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Ethical Theories Are Different Ways People Can Analyze Ethics

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When a person decides to take action in an event, an ethical standard is most likely in his or her core. Different theories can be examined to study ethics and how they play into a person’s life. No matter what theory is at play, a person’s worldview will always impact his or her ethical standards. For example, an atheist may have a different view on homelessness than a Christian. The atheist and Christian will take different actions, when confronted, because of these worldviews. The study of why we have ethics is called metaethics. Metaethics describes ethics itself to have a deeper understanding of ethics. Several ethical theories exist that our worlview impacts, one theory, metaethics, examines ethics itself which leads to certain …show more content…

12). Common acts of right and wrong are able to be trusted through introspection. Throughout introspection, a person may determine his or her worldview and thus, determine why their actions are the they are. Examining the why of ethics is known as metaethics.
Metaethics can be thought of as how we determine ethics, not the application of ethics itself. As Fisher (2011) explains, “it taking a birds-eye view of ethics” (p. 2). Metaethics is looks above the ethical system to see what is happening. Metaethics explains ethics itself. Metaethics analyzes moral language, asking what someone means by “wrong”; moral psychology, are people expressing beliefs or desires; and moral ontology (what exists), which could ask what moral properties are real? (Fisher, 2011). All of these questions help metaethicists study ethics in order to understand why people make the decisions they do. It is important to understand why people make moral judgements, because it can explain why conflicts may occur and gives insight how different people function. Understanding the ethics behind a person’s actions can help others identify motives.
A person’s motives and actions are determined by ethical thinking. Ethical thought can help a person reach a decision about an action by analyzing results. For example, using a turn signal to switch lanes may be the moral thing to do, because it tells other

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