Ethical Theory: Between Theory And Anti-theory

Contemporary western normative ethics has a universalist tendency, which is one ofthe outcomes of western rationalism moral evolution. An important feature of moraltradition of western rationalism is universalism by which multiple social values andpluralistic moral standard should be replaced by reason. From Socrates to Kant, and tocontemporary western normative ethicists, thinking of moral philosophy are thrownback to the rational thinking of individuals. However, they are obsessed with traditionof rationalism, always hope to find universal moral rule or principle once and for all, todeal with all moral problems.The climate of ‘anti-theory’ in contemporary western normative ethics summarize thecore feature of western universalist ethics to be “theorization”, the theoreticalinclination of it is universalization, monism, and reductionism. Anti-theorists believethat the first priority of contemporary ethical universalism is to construct and defend aset of abstractly universal moral rules to guide and evaluate agent’s moral behavior.Based on their criticism of universalist ethics’ universalization, monism, andreductionism, anti-theorists point out that in fact, dream of universalism has gone up inflames in modern life, not only that, universalist ethics has a malpractice of deviationbetween theory and practice, ignore the complexity of moral life, and the diversity andrichness of ethical value. Thus Anti-theorists believe that ethics should dis-theorize. Butthis claim of anti-theorists is too arbitrary, the disadvantages of universalism is notenough to deny ethics’ appeal of theorization.It is more proper to claim that we should based on the social life itself and thesocial moral reality, contrapose ‘the separation of public and private life’,‘valuepluralism’,‘individual freedom’ which are core characteristics of the modern life,integrate points of view of universalist ethics and anti-theory, combinate universalismand particularism, idealism and realism, to construct a trategy of theorization withpractical character. Another problem relative to ethical theory is that the practicalguidance of ethical theory in ethical practice is always limited, it need to be added bythe practical wisdom of individuals.