Ethics is a branch of philosophy which deals with the rightness or wrongness of actions. As you might imagine, many people throughout the ages have expressed widely differing opinions regarding this subject, and the discussion continues to this day. The purpose of this book is to lay forth the arguments made by various ethical thinkers throughout the past and to encourage the reader to seriously consider and think critically about these issues.

Ethics is really a question about how we determine what is right and wrong in a given situation. We are faced with ethical decisions all the time, from the mundane question of whether it is fine to transfigure your husband's noisy and irritatingly affectionate cat into a toilet scrubber while he is away on a business trip to the more serious question of whether it is permissible to use an Unforgivable Curse in self-defense. Note that this book will not deal with the legality of any given issue, but rather with the arguments for and against the morality of that issue. Ethics is what informs our laws and statutes, and those who feel that a law does not reflect a correct view of ethics are free to lobby for that law to be changed or repealed.

There are several prominent ethical theories which we shall discuss in this book. For those with a more academic background in ethics, we shall be discussing normative ethics, general principles by which one ought to act, in this chapter, and then we shall move on to applied ethics for the rest of the book, in which we examine how these ethical frameworks can be applied to various magical issues. There are other branches of ethics, and I encourage the interested reader to look further into them. Different ethical frameworks will have different perspectives on various issues, but each has its own broad principles which are then applied to specific cases. Let us briefly discuss each of these in turn before moving on to the various magical issues and seeing how these principles might be applied.

Many ethical theories have their origins in ancient Greece, long before the International Statute of Secrecy was implemented. As such, the foundation of these ethical frameworks come from Muggles such as Socrates and Epicurus, and in the millennia since then, wizards have built upon these basic foundations, developing and refining the ethical frameworks, fitting them to the unique ethical challenges posed by the magical community.

Certain early ethical theories do not deal as much with how one ought to act but with the attitude or approach one ought to have to the whole process. Socrates was one of the first to propose that ethics should be derived from reason and reflection upon the self. Aristotle, an intellectual descendent of Socrates, built on this idea, claiming that when one finds self-fulfillment, he will naturally do what is right. The idea here is that if one develops virtue within himself, he will do good of his own accord. While these sentiments are admirable, and the appeal to using reason with regards to ethics is of value, these early Virtue Ethics systems as they are called are not very useful in determining what one ought to do in everyday life. More recently, a school of thought has developed which builds on these early forms of Virtue Ethics, claiming that one's own inner virtue or the virtue of one's intentions should be taken into account when considering whether an act is ethical. Sometimes it is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason. This thinking has affected magical law, as motive is often considered in criminal trials. While virtue ethics does not give us clear direction on how to act, it does emphasize the importance of acting for the right reasons, which is often overlooked by other ethical systems.

One of the earliest attempts at a more practical ethical theory was developed by Epicurus, another Muggle Greek philosopher. He developed an ethical philosophy which claimed that pleasure, if correctly understood, would coincide with virtue. Over time, other ethicists have developed his ideas to develop what are known as Consequentialist theories of ethics. In consequentialism, the thing which determines the rightness or wrongness of an action is the consequences which result from that action. Consequentialists believe that the action which produces the most beneficial outcome is the most ethical. Among consequentialists, there is often disagreement over what it means for an outcome to be beneficial. In general, they define pleasure as being desirable and pain as being undesirable. Rowena Longbottom is credited with devising the Principle of Utility, which states "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong," though some scholars argue that she may have stolen this idea from the Muggle philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Regardless of who first said it, the Principle of Utility is the most widely accepted definition for what consequentialists think of as a beneficial outcome - "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." A notable Consequentialist from recent history was the late Albus Dumbledore, who, both in his correspondence with the Dark Wizard Grindlewald and in his actions during the two Wizarding Wars demonstrated that in his mind, only the final positive outcome was important to him, even if the means used to achieve it were not always admirable.

A rival theory to Consequentialism is Deontology, which states that what makes an action good or bad is not the consequences of the action, but the act itself. To deontologists, certain acts, such as truth-telling or sparing the life of a conscious being are good in and of themselves, regardless of what consequences may result. This is often tied to the concept of honor, in which certain behaviors are considered to be bad, even if done in the name of a good cause. Godderic Gryffindor is notable for writing a treatise in which he championed this ethical philosophy, in which he advised, "We should take care that in the pursuit of justice we do not act unjustly ourselves." Certainly, this ethical theory does bear some weight in the magical world, since the act of killing can actually weaken and damage one's soul. As one might expect, amongst deontologists there is much concern over which rules one ought to follow or which acts are intrinsically good. Certainly, some acts are shown to have some magical significance, but even in these cases, it is not always clear whether there is an ethical dimension to such acts or not. 

Yet another ethical theory which has some popular support as well as precedence within magical society is Role Ethics. In Role ethics, different acts are considered to be ethical for different classes of people. For example, it is considered ethical for an Auror to inflict bodily harm upon a dark wizard as part of his role in society, even though in general most would agree that people ought not to inflict bodily harm on one another. Role ethics also espouses the idea that one ought to treat members of different classes differently. Role ethicists would argue that one has different ethical duties to his servants than he does to his equals. Role ethics has been a part of wizarding culture since before written records have existed. Role ethics is sometimes espoused by those who believe in the superiority of pure-blooded wizards, believing that blood status ought to determine one's role in the magical community, and thus the standards of ethics which one must adhere to. Role ethics also comes into play when discussing magical creatures with intelligence similar to that of humans, such as centaurs and house elves.

These ethical frameworks are not all mutually exclusive. Role Ethics and Virtue Ethics both work equally well with Consequentialism as they do with Deontology. Wizarding law even manages to blend Deontological Ethics and Consequentialist Ethics to some degree, and these various ethical systems often clash with each other in our society. By understanding these various ethical theories, we can better understand such conflicts and form our own opinions on which ethical systems should inform our individual actions and legal policies.

Follow-up Questions:

What are some important areas of your life where ethics is relevant?

Which of these ethical frameworks makes the most sense to you? Why?