[1] Subject Areas of Ethics

• A set of fundamental beliefs, views, assumptions, ideas

  PHILOSOPHY
• Fundamental beliefs: what our actions, behaviors are based on; they are influential to our life
• Fundamental beliefs:

  Examples: religion (god; life after death), moral principles (good, bad, right, wrong), reality, marriage, family, relationship, success
• Where did these fundamental beliefs come from?

  Parents, media, environment, experiences, culture
• Philosophy as a reflective activity

  • It is not just something that we have, but it is also something that we do
• Philosophy as a reflective activity

  • Questioning and examining our fundamental beliefs and ideas
• Philosophy as a reflective activity

  • Our beliefs should come from us not anymore from other people
• Philosophy as a reconstructed body of beliefs framed in a more systematic and comprehensive manner

  • Famous philosophers have devoted their lives to answering fundamental questions
• ETHICS - A set of fundamental beliefs, views, assumptions, and ideas about right and wrong, good and evil
• Ethics - Pertains to standards and norms
• Ethics - More appropriately termed as MORALITY
• Ethics differs from person to person

  • Individual morality: one’s personal beliefs of what is right and wrong
  • Group morality: ex. A religion
• Morality affects one’s judgments, actions, behaviors, and thoughts
• Ethics really is an activity more than a concept
• Ethics as a reflective activity

  • Looks into the soundness, reasonableness, and appropriateness of the moral standards a person or a society espouses
• Ethics as a reflective activity

  • Hence, it is necessary to subject our moral beliefs and practices to a reflective analysis
• A reconstructed body of beliefs about morality framed in a more systematic and comprehensive manner

  • Ethics here is more appropriately termed as moral philosophy or moral thoughts
• META-ETHICS

  • inquires into the fundamental concepts and assumptions about morality
  • i.e What is the nature of moral claims?
• NORMATIVE ETHICS - Concerned with the moral standards to determine right from wrong conduct
• Normative Ethics

  • here we look at the morality of an act
  • Judgment, whether an act is right or wrong, is based on a norm or a standard
• General Theories of Normative Ethics

  • Consequentialist
  • Deontological
  • Virtue Ethics
• Consequentialist - Judges based on the consequences of the action
• Deontological - Does the action conform to moral norms or principles?
• Deontological - ethical theory that focuses on the moral obligations of individuals.
• Virtue Ethics - Looks at the actor (the one that did the action)
• Virtue Ethics - Character of the moral agents is judged
• Virtue Ethics - the study of what is good and bad, and how to live a good life
• APPLIED ETHICS - Examines the particular issues in both the personal and social spheres that are matters of moral judgement
• The practical applications of ethics

  • Bioethics
  • Business Ethics
  • Environmental Ethics
  • Media Ethics
  • Technology Ethics
  • Legal Ethics
• Beginning-of-Life Issues, sustenance-of-Life Issues, End-of-Life Issues, and Information and Research Issues belong to what practical application of ethics?

  Bioethics
• Systemic Issues, Corporate Issues, and Individual Issues belong to what practical application of ethics?

  Business Ethics
• Sustainability Issues, Non-human Interest Issues, and Environmental Justice Issues belong to what practical aspect of ethics?

  Environmental Ethics