ETHICS

● The word ethics came from the Greek word Ethos which means Custom or character.
● Studies the righteousness or wrongness of human action.
● How a human person ought to act.

Two Views on Ethics

Greek Tradition Judeo- Christian Tradition
● The main goal is to have a “Good Life” ● The main goal is “The ideas of righteousness before
God”
● The main goal is to have a “Good Life” ● Doing what is right.

Importance of rules - Rules are a set of guidelines that got created in communities and countries and get used all as a
standard. These rules usually differ from one place to the other and the differences are often determined by factors
such as social interactions, beliefs, policies, and the method of governance in place. Also, the violators of these rules
are often handled by the penalties which the laws of the land for the violation.

Types of Applied Ethics

● Bioethics - This concerns ethical issues about life, biomedical research, medicines, health care, and the medical
profession.
● Business Ethics - It examines moral principles concerning the business environment, which involves issues about
corporate practices and policies.
● Environmental Ethics - It deals with moral issues concerning nature, ecosystem, and its nonhuman contents.
● Sexual Ethics - It studies moral issues about sexuality and human sexual behavior.

Moral - It is an adjective describing human act as either ethical right or wrong.

Moral standards - Are norms that serve as the frameworks for determining what ought to be done.

Moral standards
CONSEQUENCE STANDARD NON-CONSEQUENCE STANDARD
- Depends on result or outcome. - Based on the Natural Laws.
- Greatest good of greatest numbers - Law of God that is written in the hearts of men.
- Based on goodwill
- Sense of duty that you wish to apply to all human
people.

Non-Moral standards:
• Social Rules, Etiquette, and Good Manners

COMPLIANCE OR NON-COMPLIANCE
MORAL STANDARD NON-MORAL STANDARD
- Causes guilt. - May only cause shame and embarrassment.

CLASSIFICATION OF THEORIES OF MORALS STANDARDS – GARNER AND ROSEN (1967)

CONSEQUENCE STANDARD NOT-ONLY CONSEQUENCE STANDARD

- Teleological - Deontological
- The act is wrong depending on the consequences of the - Right and wrong depends on the sense of duty.
act. - Natural Law
 WHAT MAKES STANDARD MORAL?
THEIST NON-THEIST
- Moral standards are commandments of God revealed to - Based on sages like Confucius and Kant
man through prophet - Don’t do unto others what you don’t want
others to do unto you. – Confucius
- “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at
the same time will that it should become a universal law”
– Immanuel Kant, Categorical Imperative.

FREEDOM
● Exercising our capacity to make decisions, choose or life path and direct the course of our live
through our own steering/
● Humans have freedom.
● Dilemmas presuppose Freedom
● Without freedom it is impossible to make a moral choice
● Making moral choices is a necessary consequence for being free, a consequence of being a human person.

FACTICITY - Refers to the “givens” of our situation.

CULTURE
● Total way of life.
● Ralph Linton (1945) defined the culture of a society as 'the way of life of its members: the collection of ideas and
habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to generation'

Culture is transmitted through:

Enculturation Acculturation Assimilation

CULTURAL RELATIVISM - The idea that a person’s beliefs, values and practices should be understood based on that
person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another.

THE FILIPINO CHARACTER

POSITIVE TRAITS NEGATIVE TRAITS
1. Regards for others 1. Extreme personalism
2. Family Centeredness 2. Extreme family centeredness
3. Hospitality 3. Mañana habit
4. Sense of Humor 4. Ningas-Cogon
5. Faith and Religiosity 5. Kanya-Kanya Syndrome
6. Creativity 6. Crab Mentality
7. Hard Work 7. Colonial Mentality
8. Ability to Survive 8. Split Personality
9. 9. Palusot Syndrome
10. 10. Bahala na system

Universal Values:
Happiness Peace Love Freedom Safety
Intelligence Human Respect Equality Justice Nature
Health
Character - refers to a set of moral and mental qualities and beliefs that makes a person different from
others.
Personality refers to the combination of qualities, attitude and behavior that makes a person distinct from
others.
Moral character – refers to having or lacking moral virtue
Moral agent – It is the person who does a moral act.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS – Medieval Philosopher

● Summum Bonum - “Every human act is directed toward an end”
● THREE THOMISTIC PRINCIPLES:
o According to Alfredo Panizo (1964):
a. Every agent that performs an action acts for the sake of the end purpose to be attained.
b. Every agent acts for an ultimate end.
c. Every agent has the power of moving for an end which is suitable or good for him.

