PPT No.
1 o Been said Americans are far less ethical
Ethics
“It takes many good deeds to build a good
reputation and only one bad one to lose it.”
-- Benjamin Franklin
Reputation - A reputation that took decades to
build can be threatened by a single event.
(Good Reputation).
Importance of a good reputation
o Pretty simple—who wants to do
business with an organization whether
it is a business or governmental entity
o Investors
o Customers
o Corporate executives surveyed by
Weber-Shandick estimated 63% of their
companies’ market value is due to
reputation
Good Reputation
o What drives our ethical decision
making?
o What determines how we will deal with
ethical challenges?
o When does our system begin?
o What are the differences between
values, morals, and ethics?
“Leaders understand that responsible
companies attract the best talent, earn
valuable trust, and generate more positive
word of mouth.”
The Challenges
o Reputation is about building trust
than an organization lives up to:
o A set of core values
o Acts with integrity
o Takes responsibility for its mistakes
Ethics in America
o Many have said that America has a
severe lack of ethics
than previous generations—more
willing to accept unethical behavior in
their leaders
o What motivates our ethical behaviors?
Organizations Ethical Code
o Must arise from the company’s stated
values
o Should provide guidance for handling
ethical challenges
o General principles without specific
provisions
- Risk perception of window
dressing
- May breed cynicism
Code of Ethics – Must be Specific and Clear
Six Pillars of Character
1. Trustworthiness
o Honest in Conduct (not stealing or cheating)
o Integrity
o Reliability (promise-keeping) and
o Loyalty
o Safeguard public confidence in the integrity
of the organization
Examples:
✓ The goal of corporate communication is the
truth—well and persuasively told. In our
advertising and other public
communications, we will avoid not only
untruths, but also exaggeration and
overstatement. (Caterpillar, Inc. “A code of
Worldwide Business Conduct and
Operating Principles”)
✓ Our organization is based on a strong
trust. It is the reason our customers
come to us.
Our continued success depends on doing
what we promise—promptly, competently
and fairly. (American Express Company
Code of Conduct)

