Discuss meaning and definitions of ethics. Also, show your acquaintance with the scope and nature of ethics. Elaborate the objectives of ethics with suitable examples.

The term is derived from the Greek word “ethos” which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. Ethics means the principle of conduct governing an individual or a profession. Ethics is concerned with distinguishing good and evil in the world, between right and wrong human actions, and between virtuous and non-virtuous characteristics of people. (Adhikary, 2006) Ethics can be understood as that branch of philosophy, which deals with morality. Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.

In philosophy, ethics is the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a particular society requires of its members. (Adhikary, 2006)

At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. Ethics covers the following dilemmas (BBC, n.d.):

·       how to live a good life

·       our rights and responsibilities

·       the language of right and wrong

·       moral decisions - what is good and bad?

Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies, and cultures. They infuse debates on topics like abortion, human rights and professional conduct.

At the heart of ethics is a concern about something or someone other than ourselves and our own desires and self-interest. Ethics is concerned with other people's interests, with the interests of society, with God's interests, with "ultimate goods", and so on. So, when a person 'thinks ethically' they are giving at least some thought to something beyond themselves. (BBC, n.d.)

Definitions of Ethics

Here are some of the definitions of ethics:

According to Rushworth Kidder, “standard definitions of ethics have typically included such phrases as 'the science of the ideal human character' or 'the science of moral duty’”. (Kidder, 2003)

Richard William Paul and Linda Elder define ethics as "a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures". (Elder, 2006)

According to the Josephson Institute, ethics is defined as, “Standards of conduct that indicate how one should behave based on moral duties and virtues”.

Scopes of Ethics

The scope of ethics includes whatever has reference to free human acts, whether as principle or cause of action or as effect or circumstance of action. Ethics discusses the nature of human freedom.  Ethics investigates what constitutes good or bad, just or unjust. It also inquires into-

·       What is virtue, law, conscience and duty?

·       What obligations are common to all?

·       What is the good in all good acts?

These questions lie within the scope of ethics. The sense of duty, or moral obligation and the responsibility for actions are also included within the range of ethics

There are three major approaches or school of thought which identifies the scopes of ethics. These three major areas of study within ethics as scopes recognized today are:

1.    Meta-ethics, concerning the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions, and how their truth values (if any) can be determined

2.    Normative ethics, concerning the practical means of determining a moral course of action

3.    Applied ethics, concerning what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific situation or a particular domain of action.

1.   Meta-Ethics

Meta-Ethics or “analytical ethics” deals with the origin of the ethical concepts themselves. It does not consider whether an action is good or bad, right or wrong. Rather, it questions – what goodness or rightness or morality itself is? It is basically a highly abstract way of thinking about ethics.  The key theories in meta-ethics include naturalism, non-naturalism, emotivism, and prescriptivism.

It consists in the attempt to answer the fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of ethical theory itself. Metaethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? Metaethical answers to these questions focus on the issues of universal truths, the will of God, the role of reason in ethical judgments, and the meaning of ethical terms themselves. (IEP, n.d.)To simply put, it is concerned with questions about what whether or not morality exists, and what does it consist of if it does.

Meta-ethics deals with logical and semantic questions like ‘What do we mean by “freedom” and “determinism”? etc.

According to Garner and Rosen, it worries about questions such as:

       i.            What is the meaning of moral terms or judgments? (What do the values such as good, bad, right or wrong mean?)

    ii.            What is the nature of moral judgments? (Are these judgments universal or relative, or is it one kind or many kinds?)

 iii.            How may moral judgments be supported or defended? (How can we know something is morally right or wrong such as, is it from the Bible? Is it from a famous educator?

2.   Normative Ethics

Normative Ethics deals with “norms” or set of considerations how one should act. Thus, it’s a study of “ethical action” and sets out the rightness or wrongness of the actions.  It is also called prescriptive ethics because it rests on the principles which determine whether an action is right or wrong.

Normative ethics is the study of what makes actions right or wrong, what makes situations or events good or bad and what makes people virtuous or vicious; by referring to various ethical theories to provide action-guides for practitioners.

Normative ethics takes on a more practical task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others. (IEP, n.d.)

Aristotle’s virtue ethics, Kant’s deontological ethics, Mill’s consequentialism (Utilitarianism) and the Bhagwad Gita’s Nishkam Karmayoga are some of the theories in Normative Ethics.

Basically, it seeks to tell us how we can find out what things have what moral properties, to provide a framework for ethics. The Golden rule of normative ethics is “doing to others as we want them to do to us”.  Since we don’t want our neighbors to throw stones through our glass window, then it will not be wise to first throw a stone through a neighbor's window.   Based on this reasoning, anything such as harassing, victimizing, abusing or assaulting someone is wrong. Normative ethics also provides justification for punishing a person who disturbs social and moral order.

For any act, normative ethics emphasizes three elements:

·       The agent (the person who perform the act),

·       the act itself and

·       the consequences of the act.

Then these aspects are being evaluated exclusively and distinctively through the normative ethics theories such as moral virtue ethics, deontology, and teleology; each emphasizing on one of these elements.

