Theory

Utilitarianism

Kantianism

Social Contract

Virtue

Pragmatism

Account of Morality

impartial good/bad outcomes

universal (in scope) consistent willing

product of action-guiding societal decisions hypthetical or actual

admirable/beneficial character traits; experientiallyoriented

deliberately chosen goods as embodied in habits/practices; experientially oriented

How we know what to do/be

empirically apparently but covertly rational

rationally

rationally

empirically

empirically and through intelligence (means-ends analysis and reconstruction)

Action-guiding

and

character-forming

consequentially determined

rationally determined by the categorical imperative

rules self-imposed by the society

character-driven

revises problematic practices through deliberation but no formula

Justification Motivation

(authority of ethics)

objective prescriptivity

objective prescriptivity

rational self-interest

humans find these traits attractive/beneficial

interest-driven

Evaluation

overly rational despite its empirical orientation; pyschologically unrealistic;

motivationally challenged

overly rational; pyschologically unrealistic;

motivationally challenged

overly rational; pyschologically unrealistic;

motivationally challenged

incomplete (not directly action guiding) but psychologically plausible; no motivation problem

psychologically plausible; no motivation problem but obligation-challenged