2. Respect
o Civility (courtesy and decency)
o Autonomy and tolerance
o Treat others with dignity—the way you
would like to be treated
o Be civil, courteous and decent with all
employees, customers and business
partners
Examples:
✓ We will consistently treat customers and
company resources with the respect they
deserve.
✓ We treat one another with respect and take
pride in the significant contributions that
we come from the diversity of individuals
and ideas.
✓ We owe out suppliers the same type of
respect that we show our customers
(Northrop Grumman Values)
3. Responsibility
o Accountability
o Pursuit of excellence (diligence and
perseverance)
o Self-Restraint
o Conduct business efficiently and honorably
in a manner that permits employees,
suppliers, vendors, customers and members
of the local community to make informed
judgments and hold the company
accountable.
Examples:
✓ We accept individual responsibility, in
partnership with the company, for the
success of the business, for our personal
development and for balancing work and
family responsibilities (The Chevron Way)
4. Fairness
o Impartiality and Equity
o Seek to be impartial
o Employ independent objective judgment on
merit
o Free from conflicts of interest—both real
and apparent
o Compensate all employees equitably
o Minimize wage disparities
Examples:
✓ Wherever it operates in the world, the
corporation offers salaries and benefits
that are competitive and fair.
✓ In its hiring practices, Nortel will be fair
and equitable (Northern Telecom,
“commitments to Nortel
Stakeholders”)
✓ The BagelWorks rage ration ensures
that the highest salary is only 3.5 times
more than the lowest. (BagelWorks)
5. Caring
o Charity and Compassion
o Demonstrate a genuine sense of
compassion and concern for the welfare
of others—inside and outside the
company walls
o Don’t allow tax advantages to dictate
charitable contributions from the
company. These are ploys, not
contributions.
6. Citizenship
o Volunteerism (doing your share)
o Environmental protection
o Law abidance
o Honor and respect the principles and
spirit of democracy and set a positive
example by observing the letter and
spirit of laws.
o Demonstrate a commitment to the
environment and to social responsibility
that goes beyond legal requirements
Examples:
✓ Our social mission . . . Is to operate the
company in a way that actively recognizes
the central role that business plays in the
structure of society by initiating innovative
ways to improve the quality of life of a
broad community: local, national, and
 international (Ben & Jerry’s)
Ethics “Definition”
Webster puts it like this . . . “The discipline
dealing with what is good and bad or right
and wrong or with moral duty and
obligation.”
What is Ethics About?
▪ Ethics is about how we BEHAVE, about the
standards we hold ourselves to
▪ Ethics is about how we treat each other
(RELATIONSHIPS), even those we don’t
know
Ethics is not
▪ Ethics vs. Morals
✓ Ethics and morals are NOT always the same
✓ Morals = personal view of values
o i.e. beliefs related to moral issues such
as drinking, sex, gambling,
o Can reflect influence of religion, culture,
family and friends
✓ Ethics = how a moral person should behave
o Ethics transcends cultural, religious, and
ethnic differences
Ethics is
▪ Not just feelings or conscience
▪ Not the same as religion
▪ Not just following the law
▪ Not following “what everybody does”
▪ Not technology or science—what can
be done
Ethics is
▪ How we act as individuals
▪ How we structure our organizations
▪ How we structure our society, our laws,
our systems
What is Ethics?
A group of a moral principles or set of values
that define or direct us to the right choice
▪ Involves learning what is right or wrong,
then doing the right thing
▪ But the “right thing” is not nearly as
straightforward
o There’s always a right thing to
do based on moral principles
o Others believe the right thing
to do depends on the
situation
Have you read Ethics for Dummies?
What do we know about Ethics?
▪ Ethics refer to well-founded standards
of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do in terms of rights,
obligations, benefits to society, fairness,
or specific virtues.
▪ Ethical standards include those things
that enjoin virtues of honesty,
compassion, and loyalty
▪ Ethical standards include standards
relating to rights such as the right to
life, to freedom from injury, and the
right to privacy
▪
Ethics decisions on issues
o Ethical issues include:
✓ Privacy
✓ Confidentiality
✓ Honest
✓ Fairness
o Actions we should take encompass
taking:
✓ Responsibility
✓ Meeting obligations
✓ Telling the truth
✓ Keeping promises
✓ Avoid harming people
What prevents us from making the right
ethical decisions?
Fear, guilt, and our own self-interests can
prevents us from doing the “ethical thing”
✓ Fear can mean we’re afraid of jeopardizing
a relationship or believe that harm will
come to us
✓ Guilt can be caused by psychological or
spiritual conflicts
✓ Self-interests can blind us to the negative
ramifications our actions can cause

