Importance of Ethics in the Society, Essay Example

Ruggiero defines ethics as the study of right and wrong. He further continues to state that in making a certain moral decision, human beings have to choose a course of action among many options. Ethics is the study of these options taken as the right or the wrong option. When making moral decision that is difficult, human beings consider some values that are inherent in the decision and decide on what they consider as the right decision.

The importance of ethics in the society is quite pronounced, even though there are many laws in the society that are intended to guide its people. Ethics are aimed at developing and evaluating moral standards in the society. It does so by ensuring that the actions of people in a certain group in the society act in a certain way. This is by stating what is ethically acceptable in the group, for instance professionals in the health care.

Ethic also acts a guide that guides the conduct of people in the society. Ethics guide people in a certain group in the society on what they can do and what they cannot do.

Ethics are set by the people in a group in the society compared to laws that are formulated by elected officers and officers in authority. As such the members of the society or group are more likely to be believed in ethics compared to laws even though non-compliance with the law may result to punishment by the state. Also when examining the “righteousness” of an action, ethics is about reflecting on the actions guided by moral lenses compared to laws that are straight forward. This helps the society to develop its scope of actions and hence helps the law to develop.

Ethics is also in the society in that it helps people to avoid negative consequences on others. Through the actions that a human being takes, the consequences affect the rest in the society. Where the action is ethical, then the consequences are positive on the rest. This is in contrast with law where when some actions, even though legal, are taken; the consequences are negative on the rest in the society. This helps reduce suffering to people in the society.