ETHICS GEC 18

BSN 1B
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

1. Ethics defined as a philosophic study

a. The term ethics may refer to the philosophical study of the concepts of moral right
and wrong and moral good and bad, to any philosophical theory of what is
morally right and wrong or morally good and bad, and to any system or code of
moral rules, principles, or values. The last may be associated with particular
religions, cultures, professions, or virtually any other group that is at least partly
characterized by its moral outlook.
i. Singer, P.. "Ethics." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 2, 2021.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy.

2. The role of ethics in life

a. The First reason is that we may get more light for our daily problems. We often
encounter moral dilemmas in our life. We sometimes reach a point that as if we
are at a crossroad, either going to the right or to the left, there is no better choice.
Going to the right is wrong and going to the left is also wrong. Within such a
situation, one has to decide because not deciding would mean avoiding
responsibility and it would be morally wrong. Thus the concern is how are we
going to decide in dealing with those problems? On what ground are we going to
decide? Ethics will guide us in those situations. Thus ethics play an important role
to guide our decision in our daily problems. The second reason is that it makes
clearer to us why one act is better than another. It is only through ethics we can
compare two acts or persons why one is good and is bad. The third reason is that
Morality is the best way of living. The fourth reason is that morality helps us to
see what are the prevalent sins and moral dangers of our day and thus arouse us to
put the weight of our blame and praise where they are needed.
3. The connection between the theory and action
a. Practice refers to the actual observation, operation, or experiment. The practice is
the observation of disparate concepts (or a phenomenon) that need explanation. A
theory is a proposed explanation of the relationship between two or more
concepts, or an explanation for how/why a phenomenon occurs.
4. Ethics and morality
a. Traditionally, ethics referred to the philosophical study of morality, the latter
being a more or less systematic set of beliefs, usually held in common by a group,
about how people should live. Ethics also referred to particular philosophical
theories of morality. Later the term was applied to particular (and narrower) moral
codes or value systems. Ethics and morality are now used almost interchangeably
in many contexts, but the name of the philosophical study remains ethics. (Singer,
P.. "Ethics." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 2, 2021.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy.)

Morality. In line with what we have discussed above, we get a clearer view of
what morality is. Morality is originated from the Latin word: “moralitas” which
ETHICS GEC 18
BSN 1B
means “manner, character, and proper behavior. Thus morality refers to a code of
conduct, by which human beings regulate their lives. While ethics is derived
from the Greek word: “ethos” which means “ characteristic way of acting”,
“habit”, “custom”.Thus, ethics studies the characteristics of the behavior of man
as endowed reason and free will. From the root word of ethics and morality, it
can be concluded that both are referring to the same thing or the same meaning.
In other words, ethics is the science of the morality of human acts. It is the study
of the behavior of man a moral being, who is able to distinguish between right and
wrong, good and bad.
5. Normative ethics. Normative ethics, that branch of moral philosophy, or ethics,
concerned with criteria of what is morally right and wrong. It includes the formulation of
moral rules that have direct implications for what human actions, institutions, and ways
of life should be like. It is typically contrasted with theoretical ethics, or metaethics,
which is concerned with the nature rather than the content of ethical theories and moral
judgments, and applied ethics, or the application of normative ethics to practical
problems.

The application of normative theories and standards to practical moral problems is the
concern of applied ethics. This subdiscipline of ethics deals with many major issues of
the contemporary scene, including human rights, social equality, and the moral
implications of scientific research, for example in the area of genetic engineering. See
also bioethics, legal ethics, business ethics, animal rights, environmentalism. (Britannica,
T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2020, May 21). Normative ethics. Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/normative-ethics)

6. Metaethics. the subdiscipline of ethics concerned with the nature of ethical theories and
moral judgments.

Metaethics deals not with the substantive content of ethical theories or moral judgments
but rather with questions about their nature, such as the question of whether moral
judgments are objective or subjective. Among contemporary philosophers in English-
speaking countries, those defending the objectivity of moral judgments have most often
been intuitionists or naturalists; those taking a different view have held a variety of
different positions, including subjectivism, relativism, emotivism, prescriptivism,
expressivism, and projective.