The Complex Nature of Ethics - Assignment Example

Nonconsequentialist asserts that acts are good or bad according to their consequences. Thus, the rational approach encourages ethical behavior. Again, the theory of utilitarianism believes that acts which result in maximum happiness to a maximum number of people are ethically right. These are complex theories because nothing is white or black but has shades of grey. Thus killing for extortion is wrong but killing in self-defense is right.

Interestingly in a civil society, law, and ethics often clash because while the law deals with the wrongdoings of people, it wrongdoings its judgment on the evidence of those acts, ethics primarily relies on the intangible guidelines of good and bad actions which are universally accepted.
Thus, what could be legally wrong could also be construed as ethically correct behavior. For example, in some places, euthanasia is legal but many think that it is ethically wrong because killing in any form is wrong. In the contemporary environment of advancing technology and globalization, ethical consideration in personal and professional lives has become important because technology has provided people with a strong tool to exploit others. Read More