“Moral Philosophy is the rational study of the meaning and justification of moral claims. A ‘moral claim’ evaluates the rightness or wrongness of an action or a person’s character”, For example, “stealing is wrong” claims that the act of stealing is wrong, while “people should not be dishonest” claims a character trait (i.e. dishonesty) is wrong (Gert and Gert).
“Descriptively, morality refers to certain codes of conduct put forward by a society or a group (such as a religion) or accepted by an individual for his/her own behavior. Normatively, it refers to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.” (“What Is Moral Philosophy?”).
Moral Philosophy appeals to some of the world’s most astute
…show more content…
These benefits include, but are not limited to; an opportunity to develop/improve an individual’s ability to reason, think logically, analyze and solve problems. Also, to critically assess arguments (points of view) and increase one’s ability to speak and write clearly. Furthermore, Philosophy “attempts to determine and distinguish right actions from wrong ones, and good actions from bad ones” (CLASS NOTES). Philosophical ideas enkindle curiosity and evoke questions such as “what makes one action right, and another wrong?” “how should I live and treat others?” and “If I believe that something is morally right or wrong, does it mean that everyone else believes that it’s right or wrong?”. These and numerous other fundamental questions are presented in moral philosophy. It is of great importance to have a clear view of both right and wrong, to determine which actions we should encourage (promote) and which ones we should try to prevent or dissuade. In my opinion, I believe that it would be a wise choice for individuals at all levels to study moral philosophy. Moral philosophy (ethics), helps to re-shape our character without prejudice, expand one’s ability to think rationally and critically, and allows the mind to be exposed to various world views presented in the form of …show more content…
Proponents of this theory do not rely on a set of moral principles to determine how they should think or act. They also argue that; subjective individuals do not have the right to criticize or object to their actions; however, some find it possible to disagree (“Morality and Moral Theories”).
The second theory, Ethical Egoism states that “right and wrong is determined by what is in your self-interest; also, that it is immoral to act contrary to your own self-interest” (“Morality and Moral Theories”). Proponents of this theory supports actions that maximizes self-interest. They claim that everyone is selfish because of human nature, which is a week point for this theory; given that morality encourages people to consider the interest and wellbeing of others. Additionally, true altruism still exists and all humans are not selfish.
Thirdly, certain individuals agree that culture determines what actions are morally right or wrong; and are advocates of Cultural Relativism. Their actions are not guided by a list of moral rules or universal norms. A key flaw in this theory is that, it leaves no place for moral advancement since, individuals of dissimilar cultures are not encouraged to share their view concerning the
Egoism being the theory that believes that selfishness is the foundation of morality. Robert Bass claims that Rand does not create a compelling case to convince her audience that egoism and rights go together. Bass believes that Rand made a mistake when “she posited, as the alternative to egoism, a doctrine that she labeled altruism” (Bass, 330). Unlike Rand, Bass
Evaluating the morality within ourselves they evaluate morality on the principle of what is wrong or right. As equally
In this prompt the argument that Morality exists is irrelevant, contrary to our thoughts and beliefs. Everyone follows a set of moral rules. Ethical relativists disagree with this belief because, they believe that morals are distinctive from each individual culture. These relativists as described are mixing up moral and cultural distinctions, or are simply not willing to completely understanding the cultures they are standing up for. There are two different types of relativism Ethical, and Cultural, that rely upon the argument of cultural differences, which have flaws that make the argument unsound.
The ethics of cultural relativism are different than traditional ethical theories mainly because cultural relativism dismisses morality. Cultural relativism is named so because the ethics of different cultures
”(p.19) This shows that in the study of ethics, the study of moral relativism to be more specific, the idea of universal truth does not exist. That is to say what is perceived as “good” or “right” can vary form culture to culture, so there is no way to have one universal truth. Two major examples of cultural differences that are often cited in Support
Morality is a set of values held by a person in making when judging and evaluating what is deemed right or wrong, good or bad (Brandt, 1959). When we talk about morality in counseling it’s about the reasoning by the counselor that has four levels. They are, personal intuition, ethical guidelines established by professional organizations, ethical principles and general theories of moral action (Kitchener, 1984). Ethics is described as adopted principles that has relations to man’s behavior and moral decision making (Van Hoose & Kottler, 1985). Ethics is often thought as a synonym to morality.
1. Introduction – ethics – what are they? Ethics (or moral philosophy) is the kind of philosophy that define concept of right or wrong conduct. In practice, ethics try to resolve questions of human morality, by explaining concepts of good and evil. Ethics, culture, morals – are bind together, they are embedded.
This is because of moral relativism’s take on ethical dilemmas, and the view that there are a number of disagreements among people as to the nature of morality. An act can
Philippa Foot presented a series of moral dilemmas when she discussed abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect. One famous problem of her was the trolley dilemma: “..he is the driver of a runaway tram which he can only steer from one narrow track onto another; five men are working on one track and one on the other; anyone the tack he enters is bound to be killed.” (Foot, 1967, p. 2) What should the driver do? Despite what he does, he will harm someone!1
(Macionis 310). The culture theory claims that some prejudice is found in everyone. Some people are excessively prejudice, but everyone has a bit of prejudice.
Consequential Ethical theory It is a part of normative ethical theories and it means that the consequence of ones behavior is an ultimate mean for anyone to judge the rightness or wrongness of that behavior. So, from the perspective of a consequentialist an ethically right act is the one that will inherit good outcome or consequence. It usually explains the saying “the end justifies the means” which means that in order to achieve a goal, take any route which leads to achieving it.
Every society has its own unique cultures in which people will have different ideas of moral codes. The diversity of these cultures cannot be said to be correct or incorrect. Every society has independent standards of ethic within their society and these standards are culture-bound. Cultural Relativism has a perception in which rightness or wrongness of an action depends entirely within the bounds of the culture. This theory opposes the belief in the objectivity of moral truth.
The divine command theory, utilitarianism, Kant’s duty defined morality, natural law theory, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics are the five types of ethical theories. The divine command theory states that what is morally right and wrong will be decided by God. Utilitarianism states that “Action “A” is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness. Kant’s duty defined morality states that what is important is acting for the sake of producing good consequences, no matter what the act is. Natural law theory states that people should focus on the good and avoid any evil.
3. What does Philosophy say about morality? 4. Are they alike? Introduction Morality has long been used by human being as a basis for their actions.
Throughout history many great philosophers have attempted to unravel the origins of virtues by developing moral theories of their own. This document is designed to provide the reader with an overview of some of the more popular theories concerning morals. Three of the most popular moral theories are… Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelianism. Though Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelianism differ in many ways, they also share similar fundamentals. Utilitarianism is a highly acclaimed theory that is morally based on consequentialism.