What is Ethics About? Are there Universal Ethical Principles?
Though our focus here is on practical issues and skills applicable to professional ethics, it is worthwhile to briefly examine some general themes from ethical theories and the study of ethics. Doing so will introduce concepts and principles that help one think and dialog about ethical dilemmas, and it might provide guidance for on-the-job behavior. What is ethics (or equivalently here, morality) about? There are a number of prominent perspectives on or approaches to this question: • Character or values: Ethics is about the articulation and development of specific character traits (such as honesty, generosity, etc.) or specific values (such as freedom, responsibility, autonomy, etc.). • Utility: Ethics is about behaviors aiming to achieve the greatest happiness, wellbeing, or welfare for the greatest number of people (the “greatest good”). A related line of reasoning is that the ethical value of an action depends on its actual consequences (i.e. one’s intentions, feelings, or character
