The Need for Ethics
As we have already shown, it is the objective nature of humans—the fact that a person is a destructible being whose life, health, and well-functioning are not automatic, but contingent upon the successful application of his or her reason to reality—that necessitates and gives rise to the science of ethics. Determining what will benefit the life and health of a human being is not an arbitrary process or a matter of whim. It is determined by the objective nature of reality, just as is physics or biology or any other legitimate science. In other words, ethical precepts (for which we use terms such as "right" and "wrong," "good" and "evil," "proper" and "improper," and "should" and "should not") are objective rather than subjective, not just a matter of opinion but rather a matter of factual reality.