Bruce Weinstein outlines In What Should I Do?
the steps that one should take when making a
decision.
o Gather facts.
o Identify values at stake.
o Find the options open to you.
o Evaluate options and
o Choose the best one.
"Our actions determine what kind of person
we are, and our character is revealed by what
we choose to do," Weinstein claims.
What are Ethics?
▪ My ethics are the rules or standards
governing the conduct by which I live
my life and make all my decisions.
✓ One of the best ways about
ethics is to take a quick look at
what you believe and then
think about how you would
react when those beliefs are
challenged
▪ Your ethics govern your thought
process so that when a problem arises
or you need to try and work your way
through a situation your solution is
based on your ethics.
Where Do Ethics Come From?
They are not born in a vacuum
o Ethics are like a jigsaw puzzle
o When completed---it makes up who you are
and what you believe
o From our earliest days we start to learn
from those around us (can you remember
who?)
o These learned behaviors help shape us into
the person we will become
o We develop what will become our norms
At the heart of ethics…
o Ethics are the integrity and values of an
individual
o If you change the values and increase the
integrity of the individual, you will change
their ethics
Integrity seems like a vanishing commodity - - In
a world that has taken hot pursuit of personal
pleasure and shortcut to success
✓ When I have integrity, my words and
my deeds match up.
✓ I am who I am, no matter where I am or
who I am with
What do you hear most often when it comes
to Ethics?
-Abortion -Euthanasia
-Capital Punishment -Transplant Surgery
o Almost nothing about: Private Decency,
Honesty, Personal Responsibility,
Honor
o Topics such as hypocrisy, self-
deception, cruelty or selfishness rarely
came up.
o Are we concentrating too much on
social policy?
o Doesn’t this promote the wrong ideas
about ethics.
o Social morality is only half of the moral
life; the other half is private morality.
Why do some people not act ethically?
o Is it just greed or is it often a case of
ordinary people who might prefer to be
good, doing bad things?
o Can we agree with the premise that most
people, particularly business leaders want
to be ethical?
o Ethics is about social relations and the
evidence is that people want good social
relations; it is good for their mental health
and their sense of self.
o Most human beings their sense of self
worth is tied to feelings of decency,
integrity and the respect and trust of other
people.
o Behaving ethically is a path to that sense of
self worth.
o Does “doing the right thing” put you in a
risky position?
✓ You could lose power and position
✓ Your material success could be
impacted—or your very way of life
o Many people crumble, acquiesce, and even
abdicate their values
o Remember there are profits to be made,
job opportunities too good to lose,
connections to be made, perks to enjoy,
and ego to satisfy, competitions to be won,
vacations and homes to be had
Did you know?
That in 2005, “Integrity” was the most looked
up word in the dictionary
Integrity is not what we do as much as who we
are
▪ And who we are determines what we
do
▪ Our system of values is so much a part
of us we cannot separate it from
ourselves.
▪ It is the navigating system that guides
us
▪ It establishes priorities in our lives and
judges what we will accept or reject.
We are all faced with conflicting desires
▪ No one can avoid it.
▪ The factor that determines which one
will prevail
▪ Faced daily with situations - demand
decisions between what we want to do
vs. what we ought to do
▪ Establishes the ground rules for
resolving these tensions.
