Ethics: a general introduction - BBC

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 ... BritishBroadcastingCorporationHomeAccessibilitylinksSkiptocontentSkiptolocalnavigationSkiptobbc.co.uknavigationSkiptobbc.co.uksearchAccessibilityHelp Thispagehasbeenarchivedandisnolongerupdated. Findoutmoreaboutpagearchiving. Ethicsguide Ethicsareasystemofmoralprinciplesandabranchofphilosophywhichdefineswhatisgoodforindividualsandsociety. Onthispage Whatisethics? Whatuseisethics? Ethicsandpeople Areethicalstatementsobjectivelytrue? Fourethical'isms' Wheredoesethicscomefrom? Arethereuniversalmoralrules? Pageoptions Printthispage Whatisethics? Atitssimplest,ethicsisasystemofmoralprinciples.Theyaffecthowpeoplemakedecisionsandleadtheirlives. Ethicsisconcernedwithwhatisgoodforindividualsandsocietyandisalsodescribedasmoralphilosophy. ThetermisderivedfromtheGreekwordethoswhichcanmeancustom,habit,characterordisposition. Ethicscoversthefollowingdilemmas: howtoliveagoodlife ourrightsandresponsibilities thelanguageofrightandwrong moraldecisions-whatisgoodandbad? Ourconceptsofethicshavebeenderivedfromreligions,philosophiesandcultures.Theyinfusedebatesontopicslikeabortion,humanrightsandprofessionalconduct. Approachestoethics Philosophersnowadaystendtodivideethicaltheoriesintothreeareas:metaethics,normativeethicsandappliedethics. Meta-ethicsdealswiththenatureofmoraljudgement.Itlooksattheoriginsandmeaningofethicalprinciples. Normativeethicsisconcernedwiththecontentofmoraljudgementsandthecriteriaforwhatisrightorwrong. Appliedethicslooksatcontroversialtopicslikewar,animalrightsandcapitalpunishment Top Whatuseisethics? Ethicsneedstoprovideanswers.Photo:GeoffreyHolman© Ifethicaltheoriesaretobeusefulinpractice,theyneedtoaffectthewayhumanbeingsbehave. Somephilosophersthinkthatethicsdoesdothis.Theyarguethatifapersonrealisesthatitwouldbemorallygoodtodosomethingthenitwouldbeirrationalforthatpersonnottodoit. Buthumanbeingsoftenbehaveirrationally-theyfollowtheir'gutinstinct'evenwhentheirheadsuggestsadifferentcourseofaction. However,ethicsdoesprovidegoodtoolsforthinkingaboutmoralissues. Ethicscanprovideamoralmap Mostmoralissuesgetusprettyworkedup-thinkofabortionandeuthanasiaforstarters.Becausethesearesuchemotionalissuesweoftenletourheartsdothearguingwhileourbrainsjustgowiththeflow. Butthere'sanotherwayoftacklingtheseissues,andthat'swherephilosopherscancomein-theyofferusethicalrulesandprinciplesthatenableustotakeacoolerviewofmoralproblems. Soethicsprovidesuswithamoralmap,aframeworkthatwecanusetofindourwaythroughdifficultissues. Ethicscanpinpointadisagreement Usingtheframeworkofethics,twopeoplewhoarearguingamoralissuecanoftenfindthatwhattheydisagreeaboutisjustoneparticularpartoftheissue,andthattheybroadlyagreeoneverythingelse. Thatcantakealotofheatoutoftheargument,andsometimesevenhintatawayforthemtoresolvetheirproblem. Butsometimesethicsdoesn'tprovidepeoplewiththesortofhelpthattheyreallywant. Ethicsdoesn'tgiverightanswers Ethicsdoesn'talwaysshowtherightanswertomoralproblems. Indeedmoreandmorepeoplethinkthatformanyethicalissuesthereisn'tasinglerightanswer-justasetofprinciplesthatcanbeappliedtoparticularcasestogivethoseinvolvedsomeclearchoices. Somephilosophersgofurtherandsaythatallethicscandoiseliminateconfusionandclarifytheissues.Afterthatit'suptoeachindividualtocometotheirownconclusions. Ethicscangiveseveralanswers Manypeoplewanttheretobeasinglerightanswertoethicalquestions.Theyfindmoralambiguityhardtolivewithbecausetheygenuinelywanttodothe'right'thing,andeveniftheycan'tworkoutwhatthatrightthingis,theyliketheideathat'somewhere'thereisonerightanswer. Butoftenthereisn'tonerightanswer-theremaybeseveralrightanswers,orjustsomeleastworstanswers-andtheindividualmustchoosebetweenthem. Forothersmoralambiguityisdifficultbecauseitforcesthemtotakeresponsibilityfortheirownchoicesandactions,ratherthanfallingbackonconvenientrulesandcustoms. Top Ethicsandpeople Ethicsisaboutthe'other' Ethicsisconcernedwithotherpeople© Attheheartofethicsisaconcernaboutsomethingorsomeoneotherthanourselvesandourowndesiresandself-interest. Ethicsisconcernedwithotherpeople'sinterests,withtheinterestsofsociety,withGod'sinterests,with"ultimategoods",andsoon. Sowhenaperson'thinksethically'theyaregivingatleastsomethoughttosomethingbeyondthemselves. Ethicsassourceofgroupstrength Oneproblemwithethicsisthewayit'softenusedasaweapon. Ifagroupbelievesthataparticularactivityis"wrong"itcanthenusemoralityasthejustificationforattackingthosewhopracticethatactivity. Whenpeopledothis,theyoftenseethosewhotheyregardasimmoralasinsomewaylesshumanordeservingofrespectthanthemselves;sometimeswithtragicconsequences. Goodpeopleaswellasgoodactions Ethicsisnotonlyaboutthemoralityofparticularcoursesofaction,butit'salsoaboutthegoodnessofindividualsandwhatitmeanstoliveagoodlife. VirtueEthicsisparticularlyconcernedwiththemoralcharacterofhumanbeings. Searchingforthesourceofrightandwrong Attimesinthepastsomepeoplethoughtthatethicalproblemscouldbesolvedinoneoftwoways: bydiscoveringwhatGodwantedpeopletodo bythinkingrigorouslyaboutmoralprinciplesandproblems Ifapersondidthisproperlytheywouldbeledtotherightconclusion. Butnowevenphilosophersarelesssurethatit'spossibletodeviseasatisfactoryandcompletetheoryofethics-atleastnotonethatleadstoconclusions. Modernthinkersoftenteachthatethicsleadspeoplenottoconclusionsbutto'decisions'. Inthisview,theroleofethicsislimitedtoclarifying'what'satstake'inparticularethicalproblems. Philosophycanhelpidentifytherangeofethicalmethods,conversationsandvaluesystemsthatcanbeappliedtoaparticularproblem.Butafterthesethingshavebeenmadeclear,eachpersonmustmaketheirownindividualdecisionastowhattodo,andthenreactappropriatelytotheconsequences. Top Areethicalstatementsobjectivelytrue? Doethicalstatementsprovideinformationaboutanythingotherthanhumanopinionsandattitudes? Ethicalrealiststhinkthathumanbeingsdiscoverethicaltruthsthatalreadyhaveanindependentexistence. Ethicalnon-realiststhinkthathumanbeingsinventethicaltruths. Theproblemforethicalrealistsisthatpeoplefollowmanydifferentethicalcodesandmoralbeliefs.Soiftherearerealethicaltruthsoutthere(wherever!)thenhumanbeingsdon'tseemtobeverygoodatdiscoveringthem. Oneformofethicalrealismteachesthatethicalpropertiesexistindependentlyofhumanbeings,andthatethicalstatementsgiveknowledgeabouttheobjectiveworld. Toputitanotherway;theethicalpropertiesoftheworldandthethingsinitexistandremainthesame,regardlessofwhatpeoplethinkorfeel-orwhetherpeoplethinkorfeelaboutthematall. Onthefaceofit,it[ethicalrealism]meanstheviewthatmoralqualitiessuchaswrongness,andlikewisemoralfactssuchasthefactthatanactwaswrong,existinrerumnatura,sothat,ifonesaysthatacertainactwaswrong,oneissayingthatthereexisted,somehow,somewhere,thisqualityofwrongness,andthatithadtoexistthereifthatactweretobewrong. R.MHare,EssaysinEthicalTheory,1989 