In ethical decision making, which approach uses a rational, impartial system to answer moral questions?

• A. Moral reasoning
• B. Impulse
• C. Intuition
• D. Tradition

Answer: (A)

Moral reasoning uses a rational, impartial system to answer moral questions. It seeks reasons that can be shared and evaluated, aiming for judgments that could be justified to others. This approach weighs principles, duties, and the potential consequences if everyone acted the same way, while trying to treat people as ends in themselves and to choose rules that would hold up under universal scrutiny. In sport, this helps you evaluate actions like fairness, integrity, and rule compliance in a consistent way, beyond just how you feel in the moment.

Impulse relies on a momentary urge, intuition on a quick, automatic impression, and tradition on established customs. These don’t provide the same kind of reasoned, universal justification that moral reasoning offers.