Ideal (ethics)

Ideal (ethics)

An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal. Ideals are particularly important in ethics, as the order in which one places them tends to determine the degree to which one reveals them as real and sincere. It is roughly similar to the relative intrinsic values.

Someone who claims to have an ideal of honesty but is willing to lie to protect a friend is demonstrating that not only does he hold friendship as an ideal, but, it is more important than honesty.

However, the -ism of ideals is slightly contrasted with idealism (which is the doctrine that ideas, or thought, make up either the whole or an indispensable aspect of any full reality, so that a world of material objects containing no thought either could not exist as it is experienced, or would not be fully "real.")

In applied ethics

In some theories of applied ethics, such as that of Rushworth Kidder, there is importance given to such orders as a way to resolve disputes. In law, for instance, a judge is often called on to resolve the balance between the ideal of truth, which would advise hearing out all evidence, and the ideal of fairness, which would require keeping some evidence unfairly gathered or impossible to validate out of the process.

In politics

In politics ideals play a pivotal role. During the French Revolution, the principles of "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood" were raised to the status of ideals. The Ten Key Values of the Green Party are likewise raised to such status today. In fact, most political movements have a certain set of ideals. However, in many cases, one can easily find instances where ideals were "not lived up to" - some of which are cases where one simply proved to outweigh another for some specific decision, or where all were compromised simply to retain the power to continue to pursue them.

Idols and heroes

A different form of ideal is an idol or hero, who is held up as a moral example. Since this is an actual person or fictional character, it is too complex and multi-faceted to be considered an ideal in the abstract sense. However, when they are encountered in the form of a story, with only a few traits on display, they are a simplified archetype from which one can very easily derive stereotypes or mimicry. In Islam, for instance, the life of Muhammad is held up as "ideal", but must be interpreted for believers through the tale of his life, or sira, and his many sayings, the hadith.

Ideal and virtue

Given the complexity of putting ideals into practice, and resolving conflicts between them, it is not uncommon to see them reduced to dogma. One way to avoid this, according to Bernard Crick, is to have ideals that themselves are descriptive of a process, rather than an outcome. His political virtues try to raise the practical habits useful in resolving disputes into ideals of their own. A virtue, in general, is an ideal that one can make a habit.

Relative ideal

In formal axiology, Robert S. Hartman contended that being ideal means that something is the best member of the set of all things of that class. For example, the ideal student is the best member of the set of all students in the exact same way that the ideal circle is the best circle that can be imagined of the class of all circles. Since we can define the properties that the ideal member of a class should have, the value of any actual object can be empirically determined by comparing it to the ideal. The closer an object's actual properties match up to the properties of the ideal, the better the object is. For example, a bumpy circle drawn in the sand is not as "good" as a very smooth one drawn with a compass. In the world in general, each particular object ought to become more like it's ideal. In ethics, by analogy, each person should attempt to become more of an ideal person, and a person's morality can actually be measured by examining how close they live up to their ideal self.

ee also

* Idealism


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ideal — may refer to:* Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with PlatoIn mathematics* Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered in abstract… …   Wikipedia

  • Ethics — • Many writers regard ethics as any scientific treatment of the moral order and divide it into theological, or Christian, ethics (moral theology) and philosophical ethics (moral philosophy) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Ethics …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Ideal type — Ideal type, also known as pure type or Idealtyp in the original German, is a typological term most closely associated with sociologist Max Weber (1864 1920). An ideal type is formed from characteristics and elements of the given phenomena, but it …   Wikipedia

  • ethics — / ethic [n] moral philosophy, values belief, conduct, conscience, convention, conventionalities, criteria, decency, ethos, goodness, honesty, honor, ideal, imperative, integrity, moral code, morality, mores, natural law, nature, practice,… …   New thesaurus

  • ethics — /eth iks/, n.pl. 1. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture. 2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics;… …   Universalium

  • Ethics in religion — Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported supernatural revelation or guidance. For many people, ethics is not only tied up with religion, but is completely settled by it. Such people do not need to think too much… …   Wikipedia

  • ETHICS — IN THE BIBLE There is no abstract, comprehensive concept in the Bible which parallels the modern concept of ethics. The term musar designates ethics in later Hebrew, but in the Bible it indicates merely the educational function fulfilled by the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ethics —    by John Marks   Throughout his work, Deleuze draws a clear distinction between ethics and morality. Morality is a set of constraining rules that judge actions and intentions in relation to transcendent values of good and evil. Morality is a… …   The Deleuze dictionary

  • ethics —    by John Marks   Throughout his work, Deleuze draws a clear distinction between ethics and morality. Morality is a set of constraining rules that judge actions and intentions in relation to transcendent values of good and evil. Morality is a… …   The Deleuze dictionary

  • ethics deficit — (ETH.iks DEF.uh.sit; TH as in thin) n. The amount by which a person s actions or principles fall short of some ethical standard or ideal. Example Citation: With four state energy officials facing stiff fines because they did not require… …   New words

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”