(Redirected from Ethical)
'Ethics' (via
Latin ''ethica'' from the
Ancient Greek ἠθική [φιλοσοφία] "moral philosophy", from the
adjective of
ἤθος ''ēthos'' "custom,
habit"), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of
values and
customs of a person or group. It covers the
analysis and employment of
concepts such as
right and
wrong,
good and evil, and
responsibility. It is divided into three primary areas: ''meta-ethics'' (the study of the concept of ethics), ''normative ethics'' (the study of how to determine ethical values), and ''applied ethics'' (the study of the use of ethical values).
Meta-ethics
Main articles: Meta-ethics
Meta-ethics is concerned primarilly with the ''meaning'' of ethical judgements and/or prescriptions and with the notion of which properties, if any, are responsible for the truth or validity thereof. Meta-ethics as a discipline gained attention with
G.E. Moore's famous work ''
Principia Ethica'' from 1903 in which Moore first addressed what he referred to as ''the
naturalistic fallacy''. Moore's rebuttal of naturalistic ethics, his
Open Question Argument sparked an interest within the analytic branch of western philosophy to concern oneself with second order questions about ethics; specifically the
semantics,
epistemology and
ontology of ethics.
The semantics of ethics divides naturally into descriptivism and non-descriptivism. The former position advocates the idea that prescriptive language (including ethical commands and duties) is a subdivision of descriptive language and has meaning in virtue of the same kind of properties as descriptive propositions, whereas the latter contends that ethical propositions are irreducible in the sense that their meaning cannot be explicated sufficiently in terms of truth-conditions.
Correspondingly, the epistemology of ethics divides into cognitivism and non-cognitivism; a distinction that is often perceived as equivalent to that between descriptivists and non-descriptivists. Non-cognitivism may be understood as the claim that ethical claims reach beyond the scope of human cognition or as the (weaker) claim that ethics is concerned with action rather than with knowledge. Cognitivism can then be seen as the claim that ethics is essentially concerned with judgements of the same kind as knowledge judgements; namely about matters of fact.
The ontology of ethics is concerned with the idea of value-bearing properties, i.e. the kind of things or stuffs that would correspond to or be referred to by ethical propositions. Non-descriptivists and non-cognitivists will generally tend to argue that ethics do not require a specific ontology, since ethical propositions do not refer to objects in the same way that descriptive propositions do. Such a position may sometimes be called anti-realist. Realists on the other hand are left with having to explain what kind of entities, properties or states are relevant for ethics, and why they have the normative status characteristic of ethics.
Normative ethics
Main articles: Normative ethics
Normative ethics is the study of ethical
norms - moral standards that tell us how to judge right from wrong, or good from bad, and how to live moral lives. This may involve articulating the
character or good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our actions on ourselves and others. These have traditionally been the three main approaches to normative ethics.
Normative ethicists who follow the first approach are often called
virtue ethicists, and articulate the various virtues or good habits that should be acquired.
Aristotle is a pioneer virtue ethicist.
Normative ethicists who follow the second approach are often called
deontological ethicists.
Immanuel Kant set out a large framework for a deontological normative ethical theory.
Normative ethicists who follow the third approach are often called
consequentialists or (specifically in regard to the theory of the greatest good for the greatest number)
utilitarians;
John Stuart Mill set out a large framework for a utilitarian normative ethics.
Descriptive ethics
Main articles: Descriptive ethics
Descriptive ethics is a
value-free approach to ethics which examines ethics not from a top-down ''
a priori'' perspective but rather
observations of actual choices made by moral agents in practice. Some philosophers rely on descriptive ethics and choices made and unchallenged by a
society or
culture to derive categories, which typically vary by context. This can lead to
situational ethics and
situated ethics. These philosophers often view
aesthetics,
etiquette, and
arbitration as more fundamental, percolating "bottom up" to imply the existence of, rather than explicitly prescribe, theories of value or of conduct. The study of descriptive ethics may include examinations of the following:
★
Ethical codes applied by various groups. Some consider aesthetics itself the basis of ethics – and a personal
moral core developed through art and storytelling as very influential in one's later ethical choices.
★ Informal theories of
etiquette which tend to be less rigorous and more situational. Some consider etiquette a simple negative ethics, i.e. where can one evade an uncomfortable truth without doing wrong? One notable advocate of this view is
Judith Martin ("Miss Manners"). According to this view, ethics is more a summary of
common sense social decisions.
