On On Ethics

I read through On Ethics by Marshall Missner some weeks ago and I was a little disappointed... but I had a thought along the way:

Mr. Missner frequently evaluates the "validity" of ethical systems by using moral "touchstones" (for lack of a better word). When raising an objection to a given approach (e.g. utilitarianism), he appeals to more-or-less "deontological" ethical presuppositions.

But rather than judging the efficacy of an ethical system by its adherence to a certain deontological canon, why not take that set of prescripts and build an ethical system based upon it... or otherwise weave one that adheres to that canon on all accounts by some other method.

Just a thought.