BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
The National Engineering University
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Alangilan Campus
Module 1
GEd 107
Ethics
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
This module aims to:
analyze ethics in different perspectives which
includes its definition, nature, and its importance
to an individual and society
presents the difference between moral standards
and non-moral standards
tackles the characteristics of moral standards that
can easily identify their distinctions with each
other and how moral standards are formed
What is Ethics?
Ethics or moral philosophy can be
provisionally described as the empirical study
of moral decisions.
It is a discipline concerned with what is
morally good and evil, right and wrong.
The word often refers to any scheme or
philosophy of universal ideals or beliefs.
What is Ethics?
The concept is derived from the Greek word
“ethos” which may mean tradition, habit,
character, or attitude.
What is Ethics?
a systematic analysis of the nature of human
actions.
concerned about the correctness and wrongness of
the act.
An act is deemed to be right or wrong, based on the
intent, circumstances, or character of the act
itself.
As a philosophy, it is a very important discipline
because it involves critical thinking, as it explores
and describes fundamental beliefs, standards, ideals,
and traditions.
This is thus a higher level of human discipline.
What is Ethics?
As a branch of philosophy, ethics
is divided into normative ethics
and meta-ethics
What is Ethics?
The purpose of normative ethics,
which concerns human behavior in
general, it is to address our questions
about the essence of human behavior.
Normative ethics, by definition,
examine whether or not a particular act
should or should not be carried out.
What is Ethics?
There are two fields of normative ethics: moral
philosophy and applied ethics or practical
ethics.
Moral philosophy deals with moral ideas such
as what human beings "must do or how human
beings should be.“
This also deals with our moral obligation, the
meaning of the act, or the purpose of the act.
On the other hand, applied ethics is a
philosophy that discusses strong and basic
moral issues linked to abortion.
What is Ethics?
Meta-ethics is a discipline that relies on
meaning.
It is a science that is seeking to address
non-moral questions about morality.
Those refer to questions about the nature
of moral statements, the purpose and
significance of moral facts, and concerns
about the interpretation and justification of
moral statements.
What is Ethics?
In contrast to meta-ethics, normative
ethics seeks to examine how human
beings respond to a moral question.
This also aims to clarify and prescribe
common expectations on what human
beings should do to interact with
others in society and in a meaningful
way.
Importance of Ethics
Ethics is a set of rules that allows us to say right
from wrong, good from the bad.
Ethics can provide true, specific guidance to our
lives.
Ethical principles such as fairness,
trustworthiness, responsibility help direct us to
cope more effectively with ethical dilemmas by
removing actions that do not adhere to our
sense of right and wrong–our own moral
interests–without compromising others.
Importance of Ethics
Ethics is all about decisions
Importance of Ethics
Why should other individuals have a
lack of ethics?
Bazerman and Ann Trebrunsel
(2011)identify the blind spots as the
differences between who you want to
be and who you are.
Importance of Ethics
However, ethicists put less emphasis on
studying philosophic principles and,
instead, emphasize the importance of
establishing good habits of character –
needs of doing the right thing in the
right place and time in the right way.
Importance of Ethics
The virtues of intelligence, bravery, patience, and
justice guide ethical decision-making as they
provide the basis for rational decisions when faced
with an ethical dilemma.
We ought to be ethical, as it determines who we
are both personally and as a society.
There must be moral principles that should be
observed by all.
Some people will lie; many may not do what they
assume they will do, and others may behave
irresponsibly and participate in harmful conduct.
Importance of Ethics
For moralists, following one's interests
is not wrong.
Nevertheless, an ethical individual
must be able – at least occasionally–to
place the needs of others ahead of self-
interest, because of our duty to civil
society.
Importance of Ethics
According to Leano Jr. & Gunta-on (2018), the study of ethics
should consider making it possible for an individual to fully
understand what his conscience is, how he has gained it, how
far he is willing and able to respect his outward manifestations
with protection, and how well he can strengthen it and make
it even smarter.
