R. M. Hare writes in his preface: 'I offer this taxonomy of ethical theories to all those who are lost in the moral maze, including many of my philosophical colleagues. They are lost because, like most of those who hold forth on moral questions in the media, they have no map of the maze. This it has been my aim to provide.' Sorting Out Ethics is a characteristically lucid and lively survey of rival ethical theories by one of the most influential moral philosophers of the century. It also constitutes a definitive summary of Hare's own fundamental ethical position.

The main theme of the book is that objectivity in moral thinking is not to be sought by making moral questions into questions of fact; this leads inevitably to relativism, tying us to particular cultures and languages. Objectivity is to be sought, rather, by emphasizing the universally prescriptive character of moral language, which all cultures can share, and so using it to resolve their moral differences. An objective moral prescription, as Kant saw, is one upon which all rational thinkers can agree.