Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
PRE-ASSESSMENT
1. Which of the following best represents John Stuart Mill's view of pleasure?
a. All pleasure is equally valuable.
b. Pleasure is one of many things that are intrinsically valuable.
c. Some pleasures are “higher” than others and thus more valuable.
d. Both a. and b
2. Why is the lack of a method for measuring well-being a problem for utilitarians?
a. It shows that utilitarianism requires immorality.
b. It renders utilitarianism incapable of giving concrete advice.
c. It proves that the theory is excessively committed to impartiality.
d. All of the above.
3. What is a decision procedure in ethics?
a. A theory that tells us which actions are right and which are wrong.
b. A calculation of the total benefits of an action.
c. A method for making moral decisions.
d. A theory that tells us when intentions are morally good or bad.
4. How would most utilitarians characterize the principle of utility?
a. It is a standard of rightness.
b. It is a decision procedure.
c. It describes the single appropriate motivation when making choices.
d. All of the above.
5. What is supererogation?
a. Behaving in a self-interested manner.
b. Doing what is morally required of you.
c. Violating another person's rights.
d. Doing something that is admirable and praiseworthy but not morally
required.
6. How should we regard utilitarianism's commitment to impartiality?
a. It is entirely a strength of the theory.
b. It is entirely a weakness of the theory.
c. It is irrelevant to the merits of the theory.
d. It is in some ways a strength and in others a weakness.
7. Which of the following would the utilitarian regard as wrong in all possible
circumstances?
a. Violating someone's rights.
b. Performing an action that is not optimific.
c. Killing an innocent person.
d. None of the above.
8. Which of the following responses to the problem of injustice is not consistent with
utilitarianism?
a. Justice must sometimes be sacrificed for the sake of well-being.
b. Justice is intrinsically valuable.
c. Injustice is never optimific.
d. In almost every case, the just action will also be the one that maximizes
well-being.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
9. What is the primary motivation for rule consequentialism?
a. It is thought to solve the problem of injustice.
b. It avoids the irrational rule worship of act utilitarianism.
c. It allows for more moral flexibility than act utilitarianism.
d. It vindicates all actually existing social norms.
10. What is the attitude of most consequentialists toward rule consequentialism?
a. It is an improvement over other versions of consequentialism.
b. Other versions of consequentialism are preferable to it.
c. It is an equal contender in the debate among consequentialists.
d. It turns out to be equivalent to ethical egoism
Learning Tasks
Task 1: If you have an argument with somebody (friends, parents, stranger, etc.),
what are the steps you create in your mind on how to interact with them? Explain why
those steps are necessary.
Let the situation calm first. If it already
calmed, I will start the conversation by
asking what happened?
If he/she answers angrily, I respond calmly and
explain my side’s feelings too. I explain logically
to avoid continuous misunderstanding.
I will leave a statement that will make
him/her guilty of what she/has spoken
to me.
I will differentiate our (both) mistakes and will
clear out the misunderstanding.
I will apologize if needed, but I will explain also my
feelings for him/her to be aware the next time the
cause of the argument will happen.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
Task 2: Who is the person you argue the most? What is the main reason for these
are arguments? How do you settle this arguments?
The person I argue the most is my
girlfriend, sometimes my younger
siblings.
I argue with my girlfriend due to reasons that she doesn’t
update me whenever or whatever she is doing and I am
waiting for her reply.
I settle the argument by explaining to
her why do I need her update
Tell her that I need to know exactly where she is
and what she is doing for me not to worry.
After that, I’ll let the situation be calm and she
agrees with me afterward. As long as we both
listen to each other there are no worries.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
ANALYSIS
1. Knowing the step in moral reason, what changes can you apply to your
answer in task 1?
Stop and think. I should reflect and meditate first on what
words to be used when starting the conversation.
I will set goals of what do I want and need to
know. Set goals that will satisfy or fulfill
the needs to fix the issue
I should verify truth or facts other than
opinions. I should prepare information to
prove something else.
Set the right plans. I will not think aggressively or
think about decisions that should be done right away
without prior thinking of outcomes.
I will leave a conversation that will both lead us to think rationally
and logically. We should have an agreement before we depart each
other. We/I should make a decision that is free from grudge and
willing to be corrected.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
2. Do you think all these step are applicable to all? Give example for applying
all step and give example which you can not apply all steps. Provided a 5-10
sentences for each example.
EXAMPLE 1
When arguing with someone who accused you because you lied, first,
it is good to stop and think. Do not fight back with the person right away.
Meditate words to be used when talking with that person. Second, I should set
goals, “what is this person trying to do with me?”,” when did I lie?”, “I lied for
what?”. Third, I should investigate what the person is trying to accuse me.
