Ethics In Everyday Life by Teegan Moore

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Ethics In Everyday Life by Teegan Moore

Normative Ethics

Normative Ethics looks at how o assemble a set of rules, or moral principles, that determine what kinds of actions are good or bad, right or wrong.

Utilitarianism - In figure A (an example that represents Utilitarianism), the person in the yellow is put into a position where they are needed to think of themselves before the benefit of other people. Yes, donating organs is good because you save a lot of lives, but would you sacrifice your life for others? You would view this act as morally right, because the person in the yellow is thinking about other. However, in the last block, it represents the struggle they are having. When facing these sorts of scenarios, it is easy to just say the right thing. but actually doing it is harder than it seems. Determining what to do and how to act is much more complex, because we would not know what we would do unless we are in the moment.

What is a good person? - If we are looking from the law stand point, we would define this as someone who follows the laws and does not commit immoral acts such as stealing, cheating or murder. For example, if a teacher attached a note to a pencil that would read "this does NOT belong to me!" This is because when asking a teacher for a pencil a lot of students do not return it back to them. This would be considered stealing and stealing is morally wrong. But, does this make the student a bad person? Everything depends on the situation or how severe the action is. If you ask a group of people, it is guaranteed most of them would say that the student is not a bad person, simply because a pencil is not a big deal. but, if someone were to steal the same thing fro a store, they would be seen as a bad person.

Questions

In a brief paragraph, summarize your research by presenting your assessment of ethics - does understanding the theories and roots of ethics make it easier to choose the 'good' and the 'right' when faced with ethical dilemmas? if rules are universal, or if rules are not universal - does that make you feel more secure in making a decision? When it comes to determining what is right from wrong, depending on the situation, I would apply a different ethics. Understanding the theories and roots of ethics, it makes my decision making. Before I make a decision, I obtain information that is needed, all the perspectives. From that, is where I would make a decision. I do not believe anyone is morally good enough to determine right from wrong, because answers may vary with provided reasoning. Something I might perceive as immoral might be moral for someone else.

If you have examples that illustrate 'immoral behaviour' or any other behaviour that society would deem unacceptable, hypothesize why someone chose an action that was detrimental to society and possibly to him or herself. For example, is it because the difference between 'right' and 'wrong' was ambivalent? Were the punishments too lenient or the possibility of reward too high? Was the rule that was broken, only a rule specifically to one moral system or social context? One of the examples I chose, which would be considered to be morally wrong in the eyes of society is arguing with our parents. To society, parents are considered to have authority over us and because of this reason, we are bound to listen to them. however, it I very easy for a child to disobey them, since they haven't had enough life experiences to apply ethical theories, or determine if what they are doing is wrong. For example, getting into an argument with your parents, even though you know you will not win, you still feel the need to hold your own ground.

What connections can be made between the real-life examples that you found, and the rules from any of the five morals systems we explored in this activity? Demonstrate the connection by attaching one or two specific rules that are illustrated by the example. Connections that can be made between real-life examples are that depending on the situation, a different ethical theory could be applied. Our true actions, will be revealed if there is no one to judge us for it. On the other hand, if we have a higher being or society telling us it is wrong to do something, we most likely will switch gears due to the fact we do not want to be the outcast, or be considered morally wrong.

Metaethics

Metaethics is the most abstract area of moral philosophy as ultimately, it is the study of where ethical principles come from. in particular, Metaethics asks: Did we just make up moral principles on our own, or did a Divine Being, or beings of some kind, give them to us?

The Ten Commandments: The Qur'an (Islam) - People who follow the Qur'an, are required to follow the guidelines that the divine being put in place for their people to follow. For example, a child not listening to their parent. One of the commandments are to be kind to your parents. This rule is forgotten and is easy to clash/ argue with your parents. According to the commandments, this would be seen as morally wrong. Depending on the situation, it is difficult to be kind to them all the time.

The Ten Commandments - One of the main guidelines for Christianity are these commandments. To achieve salvation, followers of this religion must abide by these rules, given by the divine being otherwise known as God. For example, a couple is laying in bed and someone is hiding in the closet, hiding from the husband. It is obvious that the person in the closet is the one the wife cheated on the husband with. One of the rules in the Ten Commandments is "Do not commit adultery." Yet, people still do, breaking one of the rules.

Applied Ethics

Applied Ethics is the most "down-to-earth" area of moral philosophy. Applied Ethics helps us resolve real-world, everyday issues and dilemmas.

Do we have moral obligations to the environment? - The earth we lie on is not just ours, but it also belongs to numerous species all across the planet as well. Although, humans over time have made a huge impact on the earth, causing harm to many species habitats and environments. One known issue is the over usage of plastic straws. The plastic can be broken down, making its way into the oceans and with the aquatic animals not knowing any better, they could easily mistaken it for food. What they do not know is that eating it will potentially cost them their own lives. Before this issue became popular, animals were still being greatly affected by it. Now, with the popularity it has gotten from the media, society has decided it is morally wrong to use plastic straws. Even though society says it is wrong, there are still a vast amount of people who still use plastic straws despite all the problems being brought up. You simply cannot change other morals, that is something they have to do on their own terms whether you agree with it or not. In most cases, people will simply refuse to change their morals until they have been able to see first-hand that the animals are dying due to the consumption of plastic straws. This leaves the decision society has made meaningless to them as they do not believe it is happening. It does not directly affect them, so they could care less.

Sharing other's personal information - If your friend was doing something reckless or stupid, would you call the police even if they told you not too? for this particular theory, it represents a persons decision to stay loyal to their friends, or report your friends actions to the police. In most cases, you might lead toward the answer that would best benefit your friend. During these types of situations, you are applying applied ethics to solve everyday issues. With provided information and appealing tot ethics, it might help you make the morally right decision. Even there is a change where someone else might make a completely different decision based on their own personal morals.