Ethics

I've had a quick look at different philosophical approaches to morality, and the four more recognised approaches; deontology, consequentialism, pragmatic ethics and virtue ethics. Deontology focuses on adhering to ethical duties, consequentialism focuses on the outcomes of actions, pragmatism is based on societal norms and virtue ethics stems from the identity and character of the individual, rather than being a reflection of the actions of the individual. Others have stated that Buddhism most closely matches virtue ethics (see work by Damien Keown for example, and the following page may explore this in more depth http://www.cbs.columbia.edu/buddhist_ethics/); but a quick very superficial review shows me that Buddhism absorbs and supersedes the recognised ethical approaches (if a 2500 year old philosophy can be said to supersede them) and that rather than searching for answers it is the practice of Buddhism that leads us where we want to be, even if we don't yet know where that is.