Philosophy in the Contemporary World

Volume 9, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2002

Jean Chambers
Pages 27-38

Ethicists as Architects
Revising Moral Theory Using All the Tools

As James Coleman and Allan Gibbard have suggested, human morality may be viewed as a feedback control system. Each of the standard normative ethical theories emphasizes only part of this complex system. Social reform requires both new theoretical syntheses and a practical effort to better uphold ideal norms.