▪ It determines who we are and how we
will respond before the conflict even
appears.
Cheating in Schools – Atlanta Scandal
Cheating Scandals in Schools!
At Toomer Elementary, one of 56 schools in
the report, investigators said teachers either:
o Prompted students to choose the correct
answer or
o Looked at test booklets in advance to be
sure students were ready for the questions.
More than 178 educator/teachers (32
principals) were involved in the scandal
o Accused of spending nights changing the
answers on students' tests in a scathing
state investigation released
Cheating Scandal is a “cancer that does
damage for many years”
Thousands of students will need extra tutoring
and after-school help this year because they
were promoted based on inflated test scores.
o Meanwhile, enrollment in the district is
projected to be up by about 2,000 children
this year - from about 47,000 to about
49,000 - which means some classes will
have to be slightly larger than in the past.
Criminal investigations conducted in three
counties.
Cheating Scandal – Bottom Line
o The report named 178 educators, 82 of
whom confessed.
o The testing problems first came to light after
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported
that some scores were statistically
improbable
o The district has placed more than 130 of the
educators named in the state's report on
paid leave pending hearings
o Another 40 or so have either quit or retired
 Why did the cheating scandal happen?
o Targets set by the district were often
unrealistic (especially given cumulative
effect over the years)
o Administration put unreasonable
pressure on teachers and principals to
achieve targets
o A culture of fear, intimidation, and
retaliation spread throughout the district
o Dr Hall and her administration
emphasized test results and public praise
to the exclusion of integrity and ethics.
Atlanta Superintendent, Alleged Ring Leader
Atlanta Cheating Scandal
-35 Face felony charges
✓ Conspiracy, Theft, and Giving
false testimony
-But report shows that nearly 200 took part
in the alleged conspiracy
-65 Count Indictment alleges
✓ Cheating incurred at 52 of
Atlanta’s 83 elementary and
middle schools
✓ Test answer sheets were
altered, fabricated, and falsely
certified
-Some teachers said they had a pizza party
to erase wrong answers and fill in the circles
of the correct answers
Atlanta Cheating Scandal
-At one 8th grade math proficiency scores
soared from 24% to 86% in one year
-Atlanta educators received bonuses when
student performance improves
-It was alleged that the former now retired
Atlanta Superintendent was the ring leader
✓ Rewarding teachers and
principals who cheated, and
✓ Punishing those who refused
✓ Superintendent earned more
than a half a million in bonuses
-All 35 educators have been charged with
racketeering and conspiracy which carry a
possible 20 year prison sentencing
Are American students making the grade when
it comes to ethics?
-A new survey from the Josephson Institute of
Ethics
-High school students who admit to cheating,
lying or stealing dropped in 2012 for the first
time in a decade
✓ Students who said they had
cheated on an exam in the past
year plunged from 59 % in 2010
to 51 % in 2012.
✓ The number of students who
said they lied to a teacher in the
past year about something
significant fell from 61 % in
2010 to 55 % in 2012.
✓ In 2010, 27 % of pupils said they
had stolen from a store in the
past year. In 2012, 20 % said
they did so
Reasons for Decline
o One reason for the decline may be
more attention to character.
o “Changes in children’s behavior of this
magnitude suggest a major shift in
parenting and school involvement in
issues of honesty and character,” Mr.
