How to Write an Essay on Human Conduct
- 1). State the issue your essay or research paper will address -- and your approach -- in your introduction.
- 2). Include the main theories of ethical and moral conduct in your essay. These include deontological theories, the concept that an outside principle such as God determines the proper bounds of human conduct. Discuss utilitarianism, where the end results determine the means.
- 3). Include the most significant philosophers on human conduct, including Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes and Jeremy Bentham.
- 4). Give arguments for and against each theory of human conduct. The deontological divine-command theory raises potentially unsolvable questions regarding competing religious claims. Utilitarian theories question whether a controversial human act achieves a greater end.
- 5). Draw conclusions about human conduct and its basis using your own reasoning. Try to refute your own position with opposing arguments and counterexamples. Base your final conclusions on the theory you find most convincing.
- 6). Use contemporary ethical examples in your essay. Raise questions regarding the minimum human conduct society should expect.
- 7). Provide examples from real life; illustrate how human conduct actually works in the world, and what practical moral and ethical issues it raises. Use your own imagination and life experience to feed your ideas.
- 8). Cite relevant journals, such as "Journal of Ethics," "Journal of Ethics & Social Philosophy" and "Ethics."