Final answer:
Ethics is the study of morality within the field of philosophy and is divided into metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Each area has a different focus and level of inquiry ranging from the nature of moral reasoning to establishing guides for behavior and applying these to specific issues.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Ethics:
Ethics is a discipline created to establish principles of the good and those of right behavior. It deals with the foundational principles that underlie moral rules and how these rules are formulated within various ethical frameworks. Different ethical principles lead to the creation of different moral rules, emphasizing the varied approaches to determining what is right and wrong. Ethics is a field within philosophy that focuses on morality, engaging in systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.
Areas of Ethics:
Ethics is often divided into three main areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics looks at the nature of moral reasoning and foundational questions, such as where moral values originate and the objective nature of morality. Normative ethics is concerned with establishing criteria or principles to guide correct behavior and includes various approaches like consequentialism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics. Lastly, applied ethics focuses on the application of moral norms to specific controversial issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and the ethical use of technology.
It is important to distinguish between ethics and morality; a person is ethical if they act in accordance with the recognized principles governing moral conduct. Philosophers have debated these principles and how best to understand and apply them to our lives, which is the essence of ethical inquiry.