ETHICS Leason 1
Ethics – a rational reflection on what is right and wrong, just or unjust, good or bad in human behavior.
Ethics – are arrangement of decent principles.
Ethics – is a branch of attitude which is defines what is good for individual & society.
Ethical principles:
 Truthfulness
 Honesty
 Loyalty
 Respect
 Fairness
 Integrity
Ethics – Latin ethicus
Ethics – Greek ethikos
Greek philosophers:
 Plato
 Aristotle
Modern influencers:
 Immanuel Kant
 Jeremy Bentham
 John Stuart Mill
 William David Ross
 Charles Leslie Stevenson
 Alasdair Maclntyre
 John Rawls
Meaning of ethics:
 Refers to evaluation of moral value, principles & standards of human conduct & is application in daily
life to determine acceptable human behavior.
Evolution of ethics
Bridge between biology & human behavior.
A theory, cybernetic process is at the heart of developing ethical systems.
Ethics merge the science in cybernetic ethics.
Presents a persuasive theory describing how ethics can be linked to science and mathematics.
4 Model of ethics
1. Façade
2. Walk Their Talks
3. Opportunist
4. Salt Of The Earth
Ethics Lesson 2
Morality
 Latin ‘Moralis’
 Refers to what we call ‘moral code’ or ‘conduct‘
 Looks how good or bad the conduct is and our standards about conduct
Study of morality
Involves of practical reasoning such as:
 Freedom
 Privacy
 Equality
 Duty
 Obligation
 Choice
 Justification of judgements
Conduct – person ought to act responsibility in a particular case and to what extent this action should be
described as right or wrong.
Moral code – rules that establish the boundaries of generally accepted behavior.
Value system – a complex scheme of moral values that we choose to live by.
Traits – distinguishing qualities of a person. It highlights values.
Virtues – are habits that incline us to do what is acceptable.
Vices – are habits that incline us to do what is unacceptable.
3 Broad Categories of Moral Philosophy
 Metaethics
 Study of nature and the basis of ethics.
 It is a philosophical discussion about moral concepts, practices and judgement outside ethical practice,
dealing with problems concerning ethics, not with problems within ethics.
 The most abstract area of moral philosophy. It doesn’t ask what acts, or what kind of acts are good or
bad, right or wrong; rather, it asks about the nature of goodness and badness, what it is to be morally
right or wrong.
 Normative ethics
 The study of norms, rules, values, and standards that should guide our moral decisions (how we
ought or ought not to act and behave, and what we ought or ought not to do).
 An attempt to figure out what people should do or whether their current moral behavior is reasonable.
 Descriptive ethics
 Describing how people behave.
 People might say that stealing is bad.
 Moral beliefs of a specific culture
Ethical theory – is based on the assumption that people are rational and make free choices.
Ethical theory
Neither of this is true:
 People act emotionally and they make mistakes
 A person is not making a free choice when someone else is pointing a gun at him.
 Some argue that a person is not making a free choice in a situation where she might lose a job.
Individual is in most circumstances, responsible for his or her actions.
Ethical theory attempt to achieve:
 Enhance human dignity
 Peace
 Happiness
 Well being
Ethical Rules
 Are rules that follow in our interactions with other people and in our actions that affect other people.
 Apply to all of us and are intended to achieve good results for people and situations in general.

A set of rules that does this well respects the fact that we are each unique and have our own values
and goals, that we have judgement and will, and that we act according to our judgement to achieve
our goals.
Western ethical theory
Deontology / kantialism : 1724-1804
IMMANUEL KANT
Deontology
 Believed that how we behave ethically comes from within us, and the things that we decide are ‘good’
or ‘bad’ are based on whether we could imagine everyone doing them.
 Christian teaching: do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.
Consequentialism
 Deals with consequences of actions rather than the action themselves (in contrast to Kant's theory).
Utilitarian
 A Theory says that a good outcome is that which brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of
people.
Often impossible to predict the consequences at the time of an action being taken.
Relativism
 A theory that there are NO universal norm of right and wrong.
Different individuals can have an opposite views of a moral problem, and both can be right.
 Subjective relativisms – what is right for you may NOT be right for me.
 Example of SR – issue of Reproductive health bill
Cultural relativism
 An ethical theory that the meaning of right and wrong rests with a society's actual moral guidelines.
These guidelines vary widely from place to place from time to time.
Divine Command Theories
 These theories claim that something is right because God wills it.
 Clear in Islam, where the will of Allah is the measure of all that is right.
 Moral rightness==willed bv God
Ethical Egoism
 The philosophy that each person should focus exclusively on his or her self-interest.
 The morally right action for a person to take in a particular situation is the action that will provide the
person with the maximum long-term benefit.
Philosophical Theories for
Ethical Decision Making
 Virtue Ethics Approach: The ethical choice best reflects moral virtues in yourself and your community.
 Utilitarian Approach: The ethical choice produces the greatest excess of benefits over harm.
 Fairness Approach: The ethical choice treats everyone the same and shows no favoritism or
discrimination.
 Common Good Approach: The ethical choice advances the common good.