A PDF version of this is found below this page if you want to download it.
I borrowed this from Dr. Robert Terry of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.
We sometimes try to understand the history of moral philosophy as though it were a scientific endeavor, and there is only ONE way to think about right and wrong. What is right and wrong should be something we can prove. But moral philosophies are not talking about real things in the physical world, but rather about ideas and values. We create categories and perspectives for the important things that we value in life. A car is just a pile of metal until the idea that it can be assembled and used for transport transforms it. A group of people are just a group, until an idea pulls them together and energizes them. We are not about discovering moral values - we create them. That's why there are many different approaches to moral philosophy.
This is a very simple explanation of 7 different views on what is right and wrong. See if you feel at home in any of them.
1. Life is a GIFT.
Divinely inspired
Humans made in the image of God
Life valued over property
We discover rights inherent in nature
2. Life is a MARKET.
Economics rules
Life and property are valued similarly
Social contract is the basis of rights
Utilitarianism
3. Life is a BODY.
We are parts of an interdependent community
Mutual aid and support foster life
Justice and fairness inherent in our nature
4. Life is CONFLICT.
Divided into those who have, those who do not.
Social Darwinism
Marxism
Rights are won
Labor, legal system, liberation theology, revolution
5. Life is a JOURNEY.
A conversation
Attending to each other
Progression from one level to next
Some goal implicit
6. Life is ART.
Continual creation
Development of meaning
We create the goal
7. Life is a JAZZ SYMPHONY.
Many different things simultaneously
Hear all of the parts at once
Not clear where we are going until we get there
We only know it is over when it stops
Authenticity, True to self is primary value
A More Historical Perspective
1. Eternal Law / Natural Law.
Inalienable, unchanging, we discover them
Some disagreement as to what they are.
2. Utilitarianism
Teleological - focused on outcome, results, consequences.
Greatest good for the greatest number.
Role of minority and individual suffers.
3. Universalism - Kant
Deontological - discover by means of pure reason
logical consistency.
Categorical imperative, duties and obligations of the individual.
4. Distributive Justice - John Rawls
Society is an association.
We all cooperate for the greater good of all.
Justice relates to the distribution of society's benefits.
5. Personal Liberty - Robert Nozick
Libertarianism - right to freedom from all coercion.
From each as he chooses, to each as he is chosen.
And if that is not confusing enough for you, you need to study economics instead of moral philosophy!