3.2 Preliminary remarks of cchapter 3

In the previous learning unit, we defined terms that appear in more or less every discussion about ethics. This was necessary in order to provide greater clarity and certainty when dealing with questions of ethics in mining. This is because discussions on ethics can quickly become heated and emotional. It is very easy to get into fundamental areas of our thoughts and actions in such disputes. This concerns areas in which we are confronted with our values and the values of other people. These different values can sometimes clash sharply. After all, it is about nothing less than what we should or should not do for moral reasons.

Our recognition in certain communities - or our exclusion from certain communities - is in turn linked to these moral concepts. A moral is a system of values that is actually practised in a community and by which the members of this community orientate and evaluate their actions. Ethics, on the other hand, is the (scientific) reflection on morality. Ethics questions morality and is therefore much more fundamental. This is also applicable for questions about the relationship between ethics and mining that are central to this course.

In this third learning unit, different approaches and theories of ethics will therefore be outlined so that a deeper understanding of moral and ethical contexts is made possible and practical judgement in ethical questions is sensitised and can be trained.