Introduction to Ethics

History of Ethics

• The known history of pure ethics or ethics (moral) theories began with ancient Greek philosophers and was later recovered by early English positivists.
• Immanuel Kant is considered the father of modern ethics and one of the great philosophers in the history of philosophy.

What is Ethics?

• Ethics is a philosophical science that deals with the morality of human conduct or human acts.
• Ethics is a system of moral principles that includes ideas about right and wrong, and how people should (or should not) behave in general and specific cases.

Importance of Ethics

• Ethics is the backbone of human existence, and without it, there would be a total collapse of the whole human person and the entire human society.
• Ethics is a basic discipline that is relevant in all aspects of human life.

Disciplines in Philosophy

• Descriptive/Speculative Philosophy: deals with the question "What is the nature (essence and substance) of reality?" and beliefs about morality.
• Normative Philosophy: deals with questions like "What is good and what is bad?" and "What is right and what is wrong?"
• Practical Philosophy: reflects upon truth in relation to action, and deals with the application of moral principles.
• Critical Philosophy: deals with the question "What is truth?" and examines the nature of knowledge.

Ethics as a Normative Science

• Ethics systematically establishes standards or norms of human conduct.
• It qualifies human conduct as good or bad, right or wrong.
• Ethics idealistically requires man to do what is good and what is right.

Meta-ethics

• Investigates where our moral and ethical principles come from and what is the meaning behind using them.

Ethical Dimension of Human Existence

• Human conduct is a combined representation of values and character.
• Morality of human conduct deals with goodness/badness and rightness/wrongness.

Applied Ethics

• Deals with ethical questions specific to practical fields, such as bioethics, legal ethics, business ethics, medical ethics, etc.

Ethics vs. Morality

• Ethics: deals with universal principles, what you do, and what society tells us how we should behave.
• Morality: deals with culture-based principles, what you believe, and personal perspective.

Ethics in Different Religions

• Ethics is present in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Confucianism, Zen Buddhism, and Judaism.

Famous Ethicists

• Immanuel Kant: it is man's rational duty.
• Mill and Bentham: pleasure and happiness.
• Fletcher: it depends upon the situation.
• Kohlberg: fear of punishment.
• Ralph Perry: every human person is a creature of values.
• Beauchamp: as a member of a society, he adopts a moral way of life.
• Lao-tzu and Confucius: man's deepest pleading to be in harmony with nature.
• Socrates/Plato/Aristotle: happiness.
• Hindu: because of man's karma with Brahman.
• Augustine and Aquinas: because there is God.
• Mohammed: because of Allah.
• Friedrich Nietzsche: man could do good even without God.

This quiz covers the history of ethics, from ancient Greek philosophers to modern ethics, including Immanuel Kant's contribution to moral philosophy.