Ethics

• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that systematizes, describes, and recommends concepts of right and wrong
• Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning existence, knowledge, values, and reason
• Philosophy provides principles that develop critical thinking skills to better understand and evaluate the world
• Normative Ethics is the study of ethical actions and questions the standards of what is morally good or bad
• Ethics of Religion complements systems that believe there’s no morality without religion
• Metaethics attempts to determine the meaning of terms such as right, good, virtue, and justice
• Subjectivism is a form of moral skepticism that asserts no one can have absolute moral truth
• Naturalism suggests that moral terms are complex matters and can be established through scientific investigation
• Intuitionism states that human knowledge of what is good and bad is immediate and self-evident
• Cognitivism maintains that moral judgment can be true or false and can be a subject of knowledge or cognition
• Consequentialism determines the moral worth of an action by its potential consequences
• Deontology studies the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves regardless of their consequences
• Virtue ethics studies the person’s character and virtues for determining or evaluating ethical behavior
• Philosophical inquiry aims to question truth, reason, reality, knowledge, ethics, and morality
• Logic is the science and art of correct thinking, achieving accuracy and objectivity in explaining valid logical arguments
• Epistemology is the study of the theory of knowledge, dealing with how knowledge relates to truth, belief, and justification
• Metaphysics is the study of the nature of things, exploring the nature of existence, identity, time, space, and others
• Thescientificmethod involves identifying a problem, forming a hypothesis, gathering data, drawing conclusions, and reporting results
• Critical thinking is the objective analysis of facts to form a judgment, involving structured observation and thoughtful analysis of questions and arguments
• Premise is assumption that something is true.
• Conclusion is a claim that has been reached through the process of reasoning and is justified by preceding premises.
• Moral standards involve the rules people have about the kinds of actions they believe are morally right and wrong, as well as the values they place on morally good and bad objects
• Moralstandards come from factors like upbringing, culture, social learning, observation, cultural norms, traditions, and religion
• Non-moral standards are rules unrelated to moral or ethical considerations, like etiquette, fashion, game rules, and house rules
• Moral dilemmas are situations where individuals face conflicting choices between two or more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones
• Moral dilemmas can be categorized into personal, organizational, and structural levels
• Structural dilemmas involve a network of institutions and operative theoretical paradigms, often larger in scope than organizational dilemmas
• Freedom is the foundation of morality, allowing individuals to choose ethical codes, values, or standards to guide their actions
• Personaldilemmas are resolved on a personal level, while organizational dilemmas are faced by social organizations like businesses or medical institutions
• Freedom is essential for morality as it allows for choice, which is necessary for moral decision-making
• Morality requires and allows choice, which means the right to choose differently from others
• People make moral choices daily, such as giving to charities, donating time and money to schools, mentoring children, opening businesses, or protesting against animal cruelty
• Morality requires reason and impartiality:

  • Reason entails that human feelings in ethical decisions should be guided by reason
  • Impartiality means each individual’s interests and point of view are equally important, decisions should be based on objective criteria
• Moral dilemmas are instances when individuals are confronted with conflicting answers to the question, “what is right?”
• The principle of consequentialism suggests that one must look into the consequences of a human act to determine whether it is moral or immoral
• The morality or immorality of an act resides in the intention of the person
• In pursuit of moral decisions, a person must discern and relate their moral decisions to divine law to make all the right choices in life
• • Ethics or moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy concerned with conduct and character. It is the systematic study of principles and methods for distinguishing what is wrong or wrong and good or bad
• The term ethics is derived from the Greek "ethos" meaning "custom or habit"
• Tylor said that culture is a complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by an individual as a member of society.