Creating a Moral Presumption 

We choose what is right and good by relying on the many rules and stories that we know.  Doing this involves weighing our reasons and our feelings, and then deciding what action is right and how taking this action will help us and others be the good persons we should be. 

This is our ethical presumption, as to what we should do and who we should be.  

We are using the word presumption in the same way that the word is used in criminal law to identify presumptions such as the presumption of innocence.  This is a moral as well as legal presumption that protects the rights of everyone, and that describes what being good requires of all those with a duty to enforce and respect the rule of law.  

Doing ethics involves constructing moral presumptions about what is right and good by reasoning about our rules and our stories.  

Constructing an ethical presumption clarifies what we think we should do, and also the kind of person we think we should be as we take this action.  

We should act on this presumption, unless the consequences of doing so seem to be more adverse than beneficial.  If this is the case, then we should consider whether the predicted outcomes are so likely and dire that we should pursue another course of action.

For a more detailed explanation of this practical approach to ethical reasoning, you may wish to purchase Doing Ethics in a Diverse World by Robert Traer and Harlan Stelmach.  

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In science an hypothesis is our best explanation, based on what we know. 

In ethics a presumption expresses our reasoned feeling about what we should do and who we should be, given what we know.

A reasoned feeling is a conviction we have formed by considering rules we should obey and stories we find inspiring.  

Call to mind a moral issue of concern. What are the rules? What action should you take to do your duty and protect the human rights of others? 

What stories come to mind when you consider this moral issue? Do these stories support keeping the rules, or being a good person in a way that goes beyond the rules? 

The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates our freedom to decide.

See additional pages on constructing presumptions and testing presumptions.