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13 April 2016
ETHICAL THEORIES IN PHILOSOPHY Section one: Introduction
"Part of being human is the ability to" distinguish good from bad and vice versa (Rachels 9). Human nature is a ground for practical and moral norms that is; morality directs us to real human fulfilment. Great thinkers have formulated and developed a significant number of enduring moral principles over the centuries. Philosophy, like other social fields and also like individuals, draw on these principles, but this does not always make moral decisions easy. The principles are not entirely consistent, especially in sorting through dilemmas.
The principles may include: The Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill declares that morally right decisions are those that result in ‘happiness for the greatest number. ' Kant 's Duty Defined Morality explains how acts performed out of duty have moral worth. Aristotle 's Virtue Ethics dictates that moderation is the best course. Divine Command theory holds that proper decisions follow God 's will. And lastly, Natural Law id grounded in the notion of an eternal law (in God). According to this paper, the Kant 's Duty Defined Morality is better than the other ethical theories.
Section two: Explanation of Philosophical views
Utilitarianism
It was founded by Jeremy Bentham, later developed by James Mill and perfected by his son John Stuart Mill (Rachels 13). It is called the principle of utility. It is a democratic principle of
Creating and defining my own ethical framework is essential in future success as a businessman, a leader, and a team player. As a business student, I have learned that it can be a very cut throat industry and in order to get ahead, at some point and ethical dilemma will undoubtedly be an obstacle I have to overcome. The way I handle these dilemmas can make or break my career; business ethics are a key part of earning and sustaining respect, trust, and a good rapport with both clients and competitors in your industry. Therefore a solid ethical framework is an important tool for me to have as a standard for handling these types of dilemmas so that I can grow successfully while staying true to myself and to
Ethics is the study of right and wrong conduct. (Ruggiero, 2008) “Over the past few decades, a sizable industry has arisen to serve the demand for ready-made and even customized compositions and term papers. Many students presumably believe there is nothing morally wrong with the practice of buying one of these papers and turning it in to fulfill a course requirement.” (Assignment)
The life of prisoners some may never know. There are those who care not to know what goes on behind that wired fence. We find that some people that are convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Some people would rather turn their heads to what actually happens in a prison institution, because they feel it is no concern of theirs. Innocent women and men face a disaster in life when they find their selves incarcerated in such facility as these. The treatment in prison facilities toward prisoners with health issues or those who develop health concerns that
Health care professionals are subject to a multitude of professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities which call for personal judgment to be utilized in such a manner as to protect clients as well as public wellness and interests. Overall considerations in handling such duties may be considered to be respect of a client’s autonomy, confidence, and recognition of obligations owed to all clients. While the aforementioned acts fall within the professional realm, there are also legal implications that guide care. Therefore, it can be said that ethical considerations occur in observation of legal responsibilities. Confidential information is perceived as private facts which are disclosed with the
Probability → Considers how likely each effect might be, given that we don’t know ahead of time which of the many possible effects will actually occur.
Centered on psychological, sociological and philosophic principles such as virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism and intuitionism, for instance, many theorists argue that our decision making ability or ethical judgements are based on our own experience, or the nature of our standards of reason. Ethics, whether personal or professional, is about our actions and decisions. Moreover, it is acting in a way that is consistent with our values and choices, not just simply following the rules. Our Code of Ethical conduct originates from our values which are greatly influenced by our morals; they provide guidance and are our standards for the ways in which we carry out and view right and wrong actions; these standards are derived from our fundamental beliefs. Ethics are usually the principles we use to form decisions on what is right or wrong, good or bad and are typically cultivated from our culture, environment, and religious beliefs. Moral responsibility is said to be innate and/or instilled within an individual outside of themselves, however, studies also suggest that moral attitude and action are also affected by
In Intro to Ethics, we have discussed each moral theory in the context of how the theories dealt with the theory of right conduct and with the deontic status the action had. When we looked at how each theory we talked about dealt with deontic status, we looked at how the actions were right or wrong. The main theories we looked at this semester that dealt with right conduct were utilitarianism, Kant’s moral theory, and virtue ethics. Although each of these moral theories has its own flaws, I believe that Kant’s moral theory is the strongest and most superior out of all the moral theories.