Top Fourethical'isms' Whenapersonsays"murderisbad"whataretheydoing? That'sthesortofquestionthatonlyaphilosopherwouldask,butit'sactuallyaveryusefulwayofgettingaclearideaofwhat'sgoingonwhenpeopletalkaboutmoralissues. Thedifferent'isms'regardthepersonutteringthestatementasdoingdifferentthings. WecanshowsomeofthedifferentthingsImightbedoingwhenIsay'murderisbad'byrewritingthatstatementtoshowwhatIreallymean: Imightbemakingastatementaboutanethicalfact "Itiswrongtomurder" Thisismoralrealism Imightbemakingastatementaboutmyownfeelings "Idisapproveofmurder" Thisissubjectivism Imightbeexpressingmyfeelings "Downwithmurder" Thisisemotivism Imightbegivinganinstructionoraprohibition "Don'tmurderpeople" Thisisprescriptivism Moralrealism Moralrealismisbasedontheideathattherearerealobjectivemoralfactsortruthsintheuniverse.Moralstatementsprovidefactualinformationaboutthosetruths. Subjectivism Subjectivismteachesthatmoraljudgmentsarenothingmorethanstatementsofaperson'sfeelingsorattitudes,andthatethicalstatementsdonotcontainfactualtruthsaboutgoodnessorbadness. Inmoredetail:subjectivistssaythatmoralstatementsarestatementsaboutthefeelings,attitudesandemotionsthatthatparticularpersonorgrouphasaboutaparticularissue. Ifapersonsayssomethingisgoodorbadtheyaretellingusaboutthepositiveornegativefeelingsthattheyhaveaboutthatsomething. Soifsomeonesays'murderiswrong'theyaretellingusthattheydisapproveofmurder. Thesestatementsaretrueifthepersondoesholdtheappropriateattitudeorhavetheappropriatefeelings.Theyarefalseifthepersondoesn't. Emotivism Emotivismistheviewthatmoralclaimsarenomorethanexpressionsofapprovalordisapproval. Thissoundslikesubjectivism,butinemotivismamoralstatementdoesn'tprovideinformationaboutthespeaker'sfeelingsaboutthetopicbutexpressesthosefeelings. Whenanemotivistsays"murderiswrong"it'slikesaying"downwithmurder"or"murder,yecch!"orjustsaying"murder"whilepullingahorrifiedface,ormakingathumbs-downgestureatthesametimeassaying"murderiswrong". Sowhensomeonemakesamoraljudgementtheyshowtheirfeelingsaboutsomething.Sometheoristsalsosuggestthatinexpressingafeelingthepersongivesaninstructiontoothersabouthowtoacttowardsthesubjectmatter. Prescriptivism Prescriptiviststhinkthatethicalstatementsareinstructionsorrecommendations. SoifIsaysomethingisgood,I'mrecommendingyoutodoit,andifIsaysomethingisbad,I'mtellingyounottodoit. Thereisalmostalwaysaprescriptiveelementinanyreal-worldethicalstatement:anyethicalstatementcanbereworked(withabitofeffort)intoastatementwithan'ought'init.Forexample:"lyingiswrong"canberewrittenas"peopleoughtnottotelllies". Top Wheredoesethicscomefrom? Philosophershaveseveralanswerstothisquestion: Godandreligion Humanconscienceandintuition arationalmoralcost-benefitanalysisofactionsandtheireffects theexampleofgoodhumanbeings adesireforthebestforpeopleineachuniquesituation politicalpower God-basedethics-supernaturalism