Branches of Philosophy
It is my understanding that there are three main branches of philosophy. These three branches include Metaphysics, Ethics and Epistemology. Metaphysics finds its focus through questions on reality. These questions include: What is real? What is mind and what is matter? What kind of reality do we have? Epistemology deals with truth versus opinion. Questions include what is truth, and what is its source? Is truth absolute or relative? Lastly, Ethics deals with right and wrong. It also deals with the interactions between people and their society. Students of Ethics might ask ‘What are our obligations to ourselves and society?’ and ‘Why should one be moral?’ I will attempt to answer this question.
I think it is important to define morality and ethics, as I understand them. Morals are a set of rules passed to us though our family, social, and religious experiences that serve to govern our independent actions. Our moral beliefs rest only on our sense of right and wrong. It is important to note that morals only apply to individual action and consequence. Ethics, however, apply to the actions of two or more people. Ethics are meaningless unless applied in a social context. Ethics serve to define the acceptable actions of the individual within the social structure. Ethics are established through the consensus of many people and with the guidance of human experience. With morality, ones behavior is held to an ideal code of conduct. Ethics, however, deals with an imperfect, but attainable set of practices. It is left to the individual to take a decision that is moral, regardless of its ethical standing.
Each of the Philosophers we have read about has held some view concerning morals and ethics. Socrates held ...
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...me if I was starving, then I should help feed starving people. Following this line of reasoning, it would be possible for me to determine whether any action is right or wrong. Therefore, based on the Golden Rule, it would also be wrong for me to lie to, harass, victimize or kill others. It is from these kinds of moral judgments that society is able to define a larger set of fundamental principles; such as rights to life, liberty and happiness. This leads to the formation of a sort of democratic version of morality called ethics. A group selects certain rules of right conduct from a pool of rules of right conduct created by individuals and adopts them as the social norm. In this way, a composite ethical code evolves so that most of the people in the group are content to follow most of the rules most of the time. In this way, our society encourages people to be moral.
The word “Ethics” has its root in the Greek word ‘ethos’, which means character, spirit and attitude of a group of people or culture. Ethics is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as: a system of moral principles, by which human actions may be judged good or bad or right or wrong, and the rules of conduct recognized in respect of a particular class of human actions.
“Ethics”, in general, is nothing but a principle of conduct. Ethics can also be defined as moral philosophy which is used to answer questions related to morality. The word ‘Ethics’ has been derived from the Greek word ‘Ethos’ which simply meant “the state of being” or “to keep ones soul pure”. The sub divisions of ethics are as follows;
Ethics refers to a system of moral standards that guide the decision for human conduct of what is right and wrong based on everyday life situations, usually in terms rights, obligations, benefits, fairness, or virtue. Ethics is used as a formal guideline for conducting business in order to minimize pain to the greater number of people as a whole. The principles of ethics come from the knowledge and understanding of the word of God, the Bible. It tells us how we ought to think and behave toward one another considering first, how we want to be treated. For instance, we have the right to freedom of speech as long as we don’t insult the integrity of others. In addition, God gives us examples for how make right decisions and warns of those to avoid. Knowing this, that if we have love in our hearts first, for our heavenly father then we’ll have compassion for our fellow mankind to behave ethically.
At its easiest, ethics may be an arrangement of moral standards. They have an impact on however people make choices and lead their lives. A moral contemplates with what's sensible for individuals and public opinion and is also outlined as ethics. The term originates from the Greek word property which may mean custom, propensity, character or air. At the middle of ethics may be a worry in regards to one thing or someone aside from us and our own particular wishes and speculation toward oneself. A moral contemplates with elective individuals' diversions, with the investment of pop culture, with God's premiums, with "ultimate goods", etc. So once a distinct 'thinks morally' they're giving at least some thought to one thing on the far side themselves.
Ethics: while defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the discipline dealing with what is good or bad [through] moral duty”, this concise phrase does not seem to encompass the word’s full connotation. The way ‘ethics’ is defined in the dictionary alludes that there is a black-and-white answer to whether an action, belief, or opinion is ethical. Unfortunately, when applying this term to real life, decisions are almost never as clear cut as right or wrong. Why then, are we so quick to judge things as right or wrong, good or bad, ethical or unethical?
Ethics are the set beliefs and values of an individual which they apply to circumstances relating to morality. To act in an ‘ethical’ manner, an individual must display integrity by doing what they believe to be right.
