When you enter into an institution be it a university or a Free Essay Example

When you enter into an institution, be it a university or a company; more often than not you will receive a document outlining what is expected of you in your role there. This document is known as the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct usually sets forth general expectations and how to act in certain situations according to the guidelines that exist. When you enter the most basic institution called the society, you are not given a code of conduct but rather just naturally conform to norms which will begin to dictate your life.

These norms will provide a moral compass on how an individual should decide things, act and the general expectation of conduct. The culmination of how a person is expected to act, based on the existing norms of society is called ethics. Ethics is the ability of individuals in a society to discern right and wrong and utilizes that information to make decisions as to what they ought to do.

Simply put, ethics is what stops an individual from stealing, raping or murdering, it is what stops a doctor from prescribing a medicine still under testing and it is what holds back lawmakers from passing laws that is derogative to a certain race, religion or culture. This essay will aim to further define ethics and highlight the role of ethics in society particularly as an extension of the law.

There are 3 main types of approaches when it comes to understanding ethics, firstly is meta ethics which discusses issues of moral judgement.

Metaethics is actually a branch of analytic philosophy with the main aim to understand what is moral and morality. Questions such as ‘what is good and bad’ or ‘why do people think that this is moral and just’ is the foundation of meta ethics. Secondly, there is normative ethics which tries to understand the content of certain moral judgements; why do a certain group of people believe in capital punishment? This branch of ethics attempts to weigh in the arguments which exist. It highlights the justification, or lack of justification for certain moral standings. Finally, is the approach of applied ethics which utilizes the understanding of various justifications and administers it. For instance, in a nation where the death penalty is practiced, the government views it as ethical and applies it. They review the moral standings from a normative ethics perspective then practice it as part of the criminal code.

Ethics is also inherently useful in general society through various ways. It is crucial to comprehend that ethics can either be an analytical or prescriptive discipline. An analytical discipline simply aims to understand phenomenon in society and analyze the reason for its existence. On the other hand, a prescriptive discipline analyzes then provides solutions and recommendations as to what society needs to overcome the phenomenon that might be harming it. As an analytical discipline, ethics can provide moral guidance as a code of conduct; ethics offer a framework of perspectives to view things in a more analytical way. For instance, a debate on the ethics of abortion will be more composed and based on analysis as compared to a moral debate on abortion. Ethics is also able to see from the perspectives of two disputing parties, evaluating which party may be wrong based on the existence of facts, justifications and / or fallacious logical links. As a prescriptive discipline, ethics can provide answers to society which can be implemented depending on society’s receptiveness towards the ethical idea. This again correlates to the progression from normative ethics to applied ethics..

After understanding the study of ethics and its utility in society, it is also fundamental to understand the core of ethical studies. The main focus of ethics is not the individual that ponders, but the people around and God. When an individual makes the active choice to think ethically, they are thinking of the implications that a certain action might have on others. For instance, if killing a person does not affect the individual, or its family then killing might just be ethical. Obviously, the core of ethics cannot only be seen from a single perspective, but must also see whether the good implications or effects that might arise outweigh the bad ones. It is also imperative to know the role of God and religion in ethics. Throughout all the years of society, God has played a central role in imposing, prescribing and guiding moral principles. Due to the historic role, the impact continues still today. The idea of what is ‘sinful’ is still a big consideration in deciding whether something is ethical. The fear then resonates that if an individual does something unethical there will be punishment for their sins directly from God. In conclusion, the core study of ethics always looks at the bigger picture, either others in society or God and the implications it may have.

There are four other streams of ethical thought; moral realism, subjectivism, emotivism and prescriptivism. Moral realism relies heavily on the idea that there is a commonly shared moral truth and fact among every individual. Subjectivism does not believe in a single shared moral truth but believes that there are various things that may affect how an individual sees ethics, or morality. Things like culture, emotion, feelings and so on affect a subjectivists perspective on things. Nothing is inherently bad or good, but your judgement is clouded by the place you are in, and when you see the moral case. Emotivism also denies the existence of an inherent moral truth but shifts its focus to personal judgement and feelings. Humans only have the ability to feel that something is right or wrong; there is no way to justify ethical thoughts. Finally, prescriptivism upholds ethical statements as recommendations or things that society should do for steady and good societal progress. In that sense, prescriptivism views ethical statements as the absolute truth, that must be done by society.

