ETHICS

• Ethics is derived from the Greek word "ETHOS" which means custom and character
• A custom is a traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or an action that is specific to a particular society
• Ethics is a branch of Philosophy that deals with the rightness and wrongness of conduct
• Types of Ethics:

  • Normative ethicist: a branch of moral philosophy that deals with questions about what is right and wrong
  • Metaethicist: a branch of analytic philosophy that explores the status, foundations, and scope of moral values, properties, and words
  • Applied Ethicist: a branch of ethics that deals with the application of ethics to the real world
• Types of Management Ethics:

  • Moral: behavior that is in accordance with accepted principles of right and wrong, considered good or virtuous
  • Amoral: behavior that lacks a moral sense or does not consider right and wrong, often in a neutral or indifferent way
  • Immoral: behavior that goes against accepted principles of right and wrong, considered bad or unethical
• Aesthetics is derived from the Greek word aesthesis, meaning "sense" or "feelings," and refers to the judgment or personal approval and disapproval of what we see, hear, smell, or taste
• Etiquette is concerned with actions that are not grave enough to belong to discussions on ethics
• Technique and Technical come from the Greek word techne, with technical valuation referring to the right and wrong technique of doing things
• Ethics is the discipline of studying and understanding ideal human behavior and ways of thinking
• Morals refer to specific beliefs or attitudes that describe acts that people perform
• Moral Judgment refers to a decision about what one should do in a morally problematic situation
• Moral Reasoning applies critical analysis to specific events to determine what is right or wrong in a particular situation
• Descriptive study of ethics reports how people make moral judgments either for or against valuations
• Normative study of ethics prescribes what we ought to maintain as our standards for moral issues
• Issue refers to particular situations that are often the source of considerable debate
• Moral Decision is when one is confronted by the choice of what action to perform
• Moral Judgment is when a person assesses the actions or behavior of someone else
• Moral Dilemma is when one is torn between choosing one of two goods or between the lesser of two evils
• Authority of the Law is grounded in positive law, which requires compliance with rules and regulations posited by an authority figure
• Authority of one's own Culture pertains to the influence of cultural values, traditions, and norms on individual ethical perspectives
• Authority of one's Religion obliges individuals to follow their God's commands, serving as a foundation for ethical values
• Aesthetic valuation pertains to judgments of good or bad in art and beauty
• Etiquette valuation relates to judgments of polite and impolite behavior
• Technical valuation concerns the right and wrong way or method of doing things
• Principles are rationally established grounds by which one justifies and maintains moral decisions and judgments
• Moral theory is a systematic attempt to establish the validity of maintaining moral principles
• Framework is a theory of interconnected ideas and a structure through which we can evaluate our reasons for valuing certain decisions or judgments
• Cultural relativism presents difficulties related to rendering judgments on the practices of other cultures
• Subjectivism recognizes the individual thinking person at the heart of all moral valuations
• Psychological Egoism describes the underlying dynamic behind all human actions
• Ethical Egoism prescribes that individuals should make their own ends and interests the single overriding concern
• Consequentialism: The rightness of actions is determined solely by their consequences
• Hedonism: Utility is the degree to which an act produces pleasure. Pleasure or happiness is the good that we seek and that we should seek
• Maximalism: A right action produces the greatest good consequences and the least bad
• Universalism: The consequences to be considered are those of everyone affected, and everyone equally
• Principle of Utility: The best action is that which produces the greatest happiness and/or reduces pain
• Greatest Happiness:

  • We ought to do that which produces the greatest happiness and least pain for the greatest number of people
• Two Types of Utilitarianism:

  • Act: An action is right if it produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for the greatest number (Jeremy Bentham)
  • Rule: An action is right if it conforms to a set of rules that would produce the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for the greatest number (John Stuart Mill)
• Jeremy Bentham:

  • Born on February 15, 1748
  • Wrote the greatest happiness principles of ethics
• John Stuart Mill:

  • Born on May 20, 1806
  • Studied Greek at age 3 and Latin at age 8