Ethics Basic Concepts

Ethics: Branch of philosophy concerned with moral principles and values, how people ought t olive their lives.
Ethical Philosophers:Philosophers concerned with the ideas of “good and “bad” as theyapply to humans. We “should behave” and the nature of right and wrong, good and bad.
Moral: set of values that you acquire along your life according to your experiences, family, friends, etc.
Law:rules established by a political authority to govern human affairs
Moral Law: the edicts of a divine law maker or truths of reason
Norms: ways everybody agrees on doing, the regular ways
EthicalNorms: regulate all aspects of our life in ways to coexist with the society

Morality:
Term by Lawrence Kohlberg “Kohlberg Stages”:
* Preconventional Morality: personal gain and loss.
Level 1:avoidance of punishment
Level2: desire for gain
* Conventional Morality: terms of convention and what people would say
Level 3: gaining approval and avoiding disapproval of others.
Level 4: rigidcodes of law and order
* Postconventional Morality: internalization of moral principles
Level 5: the social contract and what is generally agreed to be good for the public.
Level 6: genuineethical principles that determine a person’s personal moral code.

Moral Conduct Regulators:
Moral behavior guaranteed by 3 mechanisms known as moral conduct regulators:
1. Moral Conscience:personal beliefs, values, principles, 1st. years of life through education, parents and society. Punishment: Remorse, guilt.
2. Social Moral: rules and costumes that society imposes, behavior ispromoted by the religion, family, cultural traditions and social groups. Punishment: Scold, rejection, expelled.
3. Laws and Regulations: imposed to guarantee peace by the state or an institution.Punishment: Fines, jail, death penalty.

Ethical dilemmas:
Dilemma: whenever a choice has to be made in which something good has to be given up or something bad has to be suffered no matter what is...