MODULE 1: What is Ethics?

• Ethics can be provisionally described as the empirical study of moral decisions.
• Ethics is a discipline concerned with what is morally good and evil, right and wrong.
• Ethics refers to any scheme or philosophy of universal ideals or beliefs.
• The Greek word “ethos” may mean tradition, habit, character, or attitude.
• Ethics is a systematic analysis of the nature of human actions.
• Ethics is concerned about the correctness and wrongness of the act.
• Act is deemed to be right or wrong, based on the intent, circumstances, or character of the act itself.
• Normative ethics is one of the two divisions of ethics.
• The purpose of normative ethics is to address our questions about the essence of human behavior.
• Normative ethics examines whether or not a particular act should or should not be carried out.
• Normative ethics seeks to examine how human beings respond to a moral question.
• Normative ethics aims to clarify and prescribe common expectations on what human beings should do to interact with others in society and in a meaningful way.
• Moral philosophy is one of the fields of normative ethics.
• Applied ethics or practical ethics is also a field of normative ethics.
• 2 fields of normative ethics:

  1. Moral philosophy
  2. Applied ethics / practical ethics
• Moral philosophy deals with moral ideas such as what human beings "must do or how human beings should be."
• Applied ethics or practical ethics is a philosophy that discusses strong and basic moral issues linked to abortion.
• Meta-ethics is a discipline that relies on meaning.
• Meta-ethics is a science that is seeking to address non-moral questions about morality.
• Ethics through ethics people can determine the difference between right from wrong, good and bad.
• Ethics helps eliminate actions that do not conform to what is right.
• Ethics makes a person responsible in the family, school and society.
• Ethics makes a person sensitive to the needs of others more than himself or herself.
• Ethics reminds a person to fully need conscience in decision making and a person can acknowledge the actions made.
• Ethicists put less emphasis on studying philosophic principles and, instead, emphasize the importance of establishing good habits of character – needs of doing the right thing in the right place and time in the right way.
• Ethical principles help direct us to cope more effectively with ethical dilemmas by removing actions that do not adhere to our sense of right and wrong–our own moral interests–without compromising others.
• The virtues of intelligence, bravery, patience, and justice guide ethical decision-making as they provide the basis for rational decisions when faced with an ethical dilemma.
• Moral principles and Non-moral ones need to be recognized to define the basic ethical values that can direct our actions.
• Moral standards refer to the guidelines we have on the types of acts that we find to be morally permissible and morally unacceptable. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards primarily deal with issues that can either potentially threaten or greatly benefit human beings. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards normally promote the common good, that is, the welfare and well-being of human beings, animals, and the environment. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Norms as standards are basic guidelines regarding human acts.
• Values are universal convictions as to what is acceptable, desirable, and beneficial or not.
• Moral standards entail serious harm or benefit. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards are not determined by authority figures. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards should be adopted over other values, including self-interest. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards should always be retained even if they are at stake with self-interest. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards are focused on objective considerations. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards are perceived to be universal. (Velasquez, 2012)
• Moral standards are correlated with different feelings and vocabulary. (Velasquez, 2012)