What is meant by the term ethics? Definitions and approaches
Broadly speaking, ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks
to address issues related to concepts of right and wrong. It is
sometimes referred to as moral philosophy and can be broadly
divided into four subject areas which are as follows: - Meta-
ethics aims to understand the nature of ethical evaluations, the
origin of ethical principles and the meanings of terms used but
is value-free. - Descriptive ethics involves, for example,
determining what proportion of the population or a certain group
considers that something is right or wrong. - Normative ethics,
sometimes referred to as moral theory, focuses on how moral
values are determined, what makes things right or wrong and what
should be done. - Applied ethics examines controversial issues
(such as euthanasia, abortion and capital punishment) and
applies ethical theories to real life situations. Applied
ethical issues are those which are clearly moral issues and for
which there are significant g