Ethics

Ethics is about moral problems, judgments, and conduct in all aspects of social life. It is a subject of philosophy, theology, management, law, education, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and history. Concepts associated with ethics are human rights, moral obligations, equality, fairness, human dignity, integrity, open-mindedness, honesty, beneficence, truthfulness, moral development, codes of ethical conduct, and value systems. Ethics is part of the fabric of the workplace, which gives rise to questions such as Does an employee have a duty of loyalty to the employer that is violated by whistle blowing?, Do employees have a right to privacy?, Is it ethically acceptable to advertise to children?, Is insider trading unethical?, Is bluffing in negotiations wrong?, What obligations should an employer have to ensure a safe workplace?, and Can affirmative action programs be morally justified?

Ethics sometimes refers to professional, industry, or corporate codes of conduct. Anthropologists, sociologists, and historians use the term to describe the beliefs and value systems of groups, societies, and cultures. To philosophers and theologians, ethics is a branch of their disciplines devoted to the study of moral conduct, judgment, and traits of character. For them, the words ethical and moral are typically interchangeable. Philosophers and theologians treat ethics from both normative and meta-ethical perspectives. Normative ethics is prescriptive: It tells us what we morally ought to do, based on certain principles of conduct or traits of character, such as honesty, kindness, and fairness. The meta-ethical approach is analytical, and it explores, first, the meaning of ethical concepts such as equality, fairness, and justice. Second is the problem of justification: How do we know that someone or some action is morally good? What makes something morally right or wrong? In a different mode, social scientists and historians conduct research that is descriptive and explanatory. Sociologists, for instance, investigate actual workplace conduct, such as employment equity, health and safety, and sexual harassment. Anthropologists describe and explain ethical norms, rules, and customs in societies, for example, assessing whether bribery is an accepted business norm in certain societies. Psychologists investigate moral development in humans, that is, how we become moral agents as we mature.