What is morality?
In its simplest definition, ethics is a system of ethical principles that affects people's lives and the way they make their decisions. Ethics are concerned with what is good for both the individual and society, and is also described as the "philosophy of ethics".
The term Ethics was originally derived from the Greek word Etho, under which it had several implications: custom, habit, personality and behaviour.
The philosophy of ethics discusses some of the so-called ethical dilemmas:
- How to live a good (good) life.
- The rights and responsibilities of the individual.
- The definition of good and evil.
- Ethical decisions - what is the right or morally wrong decision?
Our concepts on which our moral systems are based were derived primarily from different religions and philosophies and from the cultures on which we were raised as well. These concepts argue on many topics such as abortion, human rights and the rules of professional conduct.
Ethics approaches
Today's philosophers tend to divide moral theories into three branches:
- Meta-Ethics: The section that discusses the nature of moral judgment by considering the origins and meanings of ethical principles.
- Normative Ethics: That section looks at the content of ethical judgments and the criteria for what is right or wrong morally.
- Applied Ethics: Discusses various ethical issues or dilemmas such as war, animal rights and the death penalty.
What's the use of morality?
If ethical theories are useful in practice practice, they must have an impact on how a person behaves. Some philosophers believe that morality actually governs an individual's actions. It would be illogical for a person not to do something after realizing that it would be morally correct. But humans usually act irrationally, and most people are known to follow their intuition, even if their minds are told to take contrary action. However, the philosophy of ethics provides us with effective ways and tools to think about different ethical issues.
The philosophy of ethics helps to create a moral map.
Most ethical issues are emotional for example, consider abortion and euthanasia for a start. Because these issues are sensitive and encapsulated in a lot of emotions, we often have our emotions in the process while letting our minds swim with the current. Yet there is an alternative way of addressing these issues, and here comes the role of philosophers they give us the ethical rules and principles that enable us to address moral dilemmas free from emotional biases and free from their impact.
We can therefore say that moral philosophy works to create a moral map and create a valuable way of assessing the issues effectively.
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Ethics can foment conflicts and reduce them.
By following a moral approach, two people arguing over an issue can often find that what they disagree about is only a small and limited part of the whole issue. They will generally understand their agreement in everything but this part.
Arguing in a certain moral order can reduce a lot of wasted energy after discussion, and often, too, can tell a possible solution to many problems.
However, ethical standards do not always provide human beings with the help of the kind they really need.
Morality doesn't give the right answers.
Morality does not necessarily give correct answers to moral dilemmas. In fact, many people think that some dilemmas do not have a single and definitive solution that is more correct — they present only a set of principles that can only be applied to specific situations to make it clear to those concerned some options.
Some philosophers go so far as to say that all moral philosophy can offer is to clarify things and dismantle issues. In the end, it is the individual's job to draw the conclusion, and for the individual alone, the decision is made.
Morality can give many answers.
Many people hope that there is a single correct answer to ethical issues because they find it difficult to live with a situation that is shrouded in mystery and morally unclear because, of course, they want to do what is "right", even if they cannot determine what the "right" act is, they like the idea that somewhere there is one answer.
But usually there is no single correct answer, there may be a number of correct answers, or some less correct answers, and one must choose one himself from among them.
For others, moral ambiguity is difficult because it forces them to take responsibility for their choices and actions, rather than retreating from appropriate rules and customs.
The relationship between morality and society
Ethics is always about the "other."
At the heart of morality is constant concern about something or someone other than ourselves, our desires and our own interests. Morality concerns the interests of others, the interests of society, the interests of God, the "ultimate interest", and so on. So, when a person thinks "morally", it means thinking of something that goes beyond itself.
Morality as a source of community power
One of the problems of ethics is that it is sometimes used as a weapon. If the group believes that an activity is considered "morally wrong," then that group can use morality as a pretext to fight and violence those who have decided to depart from its regime and practice it.
When people think and act in this way, they see those they consider immoral in one way or another, less human than them, and unworthy of respect. Unfortunately, this behaviour sometimes has tragic consequences.
Good people and good deeds.
Morality is not about the charity of certain decisions or actions, but also about the goodness of individuals and what it means to live a good life. Value theory in ethics is particularly interested in the debate about the moral character of human beings.
The foundation of good and evil
In the past, some people thought that ethical problems could be solved in one of two ways:
- The first is to try to understand the message that "God" has sent to human beings and what is needed to achieve this message.
- Second: by thinking carefully and impartially about ethical principles and problems.
If an individual does this correctly, he or she will certainly reach the correct conclusion as well. But contemporary philosophers differ from their predecessors, and are less certain that a complete and satisfactory moral theory can be made or at the very least a theory that leads to conclusions.
Contemporary philosophers therefore continue to teach people that the philosophy of ethics does not give definitive conclusions; In the light of this modernist vision, the role of ethics is limited to discussing "what is at stake" that is, debatable in certain ethical dilemmas. Ethics can create a pattern of ethical approaches, conversations, and value systems, which can be applied when addressing a specific problem. After all these patterns are clearly defined, the choice remains the individual's responsibility, and it is his duty to decide what to do and to bear the consequences and to act appropriately for the consequences of that decision.