Philosophy, Logic and Human Existence ETHICS AND HUMAN CONDUCT IN THE SOCIETY

Introduction Man is a social being that must live in society with others to actualise his potentials Man is also a political animal that would naturally seek self preservation and project his interest at all cost Going by the foregoing characterisation of the nature of man, there is bound to be clash of interests which, if not checked, will likely bring about what is often described as war of all against all. What Thomas Hobbes described as a state of nature where live is nasty, brutish, poor and short

Introduction To ensuring well-being of all, man came up with moral codes. Moral codes are the unwritten values and norms in every society which dictate how persons should relate to other people (within and outside the community), animals, and the environment generally and, in some cases, touch on how people in a community should relate with celestial beings Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the systematic study of moral codes, morality; what is right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust

Definitions of Ethics Ethics is the field of philosophy where analytical and critical tools of philosophy are focused on human conducts. It is the field that unearths the nature of morality and what the right or wrong moral judgment entails. It is an inquiry into the moral worth of human conducts It is a rational inquiry which consists in a systematic search for truth, knowledge, or the principles of reality in moral beliefs and judgment that follow appropriate principles of reasoning. Put succinctly, it is an evaluation of moral beliefs, judgments and actions

Goals of Ethics To furnish human beings with standard with which they can make distinction between those “actions that are good and those that are bad” To prescribe moral norms which human conduct should conform to and condemns vices which they should run away from To highlight the principles of good behaviour. It points to how people should conduct themselves so as to live a good and happy life- a life of wellbeing in which one is not just at peace with oneself but one in which one learns to treat others right and live in harmony with others Ethics is instrumental in ensuring social order which is germane for securing the common good Ethics provides grounds for political leaders, public servants and professionals regarding how to conduct the affairs of a group of people

Tasks of Moral Philosophers Presentation of better understanding of concepts employed in moral discourse Development of theories that people can appeal to in making moral decisions and which serve as justification for human conduct

Sub-branches of Ethics The two major sub-branches of ethics are: Metaethics Normative ethics

On Metaethics Conceptual analysis of moral terms such as: good, bad, morality, right, wrong etc. Meaning of ethical statements such as “stealing is bad”. i.e emotivism and prescriptivism Addressing of issues relating to origin or justification of moral standards

Metaethical theories Some of the metaethical theories are: Emotivism, which states that moral statements are revelations of emotions of speakers Prescriptivism: states that when we make ethical statements, we are only making an unresolved prescription regarding an act one condemns or approves Divine Command Theory whose proponents sees God as the source from which our moral codes derives Ethical Relativism is a theory that posits that an individual, culture or epoch determines or justifies the rightness or wrongness of an action Essentially, Simon Blackburn narrows down the essence of ethics to metaethics by defining it as the study of concepts which is involves in practical reasoning on concepts such as: good, right, duty, obligation, virtue, freedom, etc.

Normative Ethics The sub-branch of ethics that involves determining principles that ought to guide human conduct or formulation of moral rules that have direct implication for what human actions, institutions and way of life should be

Normative Ethical Theories Normative ethical theories have two variants, namely, teleological ethical theories and deontological ethical theories Teleological ethical theories emphasise that the consequence of an action determines the rightness or wrongness of an action. Example of teleological ethical theories are the following: Ethical hedonism which emphasises that pleasure or pain determines the rightness or wrongness of actions

Normative ethical theories Ethical egoism underscores seeking and maximising pleasure or happiness for himself Ethical altruism emphasis acting to favour others regardless of the consequence for himself Utilitarianism reiterates the need to promote the greatest number of pleasure or happiness for the greatest number of people The major distinction is in the scope of its consequences

Shortcomings of Teleological Ethical Humans are most times not capable of foreseeing the outcome of their actions; hence the demarcation is often difficult to draw Humans are often incapable of foreseeing which action will purely benefit the self, or others, or even the majority It makes it appear that the end justifies the means. As if the means does not matter

Deontological Ethical Theories Deontological Ethical Theories place importance on rules, motives and nature of actions itself in deciding the rightness or wrongness of an action Moderate deontological ethical theories emphasise that consequences do not matter, but just as one of the factors relevant in determining the moral rightness of an action Extreme deontological theories reject the consequences of actions in determining the morality of it. A variant of this is Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperatives where he posits that the outcome of an action matters less than the will or motives informing an action to be performed