Similar to religion, ethics' origins also lie in the development of the human species. We are innately ethical beings. We have a natural sense of right and wrong, which is evident in interaction between the youngest children, who have no trouble understanding, and slightly more trouble applying, the Golden Rule. Evolutionarily, ethics make a lot of sense, and they are not limited to humans. All animals have a natural resistance to harming members of their own species, and humans are exceptions only in that we have a heightened version of this sense that extends beyond physical harm and into many areas of human action and existence.
I view morals as specific prescripitions for thought and action, and ethics as the system an individual uses to interpret and apply them. Specifically, ethics functions as a regulator, or tie-breaker, between opposing moral beliefs. For example, one might have a moral belief in justice, and an equally strong moral belief in mercy. Ethics is the system that an individual uses to choose which of these moral beliefs to act upon when making a decision.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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