Understanding Ethics and Moral Philosophy

What is Ethics?

• Ethics is the empirical study of moral decisions, exploring how human persons ought to act.
• The concept of ethics is derived from the Greek word "ethos," meaning tradition, habit, character, or attitude.

Types of Ethics

• Ethics is divided into two categories: Normative Ethics and Meta-Ethics.

Normative Ethics

• Concerns human behavior in general, addressing questions about the essence of human behavior.
• Divided into two fields: Moral Philosophy and Applied Ethics.
• Moral Philosophy explores what humans must do or how humans should be.
• Applied Ethics is the application of ethical or moral theories.

Meta-Ethics

• Concerns the question "What is good?"
• Focuses on the nature of moral statements and judgments.

Importance of Ethics

• Ethics provides a set of rules to distinguish right from wrong and good from bad.
• Ethics guides decision-making, enabling individuals to make informed choices.
• Virtues such as intelligence, bravery, patience, and justice facilitate rational decisions in ethical dilemmas.

Benefits of Ethics

• Helps individuals determine the difference between right and wrong, good and bad.
• Eliminates actions that do not conform to what is right.
• Encourages careful consideration of actions and decisions.
• Prevents internal and external disturbances from influencing decisions.
• Establishes good habits and character traits.
• Facilitates rational decision-making in ethical dilemmas.
• Promotes responsibility in family, school, and society.

Moral Dilemmas

• Characterized as making an option to one moral value over another.
• Situations where moral values are equally significant.
• Scenarios where strong moral reasons exist, but not equally strong reasons for another course of action.
• Difficulty in deciding among conflicting choices.

Levels of Moral Dilemmas

Organizational Ethical or Moral Dilemma

• Unethical leadership or bad leadership behavior.
• Toxic workplace culture.
• Discrimination and harassment or employee favoritism.
• Unrealistic and conflicting goals.
• Use of organization's technology and social media.
• Business travel ethics.

Individual Moral Dilemma

• Situations where individuals confront factors such as peer pressure, personal financial position, economic and social status.

Structural Moral Dilemma

• Concepts to consider: Differentiation vs. Integration, Centralization vs. Decentralization, and Formalization vs. Informalization.

Explore the concept of ethics and moral philosophy, which involves the empirical study of moral decisions and how human beings should act. Learn about the origins of ethics and delve into questions about right conduct and leading a good life.