ethics

Ethics and Morality

Ammoral - in between
I. Ethics
a. Etymology 1. The existence of God or a Supreme Being
- Ethos (Greek word) - Without the existence of God or Supreme being,
- Character Ethics would make no sense
-Characteristic way of acting
- There is no reason for man to deny himself evil
and pleasurable acts if there were no final
-Relationship with person judgement to dispense justice
b. Definition
- When one speaks of morality, one idea is
- Philosophical science that deals with the
presupposed - retribution
morality of human acts with reference to what is
right and wrong. Thus, it is also called moral
- Morality presupposes reward and punishment
philosophy.
2. The existence of Human Freedom
- Study of the rectitude (rightness or wrongness)
of human conduct.
- No ethics is likewise possible without human
freedom
- Study of human (actions) customs or ways of
doing things
- Responsibility, which is an indispensable factor
in Ethics, is meaningless if persons were not
- Nevertheless, in common understanding when free.
we call someone ethical or moral or unethical or
immoral, it doesn’t really make a different since
- Retribution is deserved only if men had the
their connotations are almost the same. choice to do or not to do, to follow or not to
follow.
- Scientific inquiry in the principle of morality.
- “The capacity to do, to have”
- It is based on human reason alone, which is
directed only to a natural end. 3. The existence of an After Life
- Material object: human acts - The soul is immoral. Ethics postulates that the
- Formal object: the moral rectitude of man’s soul will outlive the body.
human acts in relation to man’s natural end. - If there were not life beyond the grave, or if
would be no point in discussing justice.
II. Morality
a. Etymology
- If good deeds are not rewarded in this life, or if
evil deeds are not unpunished in this world,
- Relationship with other
proper retribution will be done in next life.
- Moralis (latin word) - The immorality of the soul is therefore the
- Customs or manners cornerstone of ethics.
- Theology
b. Definition The 3 Theological and 4 cardinal Virtues
- Morality is based on faith as well as reason, it
The 5 intellectual virtues and The 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
recognizes a supernatural end.
- It refers to the quality of goodness or badness of Theological Virtues
human acts. 1. Faith - The virtue of believing God’s word without
- It refers to the rightness and wrongness of seeing
human acts as they conform or do not conform 2. Hope - The virtue of keeping trust in Divine
to standards. Providence
- Material object: the morality of human act in 3. Charity - The virtue of loving God and His creations.
relation to man’s supernatural end.
Truth - right thing to do
The end goal of philosophy is to search for the truth and that
On Virtues and Values
is the right thing to do.
- Virtues - good habits
 ethics
- Those habits that can make a person perform well i. Publicity - the duty to take actions based on ethical
standards that must be known and recognized by all
- Vices - bad habits
who are all involved.
- There are two areas where a person can be said to j. Respect for persons - the duty to honor other their
perform his functions well as a human being: the right and their responsibilities. Showing respect to
intellect and the will others implies that we do not treat theme as a mere
- Intellect - object: to know the truth means to our end.
- Will - object: choosing the right thing or to do k. Universality - the duty to take actions that hold for
everyone regardless of time, place, or people
good // to aim the goodness of the person
involved. This concept is similar to the categorical
imperative.
Virtues are known to be of three kinds: Intellectual, Moral or
l. Veracity - the duty to tell the truth
Cardinal, Theological
Being an excellent person: Virtue
Although the theo virtues properly belong to theology and not
to philosophy:
Ethics
- Intellectual Virtues - More about character
1. Understanding
2. Science - Importance: The commitment to be a good and virtuous
3. Wisdom person
4. Art - Concerned more with character and less actions or
5. Prudence rules.

