Ethics

The ultimate purpose in studying ethics is

not as it in other inquiries, the attainment
of theoretical knowledge, we are not
conducting this inquiry in order to know
what virtue is, but in order to become good,
else there would be no advantage in
studying it.
-Aristotle
 Ethics are the norms by which
acceptable and unacceptable behavior
are measured.
Ethics is the highest aim for moral
thought and conduct and the virtues are
the requisite skills and disposition
needed to attain it.

Plato
What is Ethics?
 ETHICS
- a Greek word ethos which means “cultural custom and habit”
- a set of standards of right and wrong established by a
particular group or by a community means of regulating and
setting limits of behavior.
- includes the study of values and guidelines by which we live
to its justification.
- involves active engagement in the pursuit of the good life
consistent with a coherent set of moral values.
 Cultural customs such
ETHICS MORALITY as traditions, practices,
taboo, religious rites
and doctrines.

The idea that practicing

good actions is
Habituation important for ethics
education than merely
studying theory.
Normative
Ethics
Theoretical
Ethics
Normative Ethics (Applied Ethics)
- This affects all levels : personal, interpersonal, social (both
locally and globally) and environmental.
- It gives practical hands on guidelines or norms that can apply to
real life situations.

Theoretical Ethics (Theoretical Morality or Metaethics)

- Operates at a more fundamental levels.
- Moral theory are presumptions that have to pass the test of
rigorous analysis.
NORMATIVE ETHICS THEORETICAL ETHICS

“Do not lie” “According to....”

“Do no harm” “Based on the.....”
 Theoretical Ethics

NONCOGNITIVE COGNITIVE

Emotivism Relativist Theorist

Ethical Subjectivism
Cultural Relativism
Divine Command
 Theoretical Ethics :
Noncognitive theories
Emotivism
- Claim that there are no moral truths and that moral statements
are neither true nor false but simply expression or outburst of
feelings. If moral statements are neither true or false, there is
no such thing as objective moral truths.

Morality = Deceptive
 Theoretical Ethics :
Cognitive theories

Relativist Theories
- there are no independent moral values but
created by humanity. It varies from time to time
and from person to person.
 Relativist Theories
Ethical Subjectivism
- Maintains that moral right or wrong is relative to the
individual person and that moral is relative to the individual
person and that moral truth is a matter of individual opinion
or feeling.

Opinion = analysis or facts

Ethical subjectivism = systems of morality
 Relativist Theories
Cultural Relativists
- Argue that morality is created collectively by groups of humans
and that it differs from society to society. Each society has its
own moral norms; which are binding on the people who belong
to that society.

Cultural Relativism = Moral System represents a culture

 Relativist Theories
Divine Command Theory
- Morality for each person or religion is relative to God.
There are no universal moral principles that are binding on
all people. Instead, there is no morality independent of
God’s will, which may differ from person to person or
from religion to religion.

GOD = Morality