ETHICS STUDY NOTES

I. Ethics

Definition

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that studies morality. It examines human actions
to determine whether they are morally right or wrong and provides principles that
guide people in making good moral decisions.

Ethics is concerned with questions such as:

● What is the right thing to do?

● What makes an action good or bad?
● Why should people act morally?
● How should we treat other people?

Ethics is different from law because an action may be legal but still be morally wrong.
Likewise, it is different from religion because ethics studies moral reasoning through
philosophy, although many religions also teach moral principles.

II. Branches of Ethics

Ethics has three major branches:

1. Metaethics

Studies the meaning, nature, and foundation of morality.

It asks questions such as:

● What is morality?
● What does "good" really mean?
● Are moral values objective or subjective?
● Are moral judgments facts or opinions?

Metaethics does not tell us what to do. Instead, it examines what moral language
and moral beliefs actually mean.

2. Normative Ethics

Normative ethics develops principles or standards for determining what actions are
morally right or wrong.

It answers questions like:

 ● What should I do?
● What is the morally right action?
● How should people live?

It provides ethical theories such as utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics.

3. Applied Ethics

Applied ethics uses ethical principles to solve real-life moral problems.

Instead of discussing ethics only in theory, it asks how ethical ideas should be used
in practical situations.

Examples include:

● Medical ethics
● Business ethics
● Environmental ethics
● Machine ethics
● Bioethics
● Engineering ethics

III. Material Object and Formal Object

Every academic discipline studies something specific.

Material Object

The material object is what is being studied.

In ethics, the material object is:

Human actions or human conduct.

Ethics examines what people do in everyday life.

Examples:

● Helping others
● Lying
● Stealing
● Keeping promises

Formal Object
The formal object is the particular aspect under which the subject is studied.

In ethics, the formal object is:

The morality of human actions.

Ethics does not simply observe what people do. It asks whether those actions are
morally right or morally wrong.

Example:

Material Object:
A student cheats during an exam.

Formal Object:
Was cheating morally right or morally wrong?

IV. Human Act (Actus Humanus)

A human act is an action that is performed with:

● knowledge
● freedom
● deliberate choice

Since the person chooses the action, he or she is morally responsible.

A human act can therefore be judged as:

● good
● bad
● right
● wrong

Examples:

● Choosing to tell the truth

● Helping a classmate
● Stealing money
● Forgiving someone

Only human acts are evaluated by ethics because they involve reason and free will.

V. Act of Man (Actus Hominis)

An act of man refers to actions that happen naturally or without conscious choice.
These actions usually occur because of biological processes or automatic reactions.

Examples:

● Breathing
● Sneezing
● Sleeping
● Digesting food
● Blinking
● Reflex actions

Since these actions are not freely chosen, they are generally not considered moral or
immoral.

VI. Elements of a Human Act

A human act must have three essential elements.

A. Knowledge

The person understands:

● what he or she is doing

● the possible consequences of the action

Without sufficient knowledge, moral responsibility may be reduced.

B. Freedom

The person acts voluntarily without being forced or threatened.

If someone acts under extreme coercion, the person's moral responsibility may be
lessened.

C. Voluntariness

The action is done willingly.

The person intends to perform the action rather than acting accidentally.

VII. Ignorance
Ignorance means lacking knowledge about something.

Not all ignorance removes moral responsibility.

Vincible Ignorance

Vincible ignorance is ignorance that could have been corrected through reasonable
effort.

The person had the opportunity to know the truth but failed to do so.

Because the ignorance could have been avoided, the person still carries moral
responsibility.

Example:

A driver never studies traffic rules and causes an accident.

Invincible Ignorance

Invincible ignorance is ignorance that could not reasonably be overcome.

The person had no practical way of knowing the truth.

Because the ignorance was unavoidable, the person's moral responsibility may be
greatly reduced or even removed.

Example:

Someone unknowingly breaks a law that was impossible for them to know.

VIII. Moral Agent and Moral Patient

Moral Agent

A moral agent is someone who can make moral decisions and freely choose actions.

A moral agent can be praised or blamed because he or she is responsible for

actions.

Examples:

● Adults
● Responsible individuals
Moral Patient

A moral patient is someone or something affected by moral actions.

A moral patient may not be capable of making moral decisions but deserves moral
consideration.

Examples:

● Children
● Animals
● Future generations
● The environment

IX. Scrutinizing the Language of Morality

One important task of metaethics is to study moral language.

It examines questions like:

● What do words such as "good" and "bad" mean?

● Are moral statements true?
● Do moral judgments express facts or feelings?

This area of study helps philosophers understand how people use moral language.

