Ethics & Morality

Ethics is the major branch of philosophy that encompasses proper conduct and good living. It is significantly broader than the common conception of ethics as the analyzing of right and wrong. A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or that is simply satisfying, which is held by many philosophers to be more important than moral conduct.[1]
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Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") has three principal meanings.

In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct which is held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong. Morals are created by and define society, philosophy, religion, or individual conscience. An example of the descriptive usage could be "common conceptions of morality have changed significantly over time."

In its second, normative and universal sense, morality refers to an ideal code of conduct, one which would be espoused in preference to alternatives by all rational people, under specified conditions. In this "prescriptive" sense of morality as opposed to the above described "descriptive" sort of sense, moral value judgments such as "murder is immoral" are made. To deny 'morality' in this sense is a position known as moral skepticism, in which the existence of objective moral "truths" is rejected.[1]

In its third usage, 'morality' is synonymous with ethics, the systematic philosophical study of the moral domain.[2]

Ethics seeks to address questions such as how a moral outcome can be achieved in a specific situation (applied ethics), how moral values should be determined (normative ethics), what morals people actually abide by (descriptive ethics), what the fundamental nature of ethics or morality is, including whether it has any objective justification (meta-ethics), and how moral capacity or moral agency develops and what its nature is (moral psychology).[3] In applied ethics, for example, the prohibition against taking human life is controversial with respect to capital punishment, abortion and wars of invasion. In normative ethics, a typical question might be whether a lie told for the sake of protecting someone from harm is justified. In meta-ethics, a key issue is the meaning of the terms "right" or "wrong". Moral realism would hold that there are true moral statements which report objective moral facts, whereas moral anti-realism would hold that morality is derived from any one of the norms prevalent in society (cultural relativism); the edicts of a god (divine command theory); is merely an expression of the speakers' sentiments (emotivism); an implied imperative (prescriptive); falsely presupposes that there are objective moral facts (error theory). Some thinkers hold that there is no correct definition of right behavior, that morality can only be judged with respect to particular situations, within the standards of particular belief systems and socio-historical contexts. This position, known as moral relativism, often cites empirical evidence from anthropology as evidence to support its claims.[4] The opposite view, that there are universal, eternal moral truths are known as moral absolutism. Moral absolutists might concede that forces of social conformity significantly shape moral decisions, but deny that cultural norms and customs define morally right behavior.

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[GBart]

This is what made this show great. It's thoughtful, relevant, and believable. It's not about flashing lights and explosions in space, it's about philosophy, ethics, and reason. That must be what turns most people off to it.

[YellingSilently]

very out of sync with the video.

[bozzutoman]

When ST:TNG employed serious ethical dilemma like this episode, it rocked... when it resorted to technobabble and deus ex machina plot resolutions, it sucked.

I wish there were more like this... or my favorite, "Yesterday's Enterprise".

[wraith1117]

who is to say which history is better,..mine or yours..

[Raxarax]

@DragonMagi Holy crap ur right... never thought of that before. Ha! and I knew there was a good reason I no longer watch tv...

[DragonMagi]

you will never find this sort of thing in modern TV, ever.

[edeldoe]

@Nursesaids Also Max Hedroom, If you remember him :p

[refuckulate420]

@natedaug1

Lol thanks.

[natedaug1]

@refuckulate420 Real mature.

[RustyKoi]

@Mark2790 I thought he sounded like Bill Nye!

[refuckulate420]

@natedaug1

So is your mother