Ethical Systems Essay Example

There are seven different major ethical systems and they are: ethical formalism, utilitarianism, religion, natural law, ethics of virtue, ethics of care, and egoism. All seven of these ethical systems are dealt with on a daily basis and sometimes it is hard to determine which one you are dealing with. Ethical systems intertwine with one another and make up how humans respond and react to situations they are faced with every day. Each ethical system has its own way of coming across to each individual, and it is also going to depend on how each individual person looks at the problems and situations they are dealing with. Ethical formalism is the good that conforms to the categorical imperative (University of Phoenix, 2005). I also believe that ethical formalism is deontological, because even though something is done for the good of man it can still turn out bad. This has to deal more with the laws of the situation not the judgment part of the problem. Ethical formalism gives people necessary and sufficient outcomes when dealing with a decision to morality. Unlike when you are judging someone on what they did, you have to look at the laws before you can do anything. Ethical formalism is the root where everything starts. Determining whether or not something was good or bad is going to occur after you look at the governing factors to the situation the person was dealing with. A good example of ethical formalism would be making a decision to figure out if the behavior is acceptable and if it is a law that is to be followed by everyone. Say a student wanted to cheat on test, the ethical formalism part of the scenario would be that all the other students should be allowed to cheat on the test also. If one person can do something that you know is against the law but thinks it is right than everyone else should be allowed to do it too. Utilitarianism is the good that results in the greatest utility for the greatest number (University of Phoenix, 2005). Utilitarianism