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Ethics refer to the moral principles that are held by a person, organization or society and are generally meant to govern their general conduct. Ethics have got no universal standard as the ethical policies change from one person/organization to the other according to their primary objectives. The ethical orientation of a person is an element that develops over time just like the personality element. However, corporate ethics are enforced by the management as there is no law that has been made to regulate the ethical behavior of an organization. Numerous theories have been constructed to explain the issue of ethics and personal conduct in the society (Dreier 57). One of the concepts that stand out is the nihilism theory which addresses the issue of ethics from a very different and distinct point of view. This theory suggests that nothing is moral or immoral and therefore the ethical concept is a very complex issue that is hard to understand. This paper presents an analysis of the nihilism theory and its application in ethics.
Moral nihilism is the view that nothing is intrinsically moral or immoral. If someone states their belief and someone else states their contrasting belief, they are both wrong, and
In other words there are no standards that represent the universally accepted conduct with regards to morals and ethics. For example in the case of abortion which has been highly debated recently, there is no right or wrong belief regarding whether or not a woman should get an abortion (Shafer-Landau, 257). In moral nihilism, there are no moral truths; so even if a person believes that emotionally, physically, and financially she is not ready for a child, it would be wrong for her to get an abortion because we are always mistaken. The Roman Catholic Church believes that abortion is wrong, but under moral nihilism, there are no moral facts so abortion cannot be right or
What is ethics? Ethics are the philosophical principles of good verses bad moral behavior. It is a guideline to help people make decisions or make a judgment calls. There are two main types of ethical principles that will be discussed in this paper, and how they are applied to the decision making process. They are Deontological and Utilitarian. Deontological ethics are based on the righteousness or wrongness of the action-taking place. It does not base itself on the bad or good consequences that come from the action. Immanuel Kant introduced deontological ethics in the 18th century. Kant believed that every decision or action made by a person had to be evaluated by his or her moral duty. He stated that humanity shouldn’t side on its
It is “being what it is not and not being what it is.” (Being and Nothingness 28) Therefore, being for-itself is roughly being nihilistic, because for-itself is nothingness. It is the opposite of being in-itself, which is not self aware and is merely consciousness. The being for-itself is self aware and creates the meaning of the in-itself, but on its own exists as nothingness, because the for-itself cannot exist unless the in-itself also exists. In the simplest terms, it is the intrapersonal dimension of consciousness and
What is morality? Merriam-Webster dictionary states that morality is/are the beliefs about what right behavior is and what wrong behavior is
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers appropriate. A person’s moral principles are shaped from birth, and developed over time throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business, it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company.
Deontological moral theory is a Non-Consequentialist moral theory. While consequentialists believe the ends always justify the means, deontologists assert that the rightness of an action is not simply dependent on maximizing the good, if that action goes against what is considered moral. It is the inherent nature of the act alone that determines its ethical standing. For example, imagine a situation where there are four critical condition patients in a hospital who each need a different organ in order to survive. Then, a healthy man comes to the doctor’s office for a routine check-up. According to consequentialism, not deontology, the doctor should and must sacrifice that one man in order to save for others. Thus, maximizing the good. However, deontological thought contests this way of thinking by contending that it is immoral to kill the innocent despite the fact one would be maximizing the good. Deontologists create concrete distinctions between what is moral right and wrong and use their morals as a guide when making choices. Deontologists generate restrictions against maximizing the good when it interferes with moral standards. Also, since deontologists place a high value on the individual, in some instances it is permissible not to maximize the good when it is detrimental to yourself. For example, one does not need to impoverish oneself to the point of worthlessness simply to satisfy one’s moral obligations. Deontology can be looked at as a generally flexible moral theory that allows for self-interpretation but like all others theories studied thus far, there are arguments one can make against its reasoning.
Moral objectivity is the rejection of enthnocentricism, or belief that one’s culture is superior than others. In short, one’s cultural beliefs cannot fundamentally be legitimate morals in the sense that they do not have to follow the “objective” morals. For example, Pojman supports a view stating that morals are universal, that they are "objective" in regard to it being that it doesn 't matter about what a culture defines as moral or immoral, that certain morals are undebatable. Such as for example, torturing children for fun is wrong. This is objectively true no matter what the world says otherwise; another example being that some still think the Earth is flat. In other words, moral objectivism states that "moral standards are true or correct for everybody"2. Thus moral objectivists tend to look at morals as absolutes. Pojman argued that humans are social creatures and that as humans, we did not want to live as "hermits"(first edition, 33), thus certain agreements must be made in order to attain community. Explaining further that agreements are "human nature" and that agreements are at the "core" of morality, as well as stating that to "flourish as a person" we agree to these moral codes in order to maintain harmony and peace. Morals in an evolutionary perspective, allow humans to survive. Such as for example, murder or killing other humans deemed as immoral or wrong. Pojman gives the example of serial murder Ted Bundy, who in his mind believed that killing people was O.K because it made him happy. He believed that killing and raping others is completely fine because those were his morals and what he personally believed in. This disturbs the social harmony and a moral objectivist would beg the question of whether it is right to murder and rape others because one or culture views it as acceptable. Same question can be asked about Hitler, as Pojman did, does it make it acceptable and justifiable that because Hitler and the
But what makes an action, object, or person good or bad? Pleasure, happiness or any other good feelings, or lack thereof, is what makes something moral. Even though there is no set, written rules for morality, the strength of morality codes worldwide. If an action or person distresses a group, it’s deemed immoral. An example could be shown with this quote: “In one view, Abe’s act is immoral because this shooting causes death, so it is an act of killing, and killing is immoral unless it is justified, which it is not in this case.