Josephson said in a statement.
Differences between sexes
-Boys are more likely than girls to engage in
dishonest conduct: 45 % of boys said they
believe “a person has to lie and cheat at least
occasionally in order to succeed,” compared
with 28 % of girls.
-Boys have a tendency toward aggressiveness
and competitiveness, said David Walsh, a
developmental psychologist in Minneapolis.
-“We want our sons to be able to channel that
energy in a positive direction,” said Dr. Walsh,
the author of the books Smart Parenting,
Smarter Kids and Why Do They Act That Way?
-“Some boys end up being leaders and being
outstanding.”
The 2012 survey’s margin of error is less than 1
percentage point.
Academic Cheating Fact Sheet
-Cheating among high school students has risen
dramatically during the past 50 years.
-Use to be more likely that the struggling
student would be more likely to cheat.
-Today it is also the above-average college
bound students who are cheating.
-73% of all test takers, including prospective
graduate students and teachers agree that most
students do cheat at some point--86% of high
school students agreed.
Personal Ethical Understanding
o Concepts
✓ of right and wrong,
✓ fair play,
✓ respect for rights of others
✓ honesty
✓ personal integrity
o Best learned in the home at an early
age—and follow-up is needed
throughout life
o Institutions (churches, schools, etc.) can
help
o Difficult to “back fill” in adulthood
Understanding
o Ethics is a set of moral principles and a
code for behavior that govern an
individual’s actions with other
individuals and within society
o Morality is what people believe to be
right and good, while ethics is a critical
reflection about morality
Ethic of Reciprocity
o Often called the Golden Rule (in
Christianity)
o Simply states that we are to treat other
people as we would wish to be treated
ourselves
o Almost all organized religions have such
an ethic.
o It is normally applied to the entire
human race.
Making a Case for the Golden Rule
o John Maxwell, “How would I like to be
treated in this situation?” is an effective
integrity guideline for any situation.
o Works in the—
✓ Boardroom
✓ On the ball field
✓ In the classroom
✓ In the living room
o Works with—
✓ Employees
✓ Employers
✓ Family
✓ Peers
o Works whether—
✓ You’re managing a paper route
✓ A Fortune 500 Company
o Henry Ford observed, “We have always
found that if our principles were right,
the area over which they were applied
did not matter.”
Golden Rule is Right and It Works
o 19th Century Novelist George Eliot said,
“Keep true, never be ashamed of doing
right, decide on what you think is right
and stick to it.”
o “Doing what’s right won’t always be the
popular choice to make, but when we
choose to be an influence instead of
popular; we will always choose doing
what’s right no matter what!” -- Deone
Higgs
The Golden Rule
“There are really two important points when it
comes to ethics.”
✓ The first is a standard to follow.
✓ The second is the will to follow it.
Every day, whenever the issue of ethical
behavior confronts you, ask the question:
✓ “How would I like to be treated in this
situation.”
 Dalai Lama:
How to live one’s life and do one’s job with
long term success "Every religion emphasizes human
"If you want to do something that will make an improvement, love, respect for others, sharing
impact beyond your own life," Maxwell writes other people's suffering. On these lines every
in summary, religion had more or less the same viewpoint
✓ "then treat people better than they and the same goal."
treat you,
✓ walk the extra mile,
✓ help people who cannot help you,
✓ do right when it's natural to do wrong,
and
✓ keep your promises even when it hurts."