Supernaturalismmakesethicsinseparablefromreligion.ItteachesthattheonlysourceofmoralrulesisGod. So,somethingisgoodbecauseGodsaysitis,andthewaytoleadagoodlifeistodowhatGodwants. Intuitionism Intuitioniststhinkthatgoodandbadarerealobjectivepropertiesthatcan'tbebrokendownintocomponentparts.Somethingisgoodbecauseit'sgood;itsgoodnessdoesn'tneedjustifyingorproving. Intuitioniststhinkthatgoodnessorbadnesscanbedetectedbyadults-theysaythathumanbeingshaveanintuitivemoralsensethatenablesthemtodetectrealmoraltruths. Theythinkthatbasicmoraltruthsofwhatisgoodandbadareself-evidenttoapersonwhodirectstheirmindtowardsmoralissues. Sogoodthingsarethethingsthatasensiblepersonrealisesaregoodiftheyspendsometimeponderingthesubject. Don'tgetconfused.Fortheintuitionist: moraltruthsarenotdiscoveredbyrationalargument moraltruthsarenotdiscoveredbyhavingahunch moraltruthsarenotdiscoveredbyhavingafeeling It'smoreasortofmoral'aha'moment-arealisationofthetruth. Consequentialism Thisistheethicaltheorythatmostnon-religiouspeoplethinktheyuseeveryday.Itbasesmoralityontheconsequencesofhumanactionsandnotontheactionsthemselves. Consequentialismteachesthatpeopleshoulddowhateverproducesthegreatestamountofgoodconsequences. Onefamouswayofputtingthisis'thegreatestgoodforthegreatestnumberofpeople'. Themostcommonformsofconsequentialismarethevariousversionsofutilitarianism,whichfavouractionsthatproducethegreatestamountofhappiness. Despiteitsobviouscommon-senseappeal,consequentialismturnsouttobeacomplicatedtheory,anddoesn'tprovideacompletesolutiontoallethicalproblems. Twoproblemswithconsequentialismare: itcanleadtotheconclusionthatsomequitedreadfulactsaregood predictingandevaluatingtheconsequencesofactionsisoftenverydifficult Non-consequentialismordeontologicalethics Non-consequentialismisconcernedwiththeactionsthemselvesandnotwiththeconsequences.It'sthetheorythatpeopleareusingwhentheyreferto"theprincipleofthething". Itteachesthatsomeactsarerightorwronginthemselves,whatevertheconsequences,andpeopleshouldactaccordingly. Virtueethics Virtueethicslooksatvirtueormoralcharacter,ratherthanatethicaldutiesandrules,ortheconsequencesofactions-indeedsomephilosophersofthisschooldenythattherecanbesuchthingsasuniversalethicalrules. Virtueethicsisparticularlyconcernedwiththewayindividualslivetheirlives,andlessconcernedinassessingparticularactions. Itdevelopstheideaofgoodactionsbylookingatthewayvirtuouspeopleexpresstheirinnergoodnessinthethingsthattheydo. Toputitverysimply,virtueethicsteachesthatanactionisrightifandonlyifitisanactionthatavirtuouspersonwoulddointhesamecircumstances,andthatavirtuouspersonissomeonewhohasaparticularlygoodcharacter. Situationethics Situationethicsrejectsprescriptiverulesandarguesthatindividualethicaldecisionsshouldbemadeaccordingtotheuniquesituation. Ratherthanfollowingrulesthedecisionmakershouldfollowadesiretoseekthebestforthepeopleinvolved.Therearenomoralrulesorrights-eachcaseisuniqueanddeservesauniquesolution. Ethicsandideology Somephilosophersteachthatethicsisthecodificationofpoliticalideology,andthatthefunctionofethicsistostate,enforceandpreserveparticularpoliticalbeliefs. Theyusuallygoontosaythatethicsisusedbythedominantpoliticaleliteasatooltocontroleveryoneelse. Morecynicalwriterssuggestthatpowerelitesenforceanethicalcodeonotherpeoplethathelpsthemcontrolthosepeople,butdonotapplythiscodetotheirownbehaviour. Top