Morals are the principles that we use to decipher right from wrong, or good from bad. Many people seem to have different morals that they live by because of the different things they believe are acceptable or good to do. This issue brings up the question, are morals unique to each individual person, or is there a standard of true morals for every person to live by? Matt Lawrence’s book, Like a Splinter in Your Mind, says that opposing sides to that question can be split into two broad categories called moral objectivism and moral non-objectivism. The idea that there is a true basic standard of morality for everyone is called moral objectivism. Moral non-objectivism is the view that no morals are objectively true, meaning either morals don’t
Being moral means to know and act upon the differences of good and bad, wrong and right. Your behavior is morally correct if you do a good action, such as helping someone. If you are immoral, you would ignore what is right and do something wrong. Opposing other’s views that do not correlate with yours tends to happen when you do not agree with something another
Ethics plays a very important role in one social system and basically on how the people will make their actions or decide on a particular thing on whether it is the right or the wrong thing. Ethical consideration is very important. It helps a person or a group of person understands whether the actions are right or wrong. Ethics is a very critical factor most especially when considering where the ethical standards are to applied. Aside from it, weighing results of actions or decision is also another major concern because of the fact that a person has critically analyze whose side is needed to satisfied. There are instances that moral obligations are also considered, in which moral is defined as a universal accepted personal human behavior that allows a person to decide whether an action or decision is good or bad.
In this ‘right way to be’, one can only be outside or inside of it. Meaning that if one has a desire to constantly have sex, this person is labeled as immoral due to Christian principles regarding sex when it’s public knowledge that humans have a natural desire to do so. Thus, if we’re allowed to create our own morals, we can eradicate the mental turmoil that having to prescribe to a predetermined moral construct can bring. Therefore, institutionalized morality is detrimental to our mental wellbeing and natural
Now days every time we turn around we hear of horror stories or stories of unbelievable proportions because it seems so unbelievable. Stories such as people murdering people for no reason, robbery in broad daylight, “cover up” from the government, and unfortunately the list is endless. And when we hear the stories we often wonder what causes these people to behave that way or better yet we say: “I can’t believe that”. The next question comes to mind, is what happened to their morals? And because unethical acts seems to be touching everyone’s life one way or another, this narrative touches on the different types of ethics and their meanings. For many years people such as Confucius to Aristotle to our own Benjamin Franklin, have attempted to explain their views on “what consists of good morals and ethics.” We all seem to have morals and ethics at some point in our lives (probably around childhood); but over the years many of us have lost them. And unfortunately for whatever reasons there are, people seem to have less and less compassion and care for their fellow man. Having said that, doesn’t everyone deserve to be treated with dignity and respect? After many years of research, there still is not a relevant reason for this injustice. After delving into the presented research and resources, perhaps the reader can come to a conclusion. Presented in this paper are comparisons of the different types of “personalities or morals” and their beliefs and thoughts. I think we should all be concerned about this situation because every day it impacts our lives.
According to moral nihilists, whenever we don’t intervene in situations and issues that require our opinion that consists of feelings and emotions, factually, there is no definite right or wrong conclusion to the situation. For an example, we can say that killing an individual is bad or evil. We can say that getting that removing a cat from a tree is good, but when you analyze both situations without feelings, emotions or judgement, the fact that killing someone or removing a cat from a tree isn’t bad or good because there is no definite moral reality to describe the nature of likewise situations. Morality is an
Secular ethics are thoughts and ideas based upon what people believe to be moral and right. Those with secular ethical beliefs do not believe that ethics or morality originate from a higher power or from God, but are discovered or invented by humans throughout the ages. Often people with secular make decisions based on his or her “gut instincts.” There are no absolute truths regarding morality within the realm of secular ethics, which leaves the interpretation of morality up to individual people (Ethics-A general Introduction).
Ethics is a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is acceptable for both individuals and society. It is a philosophy that covers a whole range of things that have an importance in everyday situations. Ethics are vital in everyones lives, it includes human values, and how to have a good life, our rights and responsibilities, moral decisions what is right and wrong, good and bad. Moral principles affect how people make decisions and lead their lives (BBC, 2013). There are many different beliefs about were ethics come from. These consist of; God and Religion, human conscience, the example of good human beings and a huge desire for the best for people in each unique situation, and political power (BBC, 2013).