3.   Applied Ethics

Applied ethics deals with the philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular issues in private and public life which are matters of moral judgment.  The applied dimension of Ethics is known as “Applied Ethics’ that falls within the broad field of Ethics. These comprise the areas of situational Ethics This branch of ethics is most important for professionals in different walks of life including doctors, teachers, administrators, rulers and so on.

There are six key domains of applied ethics: 

·       Decision ethics (ethical decision-making process), 

·       Professional ethics (for good professionalism), 

·       Clinical Ethics (good clinical practices), 

·       Business Ethics (good business practices), 

·       Organizational ethics (ethics within and among organizations) and 

·       Social ethics (good social practices)

It deals with the rightness or wrongness of social, economic, cultural, religious issues also. For example, euthanasia, child labor, abortion etc.

Applied ethics consists in the attempt to answer difficult moral questions actual people face in their lives. It is the scope of ethics which consists of the analysis of specific, controversial moral issues such as abortion, animal rights, or euthanasia, infanticide, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war. Applied ethics is the actual application of ethical theory for the purpose of choosing an ethical action in a given issue, usually divided into the various field.

Nature of Ethics

The nature of ethics are listed as follows:

o   Ethics is a science because it aims at a systematic explanation of rightness and wrongness. Every science is concerned with a particular sphere of nature. As a science ethics has its own particular sphere; it deals with certain judgments that we make about human conduct. It deals with systematic explanation of rightness or wrongness in the light of the highest Good of man. (INTRODUCTION TO NATURE AND SCOPE OF ETHICS, n.d.)

o   It is a normative science. Normative sciences seek to determine norms, ideas or standards, in this case, of human conduct and character. Normative science involves arriving at moral standards that regulates right and wrong conduct. It includes behavior, norms, etc. It is concerned with what ought to be done rather than what is the case.

o   It is not a natural or positive science but a regulative science.

o   It is not a practical science nor does it teach us how to live a moral life, rather, it merely ascertains the moral ideal. Practical science deals with means for the realization of an end or ideal. It teaches us to know how to do. As for instance, medical science is a practical science. It concerns with the means in order to remove the causes of ailments or diseases. But ethics is not concerned with means in order to achieve a moral ideal that is rightness or goodness. It does not teach us how to live a moral life. So, ethics cannot be regarded as a practical science.

o   Ethics is not an art. Art consists in the acquisition of a skill but morality consists in an attitude of the will when there is no overt action. Ethics is more a science than an art because it is systematic knowledge about moral and behavior and conduct of human beings.

o   Ethics is applied to human beings only as they have freedom of choice and means of a free will. Ethics deals with human conduct which is voluntary not forced by circumstances or humans.

o   Ethics asks what we should do in some circumstance, or what we should do as participants in some form of activity or profession.

o   Ethics is sometimes identified with an inflexible set of rules and self-righteous moralizing. Rules say an action is either right or wrong. This over-simplifies ethics.

o   Ethics is not limited to the acts of a single person.

o   Ethics is also interested in the correct practices of governments, corporations, professionals and many other groups, our basic values and the purpose of human society.

o   Ethics is not static. Ethics consists of dynamic frameworks of principles and values. Our ethical values reflect our deepest convictions and attachments.

Objectives of Ethics

The objective of ethics is to define the nature of the highest good of humans or society. It is the basis of moral reasoning and the root of all moral distinctions. The objectives of ethics are based on:

·       Truthfulness

·       Accuracy

·       Objectivity

·       Impartiality

·       Fairness

·       Public accountability

The followings are some of the objectives of ethics:

o   To study human behavior and make an evaluative assessment of them as moral or immoral. For example, A very close friend or relative of an interviewer comes for an interview and without asking a single question, he selects him. This act is unethical because the selection process must be transparent and unbiased. Everybody should get a fair chance and should be valued by their qualifications and be evaluated accordingly in a fair way.

o   To establish moral standards and norms of behavior. For example, A journalist writes about the truth of the subject to religion no matter how the oppressors despise his/her story. Standing with the truth and fair-play is what binds a journalist to his/her ethics.  

o   To make judgment upon human behavior based on the standards and norms. For example, A grocer sells adulterated products to his customers to earn more profit. This act is neither moral nor ethical because he is cheating his customers and profession at the same time.

o   To prescribe moral behavior and make recommendations about how to or how not to behave. For example, A doctor treats his/her patients equally whether that patient is a criminal or a non-criminal. This standard represents the doctor’s oath and ethics to save a person’s life.

o   To express an opinion or attitude about human conduct in general. For example: If the son of a big politician has committed a crime and he uses his powers to free his son from legal consequences. Then this act is unethical because the politician is trying to save a culprit.

References

Adhikary, N. M. (2006). Studying Mass Media Ethics. Kathmandu: Prashanti Pustsk Bhandar.

BBC. (n.d.). Ethics: a general introduction. Retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml

Elder, R. W. (2006). The Miniature Guide to Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning. United States: Foundation for Critical Thinking Free Press.

IEP. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Ethics. Retrieved from www.iep.utm.edu: https://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/

INTRODUCTION TO NATURE AND SCOPE OF ETHICS. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://m.kkhsou.in/EBIDYA/PHILO/MODIFY_nature_ethics.html

Kidder, R. (2003). How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living. New York: Harper Collins.