The theme of week three is all about what ethics is and how it helps people to do argument and make judgment ethically and morally. For this reflection our topic of debating is “lying is less harmful than killing”. Before writing about this I like to say what ethics is actually. The term ethics derived from the Greek word ethos which means custom, habit, character or character. It talks the dilemmas how to live a good life, our rights and responsibilities, what is good and bad?
Actually ethics is a division of philosophy that try to find to address questions about morality which consists of the concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong, justice, and virtue. Simply we can say that ethics is a structure of moral principles that affects how people make decisions and lead their lives.
It supplies us a moral map. By means of the framework of it we can use to find our way through difficult issues. However sometimes ethics doesn’t offer people direct solution of help that they really want. In some cases we have to depend on situation rather than ethics only. From my side lying is better than killing because the consequences of lying and killing are not same. Even the punishment law for both of these are not same. Almost everyday people are lying for the sake of their escape .It easy to tell a lie. We can apologize for telling lie later but we cannot give back lives after killing. Nevertheless killing a man is not as easy as lying. For example, let say I am going to see a cinema. Than my teacher asks me where am I going? So I can easily tell him an untruth whatever I want. But I cannot slay him rather than expressive a falsehood. Of course in some cases telling a lie carries untold sufferings for many. In such kind of issues it well to kill someone if it protects numerous others as well.
Indeed for many ethical matters there isn’t a single right answer. It can give several replies. Here may be several right reactions, or just some least bad responses – and the individual must pick between them carefully.