Ethics originated in ancient Greece

Ethics is a study of morality

Good and bad, right and wrong

Ethics is a normative discipline

Why should one do what morality prescribes?

Meta-ethics- concerned with the nature of ethical statements

Is morality objective?
-Moral subjectivism- moral judgements reflect personal preferences/ opinions and attitudes
-Moral realism- moral judgements can be true or false, and are made so by objective features of
the world.

The Is-Ought problem (David Hume)- exposition of the problem is known as Hume’s Law
Hume is commonly interpreted as being of the belief that one cannot logically derive an
“ought” from an “is”

Descriptive statement: There exists great disparity of wealth in certain areas of the world.
Normative statement: We ought to equalize wealth through redistribution/ we ought to abstain
from redistributing wealth.

TELEOLOGICAL vs. DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES OF ETHICS

Any such theory we call a consequentialist or a teleological theory.

Second theory: basically nothing to do with the consequences of act. This latter kind of theory
we call deontological.

Teleological – “Telos” Greek word for end or purpose

Actions evaluates

Examples:

Egoism- happiness or pleasure

Eudaimonism- well-being
Utilitarianism- general good, welfare of humankind

Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus

Deontological Theories
“Deon” Greek word for duty. Morality of an action is grounded by some form of authority
independent of the consequences that such actions generate.

Original source of deontological theories are the Judaic and Christian conceptions of divine law

Can Philosophical Ethics Help Create Good individuals?

- Kant (the point is not always to speculate, but also ultimately to think about applying
our knowledge.
- Schopenhauer (virtue cannot be taught, no more than genius. we would thus be just
foolish to expect that our moral systems and ethics might awaken the virtues.
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