Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Macroethics and microethics
open-in-new
<p>Macroethics (from the Greek prefix "makros-" meaning "large" and "ethos" meaning character) is a term coined in the late 20th century to distinguish large-scale ethics from individual ethics, or microethics. It is a type of <a href="/facts/Applied_ethics/2hJ71mWo">applied ethics</a>. Macroethics deals with large-scale issues, often in relation to ethical principles or normative rules to guide action. </p><p><i>Microethics</i> is a term introduced by Paul Komesaroff in 1995 and elaborated in a series of subsequent works. The concept, which draws especially on the work of the philosophers <a href="/facts/Edmund_Husserl/xKlMH2KN">Edmund Husserl</a> and <a href="/facts/Emmanuel_Levinas/Wq5VmzrU">Emmanuel Levinas</a>, is based on the recognition that most ethical decisions in everyday life are not taken on the basis of explicit rational argument or calculation but rather occur in a continuous flux of relationships and dialogues. Often the processes of microethical judgments are <a href="/facts/Intuitive/Mshu0Vxb">intuitive</a> and may even go unrecognised at the time. It is the accumulation of infinitesimal microethical moments that composes the large-scale ethical landscapes in which we live. </p><p>Macroethics tends to emphasise principles, universal claims and <a href="/facts/Normative/CgTa03KU">normative</a> rules, while microethics is context-specific and local, and acknowledges the role of modalities of communication and decision-making that go beyond rational argumentation. Macroethics and microethics are complementary and coexist in most ethical settings. Komesaroff has elaborated the dynamics of microethical <a href="/facts/Ethical_decision-making/LY8TIm9c">decision-making</a> in a variety of practical, often intimate, contexts. </p><p>If a researcher only acts within the bounds of one's research, i.e. exclusively microethical, the research may still be unacceptable from a societal perspective if it violates macroethical principles. Conversely, purely macroethical considerations are often disengaged from the concrete lifeworlds of ethical subjects and so lack coherence or relevance. </p>