Learn About Ethical Practices and How They Apply In The Real World

Ethical behaviour in business is beneficial for both company and consumer. Understanding the basics of ethical thought, from the field's early evolution through to applications in today's world, is useful across disciplines. Even more imporabtly, ethics study can help improve personal outcomes.

Developing appropriate business ethics and developing the procedures to ensure all staff do the same is a strong first step to marking your mark in the 21st century.

Course Duration: 100 hours

Course Structure

There are nine lessons in this course.

1. Overview and Introductory Ethics
   • Who invented ethics? What are its origins?
   • Ethics and Philosophy
   • Current Ethical Theories
   • Divine Command Theory of Ethics
   • The Theory of Forms Theory of Ethics
   • Theory of Relative Ethics
   • The Three Areas of Ethics
   • What determines your own Ethics/ Sense of Morality?
2. Arguing an Ethical Position – An Overview of Meta Ethics
   • Metaethical Theories
   • Expressivism Theories (Non-Cognitive)
   • Accommodating Varying Viewpoints
   • Different Ethical Viewpoints
   • Ethical Dilemmas
3. Virtues and Morality
   • Developmental Model of Virtue Ethics
   • Morality
4. Reasons for Ethical Decisions
   • Theories of Ethical Decision-Making
   • The Theories in More Detail
   • The Principle of Double Effect
5. The Social Contract
   • Principle of Self-Interest
   • Theories of Social Contract
   • Twentieth Century Social Contract Theory
6. Applied Ethics A - An Individual’s Rights
   • Basic Human Rights
   • The Underpinning Values of Human Rights
   • Categories of Human Rights
   • Human Rights Breaches
   • Applied Ethics A
7. Applied Ethics B - An Ethical Society
   • What Is An Ethical Society?
   • Applied Ethics B
   • Case Study: African Caribbean People and Schizophrenia
8. Applied Ethics C - Ethics in Work and Business
   • Why do Organisations Need Ethics?
   • Applied Ethics C - Organisations and Professions
   • Benefits of Ethics in Healthcare

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How Does a Person Become Ethical or Unethical in the First Place?

This is a concept that rests on the assumption that people are not born with moral virtues; but that those virtues through life.

Aristotle suggested that virtue develops through habit. He considered that if we do something good repeatedly, it becomes a habit, and we then tend to continue acting in that way. Virtue itself however is not a habit but requires thought and consideration. Developing the right habits helps us to behave virtuously. Someone who develops into a virtuous person over the course of their lifetime does so because they act in a kind manner in many different situations. It is not acquired through a sense of duty.

Virtue ethics theories highlight the role of character and virtue in morality rather than duty or acting in ways to bring about favourable outcomes. These models do not attempt to pinpoint universal principles which can be applied to different ethical dilemmas. That is, they don't aim to state what is right or wrong behaviour but rather what type of person we could be in order to lead a good life, and to that end they propose that we should develop a virtuous character.

Principle of the Golden Mean

This is the concept that virtues are positioned between two extremes (e.g. eating too much and eating too little) and is one of the principles adopted in virtue ethics.

Buddha reportedly said that his philosophy was to live the middle way. In Chinese philosophy, there also exists the Doctrine of the Mean, which was put forward by Confucius and advocates taking a pathway between extremes.

Aristotle espouses a similar viewpoint, suggesting too much or too little of anything was not as good as something in the middle.  Aristotle argued that the golden mean is a desirable middle ground between two extremes, so one of deficiency and the other of excess. An example is courage. Too much courage can be seen as recklessness, not enough and it can be seen as cowardice.

In virtue ethics, the mean of a virtue is equivalent to the appropriate amount. In some cases it may be appropriate to show more courage or less courage. The mean amount depends upon the situation and the individual.