Added to it, a person can gain a better insight into his claims
to society as well as the obligations he owes to society.
He must learn to distinguish between the respects in which all
persons are highly dependent and those who are responsible
for his or her own life and will focus on freedom of initiative.
Eventually, it will at least allow certain observations, for
understanding, self-sacrifice, and obligation, which will enable
us to make these decisions.
Importance of Ethics
From the standpoints of the authors mentioned above, several
views on the importance of ethics were propounded and these
are the following:
through ethics people can determine the difference between
right from wrong, good and bad;
people can eliminate actions that do not conform to what is
right;
people will be very careful to the actions and decisions to
make;
people will not be disturbed of the internal and external
factors of not doing the right thing;
establish good habits of characters of a person;
Importance of Ethics
From the standpoints of the authors mentioned above, several
views on the importance of ethics were propounded and these
are the following:
come up to rational decisions in facing an ethical
dilemma;
it makes a person responsible in the family, school and
society;
a person becomes sensitive to the needs of others
more than himself or herself;
reminds a person to fully need conscience in decision
making and a person can acknowledge the actions
made.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Countries and nations rich or poor, developed and underdeveloped
have their own set of laws, policies, cultures, traditions, customs,
and beliefs.
It may be acceptable to other countries but not acceptable to
others.
Some principles and values have social consequences, whereas
some do not.
It is a matter of moral indifference, that is, a matter of taste in one
society may be a matter of moral meaning in another.
For this reason, people need to recognize the difference between
moral principles and non-moral ones, to define the basic ethical
values that can direct our actions.
Moral standards compel us to behave accordingly, although we
have no right to insist on others on non-moral values based on the
explanation above.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Moral standards refer to the guidelines we have
on the types of acts that we find to be morally
permissible and morally unacceptable.
It primarily deals with issues that can either
potentially threaten or greatly benefit human
beings.
Some ethicists placed moral ethics on par with
social values and moral principles.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Moral standards normally promote the common
good, that is, the welfare and well-being of human
beings, animals, and the environment.
Moral standards are a blending of norms and
values.
Therefore, norms plus values pertain to moral
standards.
Norms as standards are basic guidelines regarding
human acts.
Values, though, are universal convictions as to
what is acceptable, desirable, and beneficial or not.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
There are several characteristics of morals
standards as mentioned by Velasquez (2012)
such as and vocabularies such as:
(1) Moral standards entail serious harm or
benefit.
Examples of this are the following:
theft, the murder of innocent people, respect
others, a feeding program for the poor, etc.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
There are several characteristics of morals standards as
mentioned by Velasquez (2012) such as and vocabularies such as:
(2) Moral standards are not determined by authority figures.
Moral values should always be upheld, even though they are at
odds with self-interest.
Cheating on examination is an example wherein the students
should not cheat during exams as a rule in an educational
institution and in doing such an act, cheating, is wrong.
It’s not because students are afraid of the teacher, instructor,
or professor but the students know that is a wrongful act.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
There are several characteristics of morals standards as
mentioned by Velasquez (2012) such as and vocabularies such as:
(3) Moral standards should be adopted over other values,
including self-interest.
Moral standards should always be retained even if they are at
stake with self-interest.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
There are several characteristics of morals standards as
mentioned by Velasquez (2012) such as and vocabularies such as:
(4) Moral standards are focused on objective
considerations.
The basis of considerations and decisions must not be
favorable only to a particular person or group.
Anyone who commits mistakes and wrongful acts
then is punished accordingly.
It must be an unbiased or impartial consideration.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
There are several characteristics of morals standards as
mentioned by Velasquez (2012) such as and vocabularies such as:
(5) Moral standards are perceived to be universal.
We want everyone to live up to these norms and feel
resentful when somebody doesn't live up to them.
Moral standards believed to be universal as it is
applicable anywhere and anytime.
For instance, lying.
Telling the truth is a universal standard.
