Morality

Ethics or morality is about what actions an individual or a member of an occupation ought to do, and it is about what kind of character an individual or a member of an occupation ought to have. It is also about what features the organizations that employ members of specific occupations ought to have and, at a more fundamental level, what organizations there ought to be. These latter questions, or sets of questions, pertain to what might be referred to as institutional ethics, as opposed to the ethics of individual behavior and attitudes outside institutional contexts. This entry elucidates the distinctions between morality and ethics and discusses normative theories and moral pluralism, illustrating these concepts with examples related to surveillance, security, and privacy.