AN OVERVIEW

WHAT AM I TO DO?

WHAT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE?

IS IT RIGHT?

IS IT WRONG?

Contemporary Moral Trends Might is right Morals are mores The individual is the measure The human Race is the basis of right Right is moderation Right is what brings pleasure Right is the greatest good for the greater

number Right is what is desirable for it's own sake Right is indefinable Right is what God wills

What is Ethics/Morality?

Etymology Ethics from the greek “Ethos” Morals from the latin “Mos”

Which means: customs or practices

Morality refers to the rightness or wrongness of an action.

Ethics refers to the study concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong

Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994-2002

ETHICAL SYSTEMS Relativism

Right or wrong, good or bad is variable and relative, depending on the person, circumstance or social situation.

Cultural Relativism – Moral standards are a product of culture. What is right in one culture may be wrong in another.

Morality changes through time. Secular Humanism

Emphasis on the human. “A search for viable individual, social and

political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility” (Council for Secular Humanism)

ETHICAL SYSTEMS

Virtue Ethics Happiness is achieved through the development of

“good habits:” intellectual (for example knowledge) and practical action and emotion (for example courage).

“Golden Mean” – neither excess nor deficiency. Seeks to develop individual character. A good

person will make a good decision. Hedonism

What brings pleasure to an individual is good. Ethical Egoism

Focuses on the pursuit of self-interest in human conduct.

Teleological Ethics From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.” Concerned with the end-point or results of an

action Consequentialism

Utilitarianism (Universal Hedonism) The greatest good or happiness for the greatest

number of people. Deontology

The good is found in the action itself and not based on its consequences or results.

Thus it is our duty to do the right action Kantian Ethics

“Act as if the principle on which your action is based were to become a universal law of nature.”

ETHICAL SYSTEMS

Ethical Systems

Determinism Everything is caused and determined (even

human actions and choices) by previously existing causes that preclude free will and the possibility that humans could have acted otherwise. Fatalism Stoicism

Theonomous Ethics: Morality and religion go together Divine Command

Being good is doing whatever a sacred text tells you. Christian Ethics

Looking at the person of Christ as the norm of all thought and action.

Ethical Systems

Absolutism It is not limited by exceptions or

restrictions. It is not to be doubted or questioned –

positive, certain and unconditional. Cultural absolutism

There exists moral absolutes that do not vary from culture to culture.

Contemporary Moral Trends

Might is right Relativism Hedonism / Egoism Absolutism

Morals are mores Cultural Relativism

The individual is the measure Relativism / Subjectivism Egoism

The human Race is the basis of right Secular Humanism

Right is moderation Aristotle’s “Golden Mean”

Contemporary Moral Trends Right is what brings pleasure

Hedonism / Egoism Right is the greatest good for the greater

number Utilitarianism

Right is what is desirable for it's own sake Deontological Ethics

Right is indefinable Ethical Relativism Determinism

Right is what God wills Theonomous Ethics Absolutism

References

Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St. Pauls, 1998.

Karl Peschke. Christian Ethics. Professor Dean R. Bork. Fundamentals of Ethical

Systems. Lecture Notes. http://www.lar.arch.vt.edu/Resources/courses/LAR-3034/Notes/Ethics.html

Louis D. Whitworth. Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems. Probe Ministries, 1995. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/measmor.html

“Ethics” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004. “What is Secular Humanism?” Council for Secular

Humanism. Last updated 8/11/2004. http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html