Arethereuniversalmoralrules? Oneofthebigquestionsinmoralphilosophyiswhetherornotthereareunchangingmoralrulesthatapplyinallculturesandatalltimes. Moralabsolutism Somepeoplethinktherearesuchuniversalrulesthatapplytoeveryone.Thissortofthinkingiscalledmoralabsolutism. Moralabsolutismarguesthattherearesomemoralrulesthatarealwaystrue,thattheserulescanbediscoveredandthattheserulesapplytoeveryone. Immoralacts-actsthatbreakthesemoralrules-arewronginthemselves,regardlessofthecircumstancesortheconsequencesofthoseacts. Absolutismtakesauniversalviewofhumanity-thereisonesetofrulesforeveryone-whichenablesthedraftingofuniversalrules-suchastheDeclarationofHumanRights. Religiousviewsofethicstendtobeabsolutist. Whypeopledisagreewithmoralabsolutism: Manyofusfeelthattheconsequencesofanactorthecircumstancessurroundingitarerelevanttowhetherthatactisgoodorbad Absolutismdoesn'tfitwithrespectfordiversityandtradition Differentcultureshavehaddifferentattitudestoissueslikewar© Moralrelativism Moralrelativistssaythatifyoulookatdifferentculturesordifferentperiodsinhistoryyou'llfindthattheyhavedifferentmoralrules. Thereforeitmakessensetosaythat"good"referstothethingsthataparticulargroupofpeopleapproveof. Moralrelativiststhinkthatthat'sjustfine,anddisputetheideathattherearesomeobjectiveanddiscoverable'super-rules'thatallculturesoughttoobey.Theybelievethatrelativismrespectsthediversityofhumansocietiesandrespondstothedifferentcircumstancessurroundinghumanacts. Whypeopledisagreewithmoralrelativism: Manyofusfeelthatmoralruleshavemoretothemthanthegeneralagreementofagroupofpeople-thatmoralityismorethanasuper-chargedformofetiquette Manyofusthinkwecanbegoodwithoutconformingtoalltherulesofsociety Moralrelativismhasaproblemwitharguingagainstthemajorityview:ifmostpeopleinasocietyagreewithparticularrules,that'stheendofthematter.Manyoftheimprovementsintheworldhavecomeaboutbecausepeopleopposedtheprevailingethicalview-moralrelativistsareforcedtoregardsuchpeopleasbehaving"badly" Anychoiceofsocialgroupingasthefoundationofethicsisboundtobearbitrary Moralrelativismdoesn'tprovideanywaytodealwithmoraldifferencesbetweensocieties Moralsomewhere-in-between-ism Mostnon-philosophersthinkthatbothoftheabovetheorieshavesomegoodpointsandthinkthat thereareafewabsoluteethicalrules butalotofethicalrulesdependontheculture Top « MoreonintroducingEthics Seealso ReligionandEthicshome Religions AroundtheBBC Science-Socialresponsibilitytest Radio4-MoralMaze RadioUlster-EverydayEthics Elsewhereontheweb StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy InternetEncyclopediaofPhilosophy BBCiDBBCiDSettingsSignoutSearchterm:BBCnavigationNewsSportWeatheriPlayerTVRadioMore…CBBCCBeebiesComedyFoodHistoryLearningMusicScienceEarthLocalNorthernIrelandScotlandWalesFullA-ZofBBCsitesBBClinksMobilesiteTermsofUseAbouttheBBCPrivacyAccessibilityHelpCookiesContacttheBBCParentalGuidanceBBC©2014TheBBCisnotresponsibleforthecontentofexternalsites.Readmore.Thispageisbestviewedinanup-to-datewebbrowserwithstylesheets(CSS)enabled.Whileyouwillbeabletoviewthecontentofthispageinyourcurrentbrowser,youwillnotbeabletogetthefullvisualexperience.Pleaseconsiderupgradingyourbrowsersoftwareorenablingstylesheets(CSS)ifyouareabletodoso.