SAMPLE Ethics in America
actfitintosomelargerpurpose.Tomakecorrectmoralchoices,wemustunderstandwhatwill result from our choices. If our actions result in positive and accurate consequences, we are acting morally. If our actions result in negative consequences, we are acting immorally. The action is not theprimaryfocus;instead,maximizinggoodandfavorableresultsoroutcomesis the focus. Utilitarianism is one example of a consequentialist moral theory. At the core of utilitarianism is the principle of utility orthe greatesthappinessprinciple .Anethicaldecision offersthemostsignificantnetutility:thegreatestamountofhappinessforthegreatestnumber of people. Non-Normative Ethics (descriptive/meta-ethics) Whilenormativeethicsarebasedonevaluativejudgments,deemingonethingbetterormoredesirable thananother,non-normativeethics,alsoknownas descriptiveethics, arebasedonobjectivejudgments madefromquantifiabledata.Essentially,thestudyof WHY peoplebehavethewaythattheydo. Inthe factual investigation of moral systems' logic, language, and objectivity, non-normative ethics often employempiricalandexperimentaldatafromotherdisciplinessuchassociology,psychology,orhistory. While normative ethics deals with personal beliefs, non-normative ethics focus on factual beliefs. "Spanking is (or isnot)justified"isanexampleofanormativejudgment."Spankingdoes(ordoesnot) modify behavior effectively," is an exampleofanon-normativejudgment.Itisadescriptivestatement (also known as an empirical judgment ) about the world that relies on experimental or empirical information. The two non-normative ethics are: ● Comparativeethics isatypeofdescriptiveethicsthatstudiespeople'sbeliefsaboutmorality.It describes how people behave and/or what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow. ● Meta-ethics isalsoknownasanalyticethics.Inphilosophy,meta-ethicsisthebranchofethics that seeks tounderstandthenatureofethicalproperties(ifthereareany),ethicalstatements, attitudes,andjudgments.Wheneveramoralsystemiscreated,itisbaseduponcertainpremises about reality, human nature, values, etc. Meta-ethics questions the validity ofthosepremises and argues that maybe we don't really know what we are talking about afterall.Itisdistinct fromnormativeethicsbecauseinmeta-ethics,wearenottryingtofigureoutwhatwe ought to do. Instead, we are trying to figure out what it means to say that we ought to do something. D. Theories of Moral Development Thewayapersondecideswhatisrightorwrongdeterminestheirmoraldevelopment,whichwilldecide theirbehavior.Thelevelofmoralreasoningapersonhasdeterminestheamountoftimetheywillspend on specific moral questions. There are several theories of moral development, including Carol Gilligan's modification of Lawrence Kohlberg's suppositions. Gilligan's theory focuses more on personal relationships and how they can shape a person's morality.
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