pcr 311 - National Open University of Nigeria

PCR 311 Philosophies and Great Personalities of Peace
Ethics
Ethics, like philosophy, has no universal definition. It could be;
• a branch of philosophy which deals with morality of human
conducts
• a branch of philosophy which studies the norms of human
behaviour.
• the systematic study of fundamental principles of the moral law.
• the normative science of human conducts. Ethics is a science in
the wider sense and not in the narrow sense.
Normative Science
Empirical sciences are descriptive; they describe the way things are and
the way things behave. While ethics tell us the ways things ought to be,
normative science deals with norms or standards of human behaviour.
Ethics & Morality
The relationship is similar to that of logic and thinking or religion and
morality. The latter is the basic form of the former ethic which pre-supposes
that we already have a sense of morality.
Synthetic Apriori Knowledge
The postulation of synthetic apriori knowledge is an attempt by some,
notably, Kant, to reconcile the old quarrel between the rationalist and the
empiricist – “all knowledge begins from experience but not all knowledge arises
out of experience”. Some truth are related to experience but they are not
derived from experience, hence, cannot be contradicted by experience. Such
truths are found in laws of physics, mathematics, and in ethical principles.
These truths are not derived from experience but from apriori concept of
human understanding, imposed on experience, making the object of experience
appear to man the way they do and to conform to the structure of human
mind.
The purpose of Ethics
The study of ethics is for the purpose of ensuring that human behaviour
conforms to norms and standards of the society.
Political Philosophy
Unlike political science, it is a systematic study of the society with a view
to making the society, not only just, but egalitarian.
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