Finally in direct correlation with the idea of ethics, it is also intrinsic to fathom the sources of ethics. There are a plethora of sources of ethical thoughts, among others are God and religion, the human conscience, institutions within society and exemplary individuals. Firstly, God and religion sets a high expectation for how man is supposed to live. Religion directly sets forth that man shall aim to be good to one another and oftentimes provides practical steps such as Zakat in Islam or ‘Pray for your enemies’ in Christianity. Due to the fact that many believers view religion, religious texts and doctrines as the absolute truth, religion is a massive source of ethical thought. Secondly is the human conscience; humans are blessed with the ability to rationalize and understand the situation around us. With that humans are able to properly discern what they ought to do through analyzing what are the implications for themselves and the people around them. If something does not benefit the individual, oftentimes man will avoid it; ethics attempts to make individuals understand that the positive implications that exist through giving acts of service to others will benefit themselves. If this can be rationalized in the minds of individuals, the human conscience can be the ultimate source of ethical thought. Finally is institutions within a society and individuals who are known to be exemplary. Societal institutions, particularly political power have the ability to shift norms in society; when the norms of society shift into a new perspective, more often that not the understanding and distinction as to what is right and wrong will also see a shift. Also, exemplary individuals within society can also be seen as a role model to what ethical can be. Individuals today can see the past conduct of individuals in the pat that was deemed ethical by society and use it as a justification to it being ethical now. For instance, if 10 years ago a doctor chose not to abort a baby, the same logical thought process of that doctor’s past conduct can be used as an ethical justification for doctors today as to why they choose not to abort.

In its specific role pertaining to law, we must understand the role of ethics as an extension of the law. It is common knowledge that the law is formulated and enacted by the government, then it is implemented the existing state apparatuses. A common man has little to no say to how the law should be made or how it should be implemented. Ethics becomes an extension of the law because it is the concrete aspect of an individual’s decision making rationale, and because it is up to an individual’s personal judgement, there is room for interpretation. However, we have to understand that the law cannot directly dictate an individual’s decision and conduct, because ethics is a form of personal judgement. For instance, when the law disallows murder, it sets forth the expectation that no man should murder or else they will receive the consequences. Despite that, the individual still can make the active decision to murder someone if in their eyes it is something acceptable to think and do. This shows that the law, and even concrete norms in society cannot change an individual’s moral compass and ethics. The only thing the law can do is try to lead as many individuals into the level of ethics that the law expects. Obviously, the example given above is not a day to day example because majority of society has been lead by the law. Because majority of society are compliant to the laws and fulfill its expectation, most of the society can be deemed ethical in the most general sense. Even though personal judgement still plays a role, deviations on what is believed to be right and wrong are minor and generally uncommon. With society being able to properly differentiate right and wrong, individuals within society become an extension of the law in judging individuals. This judgement does not relate to the practice of punishing individuals because of their actions; this is still the work of the judiciary; This judgement is the different sanctions society may give you if you are known to not abide to the law. For instance, if an individual does drugs; general society recognizes that that is wrong, and not proper conduct. That individual might face the societal sanction of being shunned. This social sanctions are enough to bring change in society. In that sense, ethics, particularly in a society directly extends and enforces the law through various social sanctions.

In conclusion, ethics is a vast field of study but is actually simply just a code of conduct for us; what we are expected to do as members of society and how we are able to discern what is right and wrong. Ethics is something that is extremely subjective and there is no empirical way to really prove the thought process and conduct of an individual is inherently right and is necessarily what is expected by God, society and humanity. Despite the various definitions and rationalizations that exist, more often that not society is able to accept a certain idea as an ethical standard and that eases the progress of society. Throughout the various sources of how ethics can come to fruition, a single common denominator exists: the thought of an individual results in their conduct which will bring implications to others and themselves, the real question is how to maximize the good implications and minimize the negative implications? Ethics is an extremely interesting field to study, but hard to grasp due to its subjective nature.