Chapter 2
Ethics concepts and
theories
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1. Concept of ethic
The English word "ethics" is derived from
the Ancient Greek word ēthikós meaning "relating
to one's character", which itself comes from the
root word êthos meaning "character, moral nature.
Therefore, ethics briefly means moral character
the value or rule of conduct held by a group or
individual;
a branch of philosophy that deals with human
actions from the moral point of view, as
right or wrong, bad or good
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it is the inner-guiding moral principles, values,
and beliefs that people use to analyze or
interpret a situation and then decide what is
the “right” or appropriate way to behave
ethics involves a discipline that examines
good or bad practices within the context of a
moral duty
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It is controversial to say that whether this action
is right or wrong for instance . According to
the ethical theory of Hobbes, nothing is good
in itself; rather a thing only becomes good or
evil when it is desired or shunned by
someone.
the modem’ times thinkers tried to base
ethical code on human reasoning rather than
on religion and faith
Ethics is the study of morality
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1.2. Principles of ethics
1. Respecting autonomy
2. Doing no harm (nonmaleficence)
3. Benefiting others (beneficence)
4. Being just (justice)
5. Being faithful (fidelity)
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1. Respecting autonomy
The individual has the right to act as a free
agent.
That is, human beings are free to decide how
they live their lives as long as their decisions
do not negatively impact the lives of others.
Human beings also have the right to exercise
freedom of thought or choice
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2. Doing no harm (Nonmaleficence)
Our interactions with people (within the helping
professions or otherwise) should not harm
others.
We should not engage in any activities that run
the risk of harming others
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3. Benefiting others (Beneficence)
Our actions should actively promote the health
and well-being of others
4. this means being fair. This is especially the
case when the rights of one individual or
group are balanced against another
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Being just, assumes three standards which
are impartiality, equality, and reciprocity
(based on the golden rule: treat others as you
wish to be treated)
5. Being faithful (Fidelity)
Being faithful involves loyalty, truthfulness,
promise keeping, and respect
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To be ethical one should ask
• Reversibility – Would you want someone to do
this to you?
• Universality – Would you want everyone to do
this?
• Am I treating others with respect?
• Am I violating the rights of others?
• Am I treating others only as a means to my own
ends?
• Am I being honest with others and with myself?
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2.3. Morality
Morals (Direct rules we ought to follow.)
occupy the lowest level; they’re the direct
rules we ought to follow.
Two of the most common moral dictates are
don’t lie and don’t steal.
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Above all morality there’s the broader
question about exactly what specific rules
should be instituted and followed.
Answering this question is ethics. Ethics is the
morality factory, the production of guidelines
that later may be obeyed or violated
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2.4. Four Branches of ethic
1. Normative Ethics
2. Descriptive Ethics
3. metaethics
4. applied ethics
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1. Descriptive ethics which concerns how
people actually are acting. it compares the
ethics in past and present and from one
society to another
2. Normative ethics, deals with the norms, it
concerns how people ought to act, it is the
study of ethical action action and set out the
rightness and wrongness of actions.
The golden principle of normative ethics is
“doing to others as we want to do to us
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3. Metaethics is seeks to understand the meaning
of ethical and nature of ethical terms, attitudes,
judgments and the foundations of moral
principles
The questions asked in met ethics include the
following: Where do ethics come from?
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Why do we have ethical and moral categories
in the first place?
To whom do the rules apply?
Babies, for example, steal from each other all
the time and no one accuses them of being
immoral or insufficiently ethical. Why is that?
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Some believe that morality is transcendent in
nature meaning that the rules of right and
wrong come from beyond you and me and
that our only job is to receive, learn and obey
them.
Divine command theory, for example,
understands earthly morality as a reflection of
God
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Others postulate that ethics is very human
and social in nature ,
it is a something we invented to help us live
together in communities.
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• Others believe there’s something deeply
personal in it. When you look at another
individual you see in the depth of their
difference from yourself a requirement to
respect that other person and his or her
uniqueness, and from there, ethics and
morality unwind. These kinds of metaethical
questions, finally, are customarily studied in
philosophy .
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4. Applied ethics refers to the practical
application of moral considerations.
It is ethics with respect to real-world actions
and their moral considerations in the areas of
private and public life, the professions, health,
technology, law, and leadership.
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• E.g. the bioethics community is concerned
with identifying the correct approach to moral
issues in the life sciences, such as euthanasia
in some countries, the allocation of scarce
health resources, or the use of human
embryos in research.
• Environmental ethics is concerned with
ecological issues such as the responsibility of
government and corporations to clean up
pollution.
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2. Consequentialism?
what you do or what happens afterward because
of what you did?
People who believe ethics should be about what
happens afterward are labeled consequentialists.