According to 20th Century thinkers – there were NO Pre-fixed plans for man.

● Jean Paul Sartre - A human person is or becomes what he/she makes of him/herself by choice.
● Teilhard de Chardin (1948) and Alfred north whitehead (1946) – believers of Process Philosopher
– For them, whatever a human person is or will be a result of creative process.
● Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber. - See themselves as being-with-others,
inseparably related to their fellow man,

The Development of Moral Character Of The Moral Agent

DEFINING MOMENTS - Refers to the life changing event or moment that reverberates throughout your career
and personal life and so changes everything.

Relationship between moral acts and character - “The person who has moral character does moral actions
more readily”

Stages of moral development: 1. Pre-Conventional 2. Conventional 3. Post-Conventional

Human Act Act of Human

● Acts of moral agent. ● Acts of moral agent.
● Involves reasoning. ● Involves reasoning.
● Observing prescribed diet, tutoring the slow learners ● Observing prescribed diet, tutoring the slow learners
and preparing the board exam. and preparing the board exam.

The determinants of the morality of human act:

1. The object of the act 2. The end, or purpose 3. Its circumstances

For an act to be morally good, all three determinants must be without flaw.
FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION MAKING

FEELINGS - Is an emotional state or reaction, experience of physical sensation like feeling of joy, feeling of warmth,
love affection, tenderness, etc.

FEELINGS as Instinctive response to moral dilemma - Several studies conclude that up to 90% of the
decisions we made are based on emotion. They can be obstacles but they can also help in making
right decisions.
Ethical Subjectivism
● Moral statements cannot be objective because it is only people’s perception and attitudes that makes them right or
wrong.
● It highlights the subjectivity of morality; it is always dependent on feelings.
● It allows us to see convicting intentions behind moral statements.
● People may get involved in an argument by ethical subjectivism to persuade the opponent to
follow their point

2 Versions:

1. Simple subjectivism - One can only approve or disapprove of the things that he states to be good or bad in
aspects of morality.
2. Emotivism - Moral Statements simply reflect preference. Moral Statements are neither used to state facts nor
to convey information; instead it serves as means of affecting human behavior and expressing one’s feelings
and emotion. Known as Boo-Hooray Theory.

RULE OF REASON - When we make any kinds of judgment we must reinforce them for valid reasons.

• Feelings can help in making the right decision - Subjective feelings sometimes matter when deciding between right
and wrong. Emotions, like our love for our friends and family, are a crucial part of what gives life meaning, and ought
to play a guiding role in morality.

Reason and Impartiality as Minimum Requirement for Morality

• Reason – is the basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction.
• Impartiality – is a principle of justice holding that decisions ought to be based on objective criteria, rather than on
the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper reasons.

The 7-step model is as follows:

1. Gather the facts
2. Determine the ethical issues
3. Determine what virtues/principles have a bearing on the case
4. List the alternatives
5. Compare the alternatives with the virtues/principles
6. Consider the consequences
7. Make a decision

Will – refers to that faculty of mind which chooses, at the moment of making a decision, the strongest desire from
among the various present.
Moral Courage – means doing the right thing even at the risk of inconvenience, ridicule, punishment or loss of job,
security or social status.

ETHICAL FRAMEWORKS
● Is a set of codes that an individual uses to guide his or her behavior
● Also known as “Moral Standard”
● It is what people use to distinguish right from wrong in the way they interact in the world.

Dominant Mental Frames:

1. Virtue or Character Ethics
2. Natural Law or Commandment Ethics
3. Deontological and Duty Framework
4. Utilitarianist, Teleological and Consequentialist Approach
5. Love and Justice Framework
1. ARISTOTLE VIRTUE ETHICS
● This question focuses on the character traits one is supposed to have in order for that person to be considered as
ethical.
● An ethical person is a virtuous person.
● Virtue ethics is Person-based Rather than action-based.