The first three intellectual virtues are known as Speculative Virtuous living leads to human flourishing
Intellect Two reasons why virtue is good for you:
1. Understanding 1. Living virtuously makes you more likely to be
2. Science successful in life.
3. Wisdom 2. Virtous lVirtuousiving embraces what it means to be
human
The last two intellectual virtues are called the virtues of
Practical Intellect (application)
1. Art ARISTOTLE’s view on Human Good
2. Prudence - Aristotle, an ancient greek virtue ethicist (384-322
BCE), used the term human good a lot. Whenever
Examples of Virtues or Values (ABCEFJNUPRUV) people perform some action, they always aim some
a. Autonomy - the duty to maximize the individuals good. For Aristotle, the good life for humans is a
right to make his or her own decisions. virtuous life lived in accord with reason.
b. Beneficence - the duty to do good both individual
and for all. Vegetative Part - plants
c. Confidentiality - the duty to respect privacy of Appetitive Part - animals
information and action. Rational Part - human soul
d. Equality - the duty to view all people as moral
equals. Phronesis
e. Finality - the duty to take action that may override
the demands of law, religion, and social actions.
- The art of good judgement
f. Justice - the duty to treat all fairly distributing the - Don’t mistake phronesis with cleverness
risks and benefits equally. - Aristotle called this final end eudaimonia (which is
g. Nonmaleficence - the duty to cause no harm both better translated as “well being”)
individually and for all.
h. Understanding/Tolerance - the duty to understand CONFUCIUS’s view on the Human Good
and accept other viewpoints if reason dictates doing
- Lived a bit earlier than Aristotle from 551-471 BC
so warranted.
- Embodies: what it means to be a human being
 ethics
- Confucius focused on the fact that human beings are - Ethicists call creating the most possible happiness and
relational beings least suffering maximizing utility, and it’s one of the
- The good life is a virtuous life lived in harmony with most important pieces Bentham’s ethical theory.
one’s social roles. Because Bentham thought utility consisted of happiness
and suffering, ethicists call him a hedonistic
REN utilitarianism. Hedonism is the view that the best life
is one of that maximizes pleasure.
- A confucian term
- “humanity” Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus
- “two persons in relation” - The intensity of pleasure or pain created by an action.
- Xiaoren - “small” or “petty” or “diminished” person - The duration of pleasure of pain created by an action.
- The certainty or uncertainty of pleasure or pain
VIRTUE following an action.
- The middle path between the extremes - The propinquity or remoteness in time of pleasure or
- Identify where the virtue lies pain following an action.
- Cultivate a habit for it - The purity or impurity of pleasure or pain following
- Avoid the extremes of “too much” or “too little” of that an action.
kind of behavior (the vices) - The extent of an action’s effects.

Extreme Vice Mean Virtue Extreme Vice Beethoven or Beer

(Too little) (Just right) (Too much) - Recognizing why some pleasures are better than other
Cowardice Courage Rashness
- Like Bentham, John Stuart Mill, another British
philosopher (1806-1873) was a utilitarian who thought
Stinginess Generosity Wastefulness that the good was happiness, pleasure, and well being.
He defended this ethical theory in a book
Insensible Temperate Indulgent utilitarianism.
- As Mill says, “its “better to be Socrates dissatisfied than
Shyness Humility Arrogance
a fool satisfied”.
- - Situation — affected: you, the bleeding victim, and
work colleagues
Increasing the good: Utilitarian ethics
- It focuses on the consequences of one’s actions. These Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
theories are known as consequentialist theories. - The German philosopher who is a central figure in
- The most famous consequentialist theory is called modern philosophy.
utilitarianism. - All the answers to ethical questions can be found in
- Good results, consequence and end principles determined by practical reason give rise to
the famous categorical imperative.
Utilitarianism: More pleasure, Less pain - He thinks that serves as the source of all ethical action
- British philosopher - Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) has to be one that:
- For Bentham, the good that humans should be pursuing ✓ Is universal, or applie to everyone
✓ Is formal, or is general enough to apply to all
is pleasure and happiness and the absence of pain and
actions
suffering. He called this view as principle of utility,
✓ Is one that people give themselves
because the amount of pleasure and pain (or happiness
and suffering) na action produces was at the time call
Difference between Principles and Rules
the action’s utility. In fact, he thought utility
(happiness, pleasure, and well being) was the highest - Rules: Essentially rules are a set of guidelines imposed
good that human beings could aim for. on you by external authorities.
- Principles: Laws you apply to yourself.
 ethics
“Kingdom of Ends” Who is Thomas Aquinas?
- As rational being belongs to the kingdom of ends as a - St. Thomas (AKA Thomas of Aquin or Aquino) (12225
member, when he legislates in it universal laws while - 1274) was an Italian philosopher and theologian of the
also being himself subject to these laws. He belongs to Medieval period.
it as sovereign, when as a legislator he is himself - What is Auinas theory of natural law?
subject to the will of no other
- What is good good and evil, according to Aquinas, is
- A rational being must always regard himself as derived from he rational nature of human beings. Good
legislator in a kingdom of ends rendered possible by and evil are thus both objective and universal.
freedom of the will, whether as a member or as a
sovereign. Thomas Aquinas on Natural Law
- God designed natural law so that humans participate in
Natural Law Theory
God’s eternal law
- A philosophy asserting that certain rights are inherent
- According to Thomas Aquinas, the first percent of
by virtue of human nature, endowed by nature—
traditionally by God or a transcendent source — and natural law is “good is to be done and pursued, and evil
that there can be understood universally thorugh human is to be avoided”.
reason. - The #1 mistake people make about natural law is that
- It is derived from the belief that human morality comes they assume that natural law is secular and non-
from nature. Everything in nature has a purpose, religious.
including humans. In short, any law that is good is - Natural law is common to all the nations.
moral, and any moral law is good. Legal positivism is a - Natural law is insufficient for human beatitude and
legal theory that is the opposite of the natural law salvation.
theory.
- A pillar of the Catholic set of laws is its understanding On the Meaning of Law and Human Law
of natural moral law, which addresses laws that aren’t - St. Thomas Aquinas defined a JUST LAW as “an
written but nevertheless known by all mena dn women ordinance of reason promulgated by competent
have the use of reason. It uses basic common sense, authority for the sake of COMMON GOOD
prudence, and justice. - A just law is a man-made code that squares with the
moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code
Divine Law / Eternal Law / Natural Law /
that is out of harmony with the moral law.
Divine Law Eternal Law Natural law
Who is St. Augustine?
Derived from eternal law as it appears Comprised of those laws that govern the refers to moral principles common to
historically to humans, especially
- St.ItAugustine
nature of an eternal univerese. is the of
mosHippo
or all(A.D.
human354-430)
cultures.was an law,
Divine
through revelation, i.e., when it appears Aglerian-Roman philosopher and theologian of
moral law; the law of nature. It is the law on the other hand, is law promulgated the by
to human beings a sdivine commands. Roman/early Medieval period
which God in the creation of man infused God via revelation.
Divine law is divided into the Old Law - He infused Christian doctrine withe Neoplatonism.
into him for his direction and
and the New Law. preservation. An ujust law isThe ethics of St. Augustine. Philosophy in St.
a human
Augustine’s
law that is not rooted in eternal law. time, was divided into three heads: the
moral, the logical, and the physical; and God, according
to Augustine, is the principle of all three. He is the
Good, the Truth, and absolutely Beautiful.

