The study of "Ethics" is one of the many subsections of Philosophy such as Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Religion, and Aesthetics. Before considering various ethical theories after which I will look at a number of theories regarded as "Anti-ethics" approaches, it is important to consider what all the study of ethics entails.
Ethics and Morality
Ethics may be defined as "the study of morality" and the word "ethics" is commonly used interchangeably with the term "morality." (Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd Edition, "Ethics", 284) Though admittedly overly simplistic, this writer makes a number of distinctions between the two however.
First, it seems that the term "ethics" frequently though not always is used in a more general sense than is the term "morals." When the term "ethics" is employed in much conversation, it is frequently used to speak of the discipline in general or the ethics of a particular people group for instance. This stands in contradistinction to the use of the term "morals" which is frequently, though not always, used to speak of the morality of a particular person. It is in this sense that it at least seems that when we think of "ethics" we have in mind a more general idea concerning standards of right and wrong whereas when we use the term "morals" we are speaking on a more personal or individualistic level.
Another important distinction which this writer makes between the terms "ethics" and "morals" lies in my own conclusion that in some fashion, when we use the term "ethics" we are speaking of how things "ought" to be, in contradistinction to use of the term "morals" which seems to speak of how things "are." The typical distinction between these terms lies in the conclusion that to speak of "ethics" is to speak of prescriptive ethics, whereas to speak of "morals" is to speak of descriptive ethics. The term "ethics" speaks of the ethical ideal that we are pursuing while the term "morals" speaks of the actuality moral status of the present moment or decision.
As a subsection of Philosophy, ethics is also known as "moral philosophy." The study of ethics is further broken down into subsequent topics such as deontological ethics, teleological ethics, Cognitivist ethics, non-Cognitivist ethics, metaethics and applied ethics for example.
