Ethics Knowledge Framework
Scope and Application
Concepts and Language
Methodology
Historical Development
This area of knowledge deals with how people ought to act.
Assumptions involving ethics
Procedures and studies that are used to determine the way that people should act when confronted with a particular situation.
What Knowledge questions does this area of knowledge deal with?
How do we know what is right and wrong?
To what extent is ethics a social construct?
To what extent should we use certain ways of knowing in regards to Ethics?
Is it better to use reason or emotion when considering ethics?
How are ideas and concepts classified in Ethics with respect to language?
Here are some examples of when ethics may be applicable to our own lives...
Important Terms in Ethics:
Real World Application of Concepts and Language in Ethics
Future of ethics
Examples: Absolutism, Universalism, Egoism
Ethics' change over time
Ethics reflect current perspectives and society as a whole
Morality: the principles that govern what is right and wrong.
We defined ¨Important Terms in Ethics¨ as the ethics ideas that we previously studied. When talking about ethics in an academic setting the terms are effective in conveying important concepts in ethics.
Links to Personal Knowledge
People contribute their personal knowledge of which elements of morality are the most important (means v. ends? Universalism v. cultural relativism ?)
This could be affected by someone's... Religion, culture, parents, age, time period, etc..
Ethics is significant to the individual because it is the basis for one's decisions on how to act
It is the responsibility of the individual to act according to some kind of Ethical principles which attempt to benefit humanity.
What role does language play in Ethics?
Some language carries the connotation that moral action is needed. Ex: ¨What one should do¨ vs ¨What is one obligated to do¨
The two arguments of language in ethics:
Assumptions underlying the methods of studying ethics can lead to false information and personal bias to affect results.
Man is a rational being
Man is free ➡ free will
We will take into account the welfare of others
We will respect the autonomy of others
Will will place the basic needs of others before our own wants
Language is almost unnecessary in conveying ethics ideas because morality is innate in all humans
The terms coined by philosophers are important in conveying the specific messages that pertain to ethics
Ideas and concepts in ethics are classified by using terms specific to ethics, like our ¨Important Terms in Ethics¨. Although we have been given these specific terms, some argue that language should not play a role in classifying ethics concepts because they are innate in all humans.
-Philosophy classes
Writing ethical guidelines for experiments
Politics and the Justice System
Limitations
Ethics are limited because sometimes the best studies or the easiest actions to take are unethical
Psychology studies on the brain, ethical guidelines/boards, and the Declaration of Human Rights are all methods that are used to give us guidelines for what is ethical
What WOK are privileged in ethics? How are other WOKs used in gaining, sharing, and evaluating ethics?
Impact of historical events on ethics
Slavery
Intuition, Emotion, and Reason are all WOKs that play a big role in creating ethical guidelines
Memory is also used in creating ethical guidelines when we remember history and change standards because of historical events. Faith also plays a role in individuals gaining ethics
Theories/ideologies like absolutism, universalism, egoism and others are important to ethics.
Perspectives
Perspectives in ethics are extremely important because each person has a slightly different perspective on life and therefor we each develop different ethical guidelines
It can be argued that ethics are determined by the needs of society
A change in ethics and the determination of what is considered to be ethical can change society
Unknowns regarding the future of ethics revolve around the fact that society is constantly changing.
Advances in science
Changes in politics and political views
Birth Control
Human rights, health benefits,and family benefits
No longer considered to be ethically wrong
Common in many societies
Human rights activists and a general shift in society led to the banning of slavery and led to its being labeled as ethically indefensible
An example of this is the limit of woman's rights in Saudi Arabia. From our point of view, these restrictions seem oppressive, however someone who is from that culture may see the issue differently. https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/middleeast/saudi-women-still-cant-do-this/index.html