Editing Applied ethics

{{Short description|Practical application of moral considerations}}
{{Redirect|Practical ethics|the book|Practical Ethics{{!}}''Practical Ethics''}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=September 2011}}
'''Applied ethics''' is the practical aspect of [[morality|moral]] considerations. It is [[ethics]] with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396577/obo-9780195396577-0006.xml |title=Applied Ethics |website=Oxford Bibliographies |access-date=25 June 2017 |first1=    Thomas Søbirk |last1=Petersen |first2=Jesper |last2=Ryberg |date=2010 |doi=10.1093/obo/9780195396577-0006 |isbn=978-0-19-539657-7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719051943/http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396577/obo-9780195396577-0006.xml |archive-date= Jul 19, 2017 }}</ref> For example, [[bioethics]] is concerned with identifying the best approach to moral issues in the life sciences, such as [[euthanasia]], the allocation of scarce health resources, or the use of human embryos in research.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/disability-care-rationing/ |title=Disability and Health Care Rationing |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=25 June 2017 |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Department of Philosophy, Stanford University |date=Jan 29, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://archive.today/20240115193840/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/disability-care-rationing/ |archive-date= 15 Jan 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/ |title=Voluntary Euthanasia |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Department of Philosophy, Stanford University |access-date=25 June 2017 |orig-date=Apr 18, 1996 |date=May 24, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130806163130/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/ |archive-date= 6 Aug 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stem-cells/ |title=Ethics of Stem Cell Research |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Department of Philosophy, Stanford University |access-date=25 June 2017 |orig-date=Apr 25, 2008 |date=Dec 19, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615184259/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stem-cells/ |archive-date= 15 Jun 2013 }}</ref> [[Environmental ethics]] is concerned with ecological issues such as the responsibility of government and corporations to clean up pollution.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/envi-eth/ |title=Environmental Ethics |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=25 June 2017 |first1=Alasdair |last1=Cochrane }}</ref> [[Business ethics]] includes the duties of [[Whistleblowing |whistleblower]]s to the public and to their employers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-business/ |title=Business Ethics |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Department of Philosophy, Stanford University |access-date=25 June 2017 |orig-date=Nov 17, 2016 |date=Jun 8, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212231107/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-business/ |archive-date= 12 Dec 2012 }}</ref>

== History ==
Applied ethics has expanded the study of ethics beyond the realms of academic philosophical discourse.<ref>Bayertz, K. (2002) Self-enlightenment of Applied Ethics, in: Chadwick, R and Schroeder, D. (eds.) Applied Ethics, Vol1. 36–51, London: Routledge</ref> The field of applied ethics, as it appears today, emerged from debate surrounding rapid medical and technological advances in the early 1970s and is now established as a subdiscipline of moral philosophy. However, applied ethics is, by its very nature, a multi-professional subject because it requires specialist understanding of the potential ethical issues in fields like medicine, business or information technology. Nowadays, [[ethical codes]] of conduct exist in almost every profession.<ref>Giorgini, V., Mecca, J. T., Gibson, C., Medeiros, K., Mumford, M. D., Connelly, S., & Devenport, L. D. (2015). Researcher perceptions of ethical guidelines and codes of conduct. Accountability in research, 22(3), 123–138.</ref>

An applied ethics approach to the examination of moral dilemmas can take many different forms but one of the most influential and most widely utilised approaches in bioethics and health care ethics is the four-principle approach developed by [[Tom Beauchamp]] and [[James Childress]].<ref>Beauchamp, T. L. and Childress, J. F. (1994) Principles of medical ethics, New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> The four-principle approach, commonly termed [[principlism]], entails consideration and application of four [[prima facie]] ethical principles: [[autonomy]], [[Primum non nocere|non-maleficence]], [[Beneficence (ethics)|beneficence]], and [[justice]].

==Underpinning theory==
Applied ethics is distinguished from [[normative ethics]], which concerns standards for right and wrong behavior, and from [[meta-ethics]], which concerns the nature of ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and judgments.<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/ap-ethic/#H7 "Applied Ethics"] Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 25 June 2017.</ref>

Whilst these three areas of ethics appear to be distinct, they are also interrelated. The use of an applied ethics approach often draws upon these normative ethical theories:

