Nature And Scope Of Ethics

Ethics {origin from Greek word Ethikos} is a key branch of philosophy, concerned with systematic study of right or wrong human actions & conduct in the backdrop of standards or moral principles set by society.  Thus, it refers to one’s moral character and the way in which society expects people to behave in accordance with accepted principles.

Ethics may also refer to the rules of conduct recognized in respect of a particular class of human activities {e.g. medical ethics, business ethics, Hindu ethics etc.}.

The nature & scope of Ethics can be summed up in the below points:

Ethics is a science

Ethics is a science, concerned with a particular sphere of nature that deals with certain judgments that we make about human conduct. It also talks about systematic explanation of rightness or wrongness in a man’s life.

Ethics is a normative science

A natural science or descriptive science is concerned with “what is the case”. It deals with facts and explains them by their causes. However, Normative science is concerned with what ought to be done. Ethics is a normative science as it deals with norms by which we can judge human actions. Ethics does not deal with facts. Rather, it deals with values and principles. Therefore, it is clear that ethics is concerned with judgments of value, while natural science deals with judgments of facts. That is why ethics is not a natural science but a normative science.

However, with respect to ethics, there is no clear distinction between science and philosophy. Ethics is both scientific and philosophical, both normative and descriptive science.

Ethics is different from morality

Ethics and morality {term moral comes from the Latin moralis, meaning customs or manners} are often used interchangeably. In earlier times, the scholars used to call ethics a ‘science of morals’. However, this was fallen to disuse. Ethics does not teach how to lead a moral life. Ethics merely help us to justify the right and good which leads us to achieve our goals. Morality deals with purpose, motive, intention and choice which are considered right or wrong in the light of customs and manners.

Another difference between the two is that – the term ‘ethics’ is usually applied to persons while ‘morality’ to acts and behaviour.

Ethics is a science of values

Ethics is a science of values as it discovers the forms of conduct or behaviour, which have the character of moral obligation. Ethics deals with a phenomena and it observes, classifies and explains them by moral values. It distinguishes moral judgments from logical judgments and aesthetic judgments and reduces them to a system.