Ethics PDF

Ethics -- are external rules of conduct or societal norms with respect to a group or a culture. Morality -- is our own personal principles. Actions with respect to what an individual believes is right or wrong. **4 Main Branches of Ethics** Descriptive Ethics\ - also called as *comparative ethics...

Ethics -- are external rules of conduct or societal norms with respect to a group or a culture. Morality -- is our own personal principles. Actions with respect to what an individual believes is right or wrong. **4 Main Branches of Ethics** Descriptive Ethics\ - also called as *comparative ethics*\ - deals with what people actually believe to be right or wrong Normative Ethics\ - also called as *prescriptive ethics*\ - deals with norms or set of considerations how one should act. Meta Ethics\ - also called as *analytical ethics\ *- deals with the origin of the ethical concepts themselves. Applied Ethics\ - the study of how we should act in specific areas of our lives Moral Norms -- are norms or prescriptions that serve as the frameworks for determining what *ought to be done or what is right or wrong actions.* Nonmoral Norms -- also called folkways. These are standards by which we judge what is good or bad in a nonmoral way. Ethnocentrism -- Means to apply one's own culture. (Superior to another) **Kinds of Valuation** 1. Aesthetic Valuation (standards of aesthetics) -- taste in art/ beauty 2. Etiquette Valuation\ (standards of etiquette) polite and impolite trivial behavior 3. Technical Valuation\ method of doing things - Morally Permissible\ - are morally right activities that are allowed but not required. - Morally Obligatory/Required\ - are morally right acts one ought to do, one is morally prohibited from not doing them, they are moral duties acts that are required. - Morally Supererogatory\ - are those morally right activities that are especially praiseworthy and even heroic but not required to do. - Morally Prohibited/Impermissible\ - morally impermissible, acts one ought not to do, and acts one has a duty to refrain from doing. - Morally Evil\ - are intentional acts that goes beyond what is morally prohibited or impermissible. A. **Utilitarianism (Teleological)\ -** states that an act is right or wrong depending on the consequences of the act. B. **Kantian Ethics (Deontological)\ -** Focuses on the rightness and wrongness of actions themselves, without any consideration of the consequences. Cultural Relativism -- is the idea that a person's belief, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's culture.