ITETHICQUIZ.doc

1.    Ethics is a major branch of philosophy, encompasses right conduct and good life. It is significantly broader than the common conception of analyzing right and wrong.    

Ethics and morals are respectively similar to theory and practice. Ethics denotes the theory of right action and the greater good, while morals indicate their practice. "Moral" has a dual meaning.

2.    A moral system is a system of coherent, systematic, and reasonable principles, rules, ideals, and values, which work to form one's overall perspective.

Rules of conduct are the action guiding rules, in the form of either directives or social policies. There are 2 types of rules of conduct, the first one are the rules guiding the actions of individuals such as “do not steal”. The last are the rules for establishing social policies such as “software should be protected.”

3.    Morality means a code of conduct held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong, whether by society, philosophy, religion, or individual conscience. A system that is understood by everyone to whom it applies and which is not irrational for him or her to follow is what I call a "public system." Personal morality refers to the set of one's own ethical commitments, not all of which are a part of the common morality of one's culture or society. Personal morality contradicts the whole meaning of public system.

4.    Morality is informal because a moral system has no formal authoritative judges presiding over it. Unlike games in professional sports that have rules enforced by referees in a manner that approaches a legal system, morality is less formal. A moral system is more like a game of cards or like a “pickup game” in baseball or basketball. Here the players are aware of the rules, but even in the absence of a formal official or referee to enforce the game’s rules, players generally adhere to them.

5.    According to Gert, rationality does not require morality, however, it does require that we avoid harming ourselves without a reason. Therefore, a rational person would not cause his own pain unless it was for a reason, for example, to cure a disease.

6.    Moral values are things held to be right or wrong or desirable or undesirable.

7.    The principles are grounded in one of the three sources: religion, law, and philosophical ethics. We now consider how a particular moral principle can be justified from the vantage point of each scheme.

8.    Method of philosophical ethics is a common view among philosophers that philosophy is distinguished by the methods that philosophers follow in addressing philosophical questions.

9.    Philosophical studies and scientific studies are similar in that they both require that a consistent methodological scheme be used to verify hypothesis and theories, and these verification schemes must satisfy criteria of rationality and impartiality.

10.    The first discussion is about people disagree on solutions to moral issues. The second is about Making Judgments and Being Judgmental. The third is Ethics is a private matter. The last is Morality as simply a matter for individual cultures to decide.

11.    Discussion stoppers are roadblocks to moral discourse. They close down prematurely what otherwise might be a useful discussion.

12.    Moral relativism asserts that no universal standard of morality is possible because different people have different beliefs about what is right and wrong. Cultural relativism means Different cultures have different beliefs about what constitutes morally right and wrong behavior.

13.    Ethical theories can guide us in our analysis of moral issues involving cyber-technology.

14.    Some argue that the primary goal of a moral system is to produce desirable consequences or outcomes for its members. On this view, the consequences of actions and policies that provide the ultimate standard against which moral decisions must be evaluated. So if choosing between acts A or B, the morally correct action will be the one that produces the most desirable outcome. In determining the best outcome, we can ask the question, whose outcome

15.    Act utilitarianism: An act, X, is morally permissible if the consequences produced by doing X result in the greatest good for the greatest number of persons affected by X. Rule Utilitarianism: An act, X, is morally permissible if the consequences of following the general rule (Y), of which act X is an instance, would bring about the greatest good for the greatest number.

16.    Immanuel Kant argued that morality must ultimately be grounded in the concept of duty or obligations that humans have to one another. Morality can never in the consequences of human actions. Thus morality has nothing to do with the promotion of happiness or the achievement of desirable consequences.

17.    Rule Deontology, for Kant, morality conforms to a standard or objective test, a principle that he calls the Categorical Imperative. (Act always on that maxim or principle which ensures that all individuals will be treated as ends-in-themselves and never merely as a means to an end.)Act Deontology, Ross argues that when two or more moral duties clash, we have to look at individual situations to see which duty is overriding.

18.    One virtue of the social-contract model is that it gives us a motivation for being moral. It is in our individual self-interest to develop a moral system with rules. This type of motivation for establishing a moral system is absent in both the utilitarian or deontological theories. So a contract-based ethical theory would seem to have one advantage over them.

19.    Virtue ethics focuses on criteria having to do with the character development of individuals and their acquisition of good character traits from the kinds of habits they develop.  Virtue ethics can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle. To become an ethical person, more is required than simply memorizing and deliberating on certain kinds of rules

20.    Moor tells that developing the appropriate habits of character such as kindness, truthfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, helpfulness, generosity, and justice is an important prerequisite in moral behavior.