Want to be a Leader?
o What are the core essentials of
leadership?
o Is “ethical behavior” one of your
answers?
o Knowing right from wrong and applying
o Being an ethical person is not
something that you switch on and off
like a light switch
In a survey of 54,000 people Integrity was
by far the number one attribute desired in a
leader.

When the Golden Rule does not necessarily

apply
Author and freethinker Ali Sina comments:

"A much more accurate definition of the Golden

Rule is: Treat others with the same
consideration and respect that you wish to be
treated. It does not mean do to others exactly
what you like to be done to you.
✓ For example, if you like peanut butter, it
does not mean you should feed it to
someone who is allergic to it, which can
kill him.
✓ It does not mean you should take your
wife who likes concerts, to a basketball
game because you like basketball or
✓ Invite your Hindu friend to a barbeque
because you are a meat lover when you
know he is vegetarian."

PPT No.2
Ethics is about
o The good thing to be done and the bad
thing to be avoided
o The right and wrong thing to do.
o What consists an acceptable or
unacceptable human behaviour
o Determining the grounds of human
values
Kinds of valuation
o Aesthetic valuation – good or bad in art
and beauty
o Etiquette valuation – polite and
impolite behaviour.
o Technical valuation – the right and
wrong way or method of doing things
The ethical or moral valuation
o Valuation that have a grave impact or
effect to the concern for human well-
being or life itself.
o Human well-being: poverty, inequality,
or sexual identity, private data handling
o Human life: war, capital punishment,
abortion, euthanasia
Vagueness in the scope of ethics
o The distinction between what belongs
to ethics and what does not is not
always so clearly defined.
o Are clothes always just a matter of taste
or would provocative clothing call for
some kind of moral judgment?
Ethics and morals
o Not ethical- (amoral) not belonging to
the sphere of ethical valuation.
o Not ethical- (immoral/unethical) not
measuring up to the requirement or
standard of morality.
Ethics as a branch of philosophy
o morals – (practical) referring to
personal moral beliefs, attitudes, and
conduct.
o moral – (theoretical) referring to a
conceptual description of something as
belonging to the sphere of ethics as a
moral science/study.
Ethics as a branch of philosophy
The term “ethics” can be spoken of as the
discipline of studying and understanding ideal
human behaviour and ideal way of thinking.
It is an intellectual discipline belonging to
philosophy.
Ethics as a branch of philosophy
o Acceptable = ethical/moral
o Unacceptable = unethical/immoral
o Professional ethics = ethical/unethical
conduct but not necessarily
moral/immoral.
Philosophy derived from the Greek word:
Philia: “friendship” or “love”
Sophia: “wisdom”
AREAS OF PHILOSOPHY
o Epistemology asks what is our basis for
determining what we know;
o Metaphysics wonders as to what
constitutes the whole of reality;
o Axiology refers broadly to the study of
value often divided into AESTHETICS,
which concerns itself with the value of
beauty, and ETHICS, which concerns
itself with the value of human action.
Descriptive vs. Normative
o 3rd point of clarification: Descriptive vs
Normative study of ethics.
o A DESCRIPTIVE study of ethics reports
how people, particularly groups, make
their moral valuation.
o This kind of study is often the work of
the social scientist: either a historian or
sociologist/anthropologists.
 o A NORMATIVE study of ethics, as is
often done in philosophy or moral
theology, engages the questions: What
could or should be considered as the
right way of acting?
o Normative discussion prescribes what
we ought to maintain as our standards
or bases for moral valuation.
Issue, Decision, Judgment, and Dilemma
o Moral issue is a situation that calls for
moral valuation.
o Issue is often used to refer to those
particular situations that are often the
source of considerable and inclusive
debate.
o Ex. Capital punishment and Euthanasia
o Moral decision is a situation confronting
an individual where a choice of what act
to perform is required.
o When a person is an observer who
makes an assessment on the actions or
behavior of someone, he/she is making
a moral judgment.
o Going beyond the matter of choosing
right over wrong, or good over bad, and
considering instead the more
complicated situation wherein one is
torn between choosing one of two
goods or choosing between the lesser
of two evils; this is referred to as moral
dilemma.
Reasoning
o A person’s fear of punishment or desire
for reward can provide him a reason for
acting in a certain way.
o Beyond rewards and punishments, it
possible for our moral valuation – our
decisions and judgments – to be based
on principle.
o Principle is defined as rationally
established grounds by which one
justifies and maintains her moral
decisions and judgment.
o A moral theory is a systematic attempt
to establish the validity of maintaining
certain moral principles.
o Theory is a system of thought and
