What is Ethics Ethics is the philosophical study of good and bad, right and wrong. Ethics is concerned with morality and is often called ‘moral philosophy’. It explores actions and consequences, motives, moral decision-making and human nature. It explores what you ought to do as distinct to what you may in fact do. There are two big questions in ethics that we will study A) Normative ethics – how should we behave? B) Meta-Ethics – How do we know what is good?

Normative vs Meta Ethics The branch of study which focusses on ethical action and how humans should behave EG ‘I ought to act in this way’ Theories: Ethical Egoism The branch of study which looks at what is meant by ‘good’ and the meaning behind ‘good’ EG ‘How do we know what a moral truth is?’ Theories: Divine Command Theory

Ethical Theories There are many different schools of thought about how humans should behave ethically These often disagree with each other To this day, humans have never settled on a global ethical code – it’s easier to study than it is to put into practice. Schools of thought that we study are: Religious Ethics (Divine Command Theory) Deontologists (Natural Law) Teleologists (Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism)

Absolute vs Relative Morality ABSOLUTISM RELATIVISM Certain ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ are fixed for all people of all time E.G ‘It is always wrong to kill’ Theories: Divine Command Theory, Natural Law What is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ depends on the situation E.G ‘In this situation it is okay to kill because…’ Theories: Virtue Theory, Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism

Strengths & Weaknesses Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism, Teleological

Deontological vs Teleological Ethics The idea that actions are right and wrong within themselves, regardless of the consequences EG ‘The action of murder is wrong within itself’ Theories: Divine Command Theory, Natural Law The idea that right and wrong is based on the outcome / consequences of an action EG ‘It is okay to murder in this scenario because it will save 100 other lives as an outcome’ Theories: Ethical Egoism, Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism

Strengths & Weaknesses Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism, Teleological

Objective vs Subjective Judgements A judgement is factual and true regardless of human opinion E.G ‘It is wrong to kill’ Theories: Divine Command Theory, Natural Law A judgement is based on personal opinion EG ‘In my opinion it is right to kill in this situation because…’ Theories: Virtue Theory, Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism

Strengths & Weaknesses Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism, Teleological

Card Sort In pairs answer the question: Is it moral to?.... Choose one of the key words and state whether the actions on the card would be allowed from that particular school of thought

Rich Pictures On your whiteboard try and draw a picture of one of the schools of thought…

True or False

Eskimos allow their old people to die by starvation TRUE

In Taiwan a third of all funeral processions feature a stripper. TRUE Strippers are used to allure people to attend the funeral. It’s believed that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honoured!

In New Zealand a brother and sister may marry each other. FALSE

The Dobu of New Guinea believe that stealing is morally right.                    TRUE

In Barbados, it’s illegal for anyone, to dress in camouflage clothing. TRUE Camouflage clothing is reserved for the police and the Barbados Defence Force.

Every Spanish man must pass a qualification in bullfighting. FALSE

A tribe in East Africa once threw deformed infants to hippopotamus. TRUE Is this practice much different to abortion in our society in cases of disability.

In Muslim countries, polygamy is allowed. TRUE A man is allowed to marry up to four wives.

There are some societies that make it a duty for children to kill their ageing parents (sometimes by strangling). TRUE Yet most countries have not legalised euthanasia.

The Callatians, an Asian tribal people, eat the bodies of their deceased parents.                     TRUE