X. Cognitivism

Cognitivism teaches that moral statements express beliefs that can be true or false.

According to cognitivists, moral judgments describe reality and therefore can be

evaluated.

Example:

"Stealing is wrong."

This statement is treated as something that can be objectively true or false.

Many forms of moral realism belong to cognitivism.

XI. Non-Cognitivism
Non-cognitivism argues that moral statements do not express facts.

Instead, moral statements express:

● emotions
● attitudes
● approval
● disapproval
● commands

Therefore, they are not true or false.

Example:

"Lying is wrong."

According to non-cognitivists, this does not describe a fact but expresses an attitude
toward lying.

XII. Emotivism

Emotivism is a type of non-cognitivism.

It argues that moral statements mainly express emotions.

Example:

"Murder is wrong."

This simply means:

"I strongly dislike murder."

or

"Boo to murder!"

The statement expresses feeling rather than factual knowledge.

XIII. Prescriptivism

Developed by R. M. Hare.

Prescriptivism teaches that moral statements function as commands or

recommendations.

When someone says:

"You should tell the truth."

they are prescribing a rule for behavior rather than stating a fact.

Moral language guides actions.

XIV. Ontology in Ethics

Ontology is the study of being or existence.

In ethics, ontology asks:

● Do moral values actually exist?

● Is goodness something real?
● Does right and wrong exist independently of people?

These questions lead to debates between moral realism and moral anti-realism.

XV. Moral Realism

Moral realism claims that objective moral truths exist independently of human
opinions.

Something is morally wrong even if everyone believes it is acceptable.

Example:

Torturing innocent people is objectively wrong regardless of culture or personal

opinion.

XVI. Moral Anti-Realism

Moral anti-realism rejects the existence of objective moral truths.

It argues that morality depends on:

● culture
● emotions
● beliefs
● social practices

Therefore, moral truths are not independent realities.

XVII. Subjectivism

Subjectivism says moral judgments depend on an individual's personal beliefs or

preferences.

What is right for one person may not be right for another.

Example:

One person believes lying is acceptable while another believes it is always wrong.

Each person's judgment depends on personal opinion.

XVIII. Relativism

Relativism argues that morality depends on culture or society rather than universal
principles.

Different cultures may have different moral rules, and no single standard applies to
everyone.

Example:

A practice accepted in one society may be rejected in another.

XIX. The Ought Problem (Is–Ought Problem)

Proposed by David Hume.

The is–ought problem states that facts alone cannot determine moral duties.

Just because something is true does not automatically mean people should act that
way.

Example:

Fact:
People sometimes cheat.

Conclusion:
Therefore, people should cheat.

This conclusion does not logically follow from the fact.

XX. Moral Naturalism

Moral naturalism teaches that moral truths are grounded in natural facts about
human beings and the world.

It holds that reason, human nature, and observable facts can help explain why
certain actions are morally right or wrong.

For example, actions that promote human well-being may be considered morally
good because they contribute to human flourishing.

XXI. Consequentialism

Consequentialism judges the morality of an action based on its consequences or

outcomes.

An action is considered morally right if it produces the best overall results.

The main focus is not the action itself but what happens because of the action.

XXII. Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the best-known form of consequentialism. It was developed by

Jeremy Bentham and later refined by John Stuart Mill.

Its main principle is:

An action is morally right if it produces the greatest amount of happiness or

benefit for the greatest number of people.

XXIII. Deontology

Developed by Immanuel Kant.

Deontology teaches that morality depends on duty and moral rules rather than
consequences.

According to this view, some actions are always right or always wrong regardless of
the results.

Example:

A person should not lie even if lying could produce good consequences because
honesty is a moral duty.
XXIV. Applied Ethics

Applied ethics examines how ethical theories should be used in practical situations.

It addresses moral questions found in everyday life and professional practice.

Examples include:

● Abortion
● Euthanasia
● Artificial intelligence
● Climate change
● Business decisions
● Medical treatment
● Genetic engineering

The goal of applied ethics is to use moral principles to guide responsible decision-
making.

XXV. Moral Relativism

Moral relativism holds that moral truth is not absolute but depends on cultural,
historical, or social contexts.

Because societies have different beliefs and traditions, moral standards may differ
from one community to another.

XXVI. Modern Cultural Relativism

Modern cultural relativism emphasizes understanding moral beliefs within the context
of each culture rather than judging every society by one universal moral standard.

It argues that values develop through a culture's history, traditions, religion, and
social practices. While it encourages respect for cultural diversity, critics argue that it
can make it difficult to criticize practices that violate human rights if those practices
are accepted within a particular culture.