Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena, or what people ought to do. It includes three main branches: normative ethics, which seeks general principles for how people should act; applied ethics, which addresses specific real-life ethical issues like abortion; and metaethics, which explores underlying concepts and assumptions. Influential normative theories are consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. According to consequentialists, an act is right if it leads to the best consequences. Deontologists focus on acts themselves, saying that they must adhere to duties, like telling the truth. Virtue ethicists, such as Aristotle (pictured), see the manifestation of virtues, like courage, as the fundamental principle of morality. The history of ethics dates back to ancient civilizations and has evolved through religious influences in the medieval period to a more secular approach in the modern era, with the emergence of metaethics in the 20th century.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1851:

The British East India Company inaugurated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the rocky outcrop of Pedra Branca, Singapore, which later became the subject of a territorial dispute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_Branca,_Singapore

1917:

The Broadhurst Theatre opened in New York City with a performance of Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadhurst_Theatre

1975:

Two members of ETA political-military and three members of the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front, sentenced to death for murder, became the last people to be executed in Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_use_of_capital_punishment_in_Spain

1983:

American software developer Richard Stallman announced plans for the Unix-like operating system GNU, the first free software developed by the GNU Project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

busman's holiday: (idiomatic) A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/busman%27s_holiday

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Did the protection we received annul our rights as men, and lay us under an obligation of being miserable? Who among you, my countrymen, that is a father, would claim authority to make your child a slave because you had nourished him in infancy?   --Samuel Adams https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams