General arguments: it's unnatural, it's disgusting, it's risky, it's only opinion

Abstract

Objectives In reading this chapter you will: consider whether or not something that is unnatural is also immoral; reflect on the arguments for and against this claim; consider whether morality is a matter of emotion or feeling rather than reason; reflect on the reasons for and against thinking that our intuitions are a good guide to morality; consider why many people think that it is immoral to take risks; reflect on the extent to which it is immoral to take risks; reflect on the common belief that morality is all a matter of opinion; consider the extent to which morality is a matter of opinion. In this section we shall consider those arguments that we will come across again and again as we work through this book. There are four such arguments: (i) it’s not natural; (ii) it’s disgusting; (iii) it’s too risky; and (iv) it’s a matter of opinion. These general arguments are intuitively attractive, they often underpin discussions about ethics in the media and they almost certainly feature in your own ethical thinking. In reading this part of the introduction you may find yourself questioning some of the things you believe to be obviously true. Questioning such assumptions is an import- ant part of thinking critically.