Find reliable sources, identify the person’s moral background, and people who
are he/she with all the time. Fourth, I will create options, whether I will fight
back or make peace with him/her even if I didn’t make it. I should talk with
mature persons who can give me wisdom and pieces of advice that will at
peace the argument. Fifth, I should think in advance about the possible
consequences of my options. Then, that’s the time after I pre-assess my
options to choose the best thing to do. After doing so, I will monitor the
person’s behavior if he/she has changed from accusing or telling lies to
everyone.
EXAMPLE 2
These steps are not appropriate to situations such as abrupt
circumstances such as murder scenes. If a person is in that situation, a
person cannot decide, determine facts, clarify goals, develop options,
consider consequences, and monitor a person automatically because of the
driving emotions a person has.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
ABSTRACTION
Knowing about impartiality, how does it affect your decision making? Answer
in 3-5 sentences
Being impartial means holding decisions should be based on objective
criteria, rather than based on bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one
person over another for improper reasons. In terms of my decision-making, I
have realized that it is important to identify first the truth behind the argument
above everyone’s biases. I will verify the truth first, think critically and logically
to become impartial and fair among others. Truth matters and opinions are
merely people’s doubts that sometimes convince someone to be biased in the
situation too.
APPLICATION
Task 3: Knowing the existence of these steps, are there changes in your decision
making? Using the situation on task 2, narrate how you will create a decision based
on the moral reason model while integrating impartiality.
Step 1: I WILL STATE WHAT IS THE PROBLEM ALL ABOUT. I will identify what
makes the situation worst and why I feel so uncomfortable about it.
Step 2: CHECK FACTUAL pieces of evidence. I should verify factual proof of why the
situation has happened in that way.
Step 3: IDENTIFY RELEVANT FACTORS. I should identify factors or reasons why
the argument happened in that way. Whether external or internal.
Step 4: MAKE A LIST OF OPTIONS. As a decision-maker, I should prepare a list of
plans to cope with the problem, I will prepare backup plans within my plans.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
Step 5: TEST THE OPTIONS. If the first option did not work, try another plan that will
work out. See-through the proper solution to the problem.
Step 6: MAKE A CHOICE. After testing the options that’s the time I will make a
choice. A choice that I am sure enough that will ease the problem around.
Step 7: REVIEW STEPS. After preparing plans and options and choices, I will review
steps to ensure effectiveness and efficacy.
Task 4: Create a comic strip via social media that would present the moral reason
model on an argument with your parents or guardian. Place your comics on the
space provided below.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
Reflection
I have learned that ethical reasoning is a way of thinking about issues of right
and wrong and that each person has standards that are defined by their
values which come into play when the person faces certain dilemmas or
decisions. I have also learned that there are seven (7) steps in making ethical
choices.
I have realized that some of my ways in decision-making are not right and
illogical. these wrong ways of decision-making have bought me trouble in past
situations because of the way I think. Now, that I know the seven steps of
ethical choice-making, I am more able to make decisions that are logical and
critical without prejudice and biases.
I will apply what I have learned from this lesson by making choices that are
just and fair. I should not hurt other people by making terrible mistakes
because of nonsense and opinionated choices.
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
POST ASSESSMENT
1. According to Lawrence Kohlberg, most people never achieve the justice stage of
moral reasoning.
a. True
b. False
2. The type of criminal justice system we prefer is based on our understandings of
what justice is (or what justice is not).
a. True
b. False
3. Because eyewitness testimony is the most accurate evidence possible,
exonerations only occur in cases without eyewitnesses.
a. True
b. False
4. Procedural justice holds that justice is achieved when fair procedures are followed.
a. True
b. False
5. Individual justice theory is mainly concerned with group equality.
a. True
b. False
6. Restorative justice places its primary emphasis on the punishment of individual
offenders.
a. True
b. False
7. The libertarian ideological perspective emphasizes the need for an active
government to promote justice.
a. True
b. False
8. Steps take-in after the abolition of apartheid in South Africa illustrate transitional
justice.
a. True
b. False
9. That what people believe is real, becomes real to them, is one tenet of
postmodernist justice.
a. True
b. False
10. The central idea of John Rawls's theory of justice is guaranteeing proportionality
between crime and punishment.
a. True
b. False
11. Cohen's study of the costs of robbery is an example of seeking to achieve
utilitarian justice in a mathematical function.
a. True
b. False
Subject: ETHICS
LESSON 5
12. What produces the greatest good for the greatest number is a principle of
commutative justice.
a. True
b. False
13. People may engage in vigilante justice when they have little confidence in the
established criminal justice system.
a. True
b. False
14. The mechanical model of criminal justice focuses on compliance with law.
a. True
b. False
15. Individual offender rehabilitation is the central idea of the participatory model of
justice.
a. True
b. False
