"Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior."
An understanding of the different philosophical perspectives on what is morally right or wrong.
Normative Ethics: A branch of moral theory that deals with the study of ethical action, the nature of ethical values and the principles of moral reasoning.
Meta-Ethics: A branch of moral theory concerned with understanding the nature of ethical concepts, values, and judgements.
Descriptive Ethics: The study of how people make moral decisions and how our actions align with what we believe to be right or wrong.
Deontological Ethics: Posits that what is morally right or wrong is determined by a set of objective moral rules or duties.
Consequentialist Ethics: Evaluates actions in terms of the consequences that follow from them, with a focus on maximizing overall happiness or well-being.
Virtue Ethics: Emphasizes the character traits that make people good or virtuous, rather than focusing on specific actions or outcomes.
Feminist Ethics: A theoretical framework that emphasizes the relevance of gender and power dynamics in moral theory.
Care Ethics: Emphasizes the importance of empathy, compassion, and caring relationships in moral decision-making.
Contractualism: Argues that morality is based on social contracts, and that individuals must abide by certain rules in order to achieve mutual benefit.
Utilitarianism: Posits that the moral worth of an action is determined by its contribution to overall well-being.
Kantian Ethics: A deontological ethical theory that focuses on the inherent dignity and worth of every human being.
Natural Law: A moral theory that posits that moral principles are inherent in nature, and that humans can discover moral truths through the use of reason.
Rights Theory: Emphasizes individual rights as the key determinant of morality and justice.
Ethics and Animals: Explores the moral status of animals and the ethical implications of human interactions with them.
Environmental Ethics: Concerns the ethical responsibility we have towards the natural world and the environment, now and in the future.
Deontological Ethics: This theory focuses on the rightness and wrongness of actions rather than their outcomes. It states that ethical decisions should be made by following rules that have been deemed as morally correct.
Consequentialist Ethics: This theory judges the morality of an action based on how much good or bad it produces. It believes that the end justifies the means.
Virtue Ethics: This theory stresses the importance of building moral character and developing virtuous traits. It focuses on the moral compass of individuals and how they apply it to their lives.
Moral Relativism: This theory recognizes different moral codes across cultures, acknowledging that there is not one universal moral standard.
Moral Nihilism: This theory holds that there are no moral truths, and anything goes. It is often viewed as the opposite of deontological ethics.
Moral Objectivism: A stance that there are objective moral truths that can be discovered and reasoned about.
Ethical Egoism: This theory asserts that the moral thing to do is the act that serves one's self-interest most directly.
Contractualism: This theory examines morality through the lens of social contracts and mutual agreements.
Feminist Ethics: This theory examines the impact of gender and the status of women, promoting equality and equity.
Care Ethics: This theory holds that caring is the foundation of morality, emphasizing connections and the importance of interpersonal relationships.
"The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns matters of value; these fields comprise the branch of philosophy called axiology."
"Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime."
"Moral philosophy is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory."
"Three major areas of study within ethics recognized today are: Meta-ethics, Normative ethics, and Applied ethics."
"Meta-ethics concerns the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions, and how their truth values (if any) can be determined."
"Normative ethics concerns the practical means of determining a moral course of action."
"Applied ethics concerns what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific situation or a particular domain of action."
"Moral philosophy is related to the field of moral psychology."
"Moral philosophy is related to the field of value theory."
"The aim of ethics is to systematize, defend, and recommend concepts of right and wrong behavior."
"Ethics seeks to define concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime."
"Ethics defines concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime."
"Ethics is part of the branch of philosophy called axiology."
"Aesthetics concerns matters of value."
"Normative ethics is concerned with determining a moral course of action."
"Applied ethics focuses on specific situations or domains of action in determining moral obligations or permissions for an individual."
"Ethics and meta-ethics are interconnected as ethics looks at the practical aspects of moral propositions while meta-ethics focuses on their theoretical meaning and truth values."
"Ethics contributes to the field of value theory as it concerns matters of value and evaluates concepts like good and evil."
"Ethics interacts with descriptive ethics as it seeks to systematize and defend concepts of right and wrong behavior that are studied in descriptive ethics."