In Chapter 1 we discuss the Several Essential Moral Theories the first type of moral theory is consequentialism which is the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action depends upon the consequences that it brings. One of the different versions to Consequentialism is Utilitarianism which is the theory that actions are righteous if they benefit the majority of others . The second moral theory is the Natural Law Theory which is the idea that actions ’s are only righteous if while performing these actions the individual does not violate the basic values of human life, human procreation, human knowledge and human sociability . The third Essential moral theory is the Kantian Moral Theory which is an example of deontological moral theory.
The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) believes in the reasonable and free compliance of one’s will to follow and abide by the moral law. This position provides an ethical foundation for what is recognized as morality. For Kant, the moral value of an act is not determined from its expected consequences, but from the representation of law itself.
Ethical and unethical situations occur on a daily basis and are seen all around us. Being ethical requires one to take responsibility for their actions and doing what is right in any given circumstance. Every person has the power to dictate their actions on how they are going to handle any situation they are put in. I have experienced numerous amounts of situations that have tested my ethical behavior and actions. Throughout my experiences, I have realized that ethics has a great impact on many different aspects of life such as society, career, and personal life. Understanding the meaning of ethics allows me to grow as a person and to truly do what is right with any issue I am faced with.
For centuries, philosophers have debated the human condition what is good, what is evil, what makes the individual moral, and how are ethics balanced with virtue as a means for the actualization of the individual. Virtue, for many, becomes the theory of the way individuals should follow morality to become, eventually, the best person we can be. Part of being an enlightened human, for instance, is knowing the difference from right and wrong, of making that distinct individualized decision; we have contemplated our own humanity and actualized. Virtue theory, then, is a concept taken up by more than Aristotle that helps individuals define and contrast normative ethics by using deontology, which tends to emphasize cause and effect through rules and duties. Virtue theory, then take admirable human characteristics and tries to find the way in which humans should live best. "...To experience these emotions [fear, courage, desire, anger, pity, and pleasure] at the right times and on the right occasions and toward the right persons and for the right causes and in the right manner is the mean or the supreme good, which is characteristic of virtue" (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, II).
The word “ethics” comes from Greek ethikas meaning character. Today, we use ethics to describe the normative standard of behavior. The history of philosophical ethics has been broken up into five rational methods: Virtue, Traditional, Modern, and Post-Modern Ethics. Within these periods, the philosophy of ethics changed along with the changes being made within society.
No two people are the same, and they will never be the same. Even twins have different ways of viewing things. This is the same for people ethical views, according the The Merriam-Websters Dictionary (2015) the definitions for ethics is “The rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad.” Knowing what is morally right or wrong especially in the business world can help prevent scandals or corrupt business practices. But in today society, ethics can be blurred through situations and personal views, now it seems as though people aren’t even thinking about what is ethical but more so what can benefit them. Within recent months, news of FIFA allowing bribes to be accepted from certain people has managed to corrupted a billion dollar business and affected their corporation along with allowing the world to see their ethical views. In this paper I will be talking about whether or not this a topical of ethical views, is this a common situation with management and if it affected international business.
As rational beings we have power to choose whether to act on our desires. Will (desire) leads to choice. Choice leads to action. Action repeated becomes habit. Sartre believed that “existence precedes essence(Sartre 500)”. Basically meaning we exist first and then we do things that define ourselves and our lives in whatever way we choose and this determines our essence, and what it means to be a human being. If existence really does precede essence,man is responsible for what he is. Aristotle believes as rational beings we have power to choose whether to act on our desires. Similar to Aristotle 's beliefs, Kant believes that one should act rationally will for your action to become a universal mind, keeping in mind, “What is everyone did it?”
Philosophical Ethical Theories As we know, philosophers divide ethical theories into three major classes. They are Metaethics(descriptive), Conceptual(applied), and Normative(prescriptive). Metaethics basically takes the scientific approach to concocting where exactly our ethical principals and philosophies come from (Feiser, 2005).