Nature of ethics Flashcards
Concerned with the underlying causes and meaning of reality including our existence and actions or human conduct
philosophy
philosophy from the words
Philo - love
Sophia - wisdom
Study of reality
Metaphysics
Study of correct thinking
Logic
Study of knowledge
Epistemology
Study of the morality of human conduct
Ethics
Concerned with the question whether a human action is good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral
ethics
deals with the issue whether an action is good or bad and the reasons why
ethics
Term ethics from the Greek [1] meaning [2]
ethos meaning “character”
Is being ethical equated with being moral?
Yes
Being moral is usually associated with one value system and the
desire to be good
It has something to do with following certain rules or guidelines
being ethical
an idea which is driven by a desire to do something good
moral precept
set of rules that defines allowable actions or correct behaviors
ethical code
True/False: Correct behavior is always good behavior
FALSE; Correct behavior is NOT always the good behavior
ethical behavior vs moral behavior
Ethical behavior – following rules
Moral behavior – desire to be good
concerned with whether an action is right or wrong in the moral sense
morals
Refers only to human acts, that is, actions which proceed from man’s rationality
morality
morality can be done with 3 elements
(1) knowledge,
(2) freedom,
(3) voluntariness
Actions which do NOT have a rational character can be considered […], they cannot be judged as morally good or morally evil
amoral
human acts vs acts of man
human acts
- require free will and involve deliberate choice
- moral or immoral
acts of man
- without free will; under conditions like ignorance, passion, fear, or violence
- amoral
If human actions are to be judged whether morally good or evil, then there must be something by which actions could be measured as good or evil
Norm or Standard of Morality
It serves as a guide in determining what is god and right or bad and wrong
ethics
The attempt to achieve a systematic understanding of the nature of morality and what it requires of us – how we ought to live and why
Ethics as a philosophy