Ethics - Introduction

What is ethics?

Ethics is a set of believes and moral principles which one or a group of people believes in. It helps them make decisions and it educates them on what is right or wrong.

It is a belief system. Some may agree to it while some may disagree. It is subjective. For instance, one may feel that it is alright to pick up a $50 from the streets because the owner dropped it due to his carelessness while some may feel that it is not right, the $50 note should be handed to the relevant authorities.

So, what is the key to help us decide what is right or wrong?

The key here is integrity. Integrity should be the cornerstone of our ethics. Perhaps, you should know what a cornerstone is. A corner stone is an essential foundation of a building. This is why we say that integrity should be the foundation of ethics.Ethics should not only help us choose right from wrong, it should also help us choose right from right.

A seven ethical steps decision making model was developed to help one make ethical decisions. Here are the seven steps, click on the link above to navigate to the page.

Four Approaches

Virtue Approach - Ethical choice based on virtue, on what is morally correct.

Utilitarian Approach - Among all the choices given, choose the choice that has the greatest benefit.

Fairness Approach - Ethical choice based on "All are equal". No one is special. Not bias.

Common Good Approach - A choice that is made for the common good. For the sake of the majority so to speak.

Three areas in ethics
Ethics can be classified into three areas.

- Meta Ethics

Meta Ethics does not indicate whether a decision is good or bad. It is more of "WHY?” Meta Ethics seeks to understand things like what is moral goodness etc.

- Normative Ethics

Normative Ethics deals with the believe of what is right and what is wrong. It is a set of rules which educates people in doing right or wrong.

The Utilitarian Approach is an example of a normative ethic.

- Applied Ethics

We mentioned the Utilitarian Approach earlier on, and that approach falls under applied ethics as well.

In a nutshell, applied ethics deals with the practices of professions. i.e. Medical Ethics, Ethics for Lawyers etc.It is necessary for one to adhere to the code of ethics.


With Reference from: Wikipedia, ITLG Lecture Notes