Final answer:
Ethical patterns of knowing are obtained from sources including experience, culture, and rational thought, with perspectives varying from the belief in objective moral truths to subjective and cultural relativism. Examples include divine command theory and ethical naturalism.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ethical pattern of knowing is derived from various sources, including personal experience, cultural norms, religious or philosophical beliefs, and rational thought. One may argue that there are objective sources of moral knowledge, suggesting that some ethical truths are universal, while others believe that ethics are subjective or relative to cultural norms and individual beliefs.
For instance, Socrates believed that knowledge of the good is key to a virtuous life, linking ethics with epistemology. Similarly, one might contend whether morality is an innate sense within oneself, such as through one's conscience.
Other approaches to ethics may include appeal to divine authority, the natural world, or shared human institutions. Each of these foundations offers different perspectives and justifications for understanding and practicing ethics.
An example of the ethical pattern of knowing derived from religion would be the divine command theory, which posits that an action's moral value is determined by whether it aligns with God's commandments.
In contrast, ethical naturalism, which bases morality on human nature and rational understanding, exemplifies a secular approach to ethics. These various approaches illustrate how people discern and justify what is right or wrong, ethical or unethical.