INTRODUCTION

 Ethics is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts
of right and wrong conduct.
 The term ethics derives from the ancient Greek word “ethos” which means custom or habit.
 In practice, ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality, by defining concepts such as good and
evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.
 Bioethicist Larry Churchill has written: “Ethics, understood as the capacity to think critically about
moral values and direct our actions in terms of such values, is a generic human capacity.

TYPES OF ETHICS

Philosophers nowadays divide ethical theories mainly into three areas: meta-ethics, normative ethics and
applied ethics.

 Meta-ethics deals with the nature of moral judgement. It looks at the origins and meaning of ethical
principles.
 Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what is right
and what is wrong course of action.
 Applied ethics looks at what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific situation or a
particular domain of action.

Difference between Meta & Normative Ethics

 Normative ethics deals with questions like “which of my actions should be considered as good?”
 Meta ethics deals with questions like “what is good?”

Applied Ethics

 It is the philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint. Of particular issues in private and public
life which are matters of moral judgement. It is thus the attempts to use philosophical methods to
identify the morally correct course of action in various fields of everyday life.
 Business ethics
 Engineering ethics
 Bio-medical ethics
 Environment ethics
 Military ethics
DECRIPTIVE

 Describing how people behave/morale standard they claimed to follow.

 WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK IS RIGHT?

META ETHICS

 Pollock (2007, p.6) defines meta-ethics as “a discipline that investigates the meaning of ethical systems
and whether they are relative or are universal, and are self-constructed or are independent of human
creation.”
 Investigate where ethical principle come from
 “Is ethics culturally relative?”
 WHAT DOES “RIGHT” EVEN MEAN?

NORMATIVE

 Normative theories tell us not only what we ought to do, but also why we do things that in some
instances may appear counterintuitive to what we think an ethical decision would be. (Pollock, 2007)
 This is being used by individuals to make decisions when confronted with ethical dilemmas.
 HOW SHOULD PEOPLE ACT?

APPLIED

 Evans and Macmillan (2014, p.27) define applied ethics as “theories of ethics concerned with the
application of normative ethics to particular ethical issues.”
 Involves examining specific controversial issues
 HOW DO WE TAKE MORAL KNOWLEDGABLE AND PUT IN INTO PRACTICE?

WHY DO WE NEED ETHICS?

1. Ethics guides us like a map: Most moral issues get us pretty worked up because these are such
emotional issues we often let our hearts do the arguing while our brains just go with the flow. But
there's another way of tackling these issues, and that's where philosophers can come in - they offer us
ethical rules and principles that enable us to take a cooler view of moral problems.

2. Ethics is about feeling for others: At the heart of ethics is a concern about something or someone
other than us and our own desires and self-interest. Ethics is concerned with other people's interests,
with the interests of society. So when a person 'thinks ethically' they are giving at least some thought
to something beyond themselves.
 3. Ethical values creates integrity: High sense of ethics and values makes a man trustworthy and
representable. If a professional individual follows every legal and moral codes, abides by the rules and
regulations of the company and tries to create the maximum profit for the client and for the company
then the said individual catalyzes the increment of integrity of the company as well as himself/herself.

ADVANTAGES OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE

 Builds customer loyalty

 Retains good employees
 Creates positive work environment
 Gets easier to avoid legal problems
 Makes profit in the long run
 Hard work, legal and ethical behavior and perseverance leads to success.
 Example: It was founded in 2001 as a micro-finance company and in 2014 Bandhan bank received
banking license from the Reserve Bank of India. In 2014, the capital of Bandhan bank was INR 2570
crores.

CONCLUSION

 Technological growth and all other progress as a civilization fails if we give up our morals and values.
The only thing which separates us from other animals is our conscience. If we obey our morals our
internal peace is maintained. So, our code of ethics makes us who we are and keeps the society in
harmony.