What Is Ethics?

Many individuals do not have a system but a code - simply a list of things they will or won't do. But any serious thinker finds this inadequate.

Since ancient times, philosophers have analyzed these questions in depth. For instance, Epictetus the Stoic said, "Here is the beginning of philosophy; a recognition of the differing opinions among men, a search for their cause, and the discovery of a standard of judgment."

This takes us to the deepest question of ethics: "What should be done?" How does ethical conduct relate to reality? If there is no god, no ultimate reality, anything is permissible. When people do whatever comes into their heads, there are two alternatives: total chaos or extreme repression. The pragmatic dimension of ethics is simply that in order to function, work must be done, order must prevail or humanity will die.

Today there is a growing emphasis on multiculturalism, both within the United States, and to deal with the massive and continuing expansion of world trade and world markets. So we need to ask the ancient questions again, to understand the foundations of different religions and philosophies, and how they affect the thoughts and actions of peoples who follow them.

One way to deal with multicultural diversity is the natural law theory, which was first developed by the Romans, and which has been widely adapted and used by civilized peoples around the world for nearly two thousand years. In spite of their many religions and philosophies, most peoples, whether they're organized as a small tribe or a complex empire, have laws against stealing, murder, false testimony, and so forth. Thus, this theory says, it is possible to find common values and reach a basic consensus.

There is, as already stated, a pragmatic element to ethical thought, because actions do have consequences. Thus, when the church and state in seventeenth century France took a strong position against dueling, it was because dueling was so widespread that hundreds of their best soldiers were killing themselves fighting each other instead of an enemy. Dueling, in fact, was actually compromising France's military security. Thus, dueling was antisocial, unethical and a crime against the state.

In any event, one cannot operate on pure pragmatism alone, which deals only with what is useful, because what is useful is based on all sorts of overarching principles. Yet many of us live unconscious of the overarching principles guiding us. If man is just an ape, or an animal, killing people just because their existence is inconvenient makes a lot of sense. As one Communist administrator said when reproached for killing 100,000 people, "What would you do with a herd of sick cows?" However, if human beings are the children of God, and the creatures of the Creator, they have transcendent, intrinsic worth, which makes killing them a contradiction of the overarching principle of their value.

All ethical systems, in addition, tend to have a religious foundation of some sort. This is because men, unless they are held to a transcendent standard beyond themselves, will generally use any excuse they can think of to resolve ethical questions by brute force. The Nazis, the Communists, and the Ku Klux Klan, among others, all have used this approach; only the excuses have changed. Of course, even what men call a transcendent standard can backfire disastrously, as Islamic fundamentalism has proven again and again.

So we see that throughout all of human history, ethics or principles governing conduct have been a vital and important consideration in affairs of government, commerce, society, and relationships. It all comes down to finding objective standards for what is to be done, rather than operating from subjectivism and immoralism.

Previously published on Associated Content.

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