MORAL NORMS

THE MEANING OF ETHICS

THE MEANING OF ETHICS

Most often, ordinary language makes no significant difference between ethics and morality; both words mean 'the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group'. But in its proper meaning, used by scholars, ethics is the study of morality. Ethics is a kind of investigation and includes both the activity of investigating as well as the results of that investigation whereas morality is the subject matter that ethics investigates.

MORALITY

real life concrete facts living people

ETHICS investigation + the results of that investigation

reasoning abstract ideas general principles

But what is morality?

the standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong, or good and evil.

MORAL STANDARDS

The NORMS we have about the kinds of actions we believe are morally right and wrong.
The VALUES we place on the kinds of objects we believe are morally good and morally bad.

General rules or statements, such as Always tell the truth, Never steal, It is wrong to kill innocent people, or It is right to keep your promises.

Statements describing objects or features that have worth, such as Honesty is good and Injustice is bad.

MORAL NORMS

Can you give a few examples of moral norms?

'Never lie!'
Probably, you think first of rules such as : 'Never kill!' 'Never steal!' At a closer examination, we notice that all these rules are both religious commandments and legal prescriptions. As a matter of fact, there are no PURE MORAL RULES, belonging exclusively to morality and never functioning as religious, legal or traditional norms.

If we wish to define the specific elements which make a certain rule of conduct to value as a moral norm, we should define first the concept of norm in general and the necessary components of every normative regulation.

NORMS

A norm is a rule of conduct, explicitly stated as a social standard of behaviour, deliberately accepted and kept by the individuals. Why norms are needed in social life? A norm would be meaningless if it demanded an impossible behaviour. A norm would be useless if it asked for an inevitable behaviour.

Any norm supposes a free agent, who can do something, but who does not have to do it.

NORMS

Freedom of will: one's actual capability of choosing between several practical alternatives Certain individual choices bear no serious consequences on the others; the individual is entitled to make his / her decisions as he / she likes it; Many other choices of one individual bear serious consequences on the rest of us; these choices are not socially indifferent; therefore, they should be guided by norms. The first social function of norms is the socialization of individuals, making the social life more or less uniform and predictable, for the benefit of both the individual, and the social community.

THE STRUCTURE OF NORMS The specific pattern of behaviour demanded by the normative authority, expressed as a normative sentence. The force or instance that issues a certain norm, being able to enforce it, and to make people keep it. A category of people subordinated to the normative authority, who are supposed to comply with the rule. A class of situations and practical contexts in which the authority demands one to follow a certain rule. Consequences of one's actions, imposed by the normative authority: rewards and punishments.

Rule of action
Normative authority Subject of the norm Application field Sanctions

LEGAL REGULATIONS

MORAL NORMS

NORMATIVE EXPRESSIONS:

most of them are prohibitions, doubled by moral interdictions; vice versa does not hold true; the legal interdictions aim at the enforcement of a minimum sociability

both prohibitions and obligations, that do not belong to the legal regulations;
when the law is stating only an interdiction, morality adds a duty that cannot be enforced by the legal system; morality aims at bringing forth a maximum sociability.

LEGAL REGULATIONS

MORAL NORMS

Theft is a felony. Lying is legally forbidden. Murder is a capital crime.

Never steal. Be generous! Never lie! Tell the truth! Never kill! Save a life if you can!

LEGAL REGULATIONS

MORAL NORMS

AUTHORITY:
external or heteronomous: Parlament, Government, Administration, etc. internal or autonomous: personal will, moral conscience

LEGAL REGULATIONS

MORAL NORMS

SUBJECT: the citizen of a certain State, the member of a local community, etc. human being: any mature, responsible and free person

LEGAL REGULATIONS

MORAL NORMS

SANCTIONS:
only punishments of a physical nature inflicted by an external authority both punishments and rewards of a psychological or spiritual nature inflicted by the reaction of the others, but in the first place by the inner voice of the moral conscience