Ethics is the philosophical investigation of 'oughtness' (what we should and should not do) and the analysis of the justifications employed in various moral systems. It asks by what set of standards ought a person or a society regulate its behavior. Historically, ethical systems aim at 'the good' (and thereby aim at doing what is 'right'). Defined differently for each system, 'the good' is the end to which our actions must aim.
There are two basic types of ethical systems: consequentialist and non-consequentialist. Consequentism focuses on the outcome of one's actions, and one brand, utilitarianism, focuses on the net overall utility for everyone (whether ‘utility’ is counted as happiness, pleasure, income, opportunity, or something else). Accordingly, an act is morally right if the greatest good is achieved, or the most pain is avoided, for the greatest number of people. So, by consequentialist standards, it would be wrong to raise the standard of living of a minority of the population at the expense of the rest. However, (and this is one of the biggest objections to consequentialism) raising the standard of living for the majority could be achieved by unjustly oppressing a small minority. This is an unwanted result of the consequentialist principle: ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’. There is no principled way to calculate utility so as to assure that justice is distributed equally to everyone. On the other hand, non-consequentialist, or deontological, systems deny that outcome is the only criterion for determining the morality of an action, rather, principles, a person's intentions, and many other situational factors are relevant. Accordingly, it may be considered denontically immoral to kill one person for the purpose of harvesting his organs to save ten other people, even though the net 'good' would be greater.
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