![]() These include social justice (structuring the basic institutions of society), distributive justice (distributing benefits and burdens), corrective justice (repairing past injustices), retributive justice (determining how to appropriately punish wrongdoers), and restorative or transformational justice (restoring relationships or transforming social structures as an alternative to criminal punishment). There are different types of justice that address what people are due in various contexts. Equal treatment implies that people should be treated as equals according to some defensible standard such as merit or need, but not necessarily that everyone should be treated in the exact same way in every respect. Justice is the idea that each person should be given their due, and what people are due is often interpreted as fair or equal treatment. ![]() ( For further elaboration on the rights lens, please see our essay, “Rights.”) The Justice Lens Rights are also often understood as implying duties-in particular, the duty to respect others' rights and dignity. The list of moral rights-including the rights to make one's own choices about what kind of life to lead, to be told the truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy, and so on-is widely debated some argue that non-humans have rights, too. On the basis of such dignity, they have a right to be treated as ends in themselves and not merely as means to other ends. This approach starts from the belief that humans have a dignity based on their human nature per se or on their ability to choose freely what they do with their lives. Some suggest that the ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of those affected. They have suggested a variety of different lenses that help us perceive ethical dimensions. If our ethical decision-making is not solely based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science, then on what basis can we decide between right and wrong, good and bad? Many philosophers, ethicists, and theologians have helped us answer this critical question. Some things may be scientifically or technologically possible and yet unethical to develop and deploy. But science alone does not tell us what we ought to do. Social and natural science can provide important data to help us make better and more informed ethical choices. While assessing norms, it is important to recognize how one’s ethical views can be limited by one’s own cultural perspective or background, alongside being culturally sensitive to others. Cultures can include both ethical and unethical customs, expectations, and behaviors. Ethics is not the same as following culturally accepted norms.Law may also have a difficult time designing or enforcing standards in some important areas and may be slow to address new problems. Law can become ethically corrupt-a function of power alone and designed to serve the interests of narrow groups. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but law can deviate from what is ethical. Ethics is not the same thing as following the law.Religious traditions can, however, develop and advocate for high ethical standards, such as the Golden Rule. Many people are not religious but act ethically, and some religious people act unethically. And, often, our feelings will tell us that it is uncomfortable to do the right thing if it is difficult. However, while some people have highly developed habits that make them feel bad when they do something wrong, others feel good even though they are doing something wrong. ![]() Feelings do provide important information for our ethical choices. It is helpful to identify what ethics is NOT: It requires knowledge, skills, and habits. Ethics is also concerned with our character. What is Ethics?Įthics refers to standards and practices that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, professionals, and so on. Ethics really has to do with all these levels-acting ethically as individuals, creating ethical organizations and governments, and making our society as a whole more ethical in the way it treats everyone. We all have an image of our better selves-of how we are when we act ethically or are “at our best.” We probably also have an image of what an ethical community, an ethical business, an ethical government, or an ethical society should be. Read more about what the framework can (and cannot) do. This document is designed as an introduction to thinking ethically.
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