Ethics
The Role of Ethics in My Life
Ethics refers to the systematic and logical study of right and wrong behavior. The challenge with ethics is that ethical decisions are often subjective. Variables like personality, culture, and upbringing can all affect one's ethical character. Age and gender can also impact one's ethical decision-making process. The study of ethics has been an ongoing one in the field of philosophy, but it also has direct applications in fields ranging from law to medicine.
Almost all decisions have an ethical component. Even deciding what food to eat is an ethical decision, because the consumer chooses things like fair trade and organic over factory farmed and exploitative. Therefore, ethics can help me to create a more ethical and just society, by making choices that are congruent with core ethical principles. Ethical principles may include such things as fairness and the refrain from harm. Generally,...
Utilitarian ethics evaluate the consequences of an act, more than the nature of the act itself. Utilitarian decision making takes into account the maximization of value for the greatest number of stakeholders. Deontological ethics, on the other hand, focus more on the categorical nature of the act itself. If the act is deemed to be unethical in character, then it is considered wrong regardless of the consequences. Using a deontological model, stealing a loaf of bread to feed a hungry child is ethically wrong; whereas using the utilitarian model, stealing the loaf of bread may be considered ethically correct.
I use both deontological and utilitarian ethics in my life, because I believe it is impossible to use the same moral framework to evaluate each decision. The world is too complex for oversimplification. I…
