Ethics Chapter 2

• Moral Standards


  The rules that people have about the kinds of actions they believe are morally right or wrong
• Non-Moral Standards


  The rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations
• Moral standards are the sum of combined norms and values
• Norms


  General rules about actions or behaviors
• Values


  Enduring beliefs about what is good and desirable, or not
• Moral Standards


  • Involve serious wrongs or significant benefits
  • Ought to be preferred to other values including self-interest
  • Not established by authority figures
  • Have the trait of universalizability
  • Based on impartial considerations
  • Associated with special emotions and vocabulary
• Non-Moral Standards


  • Rules of etiquette
  • Fashion standards
  • Rules in games
  • House rules
  • Religious rules, some traditions, and legal statutes (laws and ordinances)
• Non-compliance with moral standards seriously injures us as human beings
• The challenge of moral standards is that in violating them, the effect is not always immediate and visible
• Moral and non-moral standards converge most of the time and we could never provide a clear evaluation until we understand the context of each situation
• Other Rules in Life

  • Policy
  • Law
  • Commandment
• Individual responsibility


  Cannot be taken in isolation from social responsibility