Exploring Ethics and Morality

Ethics and Morality

• Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, signifying custom, manner of acting, or behaving.
• Mores is the root word of morality, denoting custom or practice.
• Ethics focuses on general principles, rules, and theories for determining right and wrong.
• Morality is the application of ethical principles, also known as praxis.
• Human conduct or human act is the material object of Ethics.
• The morality of human act or human conduct is its formal object.
• Morality is a belief system concerning right and wrong behavior, influencing how individuals relate to others and promote good in the world.
• Ethics involves both theory and practice, requiring understanding of ethical principles to discern right and wrong actions.
• Translating ethical theories into actions is essential as knowing what is right without behaving morally is considered useless knowledge.

Moral Principles

• Prescriptivity guides actions in morality, directing people on what to do or not do.
• Impartiality means moral rules should be neutral and applicable regardless of status or situation.
• Overridingness means moral principles should take precedence over other norms or standards of evaluation.
• Moral standards should be independent and stand on their own which refers to being autonomous from arbitrary authority
• Publicity means moral standards should be public.
• Rules are made for humans to follow in standards that exist in which human beings are capable of doing which refers to practicability.

Act of Man and Human Act

• Act of Man refers to acts beyond human control like emotions or circulation, therefore involuntary.
• Human Act refers to actions within human control like walking, talking, thinking, or eating.

Essential Elements of Act of Man and Human Act

• Knowledge is when the doer is aware of their actions, making the issue of morality inevitable.
• Freedom means an act is done by one's own choice or volition.
• Will means the doer has given consent to the act, indicating approval or disapproval.
• Voluntariness is akin to consent.
• The Latin word voluntas refers to the act of will.
• Without the action of the will, an act is considered involuntary, absolving the doer of liability.

Four Kinds of Voluntariness

• Perfectly voluntariness: All human acts are present, and the individual is accountable for the committed act.
• Imperfect voluntariness: Knowledge is absent, resulting in no liability.
• Simple voluntariness: An individual cannot alter whether they perform the act.
• Conditional voluntariness: A person is forced to perform an act.

The Morality of the Act

• The Object or Act itself refers to the deed done by the doer of the action.
• Motive is the purpose or reason for doing the act.
• Circumstances involve the situations that surround the commission of the act.

Key Questions in Understanding the Context

• Who refers to the person involved, including the doer and recipient.
• Why refers to the reason or motive behind the act.
• By What Means indicates the end does not justify the means.
• Where refers to the setting of the action.
• When refers to the time of commission.
• How refers to the gravity of the act.
• Circumstances can generally be aggravating, justifying, mitigating, or exempting.
• Humans respond to stimulus, not in a vacuum, which includes personal background, education, and social upbringing.