is in the Kapisthala Katha Samhita of the Yajurveda ( KapS 31. 11 ), which may have been written in about the 8th century BCE.

Misuse, problem use, abuse, and heavy use refer to improper use of alcohol which may cause physical, social, or moral harm to the drinker.

This was criticised more harshly than may otherwise have been the case as Major had frequently pushed his Back To Basics agenda ( see above ), which was taken by the media as a form of moral absolutism.

According to moral values, human behavior may also depend upon the common, usual, unusual, acceptable or unacceptable behavior of others.

The believer may then feel excused of any moral or political responsibility for remedying whatever institutional or societal flaw might be the actual source of the dissonance.

One can solve this problem by granting some degree of moral relativism and accepting that norms may evolve over time and, therefore, one can criticize the continued enforcement of old laws in the light of the current norms.

People may find such law acceptable, but the use of State power to coerce citizens to comply with that law lacks moral justification.

Moreover, attempting to reduce one problem, say adverse selection by mandating insurance, may add to another, say moral hazard.

Ethical egoism does not, however, require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others when making moral deliberation ; e. g. what is in an agent's self-interest may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial, or neutral in its effect on others.

Although a successful pursuit of self-interest may be viewed as a moral victory, it could also be dubbed immoral if it prevents another person from executing what is in his best interests.

* Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values ( if any ) may be determined ;

Caricature is a kind of graphic entertainment, the purpose of which may vary from merely putting a smile on the viewer's face, to raising social awareness, to highlighting the moral characteristics of a person being caricatured.

Furthermore environmental issues may gain an ethical or moral dimension that would discount cost.

A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized ( given human qualities such as verbal communication ), and that illustrates or leads to an interpretation of a moral lesson ( a " moral "), which may at the end be added explicitly in a pithy maxim.

Stories of heroism may serve as moral examples.

The acceptance of artificial methods of birth control is then claimed to result in several negative consequences, among them a " general lowering of moral standards " resulting from sex without consequences, and the danger that men may reduce women " to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of own desires "; finally, abuse of power by public authorities, and a false sense of autonomy.

An insurance company may inadvertently find that its insureds may not be as risk-averse as they might otherwise be ( since, by definition, the insured has transferred the risk to the insurer ), a concept known as moral hazard.

Durkheim noted long ago that religion as `` a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things unites into one single moral community all those who adhere to them ''.

" Another variant model is the one alleging that certain men think in terms of a virgin / whore dichotomy, in which women who do not adhere to an Abrahamic standard of moral purity are considered " whores ".

Rand's explanation of values presents the view that an individual's primary moral obligation is to achieve his own well-being — it is for his life and his self-interest that an individual ought to adhere to a moral code.

By sacred things he meant things " set apart and forbidden — beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them ".

Durkheim's definition of religion, from Elementary Forms, is as follows: " A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.

Both the Army National Guard and Air National Guard are expected to adhere to the same moral and physical standards as their " full-time " active duty and " part-time " reserve federal counterparts.

Students adhere to an honor code including dress and moral standards.

Air National Guard personnel are expected to adhere to the same moral and physical standards as their " full-time " active duty and " part-time " Air Force Reserve federal counterparts.

Many believers adhere strictly to a moral attitude of nonresistance in the face of violence.

* They adhere to a specific moral code and a belief in some form of judgement, such as karma or the Threefold Law.

" Sivaraksa also explains that many Buddhists understand religion and politics “ as two interrelated spheres ,” implying that government should adhere to the moral and ethical values that Buddhism, or any religion, has to offer.