Chapter 01 Chapter Summary

Describing Socrates as the “patron saint of moral philosophy,” Frankena uses the scenario of the Crito as a paradigmatic example of moral reasoning. Socrates insists on approaching the moral question at hand—Should Socrates escape from prison?—without giving any weight to his (or Crito’s) feelings, to the opinions of others, or to the cost of remaining faithful to moral principle, which in the present case could not be any higher. He appeals to a general rule, determines that his situation falls under that rule, and finally draws a conclusion about what he must do—namely, refuse Crito’s suggestion that he escape.

Here, Frankena explains, Socrates is engaged in ethics, the branch of philosophy dealing with morality, moral problems, and moral judgments. More specifically, he is engaged in normative reflection, which attempts to identify what is right, good, or obligatory. This is distinct from both descriptive inquiry, which attempts to describe or explain moral phenomena, and meta-ethics, which seeks to answer questions about the meaning or use of moral terms such as “right” or “good.” On Frankena’s view, ethics is concerned primarily with normative inquiry and secondarily with meta-ethics, but it also involves occasional forays into ethical description.