In our generation, there is so much ability and freedom to do what appeals to each person as an individual. With all this freedom, we often forget to stop before acting, and question if our choices are ethical. What exactly are ethics? Ethics are according to Oxford Dictionary "Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity." Taken down to its essence, to be an ethical person, one must have morals. What are morals? Again, pulling from Oxford Dictionary "Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior." With these definitions given, morality becomes subjective. But really
The contrast between ethics and morals can be subjective; however, there are variations. Ethics signify a social system in which morals are applied; whereas, morals define personal character. While a person’s moral code is generally constant, the person’s ethics can be subject to change. Furthermore, ethics can change according to individual and group associations or affiliations. A moral compass is innate and can be honed through direction by parental and other authority figures during the formative years; moreover, this influence could be positive or negative. In regard to ethics, you are who you hang with; in other words, a person’s associations and affiliations can define them for good or bad. A stellar reputation can be destroyed overnight
Ethics are moral principles that can be used to help guide peoples decisions. We are all different and therefore our beliefs and opinions differ. There are many ethical theories, and according to Panza and Potthast (n.d.) the following are some that are widely used. Virtue ethics is one theory which states that personality is the most important thing. Living an ethical life, acting right, requires that one develops and demonstrates the quality of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires that greed, jealousy, and selfishness is avoided. Utilitarianism states that the amount of happiness and suffering created by a person’s actions is what matters the most. As a result, acting rightly includes maximizing the amount of happiness and minimizing the amount of suffering around you. At times you may need to break some of the traditional moral rules to achieve such an outcome. Kantianism is another theory which highlights the principles behind actions rather than an actions results. It states that it requires to be motivated by good principles that treats everyone with respect. If you’re motivated by good principles, you overcome your animal instinct and act ethically. Another ethical theory is the Contract theory, which suggest that ethics should be thought of as terms of agreements between people. It suggests that doing the right thing means obeying agreements set by members rather than those of society. For this theory ethics isn’t necessarily about character, consequences, or principles. The last theory I’m going to mention is Care ethics. Care ethics focuses on ethical attention on relationships before other factors. As a result, acting rightly involves building, strengthening, and maintaining strong relationship...
Philosophy, the study of knowledge, reality, and existence, influences an understanding of what we owe to each other by prompting questions of how one should live. In particular, moral ethics, the principles on which one 's judgments of right and wrong are based, most directly influence understanding of the framework question. For example, in The Republic, Plato elucidates the nature of justice though associations in the human soul and social structures in the city. Through pontification, Plato evaluates the ways in which one should live in order to have a just and moral life, offering readers a guide to live better. By engaging in the academic study of philosophy such as reading Plato, people gain exposure to different moral philosophies, like the study of ethics, and learn how one should live by the concepts of what is right and wrong. From my personal experience in studying nursing ethics, I learned about the moral philosophy of nursing, why nursing exists and the ethical responsibilities of a nurse. Assuming that ethics can be interpreted in a similar way, the study of philosophy must allow some insight into the moral capabilities and responsibilitie...
As a function, ethics is a philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct, and of the rules and principles it should govern. As a system, ethics are a social, religious, or civil code of behavior considered correct by a particular group, profession, or individual. As an instrument, ethics provide perspective regarding the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, or potential outcomes. Ethical decision-making can include many types, including deontological (duty), consequentialism (including utilitarianism), and virtue ethics. Additionally, subsets of relativism, objectivism, and pluralism seek to understand the impact of moral diversity on a human level. Although distinct differences separate these ethical systems, organizations
[1] Ethics is defined as “the code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviour of a person or a group with respect to what is right or wrong” (Samson and Daft, 2005, p.158)
The first type of ethic is,descriptive ethics or morals is best studied as psychology,sociology or anthropology. Different societies have different moral codes. This is true because, every society has a different religion,culture or specific routine or belief.Morals are classified as descriptive science. They are studied by many,many people and are all looked upon differently.Morals are also considered to be the shared ideas of a group irrespective of whether they are practiced.or how they are practiced.Different persons,groups,and societies have different moral standards, this is seen true by all sides. As you well know everyone has an opinion, moral ethics is all based on opinion. Second is,normative ethics or perspective ethics. This is the study of moral problems which seek to discover how one might act, not in fact how they act. Normative ethics also applies to how one might think one should act. Normative ethics are based solely on the opinion of another person, unlike descriptive ethics.More specifically (normative) ethics are the discipline concerned judgements of setting up norms.Although moral ethics go hand in hand they are different.Morals define personal character, while ethics stress a social system in which those morals are applied. Meaning morals inform you on human behavior whereas...
To answer this question, we must first understand what both ethics and morality are. As ethics is defined as the philosophical study of morality, those who study religion get their moral precepts from what they believe God says should be done. This perspective is not at all unexpected, because all religions apply a perspective on morality. Morality is defined as beliefs concerning right and wrong, good and bad- beliefs that can include judgements, values, rules, principles, and theories. Morals are what help us guide our actions, define our values, and give us reason for being the person that we are.
Ethics is all about the right or wrong behavior in appropriate circumstances. It depends on certain assumption, such the right behavior of self-rule and the right behavior to life. Ethics are divided into two: