The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ethics:
Ethics – major branch of philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life. It is significantly broader than the common conception of analyzing right and wrong. A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying, which is held by many philosophers to be more important than moral conduct.
Ethics can be described as:
a branch of philosophyRight vs. wrongThe following examples of questions that might be considered in each field illustrate the differences between the fields:
Descriptive ethics: What do people think is right?Normative ethics (prescriptive): How should people act?Applied ethics: How do we take moral knowledge and put it into practice?Meta-ethics: What does "right" even mean?Applied ethics – using philosophical methods, attempts to identify the morally correct course of action in various fields of human life.
Economics and businessBusiness ethics – concerns questions such as the limits on managers in the pursuit of profit, or the duty of 'whistleblowers' to the general public as opposed to their employers.Development ethics (economic development)Ethics in managementEthics in pharmaceutical salesLifeboat ethics (economic metaphor)Bioethics – concerned with identifying the correct approach to matters such as euthanasia, or the allocation of scarce health resources, or the use of human embryos in research.Ethics of cloningVeterinary ethicsNeuroethics – ethics in neuroscience, but also the neuroscience of ethicsUtilitarian bioethicsOrganizational ethics – ethics among organizations.Professional ethicsAccounting ethics – study of moral values and judgments as they apply to accountancy.Archaeological ethics –Computer ethics – deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct.Ten Commandments of Computer EthicsEngineering ethicsJournalism ethics and standardsResearch ethicsInternet research ethicsLegal ethicsMarketing ethicsMedia ethicsMedical ethics (aka clinical ethics)Evidence-based medical ethicsMilitary medical ethicsNursing ethicsEthics of technologyTechnoethics – the ethics of technology in societyEthics of terraformingCyberethicsEthics of artificial intelligenceMachine ethics – the moral behavior of artificial moral agentsRoboethics – the moral behavior of humans as they design, construct, use and treat artificially intelligent beingsInternet ethicsInformation ethicsSocial ethics – ethics among nations and as one global unit.Population ethicsSexual ethicsBridge ethics – codes of ethics applied during play of the card game known as contact bridge.Environmental ethics – concerned with issues such as the duties of humans towards landscapes and species.Animal rights – also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings.Climate ethics – concerned with the ethical dimensions of climate change, and concepts such as climate justice.Environmental virtue ethicsTrail ethicsEthics of eating meatPublic sector ethicsGovernment ethicsEthics in public administrationInternational Ethics – in international relationsRegulatory ethicsMeta-ethics or moral epistemology– concerns the nature of moral statements, that is, it studies what ethical terms and theories actually refer to.Moral nihilism – the meta-ethical view that nothing is intrinsically moral or immoral (see also nihilism)Moral syncretism – the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory moral beliefs, often while melding the ethicalpractices of various schools of thought.
Moral relativism and relativismFallibilism – the philosophical principle that human beings could be wrong about their beliefs, expectations, or their understanding of the worldMoral skepticism – a class of metaethical theories all members of which entail that no one has any moral knowledgParticularismRationalismConventionalismAxiologyFormal ethicsRationalityDiscourse ethics – discovering ethical values through argumentEthics of justiceLawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral developmentEvolutionary ethicsNeuroethics – ethics in neuroscience, but also the neuroscience of ethicsSituated ethics – a view of applied ethics in which abstract standards from a culture or theory are considered to be far less important than the ongoing processes in which one is personally and physically involvedNon-cognitivism
EmotivismPrescriptivismCognitivism
Philosophical realismNaturalismEthical subjectivismMoral realismUniversalisabilityNormative ethics – concerns what people should believe to be right and wrong.
Consequentialism – moral theories that hold that the consequences of one's conduct are the true basis for any judgement about the morality of that conduct. Thus, a morally right act (or omission) is one that will produce a good outcome (the end justifies the means).UtilitarianismDeontological ethics – approach that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules.Moral absolutism – view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, regardless of their circumstances such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. Thus stealing, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good (e.g., stealing food to feed a starving family), and even if it does in the end promote such a good.Graded absolutismPragmatic ethicsVirtue ethics – describes the character of a moral agent as a driving force for ethical behavior.Aristotelian ethics – the beginning of ethics as a subject, in the form of a systematic study of how individuals should best live. Aristotle believed one's goal should be living well and "eudaimonia", a Greek word often translated as "well-being" or "happiness". This could be achieved by the acquisition of a virtuous character, or in other words having well-chosen excellent habits.Nicomachean Ethics – most popular ethics treatise by AristotleEudemian EthicsMagna MoraliaEudaimonism – system of ethics that measures happiness in relation to morality.Ethics of care – a normative ethical theoryEthical egoism – the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interestLiving EthicsReligious ethicsDivine command theory – claims that ethical sentences express the attitudes of God. Thus, the sentence "charity is good" means "God commands charity".Ethics in the BibleAyyavazhi ethicsBuddhist ethicsBuddhist ethics (discipline)Christian ethicsSituational ethics, a Christian ethical theoryIslamic ethicsIslamic bioethicsJewish ethicsJewish business ethicsJewish medical ethicsReligious valuesPlaying God (ethics)Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and EthicsEthics and religious culture – a course taught in all elementary and high schools in QuebecReligious views on business ethicsEthics (Scientology)Ethics of circumcisionSecular ethicsBiocentrism (ethics) – an ethical point of view which extends inherent value to non-human species,[1] ecosystems, and processes in natureAltruism (ethics) – an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help, serve, or benefit others, if necessary at the sacrifice of self-interestRights ethics (thought in the American and French Revolutions)Feminist ethicsDescriptive ethicsValue theoryPhilosophy of economicsPolitical philosophyPhilosophy of lawDeontic logicReligious ethicsAction theoryPractical reasoningMoralityVisual ethicsEthics of beliefHistory of ethics in Ancient GreeceHistory of business ethicsCompliance and ethics programHistory of animal rightsHistory of animal testingHistory of medical ethicsHistory of computer ethicsContemporary ethicsGolden RuleSilver RuleHarm principleNon-aggression principleAutonomyEgalitarianismRights and legal concepts
Natural and legal rightsHuman rightsJusticeRightsPolitical freedomJust WarConsentRule according to higher lawGuidelines and basic concepts
PrincipleVirtueNorm (philosophy)Universal code (ethics)Value (ethics)Extrinsic value or instrumental valueIntrinsic value (animal ethics)Intrinsic value (ethics)Ideal (ethics)Commensurability (ethics)Moral responsibilityHappinessSufferingConscienceFree willDual loyalty (ethics)Evasion (ethics)Trust (social sciences)Communist Party of China 52 code of ethicsEnron Code of EthicsEthics in Government ActMedical Code of EthicsUN Principles of Medical EthicsList of ECHR cases concerning legal ethicsNative American Graves Protection and Repatriation ActCanadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and EthicsCommission on Federal Ethics Law ReformCommittee on Publication EthicsDistrict of Columbia Board of Elections and EthicsEthics & Religious Liberty CommissionEthics CommissionEthics Commissioner (Canada)Ethics Committee (European Union)Ethics committee (disambiguation)Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human BiotechnologyInternational Bioethics CommitteeInternational Ethics Standards Board for AccountantsJeffersonville Ethics CommissionNevada Commission on EthicsOffice of Congressional EthicsOklahoma Ethics CommissionPennsylvania State Ethics CommissionSan Francisco Ethics CommissionTexas Ethics CommissionThe President's Council on BioethicsToi Te Taiao: The Bioethics Council – New Zealand council on bioethnics, 