Why is Ethics so important at present?
We may write thousands of pages with reasons to answer the previous question. However, let’s just start by pointing out that some of the most important historical human achievements, such as human rights and environmental protection, depend on Ethics. The International Declaration of Human Rights (1948) has ethical foundations.
Is ethics a complex issue? Why?
Ethics is a very complex issue and an important area for all human beings. Ethics is interconnected to many other dimensions in society such as citizenship, politics, economy, language, science, psychology, philosophy, games, literature, wars, human rights, spirituality, environmental crisis, etc. And, very especially, it has to do with the dignity and happiness of people.
Ethics has an individual dimension because it starts with our individual reflection, awareness, feelings, attitudes, principles, goals, values… And, it also has a social dimension, because we develop our daily life surrounded by other people, our family, school, city, country, and the planet.
How may ethics be defined?
Ethics may be understood as a branch of philosophy that has to do with reflecting on what is right and what is wrong. Generally speaking, something is right when it is a good action. And, in Ethics, something is wrong when it is a bad action. In other words, Ethics analyses in a rational way what we have to do to behave properly and what we have to avoid so as not to act badly.
Ethics connects a good action with something that it is well done or right, and bad actions with something that is wrong, and then, it should be avoided.
Ethics imposes some duties and responsibilities. The most important one consists of not betraying our dignity, not betraying our identity as rational human beings who defend goodness against evil.
For example: being a respectful student is good because it helps us to respect others. Whenever you respect others you behave properly. If you help a friend to overcome a problem, you perform a good action, isn’t it?
How do you know if what you do is right or wrong?
Because your awareness, I mean your capacity to reflect on what is right or wrong will help you. Your awareness will offer you some reasons because it is related to our capacity to argue about what is right and wrong. There are many factors related to this awareness, some of them are education, age, culture, social and personal circumstances, and many others.
What are some of the main ethical elements?
We call ethical values some kind of guiding ideals that show what is right and what is wrong. These ideals called ethical values are like guides that lead our behavior to carry out good actions, to do what we should do to act properly, and to avoid acting badly. Some examples of ethical values are goodness, justice, equality, freedom, perseverance, honesty, love, loyalty, beauty, respect, tolerance, humility, dignity, braveness, assertiveness, compassion, prudence, generosity, responsibility, hope, etc.
Ethical principles play a very important role in ethics. Ethical principles are general rules that tell us the way we have to act in order to do things properly. A very famous one is Confucius’ teaching: “Don’t do others what you don’t like others do to you”. Another example is the Christian principle “Love others in the same way you love yourself”. And a third principle could be “whatever you do try don’t to act selfishly”.
Ethical principles are very useful because when you want to do something and you are not sure how to do it, you can use them as a general reference to guide you.
Virtues and Vicious are also key concepts in ethics. A virtue is a good habit, I mean, a habit that you have developed to improve your life or do something as well as possible. For instance, people who usually try to do things as well as possible. If you get used to doing things as well as possible, and you do it as a routine, then, your life will improve a lot. Another virtue is to follow those disciplines that will help you to sleep, eat, study, and enjoy properly. So, virtues are good habits that help us do things right, properly, and in a good way.
The opposite of virtues is vices. Vices are bad habits. Some examples of bad habits or vices are smoking, eating a lot of sugar, sleeping very little, studying at the same time that you watch television, discriminating against people, using violence to solve problems, and so on.
Other important ethical resources that we can use in companies, associations, o any type of group are ethical codes. Ethical codes are some set of ethical values, principles, rules, duties, and responsibilities that members of groups accept to guide their behavior, from an ethical point of view. Many companies and professional organizations, for instance, teachers, doctors, and judges have ethical codes that guide their activities.
Is Ethics really important and necessary in education?
Ethics is really important at present because it is a necessary resource to change the world into a better place. Ethics can help us to confront some of the worst problems that teenagers have to face currently, such as environmental destruction, wars, political corruption, poverty, happiness, finishing with misery and poverty, promoting justice, ending up with discrimination, and learning how to love and grow up as a responsible adult.
Ethics is essential in the education of all human beings. It contributes to improving us by encouraging our dignity. It participates in the formation of better citizens, by showing our rights and responsibilities. Ethics make us better members of a family, by moving us to develop our love. There is no doubt, teaching Ethics is a necessary seed to harvest hope in our society.
What are the differences between ethics and morality?
The best way to teach and spread Ethics, ethical values, ethical principles, and virtues is by implementing them in our daily actions, by giving examples of them with our acts, and by showing that they become real with our acts, in other words, by implementing them. Morality is the way we put into practice our ethical ideas, reflections, and theories. Basically, morality is the practical dimension of Ethics. I mean, it is related to actions and behaviors that have to do with promoting goodness and avoiding evil.
Let’s see the difference between ethics and morality with an example. Ethics, as a rational analysis, tells me that compassion is an ethical value that should guide our acts. Whenever a person implements a compassionate act, like helping people to overcome problems, she or he makes a moral act. So moral acts are the facts and ethics analyses or studies of what is right or wrong in our moral acts.
I
Take a look at the below video: Purpose, Values, Principles. An Ethics Framework.
II.
Take a look at the below video, it shows some interesting ideas about virtues and Ethics.
III.
The below video show some ideas on the ethics of stoicism.
UNHCR. ACNUR’s image: INHCR (ACNUR) is an iternationa organization that promotes ethics by moral acts.
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