They don’t care so much about your act; they want
to know about the consequences. If someone asks,
“Should I lie?,” one answer is, “No, lying’s wrong.
We all have a duty not to lie and therefore you
shouldn’t do it, no matter what.”
That’s not the consequentialist answer.
Consequentialists will want to know about the
effects
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consequentialists are more worried about the
outcome than the action,
the central ethical concern is what kind of
outcome should I want?
Traditionally, there are three kinds of
answers:
the utilitarian, the altruist, and the egoist.
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1. Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethics—
the outcome matters, not the act. Among
those who focus on outcomes, the utilitarians’
distinguishing belief is that we should pursue
the greatest good for the greatest number
Utility is a general term for usefulness and
benefit
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Advantages of Utilitarian Ethics in
Business
Clarity and simplicity In general terms, it’s
easy to understand the idea that we should
all act to increase the general welfare
• Acceptability : The idea of bringing the
greatest good to the greatest number coheres
with common and popular ideas about what
ethical guidance is supposed to provide
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• Flexibility. The weighing of individual actions
in terms of their consequences allows for
meaningful and firm ethical rules without
requiring that everyone be treated identically
no matter how different the particular
situation
• Breadth : The focus on outcomes as registered
by society overall makes the theory attractive
for those interested in public policy
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Disadvantages of Utilitarian Ethics in
Business
Subjectivity. It can be hard to make the theory
work because it’s difficult to know what makes
happiness and unhappiness for specific
individuals
Quantification. Happiness can’t be measured
with a ruler or weighed on a scale
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Apparent injustices. Utilitarian principles can
produce specific decisions that seem wrong
utilitarian sacrifice : is the selection of one
person to suffer terribly so that others may be
pleasured.
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2. Altruism:
Altruism is a consequentialist ethics. Like
utilitarianism, no specific acts are prohibited
or required; only outcomes matter.
Altruism is the principle and moral practice of
promoting someone else’s welfare, even at a
risk or cost to ourselves.
It is doing for other with out expectation of
reward
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Loyalty vs Altruism
loyalty is a devotion and faithfulness to some
one , country, group, and so on.
Loyalty comes from relationship while
altruism doesn’t
Both Loyalty and altruism are selfless, but not
all those who sacrifice themselves are altruists
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For example, a soldier may die in combat, but
it’s not sacrificing for everyone else but for a
particular nation.
may lose his life rescuing a victim, but this is
because he’s doing his job, not because he’s
decided to live for the sake of others.
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3. Egoism
Ethical egoism: is an ethical theory that treats
self-interest as the foundation of morality
whatever action serves my self-interest is also
the morally right action.
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3.1.Enlightened Egoism, Cause Egoism, and
the Invisible Hand
a. Enlightened egoism is a idea in ethics which
states that persons who act to further the
interests of others ultimately serve their own
self-interest.
what a person does to enhance another's
quality of life enhances one's own
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As opposed to altruism, which claims that it’s
our ethical responsibility to serve others, the
enlightened egoist’s generosity is a rational
strategy, not a moral imperative.
We don’t help others because we ought to:
we help them because it can make sense
when, ultimately, we only want to help
ourselves
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For example, I agree not to steal
from you as long as you agree not to
steal from me.
It’s not that I don’t take your things
because I believe stealing is morally
wrong
I leave you alone because it’s a good
way to get you to leave me alone.
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B. Cause egoism
Enlightened egoism works from the idea that
helping others is a good way of helping myself.
But Cause egoism works from the idea that
giving the appearance of helping others is a
promising way to advance my own interests in
business.
enlightened egoists respect others while
pursuing their own interests, while cause
egoists just fake it.
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c. the Invisible Hand
describe the unintended social benefits of an
individual's self-interested actions
For example
Improving the quality of your service not by the
virtue of caring your customer but for the
sake of promoting your business in the
competitive market
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Rights Based Ethics
• Rights Based Ethics is principle in which
individuals are believed to have certain
unalienable rights. Unlike some ethical view
right based ethics does not consider the effect
of the action
right are justified claim that individuals and
groups can make upon other individuals or
upon society
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• The opposite of rights based ethics are
utilitarian ethics. Utilitarian ethics are based
on the maximization of "good outcomes" and
minimizations of "bad outcomes.
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Justice and care
justice - is distributing benefits and burdens
among the members of a group.
Care indicate the kind of care that is owed to
those with whom we have special concrete
relationships e.g. dependency, vulnerability
and so on.
it is inspired by both memories of being cared
for and the idealizations of self
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Compliance and integrity
Compliance means abiding by applicable laws,
regulations, and policies.
Integrity means doing the right thing at all times
and in all circumstances.
Compliance based can be ensured through
policies , procedures while integrity is depends on
how well is the intrinsic principles of the person
Integrity is a choice rather than fulfilling an
obligation
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