Ethics and Moral Philosophy

• Ethics and moral philosophy help question beliefs and think critically about leading a moral life.
• "Ethics" comes from the Greek word ethos, meaning character or custom.
• "Morality" comes from the Latin moralis, referring to customs or manners.
• Ethics guides real-life actions based on values, beliefs, and culture.
• Moral philosophy explores the origin and justification of ethical rules, asking if morality is universal or relative.
• Ethics is the "what to do," while moral philosophy is the "why and how we decide what to do."
• Ethics helps us act, and moral philosophy helps us understand the reasoning behind those actions.

Importance of Ethics

• Ethics fosters a just and harmonious society.
• Ethics cultivates integrity and accountability.
• Adhering to ethical standards builds trust and respect in relationships.
• Ethical principles foster cooperation among people, leading to more peaceful societies.
• Prioritizing ethics encourages individuals to consider the impact of their actions on others.
• Engaging with ethical questions encourages individuals to consider their values and beliefs.
• Reflection can lead to personal development and a deeper understanding of oneself and others.
• Ethics shapes policies to govern society, promoting justice and equality.
• Ethics helps individuals and societies establish moral guidelines
• Ethics helps individuals and societies evaluate the impact of their actions.

Moral Reasoning and Moral Dilemma

• Moral reasoning is the process of thinking about what is right and wrong.
• Moral reasoning helps us decide the best action based on our values, beliefs, and principles.
• A moral dilemma is a situation where one must choose between two actions with both good and bad aspects.
• Making a decision in a dilemma can be difficult.
• Ethics and rules guide decisions and maintain order in communities.
• Rules are essential for humans to live together, interact, and achieve common goals.
• Clear rules ensure understanding, fairness, and a safe, respectful environment.
• Rules promote working together towards common goals, fostering teamwork and community growth.
• Rules help maintain structure and predictability, reducing confusion and ensuring society functions smoothly.
• Rules promote fairness by ensuring everyone follows the same guidelines and prevent unequal treatment.
• Rules encourage individuals to take responsibility for their actions and their effects on others.
• Rules protect individual rights and freedom, ensuring respect for all members of society.

Impacts of Breaking Rules

• Breaking rules can cause harm to individuals and groups.
• Breaking rules damages relationships and teamwork, ruining trust.
• Violating rules creates conflict and disrupts peace within the group, interfering with harmony.
• Continued disregard for rules maintains chaos and instability, hindering progress.
• Breaking rules leads to punishments or negative outcomes, reinforcing accountability.

Key Branches of Ethics

• Ethics addresses different aspects of moral philosophy and divided into three main branches: normative ethics, metaethics, and applied ethics.
• Normative ethics focuses on establishing standards or norms for behavior.
• Normative ethics seeks to answer the question: "What should I do?" or "What is the right thing to do?"
• Metaethics explores the nature of ethical statements and judgments.
• Metaethics addresses questions such as: "What do we mean when we say something is right or wrong?"
• Metaethics addresses questions of moral truths exist on their own (moral realism) or depend on personal feelings (ethical subjectivism).
• Applied ethics involves the practical application of ethical principles to specific issues or fields.
• Applied ethics seeks to address real-world dilemmas by applying normative ethical theories to concrete situations.