Branches of Philosophy
It is my understanding that there are three main branches of philosophy. These three branches include Metaphysics, Ethics and Epistemology. Metaphysics finds its focus through questions on reality. These questions include: What is real? What is mind and what is matter? What kind of reality do we have? Epistemology deals with truth versus opinion. Questions include what is truth, and what is its source? Is truth absolute or relative? Lastly, Ethics deals with right and wrong. It also deals with the interactions between people and their society. Students of Ethics might ask ‘What are our obligations to ourselves and society?’ and ‘Why should one be moral?’ I will attempt to answer this question.
I think it is important to define morality and ethics, as I understand them. Morals are a set of rules passed to us though our family, social, and religious experiences that serve to govern our independent actions. Our moral beliefs rest only on our sense of right and wrong. It is important to note that morals only apply to individual action and consequence. Ethics, however, apply to the actions of two or more people. Ethics are meaningless unless applied in a social context. Ethics serve to define the acceptable actions of the individual within the social structure. Ethics are established through the consensus of many people and with the guidance of human experience. With morality, ones behavior is held to an ideal code of conduct. Ethics, however, deals with an imperfect, but attainable set of practices. It is left to the individual to take a decision that is moral, regardless of its ethical standing.
Each of the Philosophers we have read about has held some view concerning morals and ethics. Socrates held ...
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...me if I was starving, then I should help feed starving people. Following this line of reasoning, it would be possible for me to determine whether any action is right or wrong. Therefore, based on the Golden Rule, it would also be wrong for me to lie to, harass, victimize or kill others. It is from these kinds of moral judgments that society is able to define a larger set of fundamental principles; such as rights to life, liberty and happiness. This leads to the formation of a sort of democratic version of morality called ethics. A group selects certain rules of right conduct from a pool of rules of right conduct created by individuals and adopts them as the social norm. In this way, a composite ethical code evolves so that most of the people in the group are content to follow most of the rules most of the time. In this way, our society encourages people to be moral.
“Ethics”, in general, is nothing but a principle of conduct. Ethics can also be defined as moral philosophy which is used to answer questions related to morality. The word ‘Ethics’ has been derived from the Greek word ‘Ethos’ which simply meant “the state of being” or “to keep ones soul pure”. The sub divisions of ethics are as follows;
Ethics are the principles that shape individual lives in modern society. It is a subjective idea that seems to have a standard in society. Ethics and morals are the major factors that guide individuals to make right and wrong choices. Something that is morally right to one person might be the very opposite of what another person would view as right. There are many factors that can trigger a change in an individual’s view of morality.
In our generation, there is so much ability and freedom to do what appeals to each person as an individual. With all this freedom, we often forget to stop before acting, and question if our choices are ethical. What exactly are ethics? Ethics are according to Oxford Dictionary "Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity." Taken down to its essence, to be an ethical person, one must have morals. What are morals? Again, pulling from Oxford Dictionary "Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior." With these definitions given, morality becomes subjective. But really
Philosophy, the study of knowledge, reality, and existence, influences an understanding of what we owe to each other by prompting questions of how one should live. In particular, moral ethics, the principles on which one 's judgments of right and wrong are based, most directly influence understanding of the framework question. For example, in The Republic, Plato elucidates the nature of justice though associations in the human soul and social structures in the city. Through pontification, Plato evaluates the ways in which one should live in order to have a just and moral life, offering readers a guide to live better. By engaging in the academic study of philosophy such as reading Plato, people gain exposure to different moral philosophies, like the study of ethics, and learn how one should live by the concepts of what is right and wrong. From my personal experience in studying nursing ethics, I learned about the moral philosophy of nursing, why nursing exists and the ethical responsibilities of a nurse. Assuming that ethics can be interpreted in a similar way, the study of philosophy must allow some insight into the moral capabilities and responsibilitie...
Ethics: while defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the discipline dealing with what is good or bad [through] moral duty”, this concise phrase does not seem to encompass the word’s full connotation. The way ‘ethics’ is defined in the dictionary alludes that there is a black-and-white answer to whether an action, belief, or opinion is ethical. Unfortunately, when applying this term to real life, decisions are almost never as clear cut as right or wrong. Why then, are we so quick to judge things as right or wrong, good or bad, ethical or unethical?
