Ethical Theory & Application Paper

Ethical Theory

Ronna Coffman

Grand Canyon University: PHI-305

November 25th, 2016

Ethical Theory

Ethics is an integral part of our lives and every society or community around the world has definitive ethics that are established through rules, principles and self-regulations which unearths whether an action, behavior or setting is ethical or not. This treatise will delve into this study which will begin with an analysis on the concept and importance of ethical theory. The study will further assess the importance of meta-ethics for determining moral judgment and culminate with an analysis on how ethical thinking results in practical and moral action and a brief illustration of how it can be applied in our personal lives.

The concept and importance of ethical theory

Ethical theory is a theory that depicts the norms for conduct which provide the difference between acceptable behavior and unacceptable behavior. Ethical theory may also include the disciples of study which incorporate the standards of conduct such as the law, sociology, philosophy, psychology and theology.

Ethical theory therefore incorporates the procedures; methods and perspective for outlining how to act and for further analyze the issues and problems. A majority of the people acquire the ethical theory from social settings for instance at home, church or at school but the sense of knowing what is right or wrong is mainly acquired during childhood and the development of morals occurs throughout life which includes different stages of growth to maturity.

Ethical theory is important because it promotes the aim of life such as knowledge, truth and avoidance of wrongs. It also promotes falsification and further promotes truth and minimization of wrong doings (Daniel, 2008). Ethical standards also promote the values which are important for the collaboration of the society which include but are not limited to fairness, trust, mutual respect and accountability.

Ethical theory also promotes accountability to the public and to also build the necessary public support. It also leads to the promotion of public and ethical standards for instance a obedience with the law, social conscience, public wellbeing and security, wild life well-being and human civil liberties. Some of the ethical principles that are involved in ethical theory include honesty, objectivity, integrity, openness, carefulness, confidentiality, respect, social responsibility, non-discrimination, legality, competence and the protection of human subjects.

The importance of meta-ethics for determining moral judgments

“Meta-ethics is a branch or part of analytic philosophy which looks into the foundations, status and nature of the properties, words and values” (Kevin, 2007). As opposed to other fields such as normative theory and applied ethics which focus primarily if and what morals, meta-ethics mainly centers on the morality itself is.

It mainly determines moral judgment since it is an abstractive way of thinking philosophically about morality. It also promotes moral judgment by looking into the semantics of ethical discourse, the importance of anthropological disagreement on moral practices and values and the ontology of moral properties.

It also examines the psychology of how morals affect the personified managers and also the epistemology of the determinants of moral values. The connection between meta-ethics and moral theorizing is realized through meta-ethical realism which is a first-order moral view which points to the notion that the objectivity of ethics is mainly got out of ethical reasons.

It also looks into the second-order meta-ethical view which delves into the foundation and justification of the normal beliefs which reveals the implications of how human beings understand the meaning of life which are existential. Meta-ethical relativism which is the notion that there are no objectives or universal moral values which can either be loaded psychologically or politically and thereby aiding the moral judgment. The proponents of relativism mainly appeals to the tolerance and open-mindedness which the moral differences of the first-order and those that can be supported by the second-order meta-ethical view. Ethical Theory & Application Paper

How ethical thinking results in practical, moral action

Ethical thinking mainly results or leads to the moral and practical actions by first of all looking into the facts. It incorporates various approaches of analyzing the practical and moral actions such as the utilitarian approach which determines the laws that are morally best. The second approach is the rights approach which focuses on the rights of the individuals to choose what is right for him/her. Some of the aspects involved in this approach include the right to the truth, the right not to be injured, the right of privacy and the right to what is agreed.

“The other approach is the fairness or justice approach which has its principle that ‘equals should be treated equally and unequal’s unequally” (Daniel, 2008). The other approach is the common-good approach which is based on the philosophy that a society comprises individuals whose own good is linked inextricable to the good of the community.

Ethical thinking is therefore results in practical and moral action through the social systems, institutions, social policies and environments which benefit everybody. The other approach is the virtue approach which points to the various ideals where individuals should strive to advance the full development of humanity. Ethical thinking also promotes practical and moral action through ethical problem solving. Ethical Theory & Application Paper

References

Daniel, B. (2008). Expressive-Assertivism. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 89, 169-203.

Kevin, D. (2007). Moral Perception and Moral Realism: An ‘Intuitive’ Account of Epistemic Justification. Review Journal of Political Philosophy 5, 43-64.

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