ETHICS Ethics is a personal and a lifelong commitment.
To be
Preface
The right to work is as fundamental as the right
to life. We need to work in order to provide for our
basic necessities and comforts. Human beings deserve a
life that has these. And the kind of life that human
beings truly deserve lends more importance to working
because through work, we can secure for ourselves and
our families a life respect for human dignity. But our
right to work has a corresponding responsibility: We
should work well. The pursuit of this responsibility can
be helped by an understanding of the values and ethics
governing work and developing these. Thus, this book
on VALUES AND WORK ETHICS.
An instructional material on the subject Values
and Work Ethics, this book focused on theories,
concepts, and principles of human values and work
ethics. It looks into how values and ethics determine
and shape human behavior, particularly in the
workplace. It aims to utilize knowledge for the
cultivation of desired values, for skills development in
ethical reasoning and decision making, and for self-
actualization.
It is inevitable that students, as they will soon
start to live a life fully on their own, will become
members of the workforce. Findings and keeping jobs,
and finding fulfillment in the workplace will not be easy.
Competition in the world of work does not only require
excellent skills, but also proper attitude and values for
work. It is the educator’s task to equip students with
the knowledge, not only of those which concern their
fields of specialization, but also of moral principles and
values that will make them successful workers in the
future.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ETHICS
Objectives:
 Define ethics, both as a study and as an activity
 Discuss the origin of ethics
 Differentiate the formal object of ethics from
the material object of ethics
 Explain the importance of ethics
 Discuss the importance of ethics
 Identify the form of ethics
Knowing the nature of ethics is the first basic step
workers can take to strengthen the foundation upon
which to anchor themselves in their quest to live
ethically in and out of the workplace
ethical does not only require knowledge of ethics but
also the willingness to live ethically.
When man began to wonder about the right thing to do
or about how he should live his existence, another
exciting field of Philosophy came to life. Philosophers
called it “Ethics” or “Moral Philosophy”
Ethics comes from the Greek word “ethos”, meaning
“character”.
Ethics, in an ancient Greece, was concerned with the
development of a virtuous and moral character. The
Greeks believed that developing character would lead
one not only to knowing the right thing to do but to
actually doing the right thing or living the right way of
life.
Socrates
The great Greek moralist, Socrates, was the first to
recognize the value of questions that affect how a
person should live. He made his investigation through a
process, which philosophers today call the “Socratic
Method”
Socratic Method
Consists of asking people questions
about ideas they presumably know about.
Usually, it begins by asking for an essential
definition of a concept (e.g., good, justice, etc.)
Socrates also displayed humility with his desire to share
what he knows. He never told people what to believe,
he simply asked questions and let them to realize the
errors embedded in their own judgments.
Ethics has been defined in various ways:
1.The theory of right conduct.
2. The standard of character set by a particular society
of men.
Ethics will be defined as the study of the methods and
principles used to distinguish good from bad, right from
wrong actions.
The Need to Study Ethics
In the first place, we live where we must not
only make decisions, but where there are right ways of
doing things and ethics should make it clear to us why
one act is better than another.
In the second place, in order to have an orderly
social life, we must have agreements, understandings,
principles, or rules of procedure.
 In the third place, moral conduct and ethical
systems, both of the past and that of the present, must
be intelligently appraised and criticized.
Finally, ethics seeks to point out to men the
true values of life.
Assumptions of Ethics
Assumptions are fundamental beliefs or statements
that are accepted to be true without the burden of
proving or of proof.
First, that man is a rational being. These means
that man is rational and acts with a purpose unlike
brutes (forceful, very harsh) who merely acts out of
instinct and reflex. Man is capable of knowing both the
intentions and the consequences of his actions, and is
capable of judging them as right or wrong, or as good or
bad. The assumption implies the moral awareness or
the capability of man to know and distinguish right from
wrong and good from bad.
Second, that man is free. Ethics assumes that
man is free to act according to his will and he has the
power to act, speak, or think if he chooses to without
restraint. In general, this assumption tell us that man
has the capacity to exercise choice in his actions. It
implies that man has the capability to choose what to
do and what is good.
The Object of Ethics
The principal cause of actions is usually attributed to the
doer. If for instance, Pedro committed a crime, Pedro
and not any malicious demon or spirit is responsible for
his act or for the crime he committed. Because Pedro
did the act, it is expected that Pedro suffer the moral or
legal consequences of his act.
The Physical Object of Ethics
The doer of an act and the act done by the doer
are two different objects of Ethics. The doer of an act is
the physical object of ethics (i.e., moral agent). The
physical object of ethics does not only refer to a person,
but to an institution (e.g., the business firm, the
government, etc.) and to other forms of social
organization (e.g., non-governmental organizations,
clubs, fraternity, associations, etc.) that perform moral
actions and other rational activities such as decision
making, moral calculation, and others.
The Nonphysical Object
The action done by a moral agent (doer), such
as the act of telling the truth, helping others in distress,
fulfilling a promise, forgiving others' trespasses,
humility, including malicious deeds, such as murder,
stealing, lying, and others are called the Nonphysical
objects of ethics.
TWO GENERAL FORMS OF ACTS
Not all acts are to be taken as formal of ethics.
Certain acts are of some value to ethics. Certain acts are
of some value to ethics, while others are expendable to
ethical analysis. These become clearer if we consider
the two general forms of acts in the light of their moral
value:
 the acts of man
 the human acts.
