Ethics and people
Ethics is concerned with other people. At the heart of ethics is a concern
about something or someone other than ourselves and our own desires and
self-interest.
Ethics is concerned with other people's
interests, with the interests of society, with God's interests, with
"ultimate goods", and so on.
So when a person 'thinks ethically'
they are giving at least some thought to something beyond themselves.
Ethics
as source of group strength
One problem with ethics is the way it's
often used as a weapon.
If a group believes that a particular
activity is "wrong" it can then use morality as the justification for
attacking those who practice that activity.
When people do this, they often see
those who they regard as immoral as in some way less human or deserving of
respect than themselves; sometimes with tragic consequences.
Good
people as well as good actions
Ethics is not only about the morality
of particular courses of action, but it's also about the goodness of
individuals and what it means to live a good life.
Virtue Ethics is particularly concerned
with the moral character of human beings.
Searching
for the source of right and wrong
At times in the past some people
thought that ethical problems could be solved in one of two ways:
- by discovering what God wanted people to do
- by thinking rigorously about moral principles and problems
If a person did this properly they
would be led to the right conclusion.
But now even philosophers are less sure
that it's possible to devise a satisfactory and complete theory of ethics - at
least not one that leads to conclusions.
Modern thinkers often teach that ethics
leads people not to conclusions but to 'decisions'.
In this view, the role of ethics is
limited to clarifying 'what's at stake' in particular ethical problems.
Philosophy can help identify the range
of ethical methods, conversations and value systems that can be applied to a
particular problem. But after these things have been made clear, each person
must make their own individual decision as to what to do, and then react
appropriately to the consequences.
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