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Introduction

Humans have been created with the best of nature; they are the best creation created till now. The only thing that distinguishes a human from an animal is wisdom. Humans have been blessed with capability to think, analyze, rationalize, compare, contrast and then finally make the most appropriate decision that brings maximum benefit. These decisions are heavily governed by some morals and principles, and the same moral and principles govern the behavior of the individual. These morals and principles are known as ethics. Scholars, experts and researchers have been arguing on the topic from a long time that what kind of ethics should actually be allowed and considered morally good. The following paper highlights the same issue i.e. which school of thought is more logical in terms of ethical behavior. Moreover it also points out the ways that how these ethics can be learned.

Discussion

Ethics is an important part of every person’s life. The definition of ethics is different for every individual and they perceive the concept of ethics according to their own level of understanding and perception. It can generally be understood as a notion that consists of the moral principles and theories that define that how a person should behave in a certain situation. These are the established standards to define what is right and what is wrong. The concept of ethics is merely based upon the actions and the results or consensuses of these actions.

Theories or Principles of Ethics

According to philosophy, there are mainly two school of thought that define the concept of ethics or moral principles: Deontology and Consequentialism . The concept of Deontology states that a person should stick to the rules and regulations. Also he/she may never drift away from their predefined duties. This concept does not care about the results these actions will bring and urges an individual to focus on the duties assigned to them only. On the other hand, consequentialism states that an individual should go after the consequences, instead of caring about the way of doing things. I believe that Consequentialism is the best way to define and learn ethics, as it focuses on the general well-being and goodness in the end.

The Best Way to Learn Ethics

This is another point of debate that ethics can be learned or taught. Philosophers, psychologists, experts and researchers have been debating on the topic and presenting their own set of opinions in this respect. One school of thought states that ethics is a value or a set of values that cannot be learned. It is a concept that cannot be injected in the brain of an individual and they bring their own set of ethics with them in this world . In contrast to this, another group of philosophers believes that ethics is a trait that can be learned and taught to some individual incomplete sense. I would like to go with the later concept. In my personal opinion, ethics is a concept that can be learned and taught in its whole nature. In fact a person learns ethics from his or her personal observation, life experiences and society. Society proves to be the biggest teacher in this respect.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it can be concluded that ethics proves to be the guiding light for an individual how they should perform their actions and modify their behavior. The two important schools of thoughts in philosophy, deontology, consequentialism and virtue ethics base themselves purely upon auctions and their consequences. In my personal opinion, the best approach towards ethics and its learning is Consequentialism, where the consequences of an action matter, instead of the way of doing it. The best way to learn ethics is through society and the surroundings in which a person lives and survives.

End Notes

Kagan, Shelly. Normative ethics. Routledge, 2018.

Peters, Richard Stanley. Ethics and Education (Routledge Revivals). Routledge, 2015.