1. What is Ethics?
Monday, May 22, 2017

2. What ethics is not: about how we feel the laws of a society
generally accepted norms of a society
prescribed by religion

3. Ethics IS:
well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.
the study and development of one's ethical standards - ethics as a continuous effort.
"What should I do?" or "How should I act?"

4. Different approaches to ethics:
The utilitarian approach: the morally right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected. Lies, torture etc. can be acceptable.
The rights approach: (also called deontological ethics) A right is a justified claim on others.
The fairness approach: giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her due.

5. Different approaches to ethics, cont.
The common good approach: having the social systems, institutions, and environments on which we all depend work in a manner that benefits all people.
The virtue approach: there are certain ideals, such as excellence or dedication to the common good, toward which we should strive and which allow the full development of our humanity. These ideals are discovered through thoughtful reflection on what we as human beings have the potential to become."Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues.

6. Ethics
is a normative discipline, as compared to a descriptive discipline.
Meta-ethics is a branch of ethics that asks whether morality can be objective ie. determined as true or false.
Moral subjectivism / Moral realism
The is-ought problem
Teleological (consequences matter) vs. deontological (actions themselves matter) theories.

7. Question:
Can the teacher give you the textbook for free?