PHL281H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Applied Ethics, Normative Ethics, Meta-Ethics
Document Summary
Sept. 14 moral reasoning text ch. 1. Metaethics is the study of the meaning and justification of basic moral beliefs. So we have specialized subfields of applied ethics like legal ethics, business ethics, and journalistic ethics. The largest subfield of applied ethics is bioethics: bioethics is applied ethics focussed on, health care, medical science, medical technology. Medical ethics is a narrower term referring to ethical problems in medical practice. This is called overridingness as moral considerations override other factors. Moral norms have universality: moral principles or judgments apply in all relevantly similar situations. Note: universality is a characteristic of all normative spheres, not only of moral norms. The idea that everyone should be considered equal, that everyone"s interest should count the same. From the perspective of morality, no person is better than any other. Everyone should be treated the same unless there is a morally relevant difference between persons. Moral judgments must be backed by reason.
