Introduction to microethics

"If a field (a) focuses on the macro level and (b) has been spinning its wheels for centuries, you should consider the possibility that (a) and (b) are connected. Ethics is a case in point. Major ethical theories start big -- making sweeping moral claims about all actions for all people. Utilitarianism is the most obvious example. But the same goes for Kant, Rawls, and Rand. And even according to philosophers themselves, the field of ethics hasn't made a lot of progress over the centuries. My prescription: Ethicists should reallocate most of their effort to microethics." (04/04/12)