On Free Will, Predestination, and Theodicy

On Free Will On OnTheodicy

Predestination
 ethics
He rejected the Augustine taught - Bible is not always literal, but the source of faith ad
idea that evil that God orders all tradition.
exists, instead things while - The Church is a heavenly kingdom that is superior and
regarding it as a preserving human ruled by love.
corruption of freedom. Prior to
goodness, caused 396, Augustine His Philosophy
by humanity’s believed that - The social contract is the agreement by which
abuse of free will. predestination was
based on God’s individuals mutually transfer their natural right.
foreknowledge of - According to Hobbes, the lives of individuals in the
whether state of nature were “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and
individuals would short”, a state in which self-interest and the absence of
believe, that rights and contracts prevented the “social”, or society.
God’s grace was - Life was “anarchic” (without leadershio or the concept
“a reward for of sovereignty).
human assent”. - Hobbes’ naturaly philosophy: human beings are, at their
core, selfish creatures.

Beyond the Dotted Line: Contract Theory

- John Rawls and Thomas Hobbes have very different
contractarian theories. For one thing, the Hobbesian
social contract is oriented more toward everyday life,
whereas the Rawls theory is more interested in
evaluating social institutions.
- Both make extensive use of the idea of the rational
thought, and they do so in different ways.
City of God and Confessions - They provided guide lines and principle to follow,
The City of God of The Confessions of however
Augustine Augustine
What are contracts?
The City of God Against the Confessions (Latin: - When people came together to enforce their agreements,
Pagans (Latin: De civitate Confessiones) is the name of they’re entering into something pretty big: a social
Dei contra paganos), often an autobiographical work, contract. The contract forms the backbone of almost all
called The City of God, is a consisting of 13 books, by modern societies,a dn some people believe that it
book of Christian philosophy Saint Augustine of creates ethical standards as well. Many of the common
written in Latin by Hippo,written in Latin ethical restrictions people are sued to — theft, murder,
Augustine of Hippo in the between AD 397 and 400. dishonesty, and so on — are all made to be off limits
early 5th century AD. The work outlines SAint with a social contract.
Augustine’s sinful youth and
his conversion to
- This is called in ethics contractarianism or
Christianity. contractualism

