|
||
Definition:
Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the moral and normative evaluation
of human actions. Ethics is usually broken down into four categories:
Descriptive Ethics, which is simply an objective study of the ethics of some particular group or some set of ethical standards.
Normative Ethics, which is the development of prescriptive theories of what sort of conduct is right or wrong.
Applied Ethics, which is the study of how varying ethical theories can be used in specific, real-world situations.
Meta-Ethics, which is the study of just what "ethics" means and to what degree ethical claims be ever be justified (and how).
One the important debates in the field of ethics is over whether or not moral judgements can be treated as propositions:
Prostitution is immoral.
John is a good man.
Normally we can test a proposition by asking if it is true - it make sense to ask "Is it true that 'Paris is the capital of France'?" because "Paris is the capital of France is a proposition which can be true or false. It does not make sense to ask "Is it true that 'What time is it'?" because "What time is it?" is not a proposition which can be true or false.
So, does it make sense to ask "Is it true that 'Prostitution is immoral'?" It certainly doesn't look like nonsense, and thus most people intuitively believe that such statements are indeed propositions. The above constitutes a moral judgement - but is it a proposition? If it is a proposition, also known as an assertoric statement, then it must refer to and/or describe something - but ethical judgments are usually though of as being normative, i.e. actually making a claim as to what people should be doing. But the predicates of a normative statement (above, "immoral") are not descriptive - and if the predicate above is not descriptive, then the statement is not a proposition.
The important implication of this is that the statement cannot be true or false! As a result, it cannot be either a premise or a conclusion in any logical argument. This is part of the position taken by those who subscribe to the ethical theory of emotivism, which is part of the general perspective of noncognitivism, which argues that moral statements do not have any cognitive or truth value.
Also Known As: morals
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
What are Ethics and Morality?
Ethics is the formal study of moral standards and conduct. For this reason, the study of ethics is also often called "moral philosophy." What is good? What is evil? How should I behave - and why? How should I balance my needs against the needs of others?What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
Further Reading:
Being Good
With all of the cultural and religious challenges which face us today, is there still any way to think and act ethically? That's a very good question, and Simon Backburn's newest book is designed to give people an introduction on what ethics are, the different ways which people can approach ethics, and finally why ethics really matter to us. Read Review...
