Ethics: An Introduction Our concepts of ethics have been influenced

by the following:
WHAT IS ETHICS?
• Cultures
• a branch of philosophy that aims to • Religions
understand the nature, purposes, • Philosophies
justification, and founding principles of • Law
moral rules and the systems they • Society
comprise.
• focuses on the rightness and wrongness of They infuse debates on issues like abortion,
actions and the goodness and badness of human rights, and ethics in the workplace.
motives and ends, and addresses moral WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS,
principles and human conduct. VALUES, AND MORALS?
• encompasses the decision-making
process of determining ultimate actions by Values
responding to the questions, “What should It is the foundation of a person’s ability to
I do?” and “Is it the right course of action?”
judge between right and wrong. It includes a
• an expression of how individuals decide to deep-rooted system of beliefs that guide a
live with one another within accepted person’s decisions. It forms a personal,
boundaries and how they live in harmony
individual foundation that affects a particular
with both the environment and one person’s behavior.
another.
When values are shared by others in our
At its simplest, it is a system of moral principles community, they are known as “morals.”
that influence how individuals make decisions
and live their lives. It is concerned with what is Morals
good for individuals and society and is also
The set of principles that are derived from core
described as moral philosophy.
values is known as morals or moral values.
ETYMOLOGY Morals are specific and context-driven rules
that govern a person’s desire to be good. The
The Greek word “ethos,” which means moral standards of individuals can vary from
custom, habit, character, or disposition, is those of the general public, depending on
where the term “Ethics” originates. their personal values.
The term “Morals” comes from the Latin word
These morals can be influenced by cultural,
“mos” or “moris,” which refers to customs or religious, or societal norms.
habits.
Ethics
This supports the claims of Ruth Benedict, an
anthropologist, that all values are rooted in Morals and Ethics are closely related. In fact,
cultural practices and habits because the many ethicists consider the terms to be
words moral and ethics themselves were interchangeable. However, there are slight
essentially created to describe these topics. differences in how they impact our lives. Ethics
determine what behaviors are “right” or
ETHICS
“wrong,” while morals determine whether
The term “ethics” is used in three different but people feel “good” or “bad.” It dictates what
related contexts, signifying the following: ethical behaviors are allowed, whereas
morals reflect our intentions.
- Philosophical Ethics, which involves inquiry
about ways of life and rules of conduct. In essence, ethics are an institution’s attempt
- A set of moral guidelines or “moral code” to control behavior through rules based on a
(e.g., professional codes for ethical shared moral code.
behavior) When one's personal moral code conflicts with
- A general pattern or way of life, such as an institution’s code of ethics, ethical
religious ethics. dilemmas arise.
APPROACHES TO ETHICS Examples:

Ethical theories can be divided into four areas: These statements are about ethical relativism,
the idea that moral standards are different
1. Descriptive Ethics
from person to person or from society to
2. Normative Ethics
society.
3. Analytic Ethics or Meta-Ethics
4. Applied Ethics. 1. Descriptive: Different societies have
different moral standards.
Descriptive Ethics
2. Normative: This action is wrong in this
It is simply describing how people behave and society, but it is right in another.
what sorts of moral standards they claim to 3. Analytic: Morality is relative.
follow. It incorporates research from the fields
All of the following statements refer to the
of anthropology, psychology, sociology, and
moral philosophy commonly known as
history as part of the process of understanding
utilitarianism.
what people do or have believed about
moral norms. 1. Morality is simply a system for helping
humans stay happy and alive.
Normative Ethics
2. People tend to make decisions that bring
It involves creating or evaluating moral pleasure and avoid pain.
standards. Thus, it is an attempt to figure out 3. The moral decision is that which enhances
what people should do or whether their well-being and limits suffering.
current moral behavior is reasonable.
All of the following statements refer to the
Analytic Ethics moral philosophy commonly known as
utilitarianism.
Also referred to as Meta-Ethics, is perhaps the
most difficult of the four to understand. In fact, 1. Analytic: Morality is simply a system for
some philosophers disagree as to whether it helping humans stay happy and alive.
should be regarded as an independent 2. Descriptive: People tend to make
pursuit, arguing that it should instead be decisions that bring pleasure and avoid
included under Normative Ethics. pain.
Nevertheless, it is discussed independently 3. Normative: The moral decision is that
often enough that it deserves its own which enhances well-being and limits
discussion. suffering.

It explores the status, foundations, and scope Summary

of moral values, properties, and words. It
Ethics is based on well-founded standards of
focuses on what morality itself is.
right and wrong that prescribe what humans
It investigates the origins of moral and ethical ought to do, usually in terms of rights,
principles and their meanings. It focuses on obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or
the definition of right and wrong and the specific virtues.
nature of morality in language.
“How we perceive right and wrong is
Applied Ethics influenced by what we feed on.” - Unknown
Author
It applies ethical principles to real-life moral
issues, such as bioethics, legal ethics, business
ethics, and medical ethics. It deals with ethical
questions specific to practical fields, such as
euthanasia, capital punishment, animal rights,
and war.

It seeks to apply philosophical tools to

examine specific controversial issues and
provide practical solutions to moral problems.