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G-HUMA002 PSY22 ETHICS 2nd Sem ( 2024-2025 )

MIDTERM: Moral versus non-moral standards

Ethics and Morals

Immersive Reader

Ethics vs. Morality: A Closer Look

The term "ethics" originates from the Greek word "ethos," meaning "custom," as used by Aristotle. The Latin equivalent
is "moral." Based on their etymology, ethics deals with morality. When the Roman orator Cicero exclaimed, "tempora o
mores" (Oh, what times and what morals), he was likely expressing dismay at the morality of his era.

The terms "ethics" and "morality" are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation, but philosophers have
debated their precise meanings for centuries. Both words share a common root: "ethos" in Greek and "mos" in Latin,
both referring to the customs and shared values within a society.

Ethics, or moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that examines moral standards and questions the rightness or
wrongness of human behavior, as well as the goodness or badness of personality traits or character. It explores
concepts such as moral standards, norms of morality, conscience, moral values, and virtues. Ethics studies the morality
of human actions and moral agents, determining what makes an act obligatory and what makes a person accountable.

The term "moral" is an adjective used to describe a human act as either right or wrong, or to qualify a person,
personality, or character as ethically good or bad.

While the focus of ethical inquiry has evolved over time, the core idea remains the same: to understand what it means
to live a good and meaningful life, and to develop the virtues that enable us to do so.

Early ethical thought centered on the pursuit of "the good life" – figuring out what truly makes life worth living and
how to achieve it. But as societies became more diverse and individual beliefs about happiness grew more varied,
ethical debates shifted. Conflicts arose over differing values and competing interests.
This led to a crucial question: how can we resolve these conflicts fairly and peacefully without imposing one person's
idea of the "good life" on others? This shift in focus brought about a separation between the concepts of "the good
life" and "moral rightness."

"The good life" focuses on individual fulfillment and happiness. It's about defining what constitutes a meaningful
existence and offering guidance on how to achieve that.
Moral rightness, on the other hand, deals with universal principles of right and wrong. It's about determining
what actions are morally permissible or obligatory, regardless of individual desires or beliefs.

While the pursuit of happiness remains important, ethical inquiry now grapples with the challenge of establishing a
moral framework that respects individual differences while promoting a just and equitable society.

Today it is common to separate ethics into three sub-branches:

1. descriptive ethics
2. metaethics
3. normative ethics

Understanding the Different Branches of Ethics

Ethics can be explored through several distinct approaches:

Descriptive Ethics: This branch focuses on observing and understanding existing moral beliefs and practices
within different societies. It's like an anthropologist studying a culture – they aim to describe and explain the
moral codes that guide people's behavior without judging them.

Metaethics: This delves deeper, exploring the very nature of morality itself. It asks fundamental questions like:

Where do moral values come from?

What does it mean to say something is "right" or "wrong"?
Are moral judgments objective truths, or simply subjective opinions?

Normative Ethics:is the discipline of ethics in which we seek to find some principle or set of principles that can be
used to determine what actions are right and what actions are wrong. It aims to answer questions like:

What are the fundamental rules and principles that should govern human behavior?
How can we determine the right course of action in a given situation?

Applied Ethics: This branch applies ethical theories to specific real-world issues, such as:

Animal rights
Medical ethics
Environmental ethics
Business ethics
Artificial intelligence ethics

Applied ethics not only helps us address pressing moral dilemmas but also challenges and refines our existing ethical
theories.

Normative ethics explores different frameworks for determining what constitutes morally right action. Three major
schools of thought stand out:
 Deontological ethics emphasizes the importance of duty and obligation. It suggests that certain actions are
inherently right or wrong, regardless of their consequences. For example, telling the truth might be considered a
moral duty, even if it leads to negative outcomes.

Consequentialist ethics, on the other hand, focuses on the outcomes of our actions. It argues that the "right"
action is the one that produces the greatest overall good or the least amount of harm. This involves weighing the
potential benefits and drawbacks of different choices.

Virtue ethicsshifts the focus from specific rules to the development of good character. It emphasizes cultivating
virtues such as honesty, compassion, and courage. The goal is not just to follow rules blindly, but to become a
virtuous person who consistently acts ethically.

Q: What are “codes of ethics/conduct” or what is “ethical research”? Shouldn‘t that be called moral?

A: By calling research or a code “ethical”, the authors want to point out that the moral rules they set up are based
on rational deliberation and can be subject to critique.

Q: Looking at the definitions of ethics and morality − what is moral philosophy?

A: It is mostly used as a synonym for ethics. Some, like the French philosopher Jean-Pierre Dupuy use it
differently. For him ‘ethics’ stands for the effort to force everything into universal harmonized principles while
‘moral philosophy’ endures colliding or incompatible values or concepts in the discourse. STEFAN GAMMEL

Additional PPT: What is Ethics.pptx