Ethics are influence from many demographics which include family influences, peer influences, past experiences, religion, and situations. People decide whether something is ethical and whether or not it is right or wrong based on these influences. Individuals decide whether something is ethical or unethical based on family influences because people absorb about the ethical status or something family members based on how our families act. Also individuals also conduct their decisions based on peer influences because classmates and friends that surround us, usually impact a person’s believes on what is right or wrong overtime. Furthermore, people also resolve to their decisions on whether something is right or wrong established on past experiences because they predict their benefits on demographics that had happened to them in the past. Additionally, people select some decisions based on religion because a person’s religious beliefs will usually inspire he or she on what is right or wrong. Finally, another way people base their ethical decisions is based on the situations they are in because people sometimes change their beliefs depending on the circumstances they are in.
According to the beliefs of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, one develops ethics through maturity, wisdom and love. Socrates introduced the concept of teaching ethics and acceptable standards of conduct in 400 B.C. and has had a profound and lasting impact on the course of Western philosophy and history ever since. He believed virtue was found primarily in human relationships, love and friendship, not through material gains.
First, arranging moral precepts into ethical systems facilitates understanding of well-defined values, norms, and beliefs adopted by a group. In turn, groups express these beliefs by codifying them through rules, laws, and codes of conduct intended to influence decision-making, especially when a poor decision would lead to corruption, and loss of professional trust. More importantly, ethical systems provide moral justification for activities that appear to defy innate human instincts. Lastly, ethics provide insight into the cause and effect of a potential action or decision, allowing the group to determine what is right (ethical, effective, and efficient) within an established framework. All of these ethical characteristics are important to understand because they can compel an individual or group to act contrary to a universal human
[1] Ethics is defined as “the code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviour of a person or a group with respect to what is right or wrong” (Samson and Daft, 2005, p.158)
Socrates says that God determines what is right and wrong. “I owe a greater obedience to God then to you and so long as I draw breath and have my faculties, I shall never stop practicing philosophy and exhorting you and indicating truth to everyone I meet” (Apology, 29d). God’s rules and commandments are what you need to follow in order to assure a good life after death. God and his commandments come first over everything else. Socrates believes in the divine command theory and how you must listen to Gods commandments. God decides what is moral and obedience to God is how you live justly. Socrates also says he will never stop practicing philosophy because in his eyes philosophy is the way to live life. He has said that living without examining life is a life not worth living. Questioning and indicating truth to others by pointing out their ignorance is what he saw as an essential part of being moral. Morality ties in to the question of solution by asking questions and seeking wisdom you are doing what is just and fixing the condition of humanity. Morality also relates to condition because the soul must be more important than material objects in order to be moral. He says you must follow cities laws and obedience to Gods laws as well in order to be just. On top of that you should be self-examining yourself so that you can better the soul as much as
Moral ethics is the belief that all human beings are born to know right from wrong. We come into this world as good people, but the temptations and challenges in life influence our mind set to as it will. Every person on Earth chooses if they’re to follow through with their life of good or go down the path of bad. “A person’s moral ethics” (unknown.)
...the concept of what should we do or what we ought to do. Ethics is design to help one receive the life they want and live it with purpose. In certain situations it’s unclear as to consider it moral or immoral as ethics comes to play alongside morality. Some would argue the concept of what can be define as moral as immoral in conjunction with ethics by means of feelings, religion, law, culture, and science. Although they prove good standings they cannot be accounted for as those rationales are more so that of opinion that are altered daily depending of that of the individual. For this reason any act can be considered moral as we can use descriptive education depicting that of ethics, in which we live a life seeking how things should be and that it depends on the individual. So who is to say what’s right and what’s wrong. If it exists in the universe it can be moral.
the Golden Rule approach. We are told that it is right to be moral. This is an
Ethics is the philosophical study of morality. These days our society is changing due to advanced technology, hence the study of ethics is very important than the previous decades. In fact, the study of ethics is not a new issue but Socrates and Plato used ethical reasoning to explain different unjust issues before 2000 years. Ethics is one of the major issues, which does have not any guideline to a particular activity that is morally good, bad or neutral. However, everyone has different understanding and judgment about ethics depend on their cultural, economical, and family back ground. For instance, lying is unethical in most society and it is normal for some other cultures. Therefore, it is difficult to give universal meaning about morality as it depends on a given culture. For this reason, I would say there is not a single universal standard to label someone’s ethical decision as right and wrong. However, all countries should adopt ethical behavior with their environment in order to have honesty and caring society. An Individual can choose among different alternatives based on his or her ethical decision, but it is very difficult to say his or her ethical decision is right or wrong.
Ethics is all about the right or wrong behavior in appropriate circumstances. It depends on certain assumption, such the right behavior of self-rule and the right behavior to life. Ethics are divided into two: