Introduction: Ethics and morality are a branch of philosophy dealing with moral principles. Morals conceptualise the tenets of human character or behaviour as good or bad, right or wrong. However, morals are an individual and subjective concept which vary across individuals, cultures and time. Intentions, decisions and actions which may be considered moral by one individual or society may be considered amoral by another. The need for an organised system of guidelines, which can be universally applicable to all members of a society and against which all moral or immoral actions can be judged is the driving factor behind foundation of ethics.
History of ethics: A study of ancient Mesopotamian, Greek and Indian cultures over the millennia give a unique insight into ethics as a structural foundation of civilised society. The historical aspect of ethics and ethical systems helps guide present and future generations towards a harmonious and secure society across regional, organizational and global stages.
Study of ethics: A study of moral philosophy endeavours to classify ethical systems based on various schools of thought which act as the guiding principle on which an ethical system is structured. The major branches of ethical philosophy include descriptive ethics which studies the prevalent ethical and moral standards, normative ethics which evaluates the prevalent moral norms and their interpretation and application, meta-ethics which reevaluates the prevalent ethical systems and applied ethics dealing with ethical considerations specific to a particular field.
Importance in life and clinical orthopaedics: In this chapter, the authors have attempted to outline the importance of a structured ethical system in various walks of life, including personal, professional and social. A sound ethical system clearly outlines moral versus amoral behaviour, provides an objective means for judging the morality of decisions and actions, provides aids to teaching moral behaviour to new members of a society, defines behaviour of individuals professionally and personally, guides individuals in making decisions over issues of moral conflict or ambiguity and helps maintain structure and order in society so as to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number. The authors also discuss the essential role played by ethics in the life and practice of the modern-day Clinical Orthopaedician.
Keywords: Applied ethics; Descriptive ethics; Fundamental rights; Humanity; Meta-ethics; Morality; Morals; Normative ethics; Values.
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