Preview

Ethics, What Is Ethics

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
658 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethics, What Is Ethics
What Is Ethics?
Ethics is the part of philosophy that deals with good and evil. Ethics tries to answer questions like:
• What actions are good? What actions are evil?
• How can we tell the difference?
• Are good and evil the same for everyone?
• How should we make hard decisions that might help or hurt other people?

The Four main studies of ethics are;
• Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning of moral propositions and ethical opinions;
• Normative ethics, an abstract set of principles to distinguish right from wrong
• Applied ethics, about how moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations;
• Descriptive ethics is the study of people's beliefs about morality, what ethical beliefs people have;

Ethics seeks to resolve questions dealing with human morality.

Meta-ethics is a field within philosophy that seeks to understand the nature of normative ethics. The focus of meta-ethics is on how we understand, know about, and what we mean when we talk about what is right and what is wrong. It’s the mean of ethical opinions, but the opinions have to be justified. Normative ethics is the study of ethical action. It is the branch of philosophical ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to act, morally speaking. There are two types of normative ethics; Relativist and absolutist. Relativist ethics have flexible rules surrounding ethics so to get the best possible outcome for everyone where as with absolutist views, the rules are non negotiable, you must follow them no matter what the outcome.

Applied ethics attempts to apply ethical theory to real-life situations. Applied ethics is used by individuals facing difficult decisions. The sort of questions addressed by applied ethics include: "Is getting an abortion immoral?" "Is euthanasia immoral?" "Is affirmative action right or wrong?" "What are human rights, and how do we determine them?" "Do animals have rights as well?" and "Do individuals

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Ethical Violations

    • 1906 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Ethics is branched off into three groups, which are Meta ethics, Normative ethics, and Applied ethics. Meta ethics is the focus on how we understand, know about, or what we mean when we talk about right and wrong. Normative ethics is the study of what makes actions right and wrong and Applied ethics attempts to apply theories to real life situations.…

    • 1906 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    HU4640 Project Part1

    • 1650 Words
    • 5 Pages

    This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics and what they are based on (Reason, Emotion, and Intuitionism).…

    • 1650 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics refers to reasonable standards of right and wrong that advise what humans should to do regarding benefits to society, obligations, fairness, or specific virtues (Velasquez, Andre, & Shanks, 2010). Utilitarianism, virtue, and deontological are three ethical theories that deal with individual beliefs and actions. Each person possesses ethics and morals but may not know what they are or how they are used in certain situations. Comparing the three theories will help understand where ethics stand in an individual’s life.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics is the science of morals which is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with…

    • 1697 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Study Guide

    • 2694 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Ethics, or moral philosophy, asks basic questions about the good life, about what is better and worse, about whether there is any objective right and wrong, and about how we know it if there is.…

    • 2694 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics refers to a framework of discipline from a branch of philosophy, in which ideas of right and wrong, virtue and vice, and good and evil, are all examined systematically (Salovey & Meyer, 1990).…

    • 3859 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Module B

    • 1980 Words
    • 8 Pages

    ● Ethics is a branch of philosophy which is the systematic study of reflective choice.…

    • 1980 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Normative ethics is part of moral philosophy, or ethics, concerned with criteria of what is morally right and wrong and includes the formulation of moral rules that have direct implications for what human actions, institutions, and ways of life should be like.…

    • 2613 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethical Perspective Paper

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Ethics Awareness Inventory refers to a series of broad characterizations representing four prominent categories of ethical philosophy. The key word for each category (Character, Obligation, Results, and Equity) represents a primary core value that forms a basis for ethical decision making within this ethical perspective (The Williams Institute for Ethics and Management, 2003). After completing the inventory my ethical perspective is most likely to be based on obligation, and my ethical perspective is least likely to be based on equity.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics is a branch of philosophy which has a central concern of determining of how people should live their lives in accordance of distinguishing the right actions from wrong actions (Boatright, 2007, p. 7). In ethics normative theory propose different principles on how society can deal with this dilemma and that is through the introduction of deontological and theological ethical system.…

    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethical Theories

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The word ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, which means morals. Ethical theories are the basics of ethical analysis because they are the perspective from which guidance can be attained along the pathway to a decision. Each theory highlights different points such as forecasting the outcomes and following one 's responsibilities to others in order to attain an ethically correct decision. “The moral rightness of an action, unlike the cultural or legal or religious rightness of an action, is not necessarily about whether the action conforms to the laws of some culture or government or religion.” Therefore, the moral rightness of the ethics theories does not always line up with cultural values and can suggest being harmful to the society. There are many Ethical Theories available and different individuals follow different ethical theories. In the paragraphs below I will discuss Utilitarianism Theory, Egoism Theory, and Rights Theory; and the behaviors each theory suggests.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    A real knowledge, one ought to know, goes along with the morality of such knowledge. In so much, before one can be admitted or introduced into a particular area of study, one must be acquainted the morality or the value of such field of study. For this same reasons, morality is very crucial in the day-to-day activities of human existence and in all frontiers of knowledge. The branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality and value judgment which concerns itself with habits, customs, and ways of life especially in the concept of good and bad, right or wrong, noble or ignoble, justice and virtue is termed ethics. Hence, ethics as the branch of philosophy deals with the morality of human actions; or as the branch of philosophy which studies the norms of human behavior. [1]…

    • 3463 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Unlike morals, which are deeply held convictions held by an individual in regards to right and wrong behavior, ethics are recognized rules of conduct in regards to a specific action or a particular group of people. In short, ethics come from an external social structure whereas morals come from within – a person’s own perceptions of right and wrong regardless of what society’s rules say. The three primary schools of ethics that can be used in discussing ethical problems and dilemmas are care-based ethics, rule-based ethics, and end-based ethics.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    BBA 102 ESSAY

    • 1493 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ethics are seen as a requirement within every organisation and work practice, as it serves as a tool to guide and deciding courses of action. Without these rules put into place, both employers and employees’ actions would be random and aimless, as well as not considering on what actions would be right (ethical) and what actions would be wrong (unethical)(Icheku, 2011). The three main branches of ethics are applied ethics, normative ethics, meta-ethics, as each of these are used as a potential tool for solving problems and assisting in making ethical decisions. Applied ethics is the branch of ethics that include the analysis of specific and controversial moral issues such as abortion and euthanasia and acting in the best interest of patients. Normative ethics is the study of what makes actions right or wrong, what makes situations or events good or bad and what makes people virtuous and vicious. Fieser (2008) states that it provides a “Golden Rule” of doing what we want others to do, as we would want them to do for us. Meta-ethics consists in the attempt to answer the philosophical questions about the nature of the ethical theory itself, as it investigates where ethical theories and principles come from and what they mean. The use and…

    • 1493 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A set of moral responsibilities and obligations that guided the researcher to conduct research with accountability and responsibility. It is also can be as moral philosophy, involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. Ethic is doing all possible good, or rather avoiding gross wrong. Ethics is not the matter of following to what the feelings’ is considered, or anything to do what religion told us to do. It is also not the same as following the order or law. Ethics refer to well-founded set of standards of right and wrong that describe what humans should to do, usually in term of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness or specific virtues. (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, Meyer, 2017)…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics