Ethical concepts
Ethical concepts are described as the most basic building blocks of ethics (Mizzoni, 2010). They are thoughts or notions— general ideas formed in the mind, perhaps derived or inferred from specific occurrences or instances (Mizzoni, 2010). Ethical concepts include rights, duty, virtues, happiness, tolerance, freedom, and justice, among others (Mizzoni, 2010). In general, concepts are used in any thinking that we do (Mizzoni, 2010).
Ethical principles
Ethical principles can be defined as the common goals that each theory tries to achieve in order to be successful (McShane & Von Glinow, 2012).Examples of ethical principles include the Golden rule, the principle of “the end does not justify the means”, the principle of utility, and the categorical imperative, among others (Mizzoni, 2010).
Ethical theories
Mizzoni (2010, pp.4) describes ethical theories as attempts “to pull together a collection of ethical concepts and principles into a coherent whole in order to answer an ethical question or solve an ethical problem.” Ethical principles and theories are use unconsciously by us when we are drawing logical conclusions and making logical judgments (Mizzoni, 2010). Examples of ethical theories include ethical universalism and social contract theory (Mizzoni, 2010).
Ethical tradition
An ethical tradition is a theory that has taken a life of its own— it has a theoretical center that passes from generation to generation (Mizzoni, 2010). In other words, an ethical tradition is a living theory (Mizzoni, 2010). In contrast to tradition, an ethical theory may be changed and modified (Mizzoni,
References: McShane, S.L. & Von Glinow, M.A. (2012) Organizational Behavior. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Mizzoni, J. (2010). Ethics: The basics. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell.