Introduction
About This Book
Introduction to Ethics: Thinking Through a Moral Life is an open educational resource designed to make the study of ethics more accessible and engaging. Developed through collaboration between faculty, students, and the TRU Open Press team at Thompson Rivers University (TRU), this book reflects a commitment to addressing inequities in educational opportunities and outcomes. The developers of this resource believe that open educational materials are key to making higher education more inclusive and accessible, ensuring that students everywhere have the opportunity to engage with essential philosophical ideas and develop the skills to think critically about moral questions.
Ethics asks some of the most profound—and pressing—questions we can face:
What does it mean to live a good life?
How should we treat other people—and ourselves?
What principles should guide our decisions?
And perhaps most unsettling of all: why should we be moral in the first place?
These are the kinds of questions that drive ethical inquiry. This book invites you to explore them seriously, critically, and with an open mind.
Ethics isn’t just a topic to study—it’s a way of thinking that helps us confront some of life’s most important and difficult decisions. It doesn’t always offer clear answers. Instead, it challenges assumptions, sharpens our reasoning, and encourages us to reexamine how we live and why we make the choices we do.
Some of the questions we’ll explore together include:
- Is it ever right to lie to protect someone—or yourself?
- Are people naturally selfish, or are we truly capable of altruism?
- Do we owe more to the people we care about, or should everyone be treated equally?
- What do we owe to animals, the environment, or future generations?
- When our values conflict, how should we decide what’s right?
These questions lead into deeper philosophical investigations. We’ll ask not only what is right or wrong in certain situations, but what makes something right or wrong. We’ll explore theories about how we should live and what moral principles guide our actions, what it means to treat others (and ourselves) ethically, and what justifies our moral commitments.
We will examine both normative ethics, which explores what we ought to do, and metaethics, which asks what morality itself is—what gives it authority, meaning, or truth.
You’ll also meet a wide range of thinkers—some ancient, some modern—whose ideas continue to influence how people wrestle with ethical dilemmas today. Some focus on the consequences of our actions (like utilitarianism), others emphasize duties or moral rules (like deontology), and still others look at character and virtue as the heart of ethics.
Ethics becomes most vivid when applied to real life:
Should we avoid companies that exploit workers or harm the environment?
Is it wrong to eat meat if animals suffer?
Do we have a duty to compost or reduce waste to fight climate change?
How do power, privilege, and inequality shape our moral responsibilities?
Should we buy clothes made in sweatshops?
What responsibility do we bear in responding to climate change?
What should we do if our personal values conflict with social or legal expectations?
This book provides a variety of tools to help you think through such questions:
Primary texts from influential philosophers, introduced with summaries to guide your reading
Secondary readings that clarify and expand the central ideas
Discussion questions and thought experiments to deepen your reflection and spark dialogue
Case studies from Ethics Bowl Canada, offering real-world scenarios for ethical analysis
And a practical guide on how to read, write, and engage with philosophy more effectively
At its core, ethics asks you to slow down, reflect, and take your thinking seriously. That doesn’t mean always arriving at the “right” answer. It means learning to reason well, listen generously, and speak honestly in the face of disagreement and uncertainty. Ethics is not just about how we think—but how we live.
So be prepared to feel challenged. Be open to rethinking old beliefs. And be ready for conversations that matter.
This isn’t just a course about moral theories. It’s an invitation to think more clearly, act more thoughtfully, and live more intentionally.
We hope this book helps you begin—or continue—that journey.
— Jenna Woodrow