2002-9United States House Committee on EthicsUnited States Office of Government EthicsUnited States Senate Select Committee on EthicsNobel Peace PrizePayne Award for Ethics in JournalismCarnegie Council for Ethics in International AffairsCenter for Ethics at Yeshiva UniversityCenter for International Media EthicsCenter for Religion, Ethics and Social PolicyCenter for bioethics and medical humanitiesCentre for Applied EthicsCentre for Applied Philosophy and Public EthicsCentre for Human BioethicsCentre for Values, Ethics and the Law in MedicineCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in WashingtonComputer Ethics InstituteCumberland School of Law's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and EthicsEthics AdviceLine for JournalistsEthics Resource CenterEthics and Democracy NetworkEthics and Excellence in Journalism FoundationEthics and Public Policy CenterFeminist Approaches to BioethicsFoundation for Thought and EthicsInstitute for Business and Professional EthicsInstitute for Ethics and Emerging TechnologiesInstitute for Global EthicsInstitute for Science, Ethics and InnovationInstitute of Business EthicsInternational Neuroethics SocietyInternational Society for Environmental EthicsJohns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsKenan Institute for EthicsKennedy Institute of EthicsKennedy Institute of Ethics JournalKirby Laing Institute for Christian EthicsMaguire Center for EthicsMarkkula Center for Applied EthicsNational Catholic Bioethics CenterNational Core for NeuroethicsNational Tribunal of Journalistic EthicsNihon Ethics of Video AssociationNuffield Council on BioethicsSchool for Ethics and Global LeadershipSociety for Business EthicsSociety of Corporate Compliance and EthicsSociety of Jewish EthicsSt James Ethics CentreStandard Ethics Aei – sustainability rating agency based in BrusselsThe Soderquist Center for Leadership and EthicsSydney Bioethics ProgramUniversity of Toronto Joint Centre for BioethicsConfucius (551–479 BCE)Socrates (469–399 BCE)Plato (424/423–348/347 BCE)Aristippus (c. 435–356 BCE)Aristotle (384–322 BCE)Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE)Epicurus (341–270 BCE)Jesus (7–2 BCE – 30–36 CE)Epictetus (55–135 CE)Augustine of Hippo (354–430)Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)David Hume (1711–1776)Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)Georg W. F. Hegel (1770–1831)Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860)John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900)Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)William James (1842–1910)Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948)John Dewey (1859–1952)G. E. Moore (1873–1958)Paul Tillich (1886–1965)Karl Barth (1886–1968)J. L. Mackie (1917–1981)G.E.M. Anscombe (1919–2001)John Rawls (1921–2002)Bernard Williams (1929–2003)Philippa Foot (1920–2010)Alasdair MacIntyre (1929– )Thomas Nagel (1937– )Derek Parfit (1942– )Peter Singer (1946– )Jonathan Dancy (1946– )Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNAEthics BowlFoucault–Habermas debate concerning power within societyEthics in America – television series, 1988-9Lindner Ethics Complaint of the 83rd Minnesota Legislative SessionNicomachean Ethics – most popular ethics treatise by AristotleEudemian EthicsMagna MoraliaEncyclopaedia of Religion and EthicsEncyclopedia of EthicsEthics, Institutions, and the Right to PhilosophyEthics (book)Life sciences, ethics and democracyHow to Observe Morals and MannersSearch for Destiny or the Twenty Seventh Theorem of Ethics – science fiction novelThe Ethics of AmbiguityThe Ethics of LibertyThe Methods of EthicsRationality and Power: Democracy in PracticeGenethics: The Clash between the New Genetics and Human ValuesPractical EthicsAmerican Journal of BioethicsBioethicsBusiness Ethics QuarterlyBusiness and Professional Ethics JournalCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare EthicsEnvironmental EthicsEthics & International AffairsEthics (journal)Ethics and LanguageExperiments in EthicsIRB: Ethics & Human ResearchJournal of Business EthicsJournal of Business Ethics EducationJournal of Empirical Research on Human Research EthicsJournal of Ethics & Social PhilosophyJournal of Information EthicsJournal of Medical EthicsLegal Trends in BioethicsNarrative Inquiry in BioethicsNotre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public PolicyProfessional EthicsReligion & Ethics NewsweeklyTeaching EthicsThe Economics and Ethics of Private PropertyThe Freedom Paradox: Towards a Post-Secular EthicsThe Journal of Ethics