# [[Consequentialism|Consequentialist ethics]], which hold that the rightness of acts depends only on their consequences.<ref>{{Citation|last=Sinnott-Armstrong|first=Walter|title=Consequentialism|date=2019|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/consequentialism/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Summer 2019|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=2021-02-16}}</ref> The paradigmatic consequentialist theory is [[utilitarianism]], which classically holds that whether an act is morally right depends on whether it maximizes net aggregated psychological wellbeing. This theory's main developments came from [[Jeremy Bentham]] and [[John Stuart Mill]] who distinguished between [[Act utilitarianism|act]] and [[rule utilitarianism]]. Notable later developments were made by [[Henry Sidgwick]] who introduced the significance of [[motive (law)|motive]] or [[intent]], and [[R. M. Hare]] who introduced<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hare |first=Richard Mervyn |title=Moral thinking: its levels, method, and point |date=1992 |publisher=Clarendon Pr |isbn=978-0-19-824659-6 |edition=7th impr |location=Oxford}}</ref> the significance of [[preference]] in utilitarian decision-making. Other forms of consequentialism include [[prioritarianism]].
# [[Deontological ethics]], which hold that acts have an inherent rightness or wrongness regardless of their context or consequences. This approach is epitomized by [[Immanuel Kant]]'s notion of the [[Categorical Imperative|categorical imperative]], which was the centre of Kant's ethical theory based on [[duty]]. Another key deontological theory is [[Natural Law|natural law]], which was heavily developed by [[Thomas Aquinas]] and is an important part of the [[Catholic Church]]'s teaching on morals. Threshold [[deontology]] holds that rules ought to govern up to a point despite adverse consequences; but when the consequences become so dire that they cross a stipulated threshold, consequentialism takes over.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Alexander|first1=Larry|title=Deontological Ethics|date=2020|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/ethics-deontological/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Winter 2020|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=2021-02-16|last2=Moore|first2=Michael}}</ref>
# [[Virtue ethics]], derived from [[Aristotle]]'s and [[Confucius]]' notions, which asserts that the right action will be that chosen by a suitably 'virtuous' agent.

Normative ethical theories can clash when trying to resolve real-world ethical dilemmas. One approach attempting to overcome the divide between consequentialism and deontology is [[case-based reasoning]], also known as [[casuistry]]. Casuistry does not begin with theory, rather it starts with the immediate facts of a real and concrete case. While casuistry makes use of ethical theory, it does not view ethical theory as the most important feature of moral reasoning. Casuists, like Albert Jonsen and [[Stephen Toulmin]] (''The Abuse of Casuistry'', 1988), challenge the traditional [[paradigm]] of applied ethics. Instead of starting from theory and applying theory to a particular case, casuists start with the particular case itself and then ask what morally significant features (including both theory and practical considerations) ought to be considered for that particular case. In their observations of medical ethics committees, Jonsen and Toulmin note that a consensus on particularly problematic moral cases often emerges when participants focus on the facts of the case, rather than on [[ideology]] or [[theory]]. Thus, a Rabbi, a Catholic priest, and an agnostic might agree that, in this particular case, the best approach is to withhold extraordinary medical care, while disagreeing on the reasons that support their individual positions. By focusing on cases and not on theory, those engaged in moral debate increase the possibility of agreement.

Applied ethics was later distinguished from the nascent [[applied epistemology]], which is also under the umbrella of [[applied philosophy]]. While the former was concerned with the practical application of moral considerations, the latter focuses on the application of epistemology in solving practical problems.<ref>Carvallo, M. E. (2012). Nature, Cognition and System I: Current Systems-Scientific Research on Natural and Cognitive Systems. Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 68. <nowiki>ISBN 978-94-010-7844-3</nowiki>.</ref>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
*{{annotated link|Economic ethics}}
*{{annotated link|Effective altruism}}
*{{annotated link|Macroethics and microethics}}
*{{annotated link|Medical ethics}}
*{{annotated link|Outline of ethics}}
*{{annotated link|Philosophy}}
*{{annotated link|Precautionary principle}}
*{{annotated link|Master of Applied Ethics}}
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book| first=R.F. | last=Chadwick | year=1997 | title=Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics | location=London | publisher=Academic Press | isbn=0-12-227065-7  }}
* {{Cite book| first=Peter | last=Singer | year=1993 | title=[[Practical Ethics]] | publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=0-521-43971-X }} (monograph)
* {{Cite book| first=Andrew I. | last=Cohen | year=2005 | title=Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | isbn=978-1-4051-1548-3 }}
* {{Cite book| first=Hugh | last=LaFollette | year=2002 | title=Ethics in Practice | publisher=Blackwell Publishing| isbn=0-631-22834-9 | edition=2nd }}
* {{Cite book| first=Peter | last=Singer | year=1986 | title=Applied Ethics | publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=0-19-875067-6 }}
* {{Cite book | first=R.G. | last=Frey | year=2004 | title=A Companion to Applied Ethics | publisher=Blackwell | isbn=1-4051-3345-7 | url=https://archive.org/details/companiontoappli0000unse | url-access=registration }}
* {{Cite book |last=Benatar |first=David |author-link=David Benatar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iY8aEQAAQBAJ |title=Very Practical Ethics: Engaging Everyday Moral Questions |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-19-778079-4}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box}}
* {{PhilPapers|category|applied-ethics}}
* {{Cite IEP|url-id=ap-ethic |title=Applied ethics}}

{{Ethics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Applied Ethics}}
[[Category:Applied ethics| ]]
[[Category:Ethics]]