ideas.
o It can also be referred to as framework.
o Framework as a theory of
interconnected ideas, and at the same
time, a structure through which we can
evaluate our reasons for valuing a
certain decision or judgment.
The Thinkers
The Greek thinker Plato is credited as
one of the pioneers of philosophy as his
various writings bring up and discuss
carefully and creatively some of the
questions that later thinkers will find be
of lasting significance to humankind.
Ex. Can virtue be taught?
What is beauty?
What is love?
o In “The Apology of Socrates” written
by Plato, Socrates makes the claim
that it is the greatest good for a
person to spend time thinking about
and discussing with others those
questions on goodness and virtue.
o Like most other ancient philosophers,
Plato maintains a virtue-based
eudaemonistic conception of ethics.
That is to say, happiness or well-being
(eudaimonia) is the highest aim of
moral thought and conduct, and the
virtues (aretê: ‘excellence’) are the
requisite skills and dispositions
needed to attain it. If Plato’s
conception of happiness is elusive and
his support for a morality of
happiness seems somewhat subdued,
there are several reasons.
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY
 o Ethics are based on the idea that the
standards of valuation are imposed by
a higher authority that commands our
obedience.
o The Authority of the law
o The Authority of one’s religion
o The Authority of one’s own culture
LAW
o Law is one’s guide to ethical behavior.
o In the Philippines, laws of the land are
stated in the country’s criminal and civil
codes.
o Ordinances – city or baranggay
o Positive law refers to the different rules
and regulations that are posited or put
forward by an authority figure that
require compliance.
o Law is enforced by way of a system of
sanctions administered through persons
and institutions.
o Law as the basis of ethics has the
benefit of providing us with an objective
standard that is obligatory and
applicable to all.
o “Ethics? It is simple. Just follow
whatever the law says.”
o One point to be raised is the prohibitive
nature of law.
o The law does not tell us what we should
do; it works by constraining from
performing acts that we should not do.
o Ex. Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012
o The fact that one can make a negative
value judgment of the practice that
there is no violation of the law is
already a hint that one can look to
something beyond the law when
making our ethical valuations.
o The law does not oblige people to help
others in need.
o Deontology: the theory or study of
moral obligation.
o Ex. Toddler a victim of hit and run;
ENDO
RELIGION
o “Love the Lord, Your God, therefore,
and always heed his charge; his statutes,
decrees, and commandments.”
o It expresses a claim that many people of a
religious sensibility find appealing and
immediately valid: the idea that one is
obliged to obey her God in all things.
o As a foundation for ethical values, this is
referred to as a divine command theory.
o Religion is not simply prohibitive, but it
also provided ideals to pursue.
o Taking religion as basis of ethics has the
advantage of providing us with not only a
set of commands but also a Supreme
Authority that can inspire and compel our
obedience in a way that nothing else can.
o The Divine can command absolute
obedience on one’s part as the
implications of her actions involve her
ultimate destiny.
CULTURE
Culture refers to ways of thinking and valuing
that are different from one person to another.
o Culture refers to the beliefs, values,
behavior and material objects that,
together, form a people's way of life.
o Culture determines how we view the
world around us
o Culture includes the traditions we
inherit and pass on to the next
generation
o Culture: totality of our shared language,
knowledge, material objects, and
behavior
o Cultural Relativism what is ethically
acceptable or unacceptable is relative,
or that is to say, dependent on one’s
culture.
o It conforms to what we experience,
which is the reality of the difference in
how cultures make their ethical
valuations.
o It is premised on the reality of
difference.
o We are in no position to render any
kind of judgment on the practices of
another culture or of even our own
culture.
o Follow presumption of culture as
simple, clearly defined substance or as
something fixed and already
determined.
points out that there is already and
underlying basis for how one acts.
o It strong points: simplicity,
plausibility, and irreputable.
o “Human beings are naturally self-
centered, so all our actions are always
motivated by self interest.
o Ethical Egoism differs from
psychological
egoism in that it does not suppose all
other actions are already inevitably
self-serving.
o It prescribes that we should make our
own ends, our own interests, as the
single overriding concern.
o We may act in a way that is beneficial
to others, but we should do that only
if it ultimately benefits us.
o This theory acknowledges that
everyone ought to put herself at the
center.

