Moral Agent and Moral Principles Quiz

Moral Principles

• Moral principles have predominant authority and override other kinds of principles
• Moral principles must be made public in order to guide our actions
• Moral principles must be workable and its rules must not lay a heavy burden on us when we follow them

Moral Agent

• A moral agent is an individual who is able to make moral judgments based on some notion of right and wrong actions and to be held accountable for these actions
• Man is rational, possessing the faculty of intellection (knowledge) and volition (will)
• Man is capable of making choices, judgment, and decisions, and is free and responsible

Rules of Ethics

• Rules of ethics are a set of rules that describe acceptable conduct in society
• Examples of rules of ethics:
  • Make direct eye contact with the person you are speaking with
  • Do not pick your nose in public and if you must burp or fart say “excuse me”
  • Flush the toilet after use and always wash your hands when finished
  • Say “please” when asking for something and say “thank you” when someone does something for you
  • Dress appropriately for the environment you are in
  • Don’t interrupt someone while they are talking

Types of Rules

• Social Rules (NORMS): most commonly defined as rules or expectations that are socially enforced
• Laws: the discipline and profession concerned with the customs, practices, and rules of conduct of a community that are recognized as binding by the community
• Regulations: rules made by a government or other authority in order to control the way something is done or the way people behave
• Taboos: a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing
• Customs: a cultural idea that describes a regular, patterned behavior that is characteristic of life in a social group

Importance of Rules

• The importance of rules serves as a guide to moral daily living and helps one judge whether a certain behavior can be justified
• The importance of rules serves to maintain civil behavior, be organized, and maintain harmony in the community

Morality

• Morality is concerned with the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior
• 5 Key features of morality:
  • Prescriptivity
  • Universalizability
  • Over ridingness
  • Publicity
  • Practicability

Moral Agent

• A moral agent is an individual who is able to make moral judgments based on some notion of right and wrong actions and to be held accountable for these actions
• Man is rational, possessing the faculty of intellection (knowledge) and volition (will)
• Man is capable of making moral choices, judgment, and decisions, and is free and responsible

Ethics

• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct
• Ethics is the rational study of the meaning and justification of moral claims
• Types of ethics:
  • Meta-ethics: examines the nature of moral claims and arguments
  • Normative ethics: examines moral standards that attempt to define right and wrong conduct
  • Applied ethics: examines specific moral issues

Why Study Ethics?

• It can provide a moral map
• It can pinpoint a disagreement
• Can give several answers
• It doesn’t give right answers but it is only a moral compass