The word ethics is a derivative from the Greek word, ethos, which means custom, habit, disposition or character, according to the BBC ethics guide (CITE BBC). “At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives,” (CITE BBC). Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy.
Today, ethical theories have been split into three primary roots; meta-ethics, normative ethics and applied ethics. (CITE BBC).
Based on the understanding and background of ethical philosophies, Meta-ethics is a division of ethics that pursues ethics based on attitudes, judgements, statements and properties. (CITE PRINCETON). In short, meta-ethics is a philosophy that attempts to understand the origin of what is right and wrong. Examples of meta-ethics are; ‘how can we know what is right and wrong?,’ or ‘whether ethics is relative or whether we always act from self-interest,’ (CITE ethical morals)
Unlike meta-ethics, normative ethics specifically assess’ choices as good, bad, evil etc. Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what is right or wrong. ‘Normative ethics is interested in determining the content of our moral behaviour (CITE CAAE). In other words, normative ethical theories try to deliver a guideline for people to do the right/moral thing. An example of normative ethics are asking; ‘what ought I to do,’ (CITE CAAE).
Ethics are moral standards that show you right from
Investigation of how such a principle came about, whether it is right or wrong and such discussion on the principle constitutes the branch of ethics or moral philosophy. Ethics is further subdivided into three areas. These are meta-ethics, normative ethics and applied
Developing from the reasoning of (Russ Shafer-Landau, p.p 13), it is clear that there is a difference between normative ethics and metaethics. Normative ethics are those values that develop from within a personality and are always employed whenever ethics are breached. On the other hand the metaethics is basically the diverse elements that are considered crucial for building positive ethical believes. (Shafer-Landau, p.p 29), also brings forward other moral ethical elements such as the moral error theory, the desire-satisfaction theory, ethical particularism and the doctrine of double effects. All the above elements are crucial for shaping ones ethical perspectives and inclinations leave alone resolving ethical issues within a society.
1. Introduction – ethics – what are they? Ethics (or moral philosophy) is the kind of philosophy that define concept of right or wrong conduct. In practice, ethics try to resolve questions of human morality, by explaining concepts of good and evil. Ethics, culture, morals – are bind together, they are embedded.
Consequential Ethical theory It is a part of normative ethical theories and it means that the consequence of ones behavior is an ultimate mean for anyone to judge the rightness or wrongness of that behavior. So, from the perspective of a consequentialist an ethically right act is the one that will inherit good outcome or consequence. It usually explains the saying “the end justifies the means” which means that in order to achieve a goal, take any route which leads to achieving it.
The concept of ethics entails systemizing, justifying, and recommending right and wrong conduct. It involves in practical reasoning: good, right, duty, obligation, virtue, freedom, rationality, and choice. Humanity has questioned this concept of ethics and ‘good’ for as long as it has survived, as it deals with real-life issues such as “what is morally right and wrong?” and “how do people ought to act?”
Ethics can be explained as principles a society develops to guide decisions about what is right and wrong. Ethical principles that society has are influenced by religion, history, and experience of the people in the group. Meaning that ethics is based on guidelines we have learned while growing up, that helps us differentiates what is right and what is wrong. For example, some people think health care should be a human right as others think it should only be available to those who can pay for it. Each group of people is guided by the principles they believe in.
Normative ethics is crucial in decision-making in the criminal justice system and it is based on the notion that one should act morally using reason to determine the suitable way of conduct of self. Ethical relativism is part of normative ethics and it argues that what is morally right or wrong varies in a great deal from one person to another. The standards of conduct and methods of doing things differ from one society to another and there can never be a single standard of conduct for all societies; we must make ethical decisions therefore based on each situation. Relativism requires that we judge an individual who acted immorally by the standards of his culture and not our own (Cook, 1999). It is effective in just
“Ethical objectivism is the meta-ethical view that there is at least one objective moral standard and that some
Moral theories are theories that help us distinguish between a right or a wrong action. Adequate moral theories help us understand that what we should or shouldn’t do in certain situations. Two of the most famous moral theories are Utilitarianism and Kantianism. According to Utilitarianism, an action is right if only if it out of all the other action gives out the maximum utility. In oppose to that, Kantianism says that an action is right if and only if, in performing that action, the person does not treat anyone as a mean and treats everyone as an end in itself.
In today’s world, many people tend to have a set of ethical principles which is one of the guidelines for them to follow on. The question is how he or she defines ethics? To answer, Ethics is best defined as knowing what is right or wrong in the action based on the moral principles. Moreover, it is also known as the branch of knowledge that deals with ethical issues. In relation, there are some ethical theories which deal with the ethical issues.
Generally, ethics is defined as the rule for carrying out certain behaviors by distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Resnik, 2015). In other words, ethics assists in determining whether a decision is right or wrong when given a choice. As a matter of course, decision-making is first predisposed by personal ethic that is constructed on personal experience and conscience (Fritzsche & Oz, 2007) . It tends to be affected by family and friends (Ferrell & Gresham, 1985). Not only does personal ethics guide human behavior but also social ethics (Shaw, 2002).
These theories challenge what an individual think is right and wrong. Some of ethical theories are given in detail below. • Utilitarianism: Utilitarian ethical theories are based on person’s ability to foretell the reaction of a particular action. It is part of a normative ethics that is the study of ethical actions or ethics
“Title Rhenzl” Business is an economic activity whereas its concern is continuously and constantly producing and distributing goods and services to market in order to provide and satisfy human needs, wants and demand. Meanwhile, ethics had been studied by the philosophers for about 2500 years, since the time of Plato and Socrates. As of today, ethics is considered as the moral standards that an individual is relying upon when making a judgment and decision.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ethics as, “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.” Righteousness and virtuous are a few words I would use to define the term ethics. But where do our ethics truly arise from? From birth, we begin to learn things from our homes and community that shapes the way we view things. The cycle of socialization as describe by Bobbie Harro in Readings for Diversity and Social Justice plays a huge role in determining what values and ethics we carry on throughout our lifetime.