ACTS OF MAN
- Involuntary natural acts
Acts of man, are of two types:
1. Involuntary natural acts - these include the
involuntary, intuitive or reflex acts exhibited by
man, such as the blinking of the eye, the
beating of the heart, sneezing, yawning,
breathing, scratching, and others. When eating,
are you always aware of the way you chew or
swallow your food? Probably not, unless you
just had dental surgery, or suffering from
tonsillitis doing the following and confirm for
yourself if they are indeed involuntary.
1. Stop blinking for five minutes to 10
minutes.
2. Stop breathing for five to 10 minutes
3. Stop your hearth from beating
4. Stop your stomach from digesting the
food you have taken during breakfast
Now after performing the suggested exercises above,
answer the following questions:
 Can you choose not to blink for an entire day?
 Can you stop breathing, even for one hour?
 Can you stop your heart from beating?
 Can you tell your stomach to stop digesting the
food you have eaten?
If you can, you are surely not of this world. If you
cannot, then, be rest assured that you are normal-just
like everybody else-because the acts you tried to stop
are unstoppable and uncontrollable. they are
involuntary and natural
Aristotle Virtues Theory
Aristotle’s virtue theory. Hank explains the Golden
Mean, and how it exists as the midpoint between vices
of excess and deficiency. We’ll also discuss moral
exemplars, and introduce the concept of “eudaimonia.”
2. Voluntary Natural Act - the second type of
nonmoral acts are called voluntary natural acts.
They include voluntary and natural, but not
 necessarily reflexive acts, such as sleeping,
eating, drinking etc. These types are actions we
usually perform as part of our daily, socially
learned activities such as brushing our teeth,
combing our hair, cutting our nails, taking a
bath etc.
The second type of nonmoral acts is different from
the first type because it involves a certain degree of
freedom and voluntariness, so to speak. One may
decide, for instance, when to sleep, or whether to
sleep or not, whether or not to brush one’s teeth,
but one cannot decide when to start or stop his
heart from beating.
However, these actions are similarly categorized
under acts of man because they are neither moral
nor immoral. We cannot, for instance, judge our
classmate to be moral or immoral just because his
heart is beating, or because he did not take his
breakfast before going to school.
Hence, because involuntary natural acts and
voluntary natural acts are neither moral nor
immoral, they do not possess any moral values.
Nonmoral acts can hardly be the formal objects of
ethics. But we should take note that the voluntary
natural act, like sleeping, could become moral acts
if they are performed beyond their natural purpose.
Sleeping at work, for example, is no longer
perceived as simply a natural act, but an unethical
and an unacceptable act.
HUMAN ACTS
- the second general form of ACT is called Human
Acts. Human acts include actions that are
conscious, deliberative, intentional, voluntary
and are within the preview of human value
judgment. Human Acts are either moral or
Immoral.
Classification of Human acts
Acts are judged as to their moral worth based on
conformity to standards or norms of morality. Human
acts are classified into the following:
1. Moral or Ethical Acts.
- these are human acts that observe or
conform to a standard or norm of
morality. Some examples of moral or
ethical actions include helping others
on need, taking examinations honestly,
returning excess for change received,
giving party to your friends and others.
2. Immoral or unethical acts.
- these are human acts that violate or
deviate from a standard of morality.
Immoral/unethical actions may include,
refusing to help others in distress,
cheating in an examination, speaking ill
of others, and others
AMORAL or NEUTRAL ACTS
Amoral or neutral actions do not apply to human acts
can either be moral or immoral but not morally neutral.
Instead, the classification applies to non-moral acts
(acts of man). Recall that these acts are neither good
nor bad in themselves. However, depending on the
circumstances surrounding a neutral act, it may become
a moral/ethical or immoral/unethical act. As we pointed
out earlier, done during office work schedule (e.g., a
teacher sleeping in her class, a security guard sleeping
in his night duty, and others.)
Components of Moral Acts
Depending on the ethical theory applied, a moral or
human act may be ethical/ moral or unethical/ immoral
if one or two of its elements either conform to or
violate a moral principle of the theory.
Differences in elements emphasized mark the
difference between and among major theories of ethics.
These elements upon which to focus assessment of
whether moral or human acts conform to or violate a
particular norm are enumerated below.
 The intention or motive of the act. For instance,
studying the lesson is intended to pass an exam,
or training for a basketball match is intended to
win the championship title.
 The means of the act. This is the act or object
employed to carry out the intent of the act. The
act of studying hard is a means to pass an exam,
or the act of training one’s self is a means to
win the championship match. The means Can
also be a person. For example, a person who
pretends to help another to advance his selfish
interest is a person who treats another person
as a means to his personal end.
 The end of the act. The intent of the act is
assumed to be always directed toward a desired
end or a perceived good, such as passion the
exam or winning the basketball championship
tournament, wherein the means employed will
help achieve the end. For example, reading the
lesson to pass an exam or training in the hard
court for the championship. The end of the act
thus becomes the basis or foundation for the
intent of the act.
Moral Acts and Human Will

Moral acts or human acts stem from the human will

that controls or influences the internal and external
actions of man. The will stirs a person to act, or
hampers him from acting. It colors the motives for his
engaging or disengaging in a certain action. Living
against all odds, hoping in the midst of hopelessness,
finding meaning in great loss, selfless sacrifice for others
– these are just a few cases that demonstrate the power
of the will to motivate the human soul for goodness,
hope and determination. It is this part of the soul that
affects the freedom and reasoning of he individual. The
will is the agency of choice. The will may prompt reason
to overpower passion or on the other extreme, arouse
passion and allow it to overrun reason. As such, the will
is a potential force for both good and evil. The strength
or weakness of the will determines the strength or
weakness of a person’s character. If action follows
being, agree sequitor esse, and if the will affects action,
the will must be brought closer to reason and to the
proper sense of morality and goodness.