moral philosophy

noun

: ethics
also : the study of human conduct and values

Examples of moral philosophy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Weisberg describes working with Fields—son of a rabbi, studied moral philosophy in college—as transformative. Laura Kipnis, WIRED, 5 Dec. 2023 Something about that juxtaposition—Aristotle in the mornings, clumsy pots of dal in the evenings—has inured me to all visions of moral philosophy as a simple variety of self-help. Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023 So, which of the options are preferable from the viewpoint of moral philosophy? WIRED, 23 June 2023 As a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow, Smith became famous after writing the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776. Mark Skousen, National Review, 2 June 2023 This murky moral philosophy applies to just about everyone Joel and Ellie encounter, from an informer who will snitch on heroes to save his sick brother to the leader of a tribe who will risk the lives of her entire militia to avenge her brother’s death. Eliana Dockterman, Time, 13 Jan. 2023 This important work of moral philosophy argues that all of us are, first and foremost, embodied beings, and that public policy must recognize the limits and gifts that this entails. David S. Reynolds, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2020 Belles lettres surveyed what now seems like a broad and only tangentially related collection of forms of writing, including poetry, history, and moral philosophy. Evan Kindley, The New York Review of Books, 16 Feb. 2023 But no current show is more certifiably bonkers or combines such demented visual imagination with its bleak moral philosophy. Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'moral philosophy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of moral philosophy was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near moral philosophy

Cite this Entry

“Moral philosophy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral%20philosophy. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on moral philosophy

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!