Ethics can only take us so far if we only focus on a bunch of theories about how humans are, or how we ought to act. Ethics don’t exist solely as theories and idea; ethics are meant to lead directly to action. Therefore we have applied ethics, or moral philosophy in action and in pratice.
Although the most prominent moral philosophies were hammered out centuries ago, their finer points remain open to question. Ethics don’t exist in a vacuum, and they don’t stand still. They’re systems that contain multitudes of practical rules that can be learned and adapted into any number of real-life situations. Indeed, ethicists have attempted to find the universals of morality that apply to all humans and, it would seem, all walks of life. Ethics are a big part of the decision-making processes in many of today’s professions and fields, and are especially relevant as the world faces rapidly changing and as-yet unknown challenges both now and in the future.
This chapter will look at how to apply some of the ethical concepts covered earlier in this book. Ethics, or virtues, are a vital tool in a civilized society, and they apply to nearly every sector of the professional world. The reasons to be ethical are of course complicated, and will be discussed. Is it important to be ethical because it’s good for business to be ethical; or is it ethical to be morally correct in business because it’s important to be ethical to human beings, period? There are arguments for both positions, and more.