From time to time I enjoy trying to get a conversation started on some subject or another…….not always successful but at least I try……I do this because I would like to hear what others think about some of the deeper issues of our time……….

Would you like a subject that will make you talk to yourself and possibly making you argue with yourself?  If so then you are looking for the subject of…..ETHICS!

First let us look at the definition of the term……..what is ethics?  The Internet encyclopedia of Philosophy has a good one……..

The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general subject areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? Metaethical answers to these questions focus on the issues of universal truths, the will of God, the role of reason in ethical judgments, and the meaning of ethical terms themselves. Normative ethics takes on a more practical task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others. Finally, applied ethics involves examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war.

Morality?  Now there is a subject that is just as irritating as ethics….but that will be for another day and another post……….where do our ethics come from these days?

From the Bible…..or maybe our education…..or from our personal philosophy…….and then there could be from the family unit…….where oh where?

Many of us want to believe that we are a Judeo-Christian country with a like minded philosophy….but yet some of the commandments that we are suppose to live by are broken daily….daily killings….wanton lying……to mention a couple….so if we cannot live by a couple of fairly simple ‘rules’….then can we say we are an ethical people?

Can society teach ethics?  Not to my mind.  We can pass laws that force us to act in a specific way but does that make us ethical?

Can education make us more ethical?  Now this is a good subject.  My answer is not in today’s world……we are NOT taught anymore…..we are given to memorization and that does not lead to retention.  Also philosophy is not taught much anymore unless one wants to be a philosopher or than that it is a elective and only taken to fill a gap not to learn about ourselves……

Ethics is open to opinion……and I bet there will be someone that will jump all over this subject……..