Theory of Knowledge

     Ethics

Hello Everyone!

     Lately in our TOK class, we've been studying ethics and moral reasoning. What is ethics? Ethics comes from the Greek word ethikos, meaning 'character'. It refers to the customary way to behave in society. "Ethics" is a word often misused by people. In better terms, ethics means the same as "moral philosophy", or the study of how to live our lives morally. In other words, ethics does not mean the same as morals; it is the study of morals.

     What is morality? From the Latin word moralis, concerned with which actions are right and which are wrong. In TOK Ethics, it's tempting to conclude that because there is no assent about standards of right and wrong, it follows that there is no knowledge in ethics. After all, individuals and cultures do not have the same moral standards. Incidentally, our ethical judgements are just that: judgements. In ethics we are dealing with the purity of truth. No matter what, we can make better or worse judgements in ethics although our task in TOK is to know the difference. Ethics is one of those 'special' areas of knowledge that is not found in the IB Diploma hexagon - it's an extra topic that we only seriously consider in TOK.

- Felicinda J.