Three Enlightenment thinkers

- Three Enlightenment thinkers are usually credited with
Summary of St. Augustine’s Philosophy establishing a standard view of social contract theory:
Thomas Hobbes, John Lacke, and Jean-Jacques
- Humans have reasons.
Rousseau. They each had different interpretations of
- Time is subjective. God is timeless and without change. social contracts, but the underlying idea was similar.
- We need God’s grace - John Lacke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher,
- Predetination commonly known as the “Father of Liberalism”.
 ethics
- He defended the claim that men are by nature - Heinz’s wife was near death
free and equal against claims that God had - Her only hope was in a drug a pharmacist discovered
made all people naturally subject to a monarch.
- Drug costs $200 to make, sold for $2,000
- Jean-Jacques Rosseau (1712-1778) was French
- Problem: heinz only has half the amount
philosopher believed that man, by nature, is good.
- He believed that people in the state of nature - Solution: should Heinz steal the drug or not?
were innocent and at their best and that they
were corrupted by the annaturalness of Carol Giligan disagreed. She said:
civilization. - The two children think differentky, and Amy isn’t
worse
Who is Thomas Hobbes? - Why should we assume that deciding things based on
- Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679, English philosopher “principles” is better than deciding based on “caring”
- Best known for his political philosophy, as articulated for others?
in his masterpiece Leviathan (1651) - Women’s basic orientation is towards caring
- Believed that the only true and correct form of - Are there differences?
government was absolute monarchy.
- Defined contract as “the mutual transferring of right” Some science suggests
- - Women score higher on empathy tests
Everyone ahs the right to everything.
- There are no limits to the right of natural liberty.
- Social explanation: women have been psychologically
What is Egalitarian Theory of Justice? conditioned to thrive in coming situations.
- Embodies the Kantian conception of equality and offers - Genetic explanation: women are genetically predisposed
an alternative to utilitarianism. Rawl’s theory focuses to care more.
on social justice, which he regards as a feature of a - Religious explanation: God designed each to complement
well-ordered society. each other? Yet in different ways.
- Principle of Equal Liberty: Each person has an equal - Social explanation: men have dominated women and
right to the most extensive liberties compatible with women have learned to thrive in their environments
similar liberties for all. despite their harsh treatment.

Issues unique to women

Ethics of care - Giving birth, mothering, vulnerability to rape, sexual
Turning down the testosterone: Feminist care ethics slavery
- Threat of domestic abuse
Three waves of feminism
1. First wave feminism (late 1800s-early 1900s): fought for - Disparity in pay for equal works
legal rights (e.g. voting)
2. Second wave feminism (1960s-70s): fought for a change What do they say?
in thinking. They said there are no moral or mental - Women and men are equal. Any view that doesn’t
distinctions between men and women. recognize this is mistaken.
3. Third wave feminism (1980s-present): say women and
men do thunk differently, but that’s good because: Conclusion
- women see things men don’t - The moral life is a network of close, small-scale
- Women are not inferior to men, just different relationships with specific people.
- Women should not be discriminated against as a - his ethics appeals to intuition and feeling rather than
result abstract principles.

Ethics of care conclusion

The Heinz Dilemma - Virtue ethics and ethics and care
- Lawrence Kohlberg came up with this moral dilemma: - Moral duty versus genuine care
 ethics
- Ethics of care + expertise + experience - Like Kohlberg’s it has three major divisions:
- Authentic moral person preconventional, conventional, and post conventional.
But for Giligan, the transitions between the stages are
- Use ethic as care as a guide
fueled by changes in the sense of self rather than in
changes in cognitive capability.
- Not only cognitive, but also the feelings and emotions
(ethics of care)

People behind ethics of care

Who invented feminism?

- The man who coined feminism in 1837, was a radical
French philosopher Charles Fourier (1772-1837)

Who founded feminsim?

- Wilhelmina Drucker (1847-1925) was a Dutch
politician, a prolific writer and a peace activist, who
fought for the vote and equal rights through politicial
and feminist organizations she founded. Her goal of
women’s suffrage was reached.

Proponents of ethics of care

- Nel Noddings (1929) 89 years old, is an American
Feminist, educationalist, and philosopher, best known
for her work in philosophy of education and ethics of
care
- Carol Giligan ( 1936) 82 years old, is an American
feninjst, ethicist, and psychologist best known for her
work on ethical relationships, and subject-object
problems in ethics.
- Ethics of care (care ethics or EoC) is a normative
ethical theory that holds that moral action centers in
interpersonal relationships and care or benevolence as a
virtue.

Who js Lawrence Kohlberg’s and his stages of moral

development?
- Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) was an american
psychologist best known for his theory of stages of
moral development
- He expanded on the earlier of cognitive theorist Jean
Piaget (1896-1980), Swiss psychologist known for his
work on child development.

What is Giligan’s theory of moral development?