Ethics and the other disciplines

 
1.  Ethics and Psychology
"Ethics has something to do with what my feelings tell
me is right or wrong."

Many people tend to equate ethics with their feelings.  But being ethical is clearly not a matter of
following one's feelings.  A person following his or her feelings may recoil (withdraw) from doing
what is right. In fact, feelings frequently deviate (departs) from what is ethical.   But it does not
mean that the feeling of empathy, joy, anger, disgust and other feelings are totally not related to
making moral decisions.  According to Aristotle, the very goal of human life is happiness. To reach
this is moderation or the avoidance of extremes which includes the use of his reason and his passion
(extreme emotions).  For example:  Using inordinate passion (concupiscence) in acting may result in
bad actions.  But without the feeling of empathy, I may not also be moved to do a good act like
helping people who are in need.  Without the feeling of anger, I may not also be pushed to fight in
defense of what is right.

 
2.  Ethics and Law

“Being ethical has something to do with following

the law.”
 

The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe.  But laws, like
feelings, can deviate from what is ethical. Simply abiding or following with what the
Constitution says does not necessarily constitute an ethical act.  For example, there are laws that
might have been adopted but are not necessarily ethical, but that they promote the interest of
some people like the lawmakers themselves (Example: Rice Tarrification Law in the Philippines
and Divorce Law in America). 
Being ethical is not the same as following the law.  While ethical people always try to be law-abiding,
there may be instances where your sense of ethics tells you it is best not to follow the law.  These
situations are rare and should be based on sound ethical reasons. Here’s one example:
Assume you are coming home from the store one day and see a fast-moving
fire approach your neighbor’s house. You notice that the neighbor’s car is
in the garage. The garage door entrance to the house is locked as is the
main entrance. You bang on the door and no one answers. You call the
neighbor on your cell phone and no one answers. You don’t think there is
enough time to call the fire department ten miles away before serious
damage is done to the house. If you break into the house to save your
 neighbor, you break the law. But if you opt not to break into the house, you
will not break the law but you will not be able to save your neighbor.  What
would you do next and why?

If you choose to break into the house to save your neighbor, then you break the law. However,
you have acted out of concern for the safety of your neighbor in a life-threatening situation
thereby acting ethically (Mintz, S.,2010).  However, if you choose not to break into the house,
then you will not break the law but you failed to be ethical towards your neighbor.

 
 

 3.  Ethics and Sociology

"Ethics has something to do with the standards of

behavior our society accepts."

Ethical standards are sometimes based on social norms but social norms are not the sole basis of
ethical standards.  Being ethical is not the same as doing "whatever society accepts."  In any
society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical.  But standards of behavior in
society can deviate from what is ethical.  An entire society can become ethically corrupt.
Moreover, if being ethical were doing "whatever society accepts," then to find out what is
ethical, one would have to find out what society accepts.  To decide what I should think about
abortion, for example, I would have to take a survey of Filipino society and then conform my
beliefs to whatever society accepts.  But no one ever tries to decide on an ethical issue by doing a
survey. Further, the lack of social consensus on many issues makes it impossible to equate ethics
with whatever society accepts. Some people accept abortion but many others do not.  Yet even if
everybody does, the issue of abortion may still remain to be unethical.
 

4.  Ethics and Religion

"Ethics has something to do with my religious
beliefs.“
 
No one should identify ethics with religion.  Most religions, of course, advocate high ethical
standards.  Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical
behavior.  Yet if ethics were confined to religion, then ethics would apply only to religious people
and that particular ethical standard only apply to the members of a particular religion.   But ethics
applies as much to the behavior of the atheist as to that of the devout religious person.   Thus, ethics
cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same as religion.

"I like your Christ, but not your Christianity." In the words of Mahatma
Gandhi, Dr. J.H. ... Holmes said, "I believe in the teachings of Christ, but
you on the other side of the world do not, I read the Bible faithfully and see
little in Christendom that those who profess faith pretend to see.
"The Christians above all others are seeking after wealth. Their aim is to be
rich at the expense of their neighbors. They come among aliens to exploit
them for their own good and cheat them to do so. Their prosperity is far
more essential to them than the life, liberty, and happiness of others.
"The Christians are the most warlike people. CHRISTIAN NATIONS SEEK
WEALTH AND FIGHT MOST WARS.”
 
This article shows that membership to and beliefs in a particular religion does not necessarily
imply that one is ethical. I may believe in Christ and maybe baptized into Christianity but I may
remain to be living in an unethical way of life. On the other hand, I may not have known Christ
and his teachings or may not have been baptized as a Christian (Or I may even be a total Atheist)
but I can still be ethical by the kind of life I live in relation to myself, others and my
environment.