Kevin L.

Catedral BSIT-4A

1. Definition of Ethics from various authors

o Rushworth Kidder states that “standard definitions of ethics have
typically included such phrases as ‘the science of the ideal human
character’ or ‘the science of moral duty’”. Richard William Paul and
Linda Elder define ethics as “a set of concepts and principles that guide
us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures”. The
Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word ethics is
“commonly used interchangeably with ‘morality’ … and sometimes it is
used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition,
group or individual.” Paul and Elder state that most people confuse
ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious
beliefs and the law and don’t treat ethics as a stand-alone concept. The
word “ethics” in English refers to several things. It can refer to
philosophical ethics or moral philosophy – a project that attempts to use
reason in order to answer various kinds of ethical questions. Laura
Annabelle (March 6, 2017).
2. History of Ethics
o The term ethics is used in three different but related ways, signifying (1)
a general pattern or "way of life," (2) a set of rules of conduct or "moral
code," and (3) inquiry about ways of life and rules of conduct. In the first
sense we speak of Buddhist or Christian ethics; in the second, we speak
of professional ethics and of unethical behavior. In the third sense,
ethics is a branch of philosophy that is frequently given the special name
of metaethics. The present discussion will be limited to the history of
philosophical or "meta" ethics, for two reasons. First, because it is
impossible to cover, with any degree of thoroughness, the history of
ethics in either of the first two senses. Practices and the codification of
practices are the threads out of which all of human culture is woven, so
 that the history of ethics in either of these senses would be far too vast a
subject for a brief essay. Second, although ethical philosophy is often
understood in a broad way as including all significant thought about
human conduct, it can well be confined within manageable limits by
separating purely philosophical thought from the practical advice, moral
preaching, and social engineering that it illuminates and from which it
receives sustenance. This distinction, while somewhat artificial, makes
sense of the common opinion that philosophy in general, and ethical
philosophy in particular, was invented by the Greeks. The central
questions of philosophical ethics are: What do we or should we mean by
"good" and "bad"? what are the right standards for judging things to be
good or bad? how do judgments of good and bad (value judgments)
differ from and depend upon judgments of value-neutral fact? But when
these questions are answered, it is important to find out the differences
between specific types of value judgments that are characterized by
such adjectives as useful, right, moral, and just. We may therefore
divide our subject matter into the search for the meaning and standards
of good in general, and of well-being, right conduct, moral character,
and justice in particular. Needless to say, these are not watertight
compartments. Many philosophers reject sharp distinctions between
them. But provisional separation of these topics, subject to reunification
in accordance with particular philosophical views, will prove helpful in
disentangling the various issues on which philosophers have taken
opposing stands, so that the history of ethics can be seen as irregular
progress toward complete clarification of each type of ethical judgment.
o Brinton, C. C. A History of Western Morals. New York: Harcourt Brace,
1959. A very readable history of ethical beliefs and practices.

3. What is Metaethics?
o Metaethics is the study of moral thought and moral language. Rather
than addressing questions about what practices are right and wrong,
 and what our obligations to other people or future generations are –
questions of so-called ‘normative’ ethics – metaethics asks what
morality actually is. The metaethicist is interested in whether there can
be knowledge of moral truths, or only moral feelings and attitudes, and
asks how we understand moral discourse as compared with other forms
of speech and writing

4. How Ethics is important in your field/course?

o Ethics is what guides us to tell the truth, keep our promises, or help
someone in need. There is a framework of ethics underlying our lives on
a daily basis, helping us make decisions that create positive impacts
and steering us away from unjust outcomes.
References:

https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0173.0022#:~:text=Metaethics%20is%20the%20study
%20of,asks%20what%20morality%20actually%20is.

https://www.scu.edu/mobi/resources--tools/blog-posts/ethics-in-life-and-business/ethics-
in-life-and-business.html