ETHICS 1

ETHICAL THEORIES PPT

 ETHICS – MEANING & ORIGIN

• A branch of philosophy concerned with morality (there are other branches of

philosophy: axiology ,epistemology, ontology, phenomenology etc.)

• Etymology - derived from the Greek word ethos meaning ‘custom’ ‘usage’
‘character’

• Ethics reflects a society’s notions about the rightness and wrongness of an

act (Alvin Day, 2003)
• Ethical judgments focus on standards of right and wrong

• Eg. Do I have a moral obligation to report my erring boss, cheating

colleague’s wife/husband, friend who cheats in exam?

• Is it right or wrong to do any of the things listed?

 ETHICS – MEANING & ORIGIN Cont.

• Ethics began in the western world with the Greeks in the thoughts and
writings of Socrates (470-399 BC), Plato (427-347BC) Aristotle(384-
322BC) Pytagoras

• Later philosophers of ethics – St. Augustine (354-430AD) St Thomas

Aquinas (1224-1274AD), Hume (1711-1766) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

• John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

• John Rawls ()

• Each of these philosophical thinkers had their own perspective of ethics

 PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MORAL ETHICS

• Ethics of morality are rooted in some traditions of ethical philosophy

• GREEK TRADITION
• –(Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) There are moral absolutes and moral knowledge
discovered by intellectually curious citizens

• Socrates(dialogues) – virtue could be identified and practised

• Plato (Republic) – Moral conduct should be based on experience and

knowledge of the world

• Aristotle (Nichomacean ethics/Golden mean) – virtue lay between the two

extremes of excess eg. Courage is the middle ground of cowardice and
foolhardiness
 PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS cont.

• JUDEO-CHRISTIAN ETHICS –
• Fundamental creed of this moral ethics is love for God and
neighbour (humankind)

• All moral decisions should be based on respect for the

dignity of persons(black/white, famous/ordinary) regardless
of their status in life
 BRANCHES OF ETHICS

• There are three different but conceptually related branches of ethics:

• Normative Ethics – It is a traditional approach concerned with developing

general theories,rules and principles of moral conduct.

• It makes moral judgement on what is right and wrong

• Metaethics – It is not concerned with making moral judgements but

attempts to identify ethical values of an action using evaluative language
such as fair, good just etc

• Eg.A commitment to truth is identified by metaethics as a moral good

 THREE BRANCHES OF ETHICS cont.

• Applied Ethics
• It is the problem –solving branch of moral philosophy –

• The task here is to use insights and perspectives drawn from

metaethics and the principles and rules of normative ethics in
addressing specific ethical issues and concrete cases

• When moral norms (principles and rules) undergo baptism of

fire in the real world then we have entered into the realm of
applied ethics (cases & controversies)
 ABSOLUTISM VRS RELATIVISM

• There are 2 extremes of ethical theories (absolutism& relativism)

• In ethical absolutism actions are either right or wrong

• They are fixed and don’t change

• An ethical absolute is a moral command that is true for all time, in all places
and in all situations

• Eg. Judeo-Christian 10 commandments(do not steal, commit murder, covet

your neighbour’s wife etc)

• Disciples of absolutism believe that robbery, rape, murder are always wrong
everywhere
 ABSOLUTISM VRS RELATIVISM cont

• Relativist Ethics – ethics is what each person dictates for themselves.

• Protagoras () there is no objective truth or knowlege in anything.

• Truth remains truth for you separately and for me separately

• Things are good or bad, right or wrong relative to our perspectives

• Protagoras-‘Man is the measure of all things’

• A sick person eating food may find that it tastes horrible

• A healthy person eating the same food finds it delicious

 RELATIVISTIC ETHICS CONT

• Abortion - right/wrong

• Gayism – right/wrong

• Cloning -right/wrong

• Robbery – right/wrong

• Prostitution – right/wrong

• Killing – right/wrong
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM

• Celebrates the variety of beliefs and values held by different people

• Moral rules are expressions of the culture of a group

• There is no set of moral rules that applies to all

• ‘When in Rome do what the Romans do’

• What is right or wrong depends upon the views of the group

• Morals are subjective – subject to the culture, religion, time & place.

• Eg. Time- what was morally wrong in the 80’s may be right in the 21st century
 PRESCRIPTIVE & PROSCRIPTIVE ETHICS

• Moral ethics may also be classified into Prescriptive and Proscriptive

• Prescriptive ethics/morality – tells/dictates what we should do

• Focuses on providing positive outcomes – rewards, incentives etc

• Advocates behavior or acts that help self and others either by

relieving their suffering or advancing their well being

• -acts of benevolence, charity or generosity

• Prescriptive ethics motivates people to do something good

 PROSCRIPTIVE ETHICS/MORALS

• Proscriptive morals /ethics– focuses on what we should not do

• It advocates avoidance motives and inhibition (Do not…)

• It highlights dangers to self and others

• Sensitive to negative outcomes.

• Failure to comply may lead to sanctions, punishment

• Best Practices of ethical codes in organizations must strike a balance

between prescriptive & proscriptive ethics
 THREE ETHICAL THEORIES IN MORAL REASONING

• Ethics is all about choosing the right actions

• An action is carried out by a certain actor with a certain intention that

leads to a certain consequence

• In ethical terms if we focus on the action itself then we are talking about
deontological ethics/ duty-based ethics

• In duty ethics an action is morally right if it is in agreement with moral

rules(a Judge passes a death sentence on an accused) regardless of the
consequence

• It is his/her duty to do so as long as it is in sync with the law

 TELEOLOGICAL/CONSEQUENTIAL ETHICS

• Consequentialists, unlike deontologists do not weigh their action on rightness or

wrongness.
•
• Teolological ethics(outcome-based) focuses on consequence of an act/action

• Two variations of consequentialist ethics –

• Egoist- moral agent should seek to maximise good consequence for one self (self-
interest)

• Utilitarianism (Mills)-Ethics promote greatest good for the greatest number of

people (appeal to the public interest)

• Eg. A journalist’s resolve to publish a sensitive story in the interest of the public
regardless of threats and dangers
 TELEOLOGICAL/CONSEQUENTIALIST ETHICS

• In teleological ethics, consequence of an action make the

action either moral or immoral

• An action that leads to beneficial consequence is right or

moral

• An action that leads to harmful consequence is wrong or

immoral
 VIRTUE ETHICS

• Aristotle believed that acts performed out of a sense of duty did

not necessarily reflect a virtuous character

• A moral reasoning that emphasized character are often referred to

as virtuous ethics

• Virtuous ethics asks, ‘what kind of character must a person have to

be a moral human being ?

• Morally virtuous person displays virtues and avoid vice

• Aristotle’s golden mean

 REFERENCE

• Alberts, J.K, Nakayama, T.K , Martin J.N (2007) Human

Communication in Society. New Jersey : Pearson

• Alvin Day, L. (2003) Ethics in Media Communication (Cases

& Controversies). Ontario: Thompson Wadsworth

• Harcup. T (2007) The ethical Journalist

• Sanders, K. (2003) Ethics and Journalism. London: SAGE