Ethics is the study of how we ought to live. It asks what is right and wrong, good and bad, virtuous and vicious. It is not just about big dilemmas. It is about everyday choices: whether to keep a promise, how to treat a stranger, what to do with power. The word comes from the Greek ethos, meaning character or habit. The Latin equivalent, mores, gives us morality. The two terms overlap, though some philosophers use ethics for the theory and morality for the practice.

Ethics divides into three main areas. Metaethics asks what moral language means and whether moral truths exist. Normative ethics proposes theories about how to act. Applied ethics addresses specific issues like abortion, euthanasia, and animal rights. The major normative theories are consequentialism, which judges acts by their outcomes; deontology, which grounds morality in duty and rules; and virtue ethics, which focuses on character. Each has strengths and weaknesses, and debates among them continue.

Branches of ethics

• Metaethics. The nature of moral language and truth.
• Normative ethics. Theories of right action.
• Applied ethics. Moral issues in practice.
• Descriptive ethics. How people actually behave.

Ethics is not the same as law or religion, though it overlaps with both. It appeals to reason and experience, not authority alone.