Sometimes we understand that we are faced with a distinct decision, perhaps with obvious and different consequences. More often we just "do stuff" throughout the day, and we could have done otherwise, but we don't say, Hmm, this is a big decision. And if we do have free will, I would guess that we are in control of our thoughts all the time, so every thought would be a decision.

How often (or perhaps, when) do you think we make decisions? And how many of these decisions are relevant to ethics?

A lot of the choices we make are driven by decisions that we made previously. The whole point of virtue ethics, as I understand it, is that we should seek not so much to take the right decision when faced with ethical dilemma X as to become the kind of person who will take the right decision when faced with ethical dilemma X; we should cultivate virtuous dispositions and habits in ourselves so that, when we actually have an ethical decision to make, we will make the right decision without too much immediate effort. A pattern of making decisions to be honest makes it easier ¬– perhaps even close to automatic - to decide to be honest, for instance.

Most decisions have some ethical content, though not all. (“Vanilla ice-cream or strawberry?” has none, I think.) But often the ethical content is minimal, which could be either because the ethical issues are not very big, or because the ethical issues are very finely balanced, or both.

Peregrinus,
You are so, so wrong about the strawberry or vanilla ice cream decision being free of ethical dilemmas, and I'd say it's about time you took your blinkers off.
Have you not heard about the child labour used in the world's main vanilla growing country, Madagascar. Without the vanilla trade though there would be abject misery for the Malagasy people. I've lingered by the freezer in Woolies on many an occasion trying to decide whether to buy or not to buy, but apparently you have not Peregrinus.
http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog ... sweet_side

On the other hand if you go for a strawberry ice, and turn your back on the suffering Malagasys, then there's a good chance you'll be supporting the good old USA or another relatively affluent economy.
http://www.top5ofanything.com/index.php?l=380

You may be a fan of the cheaper synthetic vanilla flavoured confections. That's an unethical decison too if it's for your loved ones as it's a known carcinogen, and you'll be enriching unscrupulous perveyors of toxic food stuffs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coumarin

Food for thought Peregrinus?

I made an ethical decision yesterday; we visited Elephanta Island which is famous for its Buddist caves; hadn't been there for eighteen years and the difference was amazing. Commercialism is rife, the food in the cafe is bblllaaaahhhhhhh!!. Even western fast food joints at their worst seem gourmet if compared.
The R5 tax to get off the wharf area was nought really but at the entry to the caves the charge was R10 for Indians and R250 for Foreigners.
So I made an ethical ecision based on an aversion to blatant racism and didn't enter. I waited outside an did the crossword in the local paper.

On Monday, a young man spotted my handbag where I had left it after driving home without it. He took it to a shop proprietor, who phoned me. I discovered the finder's name and address, then rang him. He told me other people had noticed the bag and were pointing at it but did nothing.

Thank you Nathan for making a good ethical decision.

Nathan may have done the wrong thing based on Australian Government advice 'To be alert'. Obviously he is not a 'lert' and is to be commended for his action, but you, dear Christine, could have been a terrorist and now he could be minus a hand or worse.

Don't you have an Official Australian Government Fridge Magnet Sticker?