2 - Ethical concepts and theories

Summary

Following the Chapter 1 high-altitude overview of the whole terrain to be covered, Chapter 2 begins with an inventory of key concepts and theories. This is not a book focused primarily on theory. But concepts indicate a geological-like foundation for thinking important distinctions in the landscape, while theories function like maps, which can call attention to different features in a geography – features which might otherwise be overlooked or obscured. Political maps reveal jurisdictional boundaries, road maps help navigate driving distances, and “worldmapper cartograms” can resize images to give abstract phenomena graphic representation. Consider, for instance, the maps in Figures 1 and 2.

The land area map provides one perspective on the world, the population map another. Each may be described as a theory of, or way of looking at, the world. Indeed, the word “ theory ” comes from the Greek theorein, to look at or observe. Theories are ways of observing our experience. Like spectacles or glasses, ethical concepts and theories assist us in seeing the world in which we live – although they can on occasion also distort it.