A Research On Ethical Systems Essays Example

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Define moral and ethics.

Moral and ethics are interchangeably used to refer to what is right and what is wrong behavior. Ethics, however, are rules defined by the norm or any external entity, whereas, morals are the beliefs and standards of a person concerning what is right and wrong. Ethics tells an individual how to behave in respect to the culture or group where he or she belongs. More often than not, the social structure and system defines what ethics is. Every individual follows a set of ethics because the society demands such kind of behavior. Furthermore, an external entity or a society defines the ethics principles in order to preserve moral integrity. On the other hand, morals are sets of rules identified by an individual. It goes beyond what the culture dictates and changes when the principles of a person change .

Explain and describe each system and given an example of how it may be applied.

Ethics of virtue. What is good that which conforms to the Golden Mean.
Ethics of virtue explains that a person maintaining a good and moral life is more important than what he does in his life and his actions. In order to achieve this, this ethics describes that a person must perform virtuous and honorable actions. According to this ethics, among the virtuous act that a person must demonstrate include honesty, industriousness, humility and thriftiness. A demonstration of this ethics is when a police officer denies a car driver to bribe him or her in order to get away with the violate he did. In this encounter, the police officer maintains his integrity and honesty to his profession and did not let money affect his beliefs as a member of the law enforcement.
Natural law. What is good is that which is natural.
The natural law refers to the system that determines and explains the social and personal behavior of humans. These derived laws are universal, from nature or religion and considered as ethical by the human culture. The focus of natural law is to decide whether an action is good or bad or acceptable to the society. A demonstration of natural law is how society responds to abortion. There is an open condemnation of abortion in the society because it takes away innocent life. The natural law respects the existence of life and the act of taking the life of an unborn child opposes this principle and an obvious reverse in nature.
Religion. What is good is that which conforms to God’s will.
Religion is a type of ethics focus on the deliberate and balanced god. This ethics tackles the issue on what are evil, life and good. According to this ethics, there are different ways on how an individual can identify and know God. It is through Holy Scriptures, individual conscience and influence of a religious authority. The religious belief, in this case, has an influence on the actions of an individual. A demonstration of this ethics is that same sex marriage is forbidden among Christians as part of their religious beliefs.
Ethical formalism. What is good is that which conforms to the categorical imperative.
Ethical formalism identifies moral decision based on law or any logical explanation and not in terms of the effect of the action performed or its content. This ethics demands strict compliance on the universal law and based on the intent or motive of the person. This ethics revolve around the principle that nobody should use other people for their own purpose. Also in every action, a person must always consider whether his own actions are admirable and worth being followed by others. A demonstration of this ethics is that when a person becomes friendly to another individual, only to use his or her influence to her police officer relative in order to get away with an offense.
Utilitarianism. What is good is that which results in the greatest utility for the greatest number.
Utilitarianism refers to the type of ethics where the good impact of an action gives happiness to the most number of people even if it means no contentment to the person who provides the act. This ethics is a variety of consequentialism where an act of a person is right or wrong depending on its results and consequences. As per utilitarianism, the right action is an act that provides the greatest outcome based on the available choices, otherwise the act is wrong . A demonstration of this ethics is when an individual decides to lit a fire on the chimney so that everybody will feel warmth and fight the extreme coldness caused by the winter season. For some reason, the fire inside the chimney increases causing the house to fire down. Based on the result of his initiative, his decision to fire the chimney harmed everyone, thus, he made an unethical decision.
Ethics of care. What is good is that which meets the needs of those concerned.
Ethics of care is a type of ethics that emphasizes the importance of interdependence among individuals. This ethics take into consideration that some communities or individuals are more defenseless and at risk, thereby, these communities require extra attention and care. This ethics, however, does not encourage total dependence on other people but instead work their way out together to reap mutual benefits from mutual efforts. A demonstration of this ethics is when volunteers from different countries provide their technical skills to operate project and infrastructure revival among rural areas of Haiti and Tacloban in the Philippines.
Egoism. What is good is that which benefits me.
Egoism suggests that what is good to the survival and happiness of a person remains moral. This ethics focus on the self-interest of an individual as well as his or her self-importance. Generally, this perceived every individual as egoists and inconsiderate and does not demonstrate pity and compassion for other people’s challenges. A demonstration of egoism in the criminal justice system is when a police officer work hard and takes great pleasure on being the hero of a society. The police officer may do everything on his command, regardless if it is beyond his code of ethics, in order to prove to himself that he is capable of being a hero.

Works Cited

Gammel, S. (2006). Basic Ethical Concepts. Ethics and Morality, 1-2.
Robertson, M. (2007). A Critical Reflection on Utilitarianism as the Basis for Psychiatric Ethics. Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, 1-4.