Ethics, in a broader sense, pertains to the pursuit of what is right and good and the avoidance of what is

wrong and bad. It is about the acceptable and unacceptable human behavior. It involves obligations we
expected to fulfill, prohibitions we are supposed to respect, and ideals that we are encouraged to meet. Thus,
the study of ethics can be best described as the foundations for values which is significant to human life.

The primary concern of studying ethics is recognizing what is good or bad, right or wrong. With this, it is
important to recognize the relative notions, clarify the terms concerning ethics in order to avoid overlapping
of ideas, misunderstandings and for uniformity purposes.
CLARIFICATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY

Kinds of Valuation

First point of clarification is to distinguish value judgements or making value judgements that are not
considered to be part of ethics.

First valuation which is not a primary concern in ethics falls under the domain of aesthetics which is derived
from the Greek word “aesthesis” (sense or feeling). This refers to the judgements of personal approval or
disapproval that we make about what we see, hear, smell, taste. Most people use the term “taste” to describe
their personal preferences such as “taste in music”, “taste in clothes”, or “taste in movies”.

Second valuation can be described as having a sense of approval or disapproval concerning certain actions
which can be considered relatively more trivial—of little value or importance—in nature. Example
situations of this belong to the category etiquette: right or wrong actions considered not be deep or serious
enough to belong to the discussion of ethics.

Thirdly, it pertains to the notion of right or wrong actions which can easily appear in context that is not a
matter of ethics. Meaning, the right or wrong way of doing things are applied in a different context or field
such as rules in cooking, basketball, writing, etc. It mostly deals on standard rules of doing or exercising a
skill, not mainly concerning on human behavior. This refers to technical valuation (technique, derived from
the Greek work “techne”) which is a proper way of doing things which may not necessarily be an ethical
one.

What really involves to the discussion of ethics are the valuations an individual makes in a sphere of human
actions, characterized by gravity and concern the human well-being or human life itself. These are matters
that concern life and death situations (e.g. war, capital, punishment, abortion, poverty, inequality, sexual
identity). However, up until today, the distinction between what belongs to ethics and what does not are
still not clearly defined and are debatable. The importance lies only on the clarification of terms and
distinguishing what are the situations or actions which are closely pertaining to rational human behavior.

Ethics and Morals

Second point of clarification is on the use of the words “ethics” and “morals.” Here, the word “not” should
carefully be observed as this can be ambiguous. “Cooking is not ethical” refers to cooking as not belonging
to the discussion of ethics; while “lying is not ethical” refers to the act of lying as an unethical act.
The word “morals” is used to describe specific beliefs or attitudes that people have or acts that people
perform. This term refers to the individual’s personal conduct which can be based on his own principles. If
one falls short of behaving properly, the term immoral is used. When dealing with a more rational aspect
or thinking, terms such as moral judgement or moral reasoning are best used.

“Ethics,” on the other hand, pertains to the discipline of studying and understanding ideal human behavior
and ways of thinking. It is acknowledged as an intellectual discipline belonging to philosophy. However,
specifically, the term professional ethics is used to describe the acceptable and unacceptable ways of
behaving in a given field (e.g. legal ethics, medical ethics, media ethics).

Distinctions between the terms morals and ethics depends only on how various thinkers and writers describe
a certain situation. However, it can also be used interchangeably if we don’t occupy ourselves with the
questions of how people interpret that distinction and if we are only focused on learning the general
knowledge.

As a quick review:

Philosophy comes from the Greek word “philia” which means friendship or love, and “Sophia” which
means wisdom. Thus, the word is translated to “love of wisdom.” It refers to the strive on understanding
the reality better in a maintained and systematic manner. As explained by ancient Greeks around two
and a half thousand years ago, they relate this with the mental effort of trying to make sense of the
world and of human life. Up until now, philosophy remains as the discipline concerning significant
questions which gave rise to the empirical sciences we have now and by further subdividing philosophy
according to branches or areas namely: metaphysics (what constitutes the whole reality), epistemology
(what is the basis for determining what we know), axiology (study of value which is divided into
aesthetics—concerns with value of beauty—and ethics—concerns with value of human actions.

