BRANCHES OF

PHILOSOPHY
4- ETHICS AS A BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY:
Definition:
From Latin word ethicus, from Greek word ethikos, from French ethos,
meaning character.
Ethics is a normative science.
A branch of philosophy, which deals with the study of human conduct in the
context of right and wrong, fair and unfair, correct and incorrect, just and
unjust, good and bad.
A branch of philosophy which differentiates good voluntary actions from bad
voluntary actions, i.e., actions which are based on freedom of will of an
individual but categorized as good or bad. E.g., Telling the truth, Helping a
needy person, Killing some one, Robbery etc.
The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and
obligation, OR a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values.
Branches of Ethics: Ethics can be divided
into the following important branches.
Normative Ethics: A branch of ethics which deals with our routine life activities is
called normative ethics. E.g., Telling the truth is a good action; hence, we ought to
tell the truth always.
Metaethics: A branch of ethics which shows no concern with our routine life
activities, rather deals with the analysis of ethical or moral concepts themselves,
like what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in itself. It attempts to define ethical or moral concepts
themselves rather than prescribing morally just actions of our ordinary life.
Applied Ethics: A branch of ethics which deals with the application of ethical or
moral knowledge, (i.e., which apply ethical or moral principles) in some particular
field, like business, medicine, engineering, environment etc. Applied ethics has
several sub-branches like,
Business Ethics, Medical Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Military Ethics, Bio-ethics,
Engineering Ethics, Work Ethics, Professional Ethics etc.
Theories of Ethics:
Theories of ethics can broadly be divided into two categories, each of
which can further be divided into several other categories.
The two broader categories are:
Normative Theories of Ethics and,
Emotive Theory of Ethics.
Both Normative and Emotive theories of ethics will be discussed in
detail in the following slides.
Normative Theories of Ethics:
The term Normative is from norme or norma, which means norm.
Normative refers to determining norms or standards, conforming to or based
on norms Or prescribing norms or rules of ethics.
Hence; Normative theories of ethics deals with the study of norms, standards,
rules or principles of ethics.
Normative theories of ethics can further be divided into;
1. Consequential and
2. Non-consequential Ethical theories.
Consequential Theories of Ethics: Also
known as Teleological Ethics.
The advocate philosophers of consequentialism believe that the worth of
human action can be determined on the basis of results or consequences
produced by that action. If these results are favorable, the action is thought
to be good, while if the results of an action are unfavorable, the action will
be bad.
Teleological is from Greek word teleology, which means an end or purpose.
Now important questions can arise; what type of results and consequences
are the consequentialists talking about? OR; what end or purpose determine
human action of a moral nature?
Hence; consequentialism is further divided into;
1. Hedonism and,
2. Self-Realization.
Hedonism:
Hedonism is derived from Greek word hedon, which means pleasure or
broadly speaking happiness.
Pleasure or happiness as a result of human action determines the goodness of
that action, while displeasure, dis-satisfaction or pain determines the badness
of that action, i.e., an action is good if it gives pleasure or happiness, while
an action is bad if it gives pain.
Pleasure or happiness is the end or purpose of moral action.
Humans by their very nature seek pleasure and avoid pain.
Another important question can arise; Whose pleasure or happiness?, Is it the
pleasure of the agent or others or both?
Hence; hedonism is further divided into two categories;
1. Egoism and,
2. Utilitarianism.
Egoism: Self Interest.
According to Egoism, an action will be good, if it gives pleasure or happiness
to the agent concern, i.e., the doer of an action.
Egoism is further divided into two categories;
1. Psychological Egoism: It says that as humans by their very nature are selfish
beings; hence, they always promote self interest.
2. Ethical Egoism: It comparatively adopts a positive approach towards self-
interest and says that humans by nature prefers self interest, not due to their
selfish nature but this is how they are naturally structured.
Utilitarianism: Utility.
According to utilitarianism, an action will be good if it gives maximum
pleasure or happiness to maximum number of the people including the agent.
Utilitarianism can further be divided into;
1. Act Utilitarianism: It says that humans always act in such a manner that their
action gives maximum pleasure or happiness to maximum number of the
people.
2. Rule Utilitarianism: It says that whenever humans act, they act in accordance
with a rule, which gives maximum happiness to maximum people.
Self-Realization:
Coming back towards the second category of consequentialism, i.e., Self-
Realization, which is also known as Socratic ethics. ‘Know thyself’ is the moral
slogan of Socrates, who thought that the most supreme virtue is ‘knowledge’,
as he said that ‘knowledge is virtue’.
What is meant by knowing thyself or realizing oneself?
It means the realization of one’s potentials, abilities, capacities, skills and
capabilities. All this is possible only through knowledge and once we get that
ability of self-realization, we will be in a better position to differentiate good
from bad.
Non-Consequentialism: Which is also
known as Deontological Ethics: Duty.
According to non-consequentialism, results have nothing to do with the value
or worth of an action. An action is either good or bad just because of its
intrinsic nature. Result is something which lie outside the act itself, so how
can it judge the significance of the act.
The term deontological is from Greek word deon, which means duty; so non-
consequentialism is a duty-based morality. It suggests that it is our moral duty
or obligation to do good and avoid evil without looking into their results.
The best example of deontological ethics is the moral philosophy of Immanuel
Kant; A German Philosopher.
Important concepts of Kant’s moral theory are; Good Will, Categorical
Imperative, Three moral formulations.
Kant’s Moral Theory:
Kant says that an action is good only when good will is attached to it. But
what is good will? Kant has never defined it. One possible interpretation
which we can make is that of good intention. Not only the action should be
good, but it must be willed with good intentions as well.
There are two types of imperatives (imperative means command); the
hypothetical imperative, which means conditional commands like in the case
of consequentialism, which has conditioned the worth of an action with its
results, and the categorical imperative, which means unconditional
commands as in the case of Kant’s moral philosophy, which rejects the role of
results in determining the worth of an action, i.e., worth or value of an
action is not conditioned with its results.
Now coming towards Kant’s three moral formulations;
Kant’s Three Formulations:
Kant has introduced three principles of morality. He says that every rational
individual can use these moral principles for differentiating good from bad. They
are;
1. Act always upon that maxim or principle which you ‘will’ to become a universal
law. In simple words, Kant suggests that while doing any action, we should follow a
principle of universality, i.e., actions which can be universalized are good, while
others which cannot be universalized will be bad. Kant gives four illustrations to
clear his case, which are, i. Suicide attempt, ii. False Promise, iii. Refusing
assistance to a needy person and, iv. Life of idleness. These are actions, which
cannot be universalized; hence, they are bad. (Note: In case of universal
application, the individual him/herself is also not excluded).
2. Treat every human being as an end in itself, not as a mean for your own end. Again
Kant uses the same four illustrations.
3. Always act as if you are living in a kingdom, where you are the sovereign as well as
the subject. (i.e., make your own laws and obey them yourself as well).
Emotive Theory of Ethics or Emotivism:
Emotivism is the moral philosophy of logical positivism, which is a very
important philosophical movement of the 20 th century.
According to logical positivists metaphysics, religion, ethics and aesthetics are
pseudo and meaningless. Being meaningless, they are not worthy of
philosophical consideration. Although ethics is meaningless according to
them, yet it plays an important role in the stability of a society. Hence, they
have their moral theory of emotivism, according to which ethical terms like
good and bad, fair and unfair, just and unjust etc., are neither facts which
can be observed and verified, nor analytical concepts which can be analyzed.
Rather, they are emotive terms used to express our feelings and emotions;
and to awoke, provoke, produce or generate the same sort of feelings in the
listener, hence, are subjective in nature.