1. Ethics and public policy

Chapter 1 introduces the book’s central question through the case of the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy’s report on climate justice. The case illustrates how ethical analysis can support democratic policymaking by clarifying normative assumptions rather than prescribing outcomes. The chapter argues that ethicists operate in a context marked by both democratic and ethical pluralism: citizens disagree about values, while moral philosophy itself offers multiple competing frameworks. This complexity is further intensified by political and normative antagonism, particularly in populist contexts where public reasoning is replaced by polarisation and moral positions harden into identity claims. The chapter therefore argues that the role of ethicists is not to resolve disagreement, but to strengthen the conditions for democratic public reasoning by clarifying normative choices, fostering dialogue, and supporting reflective deliberation. These themes provide the foundation for the development of orientational ethics in the remainder of the book.