Ethics

• 1. Foundations And Branches

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  Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied ethics, and metaethics. Normative ethics aims to find general principles that govern how people should act. Applied ethics examines concrete ethical problems in real-life situations, such as abortion, treatment of animals, and business practices. Metaethics explores the underlying assumptions and concepts of ethics. It asks whether there are objective moral facts, how moral knowledge is possible, and how moral judgments motivate people.

• 2. Normative Ethics Theories

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  According to consequentialists, an act is right if it leads to the best consequences. Deontologists focus on acts themselves, saying that they must adhere to duties, like telling the truth and keeping promises. Virtue ethics sees the manifestation of virtues, like courage and compassion, as the fundamental principle of morality. Classical utilitarianism says that pleasure is good and that the action leading to the most overall pleasure is right. Jeremy Bentham introduced the hedonic calculus to assess the value of consequences at the end of the 18th century. John Stuart Mill responded to criticisms by distinguishing between higher and lower pleasures. Immanuel Kant (1724, 1804) formulated a deontological system based on universal laws that apply to all rational creatures. He uses the term categorical imperative for these principles. Aristotle (384, 322 BCE) held that each virtue is a golden mean between two types of vices: excess and deficiency. Stoicism emerged about 300 BCE and taught that through virtue alone, people can achieve happiness characterized by a peaceful state of mind free from emotional disturbances.

• 3. Metaethical Debates

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  Moral realists accept the claim that there are objective moral facts. This view implies that moral values are mind-independent aspects of reality. Moral relativists reject the idea that morality is an objective feature of reality. They argue instead that moral principles are human inventions. Moral nihilists deny the existence of moral facts. They believe that the basic assumptions underlying moral claims are misguided. G. E. Moore (1873, 1958) argued that moral values are essentially different from other properties found in the natural world. R. M. Hare (1919, 2002) followed this idea in formulating his prescriptivism, which states that moral statements are commands that, unlike regular judgments, are neither true nor false. J. L. Mackie (1917, 1981) suggested that every moral statement is false since there are no moral facts. Derek Parfit (1942, 2017) made an influential argument for moral realism, arguing that morality concerns objective features of reality that give people reasons to act in one way or another. Bernard Williams (1929, 2003) defended a subjective view instead that sees reasons as internal mental states.

• 4. Applied Ethical Domains

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  Bioethics covers moral problems associated with living organisms and biological disciplines. A key problem in bioethics is how features such as consciousness, being able to feel pleasure and pain, rationality, and personhood affect the moral status of entities. The Hippocratic Oath is one of the earliest texts to engage in medical ethics by establishing ethical guidelines for medical practitioners like a prohibition to harm the patient. Animal ethics examines how humans should treat other animals. This field often emphasizes the importance of animal welfare while arguing that humans should avoid or minimize the harm done to animals. Environmental ethics deals with moral problems relating to the natural environment including animals, plants, natural resources, and ecosystems. Business ethics examines the moral implications of business conduct and how ethical principles apply to corporations and organizations. Professional ethics is a closely related field that studies ethical principles applying to members of a specific profession, like engineers, medical doctors, lawyers, and teachers.

• 5. Historical Development

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  The history of ethics started in the ancient period with the development of ethical principles and theories in ancient Egypt, India, China, and Greece. In ancient Egypt, the concept of Maat was used as an ethical principle to guide behavior and maintain order by emphasizing the importance of truth, balance, and harmony. Ancient India starting in the 2nd millennium BCE saw the composition of the Vedas and later Upanishads as foundational texts of Hindu philosophy. Buddhist ethics originated in ancient India between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE and advocated compassion, non-violence, and the pursuit of enlightenment. Ancient China in the 6th century BCE saw the emergence of Confucianism, which focuses on moral conduct and self-cultivation. Socrates emphasized the importance of inquiry into what a good life is by critically questioning established ideas. Thomas Aquinas (1224, 1274 CE) developed natural law ethics by claiming that ethical behavior consists in following the laws and order of nature. Moral philosophy in the modern period was characterized by a shift toward a secular approach to ethics. An important development in 20th-century ethics in analytic philosophy was the emergence of metaethics.