Much in the news these days; is cloning morally acceptable? (Why do we never hear anything about the animal Dolly was cloned from?) Is cloning acceptable for medical reason? What is "acceptable" as opposed to "unacceptable"? How do we measure these things? Perhaps cloning is ethically wrong - but, if that's the case, why did God give us the ability to do it if He didn't find it acceptable Himself?

What about cannabalism? Is there ever an ethically justifiable reason for eating another human being, like, for instance, to keep ourselves alive? If there are cannibal societies somewhere on our planet, what gives us the justification to judge their morals; the laws they live by? How should we judge the peoples who castrate/circumcise females or chop off the hands of thieves? Most, if not all of us, would regard the mutilation of females in this way as totally morally repugnant and barbaric; on the other hand (oh, a pun!), perhaps most of us can see (even if we don't approve) that chopping off a thief's hand might be just punishment for his crime. Or perhaps not. (Would male castration be deemed a satisfactory punishment for rape?) What is *just*? What is right and what is wrong?

Why is killing (or eating) another human morally wrong, when it's OK to kill animals for meat? I suppose we could argue that each of the species is dependent upon another for food and that, as we farm our animals specifically for meat, then that is moral. Is it? (I am not vegetarian, by the way!) So, a spider eats a fly etc, but then, a spider doesn't have the sense of ethics that we do; does he? Do animals have morals? Cats never seem to look abashed when they kill a bird or a mouse to play with, do they? Does my bunny understand why I stop him for rolling around in the trough full of newly sown seeds? Does he think to himself, "mustn't do that because it's wrong", or does he just learn by behavoural methods, that he can't do that or he gets a scalding? The bunny doesn't eat meat, but the cat does. How come the bunny doesn't need meat, but the cat apparently does? We could argue that some species require higher amounts of protein - but do they - or is this how we and all our fellow creatures have evolved? Perhaps we didn't need hardly any protein in the beginning, but now we do because our bodies have become used to it? But then, perhaps plants and vegetables have feelings - perhaps it's immoral to eat them? That's crazy, I know - but where do we stop???

Religion comes into this equation too, in that God gave us the Ten Commandments; rules to live by. But, what of people who don't believe in God? Is it OK for them to do as they please as they have no God to answer to? (Dostoevsky, "If God doesn't exist, then anything is permitted"). No, of course not - and it seems that society has made its own "rules" - without which, life would be pretty intolerable. We each live to a code of conduct. In its simplest form, we each ask before acting "would we like what we are about to do, done to us? Would we find it acceptable?", be that to steal from another or merely to lie to another. Is stealing always wrong? What if it is the only means we have to keep our children alive? Is lying always wrong? What if we lie to protect another? Is punishment itself wrong? Stopping people from offending or reoffending seems a pretty good idea - but does punishment for the deed do that?

Oh and on and on and on!

The philosophy of ethics can be divided into three theories, "duty based", "consequentialism" and "virtue based", all of which have their pros and cons; their supporters and their critics. Loosely, duty based theories are sub-divided into "Christian ethics" and "Kantian ethics" (after Immanuel Kant and his notion of motives for actions being more important than the action or its consequences). Consequentialism judges, not on whether the intentions of an action are right - but on the consequences of such action. This can be sub-divided into utilitarianism (in bringing about the greatest happiness), negative utilititarianism (avoidance of pain and suffering) and rule utilitarianism (bringing about the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.) Virtue based theory is based on Aristotle's opinion that everybody wants to flourish and extolled the virtues of virtues, be they generosity, compassion or courage.

And we haven't even touched on euthanasia or abortion . . .