The Ethical Resolution Method (ERM): A Formal Framework for Ethical Evaluation, Moral Formation, and Governance

The absence of a formal, public method for ethical evaluation has left modern societies reliant on inherited moral norms, institutional authority, or ad hoc ethical reasoning. This paper introduces the Empathic Reasoning Method (ERM)—a proposed ethical framework analogous to the scientific method—designed to examine, test, justify, and revise moral claims through structured reasoning grounded in empathy, coherence, and stability. ERM distinguishes between ethics as hypotheses and morals as solved ethical equations, offering a repeatable process for ethical inquiry applicable to governance, artificial intelligence alignment, psychology, sociology, and public policy. The framework aims to reduce ethical arbitrariness, improve moral transparency, and provide societies with a shared method for resolving ethical disagreement without reliance on metaphysical authority or institutional dogma.