This is my conspectus for the Ethical Choices for a Beautiful Life talk .
Ethics - moral principles that govern behavior of a person or a group.
Ethics can refer to standards of right and wrong that prescribe what a human ought to do. Ethical standards include standards relating to rights..
Laws, and social norms, or feelings can differ from what is ethical. It is necessary for individuals to frequently examine own standards to ensure that they are reasonable.
Ethics as moral philosophy involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. Moral philosophy is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory.
As a branch of philosophy, ethics investigates the questions
- "What is the best way for people to live?"
- "What actions are right or wrong in particular circumstances?"
Axiology is the philosophical study of value, collective term for ethics and aesthetics - philosophical fields that depend crucially on notions of worth.
Aesthetics studies the concepts of "beauty" and "harmony."
Aesthetics (esthetics) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and taste, creation and appreciation of beauty.
It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensori-emotional values. More broadly, aesthetics is defined as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature."