Two weeks ago I said, "I never met a moral principle I could trust." One reader responded: Generalizations and abstractions are treacherous indeed, but we need them for directionality and efficacy.

This post is in response to How Moral Principles Make Us Dumb By Jeremy E. Sherman Ph.D. Two weeks ago I said, "I never met a moral principle I could trust." One reader responded: Generalizations and ...

We’ve all had our moments of stinginess: We pass a homeless person and spare no change, or decline an appeal from a charity. We might feel a pang of guilt, but you can’t be nice to everyone, right? A ...

A healthy economy enables citizens to fulfill their basic obligations—moral as well as financial. These obligations include providing for themselves and their families and fulfilling responsibilities ...

Law students reflect on the principles they intend to follow in their professional lives. In 1996, while teaching a course on ethics to Santa Clara University law students, I asked the members of my ...

Often in our divided world we disagree with someone about a principle. Person A says that what matters is reproductive freedom and B says that what matters is protecting the unborn. Person C says that ...

Americans are passionately attached to no two things perhaps more closely than they are to their rights and to equality. Under the banner of furthering those two things have most of the broad social ...

I appreciate Ferlin Pedro’s engagement with my views on the moral status of the unborn and the role of the state in addressing abortion (SN July 27, 2025). His critique raises important questions ...