Aristotle - A Philosopher from Stagira, he wrote a lot of ranging topics in various disciplines.
● “Good character is the indispensable condition and chief determinant of happiness, itself the goal of all humans.
The end of all action, individual or collective, is the greatest happiness of the greatest number.” – Ethics, 350 BCE
● “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”
● We must cultivate virtues because they are the qualities that will help the people to live well.
● Telos – End / Ultimate Goal:
● Happiness = Eudaimonia

2. ST. THOMAS NATURAL LAW ETHICS

● “Some truths about God exceed all the ability of human reason... but there are some truths which natural reason
also is able to reach. Such as that God exists” -Summa contra Gentiles
● He was from a noble family in Naples and early in his life he decided to join the Dominican Order.
● “We call this man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound throughout the world.”- Albertus
Magnus in defense of Aquinas
● “REASON” is the source of the moral law; it directs us towards the “GOOD”
● GOOD – is the ultimate GOAL of the person’s actions. The good is discoverable within the person’s nature.
● An act is morally right if it is done according to moral law.
● What is MORAL LAW? Do good and avoid evil
● How do we know that one is acting in accordance with good? An action is Good if it is done in accordance with
CONSCIENCE.
● How do we know that one’s action obeys conscience? If it satisfies the three-fold natural
inclination of the human person.

THREE-FOLD NATURAL INCLINATION OF THE HUMAN PERSON

1. Self-preservation - Natural inclination to take care of one’s health or not to kill or to put one’s self in danger.
2. Just dealing with others - Treat others with the same respect that we accord ourselves
3. Propagation of human species - The reproductive organ is by nature designed to reproduce and propagate human
species.
o An act does not obey conscience; It is therefore immoral.
o Circumstance - The CONDITIONS affecting the morality of an action.
Classification:
o Quality of person (Who)
o Quality/Quantity of the moral object (What)
o Circumstances of place (Where)
o Circumstances of mean (By what means)
o Circumstances of end (Why)
o Manner in which the action is done (How)
o Time Element (when

3. KANT’S DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS

● Born in 1724 in Konigsberg, Prussia. He is a Philosopher that published books entitled Critique of Pure Reason and
Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics
● “I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith.”
● Deontological – means duty. It focuses on “duty, obligation and rights” instead of consequences or ends.
● The duty-based approach argues that doing what is right is not about the consequences of our action (something
over which we ultimately have no control) but about having the proper intention in performing the action.
● THE ETHICAL ACTION IS ONE TAKEN FROM THE DUTY.
● How important is the intention in the analysis of one’s ethical behavior?
● Whatever result may happen as consequence of the act is not included in this moral assessment. Thus, it is possible
that though the consequence was not the desired result, or may result in something bad, still- the act can be
considered good.
● A person should be morally judged only on things that are within his control, in short those that he willed.
● An action is legally right if it is the same in accordance with a universal law, that is , in accordance with the
categorical imperative

4. UTILITARIANISM: THE CONSEQUENTIALIST ETHICAL FRAMEWORK

● An action is morally right if it maximizes overall well-being and happiness.
● “The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of
right and wrong” -Jeremy Bentham
● Bentham studied law and wrote on ethics, politics, economics and the law. He is known as the founder of
Utilitarianism.
● The primary motivation of human behavior is the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.
● Hedonism – The pursuit of pleasure.
● “I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them” -John Stuart
Mill
● He continued Bentham’s legacy and is generally credited for having popularized it. As a utilitarian, he lived its tenet
and found that one of the secrets of happiness is the limitation of desire.

5. JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS PROMOTING COMMON GOOD

● Social Justice is equal access to wealth, opportunities and privileges within society.
● Promotion of Social Justice is equivalent to promotion of the common good.
● Common Good – refers to those facilities that the members of a community provide to all members in order to
fulfill a relational obligation they all have to care for certain interests that they have in common.
● When the government improves public property and services, and develops natural resources, it simultaneously
promotes equal access to wealth, opportunities, and privileges within society.