★ Practices in
arbitration and
law, e.g. the claim that ethics itself is a matter of balancing "right versus right," i.e. putting priorities on two things that are both right, but which must be traded off carefully in each situation. Many consider this view to have potential to reform ethics as a practice, but it is not as widely held as the 'aesthetic' or 'common sense' views listed above.
★
Observed choices made by ordinary people, without expert aid or advice, who
vote,
buy, and decide what is worth valuing. This is a major concern of
sociology,
political science, and
economics.
Applied ethics
Main articles: Applied ethics
Applied ethics is a discipline of philosophy that attempts to apply ethical theory to real-life situations. The lines of distinction between meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often blurry. For example, the issue of
abortion can be seen as an applied ethical topic since it involves a specific type of controversial behaviour. But it can also depend on more general normative principles, such as possible rights of
self-rule and
right to life, principles which are often litmus tests for determining the morality of that procedure. The issue also rests on meta-ethical issues such as, "where do rights come from?" and "what kind of beings have rights?"
Another concept which blurs ethics is
moral luck. A drunk driver may safely reach home without injuring anyone, or he might accidentally kill a child who runs out into the street while he is driving home. The action of driving while drunk is usually seen as equally wrong in each case, but its dependence on chance affects the degree to which the driver is held responsible.
Specific questions
Applied ethics is used in determining public policy. For example, the following would be questions of applied ethics: "Is getting an
abortion immoral?" "Is
euthanasia immoral?" "Is
affirmative action right or wrong?" "What are
human rights, and how do we determine them?" and "Do animals have rights as well?"
A more specific question could be: "If someone else can make better out of his/her life than I can, is it then moral to sacrifice myself for them if needed?" Without these questions there is no clear fulcrum on which to balance
law,
politics, and the practice of
arbitration — in fact, no common assumptions of all participants—so the ability to formulate the questions are prior to rights balancing. But not all questions studied in applied ethics concern public policy. For example, making ethical judgments regarding questions such as, "Is
lying always wrong?" and, "If not, when is it permissible?" is prior to any etiquette.
Often, questions of applied ethics take legal or political form before they are interpreted in frameworks of
normative ethics. The
UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights of 1948 and the
Global Green Charter of 2001 are two such examples.
Ethics in politics and economics
Ethics has been applied to
economics,
politics and
political science, leading to several distinct and unrelated fields of applied ethics, including
business ethics,
binary economics and
Marxism. American corporate scandals such as the
Enron scandal and
Global Crossing are illustrative of the interplay between ethics and business. Ethical inquiries into the fraud perpetrated by corporate senior executive officers (e.g., Enron's
Kenneth Lay) are a growing trend and the situational ethics of employees, no matter how junior, who follow their unreasonable and/or illegal directives has also come to the fore. It has been argued, based on the legal obligation of corporate executives to maximise shareholder value and the fact that organisations comprise multiple individuals and agendas, that ethical constraints do not apply to corporations.
Ethics has been applied to family structure, sexuality, and how society views the roles of individuals; leading to several distinct and unrelated fields of applied ethics, including
feminism. Ethics has been applied to
war, particularly to the
justification of engaging in war, leading to positions such as
pacifism,
militarism and
nonviolence.
Bernard Crick in 1982 offered a socially-centred view, that
politics was the only applied ethics, that it was how cases were really resolved, and that "
political virtues" were in fact necessary in all matters where human morality and interests were destined to clash. The need to redefine and align politics away from ideology and towards
dispute resolution was a motive for Crick's list of political virtues.
Environmental ethics
Main articles: Environmental ethics
Ethics has been applied to analyse human use of Earth's limited resources. This has led to the study of environmental ethics and
social ecology. A growing trend has been to combine the study of both ecology and economics to help provide a framework for analysing
sustainability in environmental use. This has led to the theories of
ecological footprint and
bioregional autonomy. Political and social movements based on such ideas include
eco-feminism,
eco-anarchism,
deep ecology, the
green movement, and ideas about their possible integration into
Gaia philosophy.
Ethics in the professions
There are several sub-branches of applied ethics examining the ethical problems of different professions, such as
business ethics,
medical ethics,
journalism ethics,
engineering ethics,
museum ethics and
legal ethics, while
technology assessment and
environmental assessment study the effects and implications of new technologies or projects on nature and society.
