Etica

Etica, or ethics, is the branch of philosophy that studies moral principles, values, and judgments that guide human conduct. It asks what is morally right or wrong, good or bad, and how people ought to live. The term derives from the Greek ethos, meaning character, and the discipline has developed into diverse subfields and theories.

Normative ethics examines standards for right action and the justification of those standards. Major approaches include deontology, which emphasizes duties and rules; consequentialism, which evaluates actions by their outcomes; and virtue ethics, which focuses on character and flourishing.

Metaethics explores the nature of moral judgments and moral language, asking whether moral truths are objective, subjective, or culturally relative, and what constitutes moral facts or properties.

Applied ethics considers practical questions in areas such as medicine, business, technology, and the environment, addressing issues like patient consent, corporate responsibility, and climate justice.

History of ethics spans ancient to contemporary thought. Classical theories include Aristotle’s virtue ethics and the Stoics; medieval thinkers like Aquinas linked ethics to religious doctrine; modern philosophers such as Kant and Mill offered competing frameworks of deontology and utilitarianism; and liberal egalitarian accounts by Rawls and others influenced contemporary discussions.

Ethics intersects with law, religion, anthropology, and social policy, and remains a field marked by ongoing debates about moral objectivity, cultural diversity, and how best to apply reason to human conduct.