Ethical Reasoning

According to The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Normative ethics takes on a more practical task” different from metaethics and applied ethics, “which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others.” (http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/e/ethics.htm). The purpose of this paper is to discuss and examine my personal values, ground rules and ethical development. This will also include discussing the sources that helped shape my values and where I may or may not revise my ethical standing, as well as what impact my values play in my work place or school surrounding.

Growing up, I’m not really sure how I developed any type of personal values or ethics. I didn’t have much involvement from my parents when I was younger, nor did I have a lot of friends. I basically was on my own through most of my childhood. My parent’s continuously made me feel as if I hade no purpose in life and that I was some kind of mistake. This mental onslaught continued and eventually followed me when I started school. When I went to school, I was very shy and alone, and felt that I didn’t have an opinion that would matter so I never volunteered to answer questions in class. This was a very hard situation to develop any kind of value system, and really don’t have any idea why I didn’t turn to crime and violence.