History and Notion of Ethics

History of Ethics

• Ethical precepts initially passed down orally by parents and elders
• As societies developed writing, they began to record their ethical beliefs.
• Tracing the origin of ethics and moral consciousness is difficult due to a long history
• It results from rational development and evolution

Notion of Ethics

• The Greek word "ethos" means character and characteristic way of doing things or body of customs.
• Ethics teaches how people ought to live
• Ethics deals with moral standards
• It questions the rightness or wrongness of human behavior
• It questions of the goodness or badness of personality, trait or character

Morality, Conscience, Values, and Accountability

• Ethics addresses moral standards, conscience, moral values, and virtues
• Ethics is the study of morality related to human acts and moral agents
• Ethics determines what makes an act obligatory
• Ethics determines what makes a person accountable

Imperatives of Ethics

• Ethical and moral life implies imperatives, described as "completely necessary" or "very important"
• "Sine qua non" is an essential condition for ethics
• Ethics would collapse without imperatives

Human Freedom

• Freedom enables humans to act (or not) and become responsible for actions
• Ethics relies on the presence of human freedom
• Freedom entails the right to choose
• Ethics is the study of the morality of human actions
• Ethics implies responsibility when the acting agent is free

Existence of God

• Religious belief is a key factor in ethics study
• Belief in a deity impacts people's actions
• Life may lack purpose without examining belief in God

Immortality of the Soul

• Belief in an afterlife where the soul continues existence is important
• Belief in an afterlife affects the reward of good deeds and punishment of bad
• Immortality of the soul is a cornerstone in ethics

Scope of Ethics

• Ethics concerns voluntary actions, actions done consciously and deliberately
• It involves actions proper to humans

Method of Ethics

• Ethics utilizes methods of philosophy which include deductive and inductive methods

Deductive Method

• Deduction reasons from universal to particular
• Classical deduction uses syllogisms
• A syllogism is a 2 premise argument supporting a conclusion relating to the conclusion's subject

Inductive Method

• Induction gains knowledge from experience
• Induction reasons from particular to universal

Non-Normative Ethics

• Descriptive ethics explain moral/ethical practices of societies/cultures
• Used by sociologists, anthropologists, and historians through descriptive means
• Metaethics analyzes the meanings of central terms in ethical reasoning
• Metaethics investigates the origin/meaning of ethical concepts and analyzes ethical values

Normative and Applied Ethics

• Normative ethics aims at moral standards to regulate conduct
• It searches for an ideal measure of behavior
• Applied ethics examines controversial issues
• Some issues include abortion, animal rights, or environmental concerns
• Applied ethics uses metaethics and normative ethics to resolve issues

Importance of Studying Ethics

• Ethics is important in every part of human life
• The world faces increasing crime rates leading to demoralization
• It can deepen reflection on ultimate questions
• An individuals actions/choices/decisions can be looked at more critically
• Moral philosophy clarifies moral positions in judgements
• Helps improve thinking on moral issues
• Deciding the correct course of action in confronting situations daily relies on ethics
• The study of moral philosophy sharpens general thinking
• It trains the mind to think logically and reasonably
• Ethics is essential, due to humans being social creatures connected to each other and nature