Ethics and Morality in Society
Ethics and Morality: The Science of Custom
Ethics
Ethics is the theoretical reflection on behaviors, norms, and values that shape morality.
Morality
Morality is a set of behaviors, norms, and values that govern a society at a given moment. It also encompasses an individual’s subjective set of behaviors, norms, and values. Objective (societal) and subjective (individual) morality may agree or disagree. If different, the individual may face societal criticism.
Morality concerns the set of rules, beliefs, values, and goals that guide our behavior toward good.
Moral Act
A moral act is an action that can be accepted or rejected by society. Judging a moral act requires it to be done consciously (with clear understanding) and voluntarily (chosen freely, without coercion). Human freedom is essential for these acts, which have social consequences, both positive and negative.
Moral Judgments
A moral judgment is any proposition or sentence affirming or denying something about a person.
- Judgments of Fact: These describe something without expressing a personal opinion.
- Value Judgments: These affirm or deny the value of something based on relevant rules considered valid.
- Moral Judgments: These are value judgments with moral reference standards, evaluating an action or behavior. When making moral judgments, consider the circumstances: the reason (motive), the end (intended result), and the means (methods used).
Moral Values
Moral values are qualities we possess that either promote or hinder humanization through our actions.
Ethical Theories
Ethics of Purposes
This theory posits that humans have a specific purpose in life, and ethics aims to discover and propose means to achieve it.
Ethics of Duty
This theory seeks universal and mandatory moral norms.
Ethics of Purpose: Different Schools of Thought
Aristotelianism
Aristotle’s philosophy has profoundly influenced our culture. His ethics are finalist; human actions aim to achieve specific goals. Eudaemonism, the pursuit of happiness, is central. Humans are unique due to their rational nature, which allows them to achieve true happiness by practicing virtue.
Goods: These are pursued not as means to an end, but as ends in themselves. Happiness lies in exercising reason.
Intellectual Virtues: These facilitate reason’s activity, the search for truth. They include art, science, prudence, wisdom, and intelligence.
External Goods: These are unrelated to reason, such as health, wealth, popularity, and prosperity. Happiness cannot be complete without external goods and freedom from personal injury.
Moral Virtues: These are the means to achieve goods. They are the force leading to actions that achieve the desired good. They represent the mean between two extremes (e.g., courage is between cowardice and recklessness). Moral virtues are cultivated through habit and learning.
Epicureanism
Founded by Epicurus (341-270 BC), this school advocated for a simple life, far from riches, seeking tranquility. They were hedonists, pursuing pleasure guided by reason and prudence.
Epicureans believed in gods detached from the world and that humans could overcome three main fears: fear of gods, fear of death (seen as the body’s disintegration), and fear of the afterlife. Happiness is the absence of worry and pain. True pleasure is a tranquil soul and a pain-free body. Virtues like friendship, kindness, gentleness, and charity are cultivated.
Christianity
Jesus’s life and teachings coincided with the Roman Empire and a crisis in philosophical and religious thought. His message, spread through parables and miracles, emphasized a change in values and moral practices. The ultimate goal is God, the source of happiness. Achieving this is a divine gift, grace. Love for all is paramount: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Utilitarianism
J. Stuart Mill’s thought combined Aristotelian and Epicurean ethics, emphasizing utility’s role in achieving happiness. The greatest happiness results from utility for the individual and society. Utility is the capacity of things or actions to produce profit, pleasure, or happiness, and to avoid harm or unhappiness. The utilitarian principle states that actions are good if they produce well-being and bad if they produce discomfort. Well-being is the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain.
Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant developed a formal, pure ethics based on reason. He criticized material ethics for having rules tied to specific ends, lacking universal validity. Kant proposed a formal ethics that dictates how to act, using reason as the source of morality. An action is meritorious if done out of duty. Duty is the only truly moral motivation, expressing goodwill. An action is morally correct when required by law and desired by the subject. The categorical imperative is an unconditional command: “Act so that you would like your way of acting to become a universal norm.”