Ethics, Crime and Justice

Ethics, Crime and Justice

The Meaning Of Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live. Ethics involves making moral judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad. Right and wrong are qualities or moral judgments we assign to actions and conduct. Within the study of ethics, there are three branches: metaethics, concerned with methods, language, logical structure, and the reasoning used in the interpretation of ethical terms, for example, what exactly does the term “good” mean; normative ethics, concerned with ways of behaving and standards of conduct; and applied ethics, concerned with solving practical moral problems as they arise, particularly in the professions, such as medicine and law.

Ethics provides us with a way to make moral choices when we are uncertain about what to do in a situation involving moral issues. In the process of everyday life, moral rules are desirable, not because they express absolute truth, but because they are generally reliable guides for normal circumstances (Singer 1995: 175). The focus of this book is on normative and applied ethics, particularly the exploration and analysis of ethical dilemmas and conflict situations that arise within the criminal justice system.

The Value Of Ethics

Do we need to study ethics? One view is that if we need to make a decision about a dilemma that confronts us, we can do so without any knowledge of ethics. From this perspective, ethics is too abstract and theoretical and is not related to the practical world. Another view is that we need a system of rules and principles to help guide us in making difficult decisions when moral issues arise. If we cannot draw upon an ethical framework, we have to rely ...