Professional Ethics

Assignment # 1

Presented To: Maam Aaliya Razia Malik

Prepared By: NC Muhammad Saad NC Talha Zafar

1. Discuss the following comment. Ethics is just a matter of opinion

The term ethics is derived from e Greek word ethos, which means "character." Generally speaking, the word ethics is all about doing the right thing. At a micro level the right thing indeed varies from person to person. At a macro level it becomes a highly controversial and debatable subject. And to cater for its implications on a massive scale the concept of law is used to eliminate personal prejudice and determine the betterment of the masses overall. Since the term ethics is now confined to only a minor scale, so it is plausible to think of it as a personal opinion. I will support my views by referring to different school of thoughts. The most widely reputed school of thought on ethics is virtue ethics. Virtue ethics describes the character of a moral agent as a driving force for ethical behavior, and is used to describe the ethics of Socrates, Aristotle, and other early Greek philosophers. In their view, knowledge having a bearing on human life is to be placed highest while considering all other knowledge being secondary. Selfknowledge is considered necessary for success and inherently an essential good. The second school of thought is stoicism. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus posited that the greatest good was contentment and serenity. Peace of mind, or Apatheia, was of the highest value; self-mastery over one's desires and emotions leads to spiritual peace. The "unconquerable will" is central to this philosophy. Another school of thought is of Hedonism. Hedonism posits that the principal ethics is maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Cyrenaic hedonists think "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Then there are other sets of believes pertaining to ethics, including Epicureanism, consequentialism and utilitarianism. But discussing them will elongate the topic unnecessarily.

Each one of these has a massive following depending upon the varying psyche of human beings and their freedom of choice. They all define ethics in their own ways and often tend to have severe clash with one another. So we can term ethics as a matter of opinion without confusing them with laws. Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder authors of Foundation for Critical Thinking, say "most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs and the law", and don't treat ethics as a stand-alone personal concept. Personally I endorse this concept.

2. What is the relation of morality and religion? Does morality depends on the religion for support or does it stand on its own feet being autonomous. A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true. Socrates. The term morality is derived from Latin word moralitas, which means "manner. Its an ever evolving term that qualifies the human interactions with one another in any community. However the term religion is derived from Latin word religionem which means "respect for what is sacred So from the etymology it can be assumed that morality is a dogma of an individuals interaction with other individuals, personally or collaterally. The moral doctrines are ascribed to people and their evolutionary response. However religion is a subjects interaction with a supernatural deity. Thus the religious codes are ascribed to a supernatural being.(Usually God). So discreetly and objectively I personally dont find any reasonable relationship between religion and morality. But in a social setup a number of concepts overlap. Leading us to the second part of the question. I will try to make it simple and clear.

Morality is general behavior of good or bad. Since the terms good and bad vary in situations, patterns, behavior, judgment and interpretation, so that makes morality a very malleable terminology. It can be interpreted differently with respect to circumstances. Morality has two branches. Realism and anti-realism followed by ethical neutralists and non-neutralists respectively. Religion on the other hand is a disciplined and defined set of principles. It lacks that flexibility of changing with time and situation. One notable factor here is that morality needs no audience. Since it is an evolutionary breed. But religion needs a mass following to boost its credibility. In other words, people exist due to morality and religion depends on the people. Hence in my view its the other way around. Religion depends upon morality. And yes morality stands autonomous.

References:
Radical Enlightenment by Jonathan Israel The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues by Barbara MacKinnon