INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS NoTEs

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
UMU
Presenter:
MUGAGGA LUBOWA
(MBE”,BA.Phil.Dip.Phil&Ss.Dip.FRE., DIP.
Theo&Rs. CERT.ETTC,CERT.GER.)
+256 70 5024346
Skype: mugga2015
ETHICS AND MORALS
 Etymology: The word Morals is derived from a
Greek word “Mos” which means custom. On
the other hand,
 Ethics, is derived from a Greek word
“Ethikos” which means character.
 Thus Ethics is the reflection on the rightness or
wrongness of the actions or decisions taken by
a moral agent.
Moral Agent and Moral Patient
 A moral agent is a person who has the ability to
discern right from wrong and to be held
accountable for his or her own actions. Moral
agents have a moral responsibility not to cause
unjustified harm.
 Traditionally, moral agency is assigned only to
those who can be held responsible for their
action
 A moral patient, on the other hand, is something
that cannot be expected to act for moral reasons.
Moral Agent/Moral Patients
 The Greek Philosopher Hericlitus compared a
man's character to what we might call "the
Divine spark," or, in Christian theology, the
"imago dei," that is, the image of God. In other
words, the fact that mankind is led to behave in
accord with certain moral considerations is a
chief component in his distinction from mere
beasts, animals who operate purely by instinct.
Differentiating Moral Values
 Differentiating moral values from other types of values: Our

understanding of ethics begins with understanding the choices
that we make every day. Each of this choice depends on what
interest us. Let us call that which interests us, values. We make
these choices based on what we value. Some things interest us
because of their beauty – aesthetic value – such as flowers.
Others are of cultural value, or of political value, or of
occupational value (such as a job). But some decisions or acts we
choose or do them because of their moral value. We make a
moral choice.
 Moral value / moral choice is about “right or wrong” of actions
or decisions in our behavior as we relate to other human beings.
Characteristics of Moral choices
 Struhl, K and Struhl P (1975) explain five characteristics of
moral choices which make them different from other choices:
 i) they have fairly long term consequences;
 ii) affect other in a significant way;
 iii) contribute to defining the kind of person we are.
 iv) contribute to defining the kind of relations we want people to
have and the kind of world that we wish to exist, and v)
contribute to creating the kind of values we seek out to operate in
the world. Take for instance, the choice to tell a lie or to tell
the truth.
 When in society we talk about morals or morality, we refer
to actions that are “right and wrong” of actions and beliefs.
Difference between Morality and Ethics
 Morals:
 . We can then define morality as standards that an
individual or group has about what is right and
what is wrong in our actions and decision as relate
to other.
 Morality is about norms and standards of
behavior/conduct in society.
 Normative systems have a dual role of: (i)
evaluating human actions, (ii) and guiding personal
behavior. Ethics then provides the criteria for
justifying the optimal worthy of normative systems.
Difference between Morals and Ethics
 Morals are the beliefs of the individual or group as
to what is right or wrong.
 Ethics are the guiding principles which help the
individual or group to decide what is good or bad.
 Morals are general principles set by group
 Ethics principles are responses to a specific
situation
 Morals may differ from society to society and
culture to culture. Thus, are subjective.
 Ethics are generally uniform/Universal
Difference between Morals and Ethics
 Morals deal with what is ‘right or wrong’.
Ethics deals with what is ‘good or evil’
Difference between Ethics and Law
Law and Ethics
Law may be understood as the systematic set of
universally accepted rules and regulation created by
an appropriate authority such as government, which
may be regional, national, international, etc.
It is used to govern the action and behaviour of the
members and can be enforced, by imposing penalty.
Ethics is concerned with standards of behavior and he
concept of right and wrong, over and above that
which is considered legal in a given society (Judson
& Harrison, 2006). A certain conduct may be legal
but not ethical.
Law and Ethics
 The law creates a legal binding, but ethics has
no such binding on the people.
METHODOLOGY IN APPLIED ETHICS
 There are two approaches or methods in

Applied Ethics:
 (a) normative,
 (b) non-normative
 A Normative Approach: Involves creating or
evaluating moral standards. Thus, it is an
attempt to figure out what people should do or
whether their current moral behaviour is
reasonable. Prescribes how humans ought to
behave or out to conduct themselves.
Methodology in Applied Ethics
 B- Non-Normative Aproach

 In non-normative approach a distinction is made between:

Descriptive ethics and Analytical ethics (also called meta-
ethics)

 Descriptive ethics:
 It simply involves describing how people behave and/or
what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow.
Descriptive ethics incorporates research from the fields of
anthropology, psychology, sociology and history as part of
the process of understanding what people do or have
believed about moral norms.
Methodology in Applied Ethics
 Analytic Ethics (or meta-ethics) – involves
analysis of ethical language. It is concerned with
what it means when you use the moral terms
such as right, wrong, obligation, good and
others.
 Normative ethics concerns judgments about
what is good and how we should act. Meta-
ethics, with which ’analytic ethics’ is typically
identified, seeks to understand such judgments.
Are they factual statements capable of being
literally true or false.
Analytic/Metaethics Ethics/
 Meta-ethics addresses questions such as "What
is goodness?" and "How can we tell what is
good from what is bad?", It seeks to understand
the nature of ethical properties and evaluations
ETHICAL THEORIES
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What is the difference between ethics and morals?

What are the characteristics of moral choices?

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

 Differentiating moral values from other types of values: Our

 There are two approaches or methods in

 In non-normative approach a distinction is made between:

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