Hence, we should not lie.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
There are several characteristics of morals standards as
mentioned by Velasquez (2012) such as and vocabularies such as:
(6) Moral standards are correlated with different feelings
and vocabulary.
If anyone doesn't live up to the norm or standards, he
will feel guilty, bad, and wrong.
The same is true when someone else does not live up
to the expectations, norms, and standards, others may
feel disgusted at this person.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Non-moral standards, on the contrary,
apply to laws which are not related to social
or legal considerations.
Perhaps these criteria are not inherently
related to morality or, by their very
definition, lack of ethical sense.
Examples of non-moral standards are the
following: etiquette, statutes, code of
professional ethics, etc.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Etiquette is a decorum, propriety
means reverence for the formal criteria
governing conduct in a civilized society.
Etiquette refers conventional ways and
uses the rules of etiquette.
Decorum implies modesty and a sense
of what is becoming or is fitting for a
person of good breeding: a fine sense
of decorum.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
A statute is a written law passed by a
legislative body as defined by Oxford
English and Spanish Dictionary.
Furthermore, As mentioned by the
University of Melbourne Library Guide,
statutes shall contain Acts of the Congress,
Local Charters, Municipal Codes, Districts,
Administrative Rules and Regulations,
Statutory Rules, and Presidential Issues.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Legality and morality are distinct, but
often people are confused about these
terms.
We believe that what is moral is also
legal and that what is immoral is not
good.
Not all that is lawful is moral.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
The Professional Code of Ethics,
consequently, is a set of guidelines intended
to help practitioners differentiate between
right and wrong to guide their decision-
making.
Such rules, also referred to as the Code of
Ethics, define the purpose and ideals of the
organization, how staff within the
organization are to handle the issues, and the
expectations to which workers are bound.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
Almost all professional codes are strictly
moral in nature, and even so, the fact that
a law is legally embodied as part of a
professional code does not guarantee
that it is a sound moral concept.
The Differences Of Moral And Non-moral Standards And Characteristics Of Moral Standards
A practitioner must take the sanctions of
his or her profession seriously, however,
he or she also has the right to evaluate
certain laws objectively for himself or
herself.
How Moral Standards Are Formed
Morals are shaped by the beliefs of an
individual.
Values are the basis of the capacity of an
individual to distinguish between right and
wrong.
Morals build on this to form concrete,
context-driven rules that regulate the actions
of an individual.
They are formed from the experience of a
person's life and are subject to opinion.
How Moral Standards Are Formed
There are various factors on how moral
standards are influenced:
the moral values or principles that we
conform with, in our rearing;
the character and manners that imbibed with
us by means of birthright;
the religious values that our forefathers
taught us;
the values we learned from school;
How Moral Standards Are Formed
There are various factors on how moral
standards are influenced:
the moral conduct, ways and habits of those
people around us;
the direct and implied cultural norms;
our life experiences;
our critical thinking in these experiences.
How Moral Standards Are Formed
Learning References
Bazerman, Max H. & Tenbrunsel Ann E. (2012). Blind Spots: Why
We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do abou it, Princeton
University Press. ISBN: 9780691156224
Leano Jr., Roman D. & Gubia-on, Arthur B.,(2018). Ethics for
College Students CHED Curriculum Complaint. Published by
MINDSHAPERS CO., Inc.
Maboloc, Christopher Ryan B., (2012). Ethics and Human Dignity.
Rex Printing Company, Inc.
Silverstone, Sean (2011). Blindspots:Were Not as Ethical as We
Think. Ethics Sage: Powered by Typepad
Velasquez, Manuel G., (2012). Business Ethics: Concepts and
Cases. Sta. Clara University. Pearson, 7th edition
Learning References
Internet sites:
https://www.dictionay.com/browse/etiquette?s=t
https://www.ethicssage.com/2017/03/why-do-we-need-
ethics.html
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-
development/professional-code-of-ethics
https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/statutes.html
https://www.lexico.com/definition/statute
https://www.philonotes.com
https://unimelb.libguides.com/c.php?g=402982&p=5443355
