Six things get mistaken for ethics: law, compliance, command, feeling, custom and etiquette. Each fails for the same structural reason, and there is a way to see it. Place real cases on the grid; if all four corners fill up, then that substitute and rightness vary independently — so it cannot be your test. Break all six.
1 · Choose a substitute to test
2 · Pick a case, then drop it in a corner
The grid
—
—
Morally defensible
Morally wrong
How to use thisSelect a case on the left, then click the corner where you think it belongs. The case will settle where the historical record puts it, and you will be told why — including when your instinct was the better one.