More on developing an ethical theory

A bit more about ethics perhaps?
What is it that we need for a decent ethical theory? First of all it has to be practical. We must be able to refer to the theory whenever we're in doubt as to the proper course of action. This means that it must also be complete. If we were to govern our lives by a theory that failed to adress even 5% of the situations we might encounter we'd be stuck (theoretically) in those situations. No one wants to be stuck.
Second the theory must provide us a methodology that leads us to optimal functioning in the situations we apply it to. Now, this will necessarily mean everyone will have a different definition of optimal functioning so we must be able to give the theory sufficient flexibility to address the relativity of the subjective condition.
In my opinion this should be sufficient to build a theory on. We needn't confuse things by adding anything more. With these two criteria we should be able get somewhere fairly decent without a whole lot of muddling philosophical nonsense. The more we philosophize, especially about philosophy, the further we get from the present moment and the closer we come to being entirely wrapped up in the ego. This usually leads to some fairly fancy and good looking theories but often leaves us no better off in our "real lives".