ETHICS

• Ethics


  A set of rules of human behavior, which has been influenced by the standards set by the society or by himself in relation to his society
• Socrates: 'Know thyself... The unexamined life is not worth living.'
• Morality


  Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior
• Etiquette


  A set of rules on how an individual should responsibly behave in the society
• Standard


  An idea or thing used as a measure, norm, or model in a comparative evaluation
• Types of standards


  • Moral standards
  • Non-moral standards
• Moral standard


  Norms that individuals or groups have about the kinds of actions believed to be morally right/wrong, as well as the values placed on what they believed to be morally good or morally bad
• Moral standard


  Prescribe what humans ought to do in terms of rights and obligations
• Moral standard


  Normally promote "the good" that is, the welfare and well-being of humans as well as animals and the environment
• Moral standards may differ from society to society, and culture to culture
• Components of moral standards

  • Norms
  • Values
• Moral standards


  • Deal with matters we think can seriously injure or benefit humans, animals, and the environment
  • Not established or changed by the decisions of authoritative individuals or bodies
  • Overriding, that is, they take precedence over other standards and considerations, especially of self-interest
  • Based on impartial considerations
  • Associate with special emotions and vocabulary
  • Have the trait of universalizability
• Non-moral standard


  Standards by which we judge what is good or bad, and right or wrong in a non-moral way
• Non-moral standard


  Rules that affect the choice of a person but are not linked to moral or ethical considerations
• The immoral person knowingly violates human moral standards, the amoral person may also violate moral standards because he/she has no moral sense
• Non-moral standards


  • Relies on Authority-Law
  • Religion, Tradition
  • Limits Hegemony
  • Self-Interest
  • No emotions
• Moral standards force others to act accordingly, affect other people, and we have a right to impose on others. Non-moral standards do not affect other people.
• By distinguishing the difference between Moral and Non-Moral, we will be able to identify fundamental ethical values that may guide our actions (avoiding cultural issues).
• Ethics


  Comes from the Greek "ethos" meaning "moral character" and describes a person or behavior as right in the moral sense - truthful, fair, and honest
• Ethical person


  Well-informed and takes choices that do not result in the execution of innocent people or the immorality and injustice that allows such acts to continue
• Being ethical


  Having a code of behavior that governs what you will or will not do, based upon what you consider in some sense to be good or bad, and then sticking to that code of behavior
• Only humans can be ethical because only humans can act morally
• Humans are the only ones with the mental ability to formulate and communicate ideas
• Necessary conditions for ethical behavior

  • The ability to anticipate the consequences of one's own actions
  • The ability to make value judgments
  • The ability to choose between alternative courses of action
• Moral freedom


  The ability to live according to moral standards – to produce some good, and to attain some virtue
• Freedom


  The act of doing something without any impediment
• Positive freedom of specification


  Freely choosing to do what one knows one should do
• Freedom is a necessary condition for moral responsibility
• Reason


  The basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction
• Impartiality


  The idea that each individual's interest and point of view are equally important
• Morality requires reason and impartiality
• Moral judgments must be backed up by good reason and impartiality
• Cultural relativism


  The view that ethical and social standards reflect the cultural context from which they are derived
• Cultural relativism


  • Refers to not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right/wrong, and strange/normal
  • Stands against ethnocentrism
• All cultures are shareable but not all wanted to be learned by the people
• Moral character


  An individual's disposition to think, feel, and behave in a community
• Definitions of moral character


  • The sum of one's moral habits and disposition (Maria I. George)
  • A disposition to express behavior in consistent patterns of functions across a range of situations (Lawrence Pervin)
  • The settled condition we are in when we are well off in relation to feelings and actions (Aristotle)
• Kohlberg's six stages of moral development

  • Stage 1: Obedience and punishment - We make moral judgments based on obedience and punishment
  • Stage 2: Self-interest - We are motivated by our self-interest in doing something
  • Stage 3: Interpersonal accord and conformity - Interpersonal accord and conformity guide our moral judgments
  • Stage 4: Authority and maintaining social order - We value authority and want to maintain social order
  • Stage 5: Social contract - We understand rules as a social contract as opposed to a strict order, rules make sense only if they serve the right purpose
  • Stage 6: Universal ethical principles - We are guided by universal ethical principles
• Three levels of moral development

  • Pre-conventional level - Judging what is right or wrong by the direct consequences they expect from themselves, and not by social norms
  • Conventional level - Morality is centered around what society regards as right, the fairness of rules is seldom questioned
  • Post-conventional level - Right behavior is never a means to an end, but always an end in itself, live by their own ethical principle, including basic human rights
• Human acts


  Actions done consciously and freely by the agent/man, with qualities of knowledge of the act, freedom, and voluntariness