Descriptive and Normative

Third point of clarification is the distinction between descriptive and normative study of ethics.
Descriptive study of ethics is about how people make their moral valuations without making any judgement
against them. It is purely as basis for studying moral standards across culture. This kind of study are used
by social scientists such as anthropologists, sociologists, and historian. On the other hand, normative study
of ethics pertains to what we ought to maintain as our standards or bases for moral values. It deals with the
question: “what could or should be considered as the right way of acting?” It gives importance on what are
the necessary moral values one must have. This study is often done in philosophy or moral theology.
However, philosophical discussion of ethics goes beyond recognizing what is descriptive and normative. It
sometimes needs the consideration of both studies and how they are related to each other in order to make
a judgment or decision out of a certain situation. It engages in a critical consideration of the strengths and
weaknesses of these theories.
Issue, Decision, Judgement, and Dilemma
This is the final point of clarification in which these four words will be defined in order to find out how
they differ from each other.
Moral issue refers to the situation calling for moral valuation. The situation is the source of considerable
and inconclusive debate with respect for one’s property, decision, or way of thinking. An example of this
is a person who cannot afford an item because of poverty commits the crime of stealing to satisfy his needs.
Here, “stealing” is the moral issue.
Moral decision refers to choosing which act to perform when confronted with a certain situation. Here,
rational thinking must be used for a person to decide what act is moral. For example, choosing not to get
something without payment.
Moral judgement is the process of observing and assessing actions or behavior of someone. For instance,
my friend chooses to steal and my assessment to this reflects that he commits a wrong action, or an immoral
act.
Moral dilemma is used when an individual is faced with a more complex situation. It pertains to being
torn—since a person should only choose to act one from all the possible actions— between choosing one
of two goods or choosing between the lesser of two evils. Here, concrete and rational reasoning is a
necessity for a person to arrive to an acceptable conclusion. An example to this is when a mother is
conflicted between wanting to feed her child, but also knowing that it would be immoral for her to steal.

REASONING
Why do we suppose that a certain way of acting is right and its opposite wrong? As humans are born as
free and rational being, we can reason in order to widen our knowledge on what actions are right and wrong.
To put it in other way, we always can ask the question, “what reasons do we give to decided or to judge
that a certain way of acting is either right or wrong?”
First factor to consider is the promise of rewards and fear of punishments. This can motivate people to act.
However, it is hardly a determinant of rightness or wrongness of certain way of acting. This is only a
shallow way of understanding reason for action.
Second is the asking of “why” questions which then can increase our level of abstract thinking. With this,
it is possible for our moral valuation—our decision and judgments—to be based on principle. Principles
are rationally established grounds by which one justifies and maintains her moral decisions and judgments.
This pertains to how we prize the action—is it good or bad? — how we arrive with our “claims” with
regards to the situation presented.
Third factor is about why do we maintain principle and what good reasons for doing so. After having a
principle, we are confronted with a question: “how exactly do we arrive at any of our claims?” This is where
theory comes to play. A moral theory is a systematic attempt to establish the validity of maintaining certain
moral principles. This is a system of thought or ideas which can also be referred to as framework.
Framework is best used to describe a theory of interconnected ideas, a structure, which can be the basis of
the evaluation of our reasons for choosing and valuing a decision or judgement.
Through studying different frameworks, strengthening principles can be achieved which leads to better
moral judgments and decisions.
Reflected in The Apology of Socrates by Plato, we can denote that it is the greatest good for a person to
spend time thinking about and discussing with others the questions on goodness and virtue. Since these
can’t only benefit the individual himself but also give lasting significance to humankind which can
gradually lead to a world less ignorant and more knowing.