Ethics and Moral
Ethics and Moral
Definition of Ethics
Ethics is part of moral philosophy where the study is related to human behavior. Ethics
does not question the human condition, but question show humans should act, based on
certain norms. Ethics and morals are more or less the same meaning, but in daily activities
there are differences, namely morals for the assessment of actions taken, while ethics is for
assessment of the prevailing value system. Ethics and morals are more or less the same
meaning, but in daily activities there are differences, namely morals for the assessment of
actions taken, while ethics is for assessment of the prevailing value system.
Moral is an understanding of what is good and what is wrong. While ethics is human
behavior, both mental and physical regarding matters that are in accordance with that moral.
Ethics is a philosophical inquiry into human obligations and what is good and bad. This field
is hereinafter referred to as the moral field. The objects of ethics are moral statements.
Therefore, ethics can also be said as a philosophy of the moral field. Ethics is not about the
human condition, but how humans should act.
Ethics is a human thought that is included in a device of human judgment in dealing with
the environment. The position of ethics in culture is an important capital in developing
sustainable development insights. Therefore, ethics in the study of philosophy is a branch of
axiology, namely the science that studies the nature of values. One part of which is the
explanations in philosophy that discuss the problem of the predicate good (good) and bad
(bad) in the sense of morality and immoral. These predicates will not have any meaning
(meaningless) if they are not manifested in human actions in the empirical realm. The
predicates above in terms of quality will refer to one side of the two opposing sides, namely
the good side or morality. If someone delivers a symbol in the form of an attribute that is in
accordance with general opinions and rules, it can be said that the action is moral, good and
also ethical. So, on the good and moral side it is called ethics. On the other hand, people who
are not in accordance with the general habits of their community are referred to as bad,
unscrupulous, unethical and considered to have violated ethics.
Ethics is one of the most important and significant branches of philosophy today and it
means the philosophy of morality. The term ethics comes from the Greek word Ethos which
means custom, character which is related to our values and virtues. It helps us in making right
decisions and hence, our daily actions and life experiences are the subject of ethics. They are
mainly divided into two parts: theoretical ethics and applied ethics. Normative ethics,
descriptive ethics, meta ethics, etc. are included in theoretical ethics and professional ethics
are included in applied ethics. Meanwhile, normative ethics mainly studies about what makes
an activity or action right and wrong. Meta ethics is all about the theoretical meanings as well
as allusions of moral propositions and the descriptive ethical study of facts and looking into
ethics from observations of genuine choices made by moral agents in practice.
Ethics
Applied or
Theoretical
Practical
Figure 1.1
Along with changes and the development of new technologies, there are many challenges
that also develop in the global era. The whole world has become so mechanical and
commercial where the hope of honesty and commitment among people is like a dream now.
Social media also plays a very important role in everyone's life as well as children and its
influence has made them unrealistic in every area of their life. Due to this reason, great ethical
demands have grown in the field of education to instill and develop morality and values
among students especially youth.
2. Types of Ethics
Ethics that examines human behavior can be classified into several types:
a. Meta-ethics
b. Normative Ethics
● The habit of using drugs must be avoided because it can damage the
body's organs (torture yourself)
● Reject the habit of abortion because it includes the act of taking the lives
of others and torturing oneself.
● It is forbidden to take the life of another innocent person
● The habit of drinking alcoholic beverages should be avoided, because it
can lead to loss of human consciousness and damage their organs.
● Reject the habit of Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism (KKN) because
it can harm others.
● The habit of prostitution, must be avoided, because it is contrary to
human dignity.
Normative ethics does not describe, but determines whether or not an action is true.
Normative ethics aims to formulate ethical principles that can be accounted for rationally
and can be used in practice.
c. Applied Ethics
Applied ethics is the study of how humans can reach moral conclusions
in certain contexts. As a result, it is focused with the philosophical investigation
of specific – and frequently complex – moral dilemmas. Applied ethics
encompasses fields such as bioethics, environmental ethics, development ethics,
and business/corporate ethics. Applied ethics is a philosophical discipline that
seeks to apply ethical theories to everyday life situations. Applied ethics is a
branch of ethics that consists of the analysis of specific and conventional moral
issues.
Various questions can be asked in the field of applied ethics, for
example:
1. “Is having an abortion immoral?”
2. “Is euthanasia immoral?”
3. “Do animals have rights too?
What are human rights, and how are they defined?” Questions can also
be more specific, such as: “If someone can make their life better than mine, is it
morally right to sacrifice me for them if needed?” These questions are important
to balance in the fields of law, politics and arbitration practice. However, not all
questions can be applied to public policy. For example, ethical judgment
questions, such as “Is lying always wrong? If not, when is it justified?”, is more
a question of etiquette.
Applied ethics has various important roles in the modern world. Among
others are:
● There is moral pluralism
● The emergence of new ethical problems
● The emergence of an increasingly universal ethical concern
● The arrival of the wave of modernization
● There is an offer of various ideologies
● A challenge for clergy
i. The Emergence of Applied Ethics
Applied ethics arises from a deep ethical concern, this is triggered by various
factors including:
● Developments in the field of science and technology.
● The creation of a kind of “moral climate” that invites new interest in ethics
In addition, various problems faced and new cases that developed in human
social life, also made the science of applied ethics develop, namely:
● The emergence of the civil rights struggle.
● There is a strong movement that demands equal rights between men and
women.
● There was also a student "revolution" in several Western countries
A human act. One is done with knowledge and free will. It is called a moral act
because it is always morally good or bad. Therefore, every consciously intentional
act is a moral act. Moral action is a complex association of thinking and acting. One
can think morally without doing anything. A person can act in a way that is then
judged to be moral without thinking about it. In this chapter we will consider the
interactions of thinking and acting that constitute intentional moral action. Modern
physics recognizes that light can be thought of as either a wave or a particle.
Different conditions at the start of the experiment can make visible light one way or
another. Somewhat analogously, moral action can be viewed in a number of
different ways. These are not mutually exclusive but give a distinct appearance
which gives us additional information. We'll start with a very modern concept. Rest
suggests that moral action can be thought of as having four components:
a. Moral sensitivity: the ability to recognize a problem as something that has a
moral dimension. If you don't see a situation as a moral issue, you won't try
to think about it morally. For example, where a person lives determines, to
an astonishing degree, what kind of education is available. If one views this
as merely an example of how society is built, and does not realize that this is
a matter of justice for minors, that would not seem immoral.
b. Moral judgment: the process of looking at the situation, gathering all
available information about it, and making judgments.
c. Moral discrimination: the ability to rank the importance of moral judgments
against other claims. A doctor who works for a for-profit medical company
owns a large stake in that company. He is capable of making sound medical
decisions and treatment plans for his patients, but if this is likely to cost the
company a lot of money, he will not recommend them but prefer cheaper,
usually fewer effective treatments. She describes herself as a "corporate
whore;" very insightful commentary.
d. Moral courage: the ability to make moral decisions in the face of opposition.
Moral courage requires stamina, endurance, perseverance, and perseverance.
It is the ability to withstand resistance to do the right thing. A university
president one of us worked for lacked moral courage. He is able to make
excellent moral judgments, because he can choose that this has priority over
competing interests. But he withered under the pressure.
3. Aspects of Moral
There are 10 aspects of moral, namely:
1. Honesty
2. Discipline
One of the moral characters that need to be developed is discipline. The value of
the character of discipline is very important for humans to have so that other good
character values emerge. The importance of strengthening the character of
discipline is based on the reason that there are now many deviant behaviors that
are contrary to disciplinary norms. Undisciplined behavior is often encountered in
the school environment, including elementary schools. Examples of undisciplined
behavior include not coming to school on time, not wearing a complete uniform
as stated in the school rules, sitting or walking arbitrarily stepping on plants that
clearly have the words “no stepping on plants” installed, throwing littering,
scribbling on school walls, truancy, collecting assignments not on time, not
wearing uniforms according to the rules, and so on.
The occurrence of undisciplined behavior in schools shows that there have been
serious problems in terms of disciplinary character education. The emergence of
undisciplined behavior shows that the knowledge related to the character obtained
by students at school does not have a positive impact on changes in students' daily
behavior. Basically, students know that their behavior is not right, but they do not
have the ability to get used to avoiding the wrong behavior. This is in the process
of character education that occurs. It could be that the character education that has
been carried out so far has only been at the knowledge stage, has not yet reached
the feelings and behavior of character. The learning process teaches students more
verbalistic knowledge which does not prepare students to be able to face the
social life they will encounter.
3. Responsibility
4. Care
Caring is one part of moral development where students are sensitive to their
environment and pay attention to appropriate behavior such as caring students to
help friends in trouble, following school and class regulations or others. In
essence, the caring attitude of students developed in the curriculum allows
students to become good social characters.
5. Polite
6. Mutual Cooperation
7. Teamwork
Teamwork is important for human life, because with cooperation humans can
carry out their lives. Teamwork also demands interaction between several parties.
Cooperation is a joint effort between individuals or groups to achieve certain
goals. This opinion clearly states that cooperation is a form of relationship
between several parties who interact with each other to achieve common goals.
Based on some of the opinions above, it can be concluded that student
cooperation can be interpreted as an interaction or relationship between students
and students and students and teachers to achieve learning objectives. The
relationship in question is a dynamic relationship, namely, a relationship that
respects, cares for each other, helps each other, and provides mutual
encouragement so that learning objectives are achieved. The learning objectives
include changes in behavior, increasing understanding, and absorption of
knowledge.
8. Peace
9. Responsive
Responsive is part of the form of morals and values because students become
individuals who are willing to listen and act quickly. This can be seen in the
character of students who listen to teacher explanations, who answer teacher
questions and are active in class and help classmates.
10. Proactive