Ethical Committments

Ophelia Benson is trying to make a distinction between ethical principles based on whether they are individually developed in an environment of knowledge and options. Ethical principles not developed individually, or developed without broad knowledge of alternatives, or in a situation where options for action based on alternative principles are severely limited, do not qualify as "ethical committments." Its an interesting argument, though she's very carefully (and subtly) defining her terms in such a way as to preclude religious values from being valid ethical committments.