Each branch characterizes common issues and problems that arise in the
ethical codes of the professions, and defines their common responsibility to the public, e.g. to preserve its natural capital, or to obey some social expectations of honest dealings and disclosure.
Ethics in health care
Main articles: Bioethics,
Medical ethics
One of the major areas where ethicists practice is in the field of
health care. This includes
medicine,
nursing,
pharmacy,
genetics, and other
allied health professions. Example issues are
euthanasia,
animal testing,
abortion,
medical research,
vaccine trials,
stem cell research,
informed consent,
truth telling,
patient rights and
autonomy,
rationing of health care (such as
triage).
Ethics in psychology
By the
1960s there was increased interest in
moral reasoning.
Psychologists such as
Lawrence Kohlberg developed theories which are based on the idea that moral behavior is made possible by moral reasoning. Their theories subdivided moral reasoning into so-called stages, which refer to the set of principles or methods that a person uses for ethical judgment. The first and most famous theory of this type was
Kohlberg's theory of moral development.
Carol Gilligan, a student of Kohlberg's, argued that women tend to develop through a different set of stages from men. Her studies inspired work on an
ethic of care, which particularly defines itself against
Rawlsian-type justice- and contract-based approaches.
Another group of influential psychological theories with ethical implications is the
humanistic psychology movement. One of the most famous humanistic theories is
Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Maslow argued that the highest human need is
self-actualization, which can be described as fulfilling one's potential, and trying to fix what is wrong in the world.
Carl Rogers's work was based on similar assumptions. He thought that in order to be a 'fully functioning person', one has to be creative and accept one's own feelings and needs. He also emphasized the value of self-actualization. A similar theory was proposed by
Fritz Perls, who assumed that taking responsibility of one's own life is an important value.
R.D. Laing developed a broad range of thought on
interpersonal psychology. This deals with interactions between people, which he considered important, for an ethical action always occurs between one person and another. In books such as The Politics of Experience, he dealt with issues concerning how we should relate to persons labeled by the psychiatric establishment as "
schizophrenic". He came to be seen as a champion for the rights of those considered mentally ill. He spoke out against (and wrote about) practices of
psychiatrists which he considered inhumane or barbaric, such as
electric shock treatment. Like
Wittgenstein, he was frequently concerned with clarifying the use of language in the field — for example, he suggested that the effects of
psychiatric drugs (some of which are very deleterious, such as
tardive dyskinesia) be called just that: "effects", and not be referred to by the preferred euphemisms of the drug companies, who prefer to call them "side effects". Laing also did work in establishing true asylums as places of refuge for those who feel disturbed and want a safe place to go through whatever it is they want to explore in themselves, and with others.
A third group of psychological
theories that have implications for the nature of ethics are based on
evolutionary psychology. These theories are based on the assumption that the behavior that ethics prescribe can sometimes be seen as an evolutionary adaptation. For instance,
altruism towards members of one's own
family promotes one's
inclusive fitness.
On the other side of the evolutionary fence,
Phil Roberts, Jr. has offered a view in which
morality, and particularly the capacity for
guilt, is viewed as a maladaptive byproduct of the
evolution of
rationality:
Legal ethics
Main articles: Legal ethics
Ethics has been applied to
criminology leading to the field of
criminal justice.
See also
Further reading
★ The
London Philosophy Study Guide offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject:
Ethics
★
Morality and Ethics: An Introduction , Butchvarov, Panayot. Skepticism in Ethics (1989).
★
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book ''Ethics'', discusses an individual's ethical responsibility in the face of evil.
External links
★
An Introduction to Ethics by Paul Newall, aimed at beginners.
★
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
★
★
Ancient Ethics
★
★
Environmental Ethics
★
★
Feminist Ethics
★
★
Natural Law Tradition in Ethics
★
★
Virtue Ethics
★
C. D. Broad, ''Five Types of Ethical Theory'' (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1930).
★
James Cornman, "Chapter Six: The Problem of Justifying an Ethical Standard," in Philosophical Problems and Arguments — An Introduction, 3d ed., Indianapolis: Hackett, 1982.
★
William Frankena, ''Ethics'', 2d ed., 1973.
★
W. D. Ross, ''The Right and the Good'' (1930)
★
Brute Ethics: An Encyclopedia of Animal Ethics.
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