Ethics: Morals

Ethical Theory

Moral Philosophy

Descriptive Ethics

tells us what a society believes. It

describes the customs, principles, and practices of

a people and culture. It gives facts.

Normative Ethics

tells us about ideal behavior, or

how a society ought to act. It is about what should

be, even if it is not present in reality; it seeks to justify

sets of principles pointing toward those ideals

obligatory act

one that morality requires

you to do; it is not permissible for you to refrain from

doing it.

Supererogatory Act

An act that goes beyond the

call of duty, highly altruistic. These exceed the

requirements of morality.

Deontology

ethical theories

that emphasize the nature of the act, from the

Greek for “duty”

Teleology

Ethical theories that

focus on consequence, from the Greek

meaning “goal-directed”

Immoral

not moral, unethical, wrong, knowing the

right thing but doing the wrong thing

Amoral

without morals, people who do not know

what is right or wrong

Non-moral

neither moral nor immoral. Has nothing

to do w/ morality. Decisions that have nothing to do

with ethics or morals – what I should wear

Ethics

s a systematic endeavor to understand

moral concepts and justify moral principles and

theories. Comes from the Greek work, “ethos