The Right and the Good: A Case for a Moral System in the Context of Cultural Pluralism
Graduation Date
Spring 2005
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Christian Dean, PhD
Second Reader
Timothy Preston, PhD
Abstract
Attempting to deal with questions of the right and the good provides one with a foundation for attempting to answer the enduring question of how we ought to live our lives. Concern for the good is usually identified with teleological theories that consider primarily the consequence of an action. Concern for the right is identified with deontological theories which consider mainly the rightness of the act itself; the concept of duty. In advancing an argument concerning which moral system is to be preferred in the context of cultural pluralism, this work will consider a line of reasoning which belongs to the teleological tradition of Aristotelian and communitarian ethics. It will not absolutely privilege the good over the right, but rather it will privilege the good over the right while acknowledging the importance of certain deontological theories meant to effectively protect the individual according to some basic set of rights.