GEC 8 - ETHICS

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION ETHICS

 From the Greek word “ethos” means custom or character.

 Studies the rightness and wrongness of a human action.
 Branch of philosophy concerned with question of how
 Human person ought to act? What is a right conduct and a good life (Albert, Denise &
Peterfreund, 1984)?
 Good thing we should pursue and the bad thing that we should avoid.
 What is acceptable and unacceptable in human behavior. May involve obligations that we are
expected to fulfill, prohibition that we are required to respect, or ideals that we encourage to to
meet.

I. CLARIFICATION AND TERMINOLOGY

Not ground for ethics

1. Aesthics. E.g. good or bad quality of an art
2. Etiquette. E.g. a woman picking her nose in public

Ground for Ethics

Matters that concern life and death such as war, capital punishment, or abortion and matters that
concern human well-being such as poverty, inequality, or sexual identity are included in discussion of
ethics.

Distinction of Ethics and Morality

Ethics is about “theory” of right action and the greater good. A sytematic study of the underlying
principles of morality. While morality is the “practice”, the rightness or wrongness of human action. it is
more prescriptive in nature, it tells us what we ought to do and exhorts to follow the right way.

Descriptive and Normative Ethics

A Descriptive study ethics reports how people, particularly groups, make their moral valuations without
making any judgement either for or against these valuation. Ex. a social scienctist studying different moral
standards across culture or time.

Normative study of ethics, often done in philosophy or moral theory, engages the question: what could or
should be considered as the right way of acting? Normative discussion prescribes what we ought to
maintain as our standards or bases for moral valuation.

Moral Issue, Decision, Judgment, and Dilemma

Moral Issue - refer to particular situations that are often the source of considerable and inconclusive
debate. Ex. capital punishment and euthanasia
Moral Decision - when one is placed in a situation and confornted by the choice of what to act to perform
Moral Judgment - a process of assessing an actions or behavior of someone
Moral Dilemma - when there is only one choice could be made from a number of possible actions, and
there are compelling ethical reasons for the various choices.

REASONING

Principles - rationally established grounds by which one justifies and maintains her moral decisions and
judgement.

Moral Theory - a systematic attempt to establish the validity of maintaining certain moral principles. it can
also be referred to as framework, as a theory of interconnected ideas, and at the same time, a structure
through which we can evaluate our reason for valuing a certain decision or judgment.

SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

Several common ways of thinking about ethics are based on the idea that the standards of valuation
are imposed by a higher authority that commands our obedience.

Law
is ones guide of behavior. Enforced by the way of a system of sanctions administered through persons
and institution, which all help in compelling us obey.
Positive law - refers to the different rules and regulations that are posited or put forward by an authority
figure that requires compliance.

The law, being a basis of ethics, provide an objective standard that is obligatory and applicable to all. It can
be said, “what is ethics? just follow whatever the law says.”

Disadvantages of the law

The law does not tell us what whe should do; it works by constraining us from performing acts that we
should not do; cannot tell us what to pursue, only what to avoid.
Ex. a toddler who had been run over by a couple of vehicles while there are many passers-by who
witnessed what had happened, but no one did do anything to help. The child later died in the hospital.

Religion

“Love the Lord, Your God, therefore, and always heed his charge, his statutes, decrees, and
commandments.” (NAB)

People of a religious sensibility find appealing and immediately valid: the idea that one is obliged to obey
her God in all things.
This is refered to as the divine command theory.
By discovering to these figures and reading these writings, and individual discovers how the Divine wants
her to act.

Religion

 Religious background backup our moral valuation.

 The prohibition of religion intuitively coincide with our sense of what ethics should rightly demand.
 Religion is not simply prohibitive but also provides ideals to pursue.
 Religion set Supreme Authority that can inspire and compel our obedience in a way that nothing else
can.
 The Divine can command absolute obedience on one's part as the implications of her actions involve
her ultimate destiny.
Disadvantages of Religion
 Presence of multiplicity of religions.
 Different faith result in conflicting ethical standards.(ex.food, hair,dress practices)
 Religion has no uniform source of standard of morality given that it varies from different faith.
 Question on the subjective or objective nature of command of the Divine.
 (Is it the case that something is right only because God commanded it, or is it the case that something
 is right in itself and that is why God commanded it?) there is nothing inherently wrong it is only that
God said so.
 On the other hand, if killing is in itself wrong, then we acknowledge that there are standards of right
and wrong that we can refer to independently of God.
(Ex. the crusaders, believe that so will it, allowing them to kill their fellow human being in His name.

Culture

The world has diverse culture; different ways of thinking and valuing, different beliefs of what is
proper to acts. There are religious differences (Buddhism & Christianity) and etiquette differences (dining
practices). Relation between men and women across culture, ranging from greater liberality and equality
to greater inequality and a relation of dominance versus submission.

From the reality of diversity (culture), it can be conclude that there is no single universal standard for moral
valuations for ethics.
What is ethically acceptable or unacceptable is relative, or dependent on one's culture or called as cultural
relativism.one

ROLE OF CULTURE IN ETHICS

 One's culture serve as a standard provided as a basis for our valuations.

 Teaches tolerance of others from different cultures
 provide standards that is applicable to us.

ETHICS? Just follow whatever your culture says.

SENSE OF SELF (Internal Valuation)

 External Authority is not reliable to tell oneself what was the standard or moral valuation, nevertheless
inward valuation is another one. These are three theories about ethics that center on self: subjectivism,
psychological egoism and ethical egoism

SUBJECTIVISM

Individual thinking person (the subject) is at the heart of all moral valuations.Claim that the individual
is the sole determinants of what is morally good or bad, right or wrong.

Cliches

“No one can tell me what is right and wrong”, “No one knows my situation better that myself”,
“I am entitled to my own opinion.” “It is good if I say that it is good.”

Disadvantages

No one compel another to accept a certain value judgement is she herself does not concur with it.

The claim cannot be taken as absolute, one can be mistaken and that can be corrected by others.
In reality, many human experiences are common and others may have something useful to suggest.

Each person has the right to believe what she believe what she believe and has the right to express it. But
this right is often stubbornly misconstrued as some kind of immunity from criticism and correction.To insist
one's right in to having opinions whatever these happen to be is to exhibit a closed-mindedness.

Subjectivism has no other basis that can be look toward.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM

Cliche: “Human beings are naturally self-centered, so all our actions are always already motivated by
self-interest.”
A theory describes the underlying dynamic behind all human actions; does not direct one act in any
particular way. Instead, it points out that there is already an underlying basis for how one to acts. The ego
o self has its desire and interests, and all our actions are geared(nakatuon) toward satisfying these
interests.
One's action are ultimately always motivated by self-serving desire.
Ex. Helping a friend with her thesis because he is trying to impress her.
Helps out with Gawad Kalinga because this is how she relieves her sense of guilt at being well-off
compared to others.

Disadvantages
There is no moral valuation acknowledges. Moral decision and moral judgement does not matter.
Nullify the possibility of any normative ethics in its view of already-determined human being.

Ethical Egoism
Prescribes that we should make our ends, our own our own interests, as the single overriding concern.
Human act in a way that is beneficial to others, but he only done that if it ultimately benefit him.