SAMPLE Ethics in America
adeity.Similarly,outsidethecontextofreligion,manyphilosophersbelievethatmoralityexistsasakind of superhuman entity. Others maintain that moralityis relative andthatwhatisconsideredgoodorbadvariesdependingon the individualorgroup.Theotherwaymoralscouldbeuniversalisiftheyweretheresultofevolution. Humansevolvedthesemoralstohelpmaintainstrongsocialgroups,preventconflict,andmakesurvival easier for themselves. The opposing view in this debateisthatmoralityis subjective .Thisperspectiveholdsthatmoralityis notuniversal;rather,itiscreatedbyhumansandspecifictotheculturethatcreatedit.Whilemoralityis still important to individuals in society, defining social relations and cultural values, not everyone is bound by the same morals. Throughout the following chapter, you will gain a better understanding of the different branches of ethics, such as Descriptive Ethics, Normative Ethics, Meta-Ethics, and Applied Ethics. C. The Study of Morality: Normative & Descriptive Ethics Asystemofmoralityisbasedonasetofinherentrightsandwrongs.Therearedozensofdifferentmoral systems used around the world, so how do we sort them all out? Luckily, there are a few basic approaches to studying morality that can help us get started. Theword“ethics”comesfromtheGreekrootword ethos ,meaning“character”andfromtheLatinword mores which means “custom.” Ethics is abranchofphilosophythatseekstoaddressquestionsabout morality. These questions include how moral values should be determined ( normative ethics ), what moral values people actually abide by ( descriptive ethics ), how to use ethics in “real-lifesituations” ( applied ethics ), and the meaning of ethical terms,judgments, and arguments ( meta-ethics ). Ethics is a topicthattranscendsgender,race,monetarystatus,oranyothersymboltohelpdetermine thenatureofpeopleandthepurposeoftheiractionsandthoughtprocesses.Askyourself:doesethics follow the law, religious beliefs, or societalnorms?Manyhavecomebefore,andmanywillcomeafter asking, “ Why ?” For this reason, it is imperative to question, ponder,andthenanswerthisquestionto understand the structure of the lives we choose to live. Therearetwomainapproachestostudyingethics:normativeethics(ethicaltheoryandappliedethics) and non-normative ethics (descriptive/meta-ethics)
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