Ethics deals with the idea of deciding the right course of action that one should take. As a branch of moral philosophy, ethics entails defending, systematizing, and recommending concepts of wrong and right behaviors (Singer 2004). Ethics tries to pose the questions, “what do I do?”, or “what should I do?” Ethics enables us as human beings to categorize our values and also to make decisions on those values that we should be pursuing.
Sometimes, we might be faced with a dilemma regarding our values and at such a point we call upon our ethics to help us decide on the right course of action to take under the circumstances. For example, while at the university, many students are responsible for ensuring that they plan their schedules accordingly so that they strike a balance between, on the one hand, their academic work and on the other hand, their personal lives.
Most university students are often faced with a dilemma of whether to pursue happiness at the expense of their academic work or to sacrifice their free time and study for a greater cause. Because ethics allows us to decide on the kind of action to follow, as such, it gives meaning and order to our lives. Ethics allows us to remain disciplined enough to pursue our goals fully. For example, students who uphold high ethical values would not skip class to attend to his/her social life.
Ethics helps to shape our beliefs as well. For example, some of us believe in the after-life once we die, while others do not harbor such beliefs. Also, ethics helps to shape our moral judgment as well. For instance, some of us condone homosexuality, terming it as an evil act, while other people are comfortable with the practice. As such, our ethical values regarding a certain behavior gauge our level of tolerance about such behavior. In the same way, some people are convinced that there is nothing wrong with giving a bribe while others are comfortable doing it.
However, we need to be very careful not to identify ethics with our feelings or religious beliefs per se. this is because the issue of ethics is not just confined to say, religious people. You may be a pagan, but still have ethics. Other people claim to be staunch believers, and yet their actions reflect the lack of what is regarded by society as the ethical standard. In the same way, our feelings tend to deviate every so often, while ethics do not. Also, our laws may change with time, but ethics do not.
Our laws usually entail ethical standards that we are expected to abide by as citizens. However, some of us end up breaking these ethical standards and are punished for it. Does it mean that such lawbreakers have no ethics at all? Perhaps it would be better to say that such people have low ethical standards.
Even a society may also deviate from what we believe to be ethical. When this happens, we talk of a morally corrupt society. Individuals who uphold high ethical standards do not for example commit such acts as stealing, murder, rape, fraud, and slander. This is because they know the difference between what is right and wrong and uphold high standards of what they perceive to be right, fair, and of benefit to others.
Reference List
Singer, P. (2000). One World: The Ethics of Globalization. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.