Applied Ethics: An Overview

Abstract

Plato in ancient times described moral philosophy as that which enquires ‘how we ought to live’. Raphael says moral philosophy makes you more rational, more responsible, more of a human being. Wittgenstein makes three apparently different statements regarding the theory and practice of ethics. (1) Ethics is a condition of the world, (2) Ethics is transcendental and (3) Ethics does dictate do’s and do not’s and guide actions. Peter Singer thinks that practical ethics is neglected. Knowledge of moral practice must not be conceived as purely theoretical knowledge of moral phenomena, but as practical knowledge about how we ought to live. The goal is not simply to know what goodness is, but to become good. The philosopher is called upon to give a blueprint of becoming good in different stations of life. This is called ‘Applied Ethics’. In the commercial turn of current global concern, every academic discipline has come out with their applied facet and philosophy has it in two ways: Applied Ethics in the narrow outreach and Applied Philosophy as the wider outreach. A philosophical view is not sought for in media debates, policy decisions and law court disputes. in this topsy-turvy world, the philosopher is required to come out of his space of meditation to the space of action and place on the table what he has to offer by way of resolution of a given problematic. The Upanisads and the Bhagavadgita, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Mahapurana are the primers of applied ethics. They do not belong to any religion or community. These texts are the paradigms of secularity and are meant for the welfare of the whole of humanity and rest of the created beings. I conclude by saying that applied ethics in one sense is over undertaken and in another sense not at all over undertaken.