LAW 122 Lecture 1: LAW122 - Ethics Module
27 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
What is ethics: the critical, and structured examination of how individuals and institutions should behave when their actions affect others. critical because it is more than just describing existing patterns of behaviour. structured because it is about more than institutions and gut reactions. It is about providing reasoned arguments for why we should (or should not) behave certain ways. I stopped to help at the accident scene because it was the right thing to do. It is good to donate to charity: a good person doesn"t lie to their friends. It"s wrong to lie to your customers: taking advantage of someone"s weaknesses is unethical. Ethical reasoning: ethics becomes harder when important ethical values or principles conflict, ethical judgement involves weighing competing values or principles. There is no formula for doing this. In ethical reasoning, we appeal to principles and values: a value is something good that we ought to promote.
