What do ethics mean

National Library of Medicine 2. Editors Contribution 2. Submitted by MaryC on September 14, Submitted by MaryC on March 1, Suggested Resources 3. Alex US English. David US English. Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian.

Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian. Neerja Indian. Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. Fred US English. Tessa South African. Examples of ETHICS in a Sentence Sarifuddin Sudding : This letter is the basis for us to immediately close the hearing because this is in line with the formulation of the verdict that would have been taken by the ethics committee.

Kelsey Knight : Since that time our office has made clear that it would work closely with ethics officials to set the record straight on the Ohio Democratic Party's latest attempt to deceive the public and desperately trash Jim Renacci's record in public service.

Curtis Houck : Its an example of how the liberal elites have decided that the very journalistic ethics that are extolled in journalism schools and advocacy groups are no more than empty promises. Is there a rule that any reasonable person should apply to this situation regardless of the consequences?

Some rules are unbreakable, even when the stakes are high. For instance, we should never act in ways that undermine the equality and dignity of all people — ourselves included. The rules are often associated with duties — some of which we create ourselves, like when we make a promise. We often think about ethics in terms of consequences. Consequences are an important part of ethical decisions, but are they everything?

Are we violating an important principle? Are we compromising our own values? If so, have we considered these facts when balancing harms and benefits? Would you be happy if your reason for action was used by everyone in the same circumstance?

If not, then what makes you so special? Most ethical frameworks suggest the right decision for one person should be right for everybody in the same position. A lot of unethical behaviour arises from people making special exceptions for themselves. Many people believe that our decisions shape our character and vice versa. Think about whether your action is establishing a habit either for you or your organisation. Is it a good habit virtue or a bad one vice? If I cut corners on a work job today am I developing a habit of laziness that may affect my future work?

Plenty of people and organisations are happy to tell you what they stand for — but do they walk the talk?

This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Ethics guide. Ethics: a general introduction. On this page What is ethics?

What use is ethics? Ethics and people Are ethical statements objectively true? Four ethical 'isms' Where does ethics come from? Are there universal moral rules? Page options Print this page. What is ethics? Ethics covers the following dilemmas: how to live a good life our rights and responsibilities the language of right and wrong moral decisions - what is good and bad? Approaches to ethics Philosophers nowadays tend to divide ethical theories into three areas: metaethics, normative ethics and applied ethics.

Meta-ethics deals with the nature of moral judgement. It looks at the origins and meaning of ethical principles. Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what is right or wrong.

Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like war, animal rights and capital punishment Top. Ethics needs to provide answers. However, ethics does provide good tools for thinking about moral issues. Ethics can provide a moral map Most moral issues get us pretty worked up - think of abortion and euthanasia for starters. Ethics can pinpoint a disagreement Using the framework of ethics, two people who are arguing a moral issue can often find that what they disagree about is just one particular part of the issue, and that they broadly agree on everything else.

But sometimes ethics doesn't provide people with the sort of help that they really want. Ethics doesn't give right answers Ethics doesn't always show the right answer to moral problems. Ethics can give several answers Many people want there to be a single right answer to ethical questions.

Ethics as source of group strength One problem with ethics is the way it's often used as a weapon. Good people as well as good actions Ethics is not only about the morality of particular courses of action, but it's also about the goodness of individuals and what it means to live a good life. Virtue Ethics is particularly concerned with the moral character of human beings. Searching for the source of right and wrong At times in the past some people thought that ethical problems could be solved in one of two ways: by discovering what God wanted people to do by thinking rigorously about moral principles and problems If a person did this properly they would be led to the right conclusion.

Modern thinkers often teach that ethics leads people not to conclusions but to 'decisions'. Are ethical statements objectively true? Ethical realists think that human beings discover ethical truths that already have an independent existence. Ethical non-realists think that human beings invent ethical truths. M Hare, Essays in Ethical Theory, Four ethical 'isms' When a person says "murder is bad" what are they doing? The different 'isms' regard the person uttering the statement as doing different things.

We can show some of the different things I might be doing when I say 'murder is bad' by rewriting that statement to show what I really mean: I might be making a statement about an ethical fact "It is wrong to murder" This is moral realism I might be making a statement about my own feelings "I disapprove of murder" This is subjectivism I might be expressing my feelings "Down with murder" This is emotivism I might be giving an instruction or a prohibition "Don't murder people" This is prescriptivism Moral realism Moral realism is based on the idea that there are real objective moral facts or truths in the universe.

Subjectivism Subjectivism teaches that moral judgments are nothing more than statements of a person's feelings or attitudes, and that ethical statements do not contain factual truths about goodness or badness.

So if someone says 'murder is wrong' they are telling us that they disapprove of murder. Emotivism Emotivism is the view that moral claims are no more than expressions of approval or disapproval. Prescriptivism Prescriptivists think that ethical statements are instructions or recommendations. Where does ethics come from? Philosophers have several answers to this question: God and religion Human conscience and intuition a rational moral cost-benefit analysis of actions and their effects the example of good human beings a desire for the best for people in each unique situation political power God-based ethics - supernaturalism Supernaturalism makes ethics inseparable from religion.

Intuitionism Intuitionists think that good and bad are real objective properties that can't be broken down into component parts. Don't get confused. For the intuitionist: moral truths are not discovered by rational argument moral truths are not discovered by having a hunch moral truths are not discovered by having a feeling It's more a sort of moral 'aha' moment - a realisation of the truth. Consequentialism This is the ethical theory that most non-religious people think they use every day.

One famous way of putting this is 'the greatest good for the greatest number of people'. Two problems with consequentialism are: it can lead to the conclusion that some quite dreadful acts are good predicting and evaluating the consequences of actions is often very difficult Non-consequentialism or deontological ethics Non-consequentialism is concerned with the actions themselves and not with the consequences. Virtue ethics Virtue ethics looks at virtue or moral character, rather than at ethical duties and rules, or the consequences of actions - indeed some philosophers of this school deny that there can be such things as universal ethical rules.

Situation ethics Situation ethics rejects prescriptive rules and argues that individual ethical decisions should be made according to the unique situation. Ethics and ideology Some philosophers teach that ethics is the codification of political ideology, and that the function of ethics is to state, enforce and preserve particular political beliefs. Moral absolutism Some people think there are such universal rules that apply to everyone.

Religious views of ethics tend to be absolutist.