Philosophy 2074F/G Chapter Notes -Kantian Ethics, Categorical Imperative, Virtue Ethics
Document Summary
Morality is concerned with social practices defining right and wrong. These practices together with other kinds of customs, rules and mores are transmitted within cultures and institutions from generation to generation. Morality cannot be purely a personal policy or code. Morality consists of what persons ought to do in order to conform to society"s norms of behavior whereas ethical theory concerns the philosophical reasons for and against aspects of social morality. Self interest and good ethics generally coincide, because it is usually in one"s interest to act morally. Law is the public"s agency for translating morality into explicit social guidelines and practices and for stipulating punishments for offenses. The courts have often been accused of causing moral inequities through court judgments rendered against corporations. If something is legal, it is not necessarily moral; if something is illegal, it is not necessarily immoral. Ethicists have typically judged appeals to conscience alone as insufficient and untrustworthy for ethical judgement.