Ethics

Ethics is the broad field in philosophy that deals with the study of “right” and “wrong” - or more eloquently, how we should conduct and interact with ourselves and others. Ethics (generally synonymous with ‘morality’, for most intents and purposes), in this pursuit of discovering what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ or ‘good’ or ‘bad, has a distinction between descriptive ethics and prescriptive ethics. Descriptive ethics tells what ‘is’ - more specifically, what are current ethical theories that cultures abide by, why do they follow one system over another, etc. Meanwhile, prescriptive attempts to provide an ‘ought’ aspect to our morality. We ‘ought’ to not murder, we ‘ought’ to not steal, and similar examples demonstrate prescriptive ethics goal. However, numerous questions arise regarding prescriptive ethics: our moral sense may be just psychological/evolutionary, how do we know there is a ‘right’ or ‘wrong' in the first place, etc. ? What should we do, and why? Are there exceptions? And countless others. However, regardless of what specific ethical theory to abide by, there are a few general rules for any suggested ethical theory. It must be overriding against our wants and desires (i.e. if it turns out to be wrong to steal, then it will remain wrong regardless if we want to steal or not). It must be universal (i.e. it must apply to one individual just as much as another equal individual). It must be public (i.e. the system must allow for public knowledge of it). While there are many other offered requirements for ethical theories, it is evident at this point that even the three that were laid out can be critiqued - and that is what has exactly happened since the study of ethics and morality arose, a debate about its pre-conditions (through meta-ethics), its prescriptions (normative ethics), its consequences, etc. There are countless ethical and meta-ethical theories out there, each with dozens of variants, though here is a brief list of some of the most popular and widely discussed theories: utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, virtue ethics, Christian/religious ethics, cultural relativism, and subjectivism. Regardless of the specific moral code advocated for, ethics has and most likely will always be at the forefront of not only philosophy, but human life in general.