Definitions and different approaches. 2.4.1.1 What is meant by the term ethics? 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 groups of people who are either for and against. Often there is no simple answer as to whether something is right or wrong as ethical issues tend to be multi-faceted. Possible solutions may appeal to some ethical principles and not others, just as they may benefit certain groups of people and not others. o medical and nursing ethics (considers moral values and judgements linked to medicine and nursing) o bioethics (considers ethical issues which arise in connection with the advances in biology and medicine) – medical ethics and bioethics are closely linked and there is sometimes overlap between the two In their attempt to define ethics, Xxxxxxxxxx et al. (1987) drew attention to four things that should not be considered as ethics.