SENSE OF THE SELF

3 THEORIES ABOUT ETHICS

o Subjectivism: Its starting point is the

recognition that the individual
thinking (the subject) is at the heart
of a moral valuations
o She is the one confronted with the
situation and is burdened with the
need to make a decision or judgment.
o The individual is the sole determinant
of what is morally good or bad, right
or wrong.
o Ex. “I am entitled to my own opinion.”
o “No one knows my situation better
than myself.”

o Psychological Egoism is a theory that

describes the underlying dynamic
behind all human actions.
o This theory does not direct one to act
in any particular way, instead, it
 PPT No.3
UTILITARIANISM
FUNDAMENTAL TENETS OF UTILITARIANISM
BASIC INSIGHTS OF UTILITARIANISM
*The purpose of morality is to make the world a
better place.
*Morality is about producing good
consequences, not having good intentions
*We should do whatever will bring the most
benefit (i.e., intrinsic value) to all of humanity.
THE PURPOSE OF MORALITY
The utilitarian has a very simple answer to the
question of why morality exists at all: ⎥ the
purpose of morality is to guide people’s actions
in such a way as to produce a better world.
Consequently, the emphasis in utilitarianism is
on consequences, not intentions.
FUNDAMENTAL IMPERATIVE
The fundamental imperative of utilitarianism is:
always act in the way that will produce the
greatest overall amount of good in the world. ⎥
the emphasis is clearly on consequences, not
intentions.
The emphasis on the overall good
We often speak of “utilitarian” solutions in a
disparaging tone, but in fact utilitarianism is a
demanding moral position that often asks us to
put aside self-interest for the sake of the whole.
Utilitarianism is a morally demanding position
for two reasons: ⎥ it always asks us to do the
most, to maximize utility, not to do the
minimum. ⎥ it asks us to set aside personal
interest.
the dream of utilitarianism: bringing scientific
certainty to ethics
Utilitarianism offers us a powerful vision of the
moral life, one that promises to reduce or
eliminate moral disagreement. ⎥ if we can agree
that the purpose of morality is to make the
world a better place; and ⎥ if we can
scientifically assess various possible courses of
action to determine which will have the
greatest positive effect on the world; then ⎥ we
can provide a scientific answer to the question
of what we ought to do.
STANDARDS OF UTILITY
A HISTORY OF UTILITARIANISM
Intrinsic value
*Many things have instrumental value, that is,
they have value as means to an end.
*However, there must be some things which
are not merely instrumental, but have value in
themselves. this is what we call intrinsic value.
*What has intrinsic value? four principal
candidates:
pleasure - Jeremy Bentham
happiness - John Stuart mill
ideals - G. E. Moore
preferences - Kenneth Arrow
Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832
Bentham believed that we should try to
increase the overall amount of pleasure in the
world.
Pleasure - the enjoyable feeling we experience
when a state of deprivation is replaced by
fulfillment.
Advantages - easy to quantify, short duration,
bodily
Criticisms ⎥ came to be known as “the pig’s
philosophy” ⎥ ignores higher values ⎥ COULD
JUSTIFY LIVING ON A PLEASURE MACHINE
John Stuart Mill 1806-1873
Bentham’s Godson
*Believed that happiness, not pleasure, should
be the standard of utility.
 ⎥ preferences
Happiness
Advantages: For any given action, we must calculate:
A higher standard, more specific to humans o *How many people will be affected,
about realization of goals negatively (dolors) as well as
Disadvantages: positively (hedons)
More difficult to measure o
Competing conceptions of happiness ideal *How intensely they will be affected
values similar calculations for all available
alternatives
G. E. Moore suggested that we should strive to o
maximize ideal values such as freedom, *Choose the action that produces the
knowledge, justice, and beauty. greatest
overall amount of utility (hedons
*The world may not be a better place with minus dolors)
more pleasure in it, but it certainly will be a example:
better place with more freedom, more Debating the school lunch program utilitarians
knowledge, more justice, and more beauty. would have to calculate:
*Moore’s candidates for intrinsic good remain ⎥ Benefits:
difficult to quantify. € increased nutrition for x number of
children
Preferences € increased performance, greater long-
Kenneth Arrow, a nobel prize winning stanford range chances of success
economist, argued that what has intrinsic value € incidental benefits to contractors, etc.
is preference satisfaction.
⎥ Costs
The advantage of arrow’s approach is that, in € cost to each taxpayer
effect, it lets people choose for themselves € contrast with other programs that
what has intrinsic value. it simply defines could have been funded and with lower taxes
intrinsic value as whatever satisfies an agent’s (no program)
preferences. it is elegant and pluralistic.
⎥ multiply each factor by number of
individuals affected
The Utilitarian Calculus € intensity of effects

Math and Ethics finally merge: all consequences How much can we quantify?
must be measured and weighed.
Pleasure and preference satisfaction are easier
*units of measurement: to quantify than happiness or ideals
⎥ hedons: positive Two distinct issues:
⎥ dolors: negative 1.Can everything be quantified?
Some would maintain that some of the
what do we calculate? most important things in life (love, family, etc.)
*hedons/dolors may be defined in terms of cannot easily be quantified, while other things
⎥ pleasure (productivity, material goods) may get
⎥ happiness emphasized precisely because they are
⎥ ideals quantifiable.
 The danger: if it can’t be counted, it
doesn’t count.

2.Are quantified goods necessarily

commensurable?
Are a fine dinner and a good night’s sleep
commensurable? can one be traded or
substituted for the other?

“…the problems of three little people don’t

amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

Utilitarianism doesn’t always have a cold and

calculating face— we perform utilitarian
calculations in everyday life.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of

the few—or the one.

Act and rule utilitarianism

Act Utilitarianism ⎥ Looks at the

consequences of each individual act and
calculate utility each time the act is performed.

Rule Utilitarianism ⎥ Looks at the

consequences of having everyone follow a
particular rule and calculates the overall utility
of accepting or rejecting the rule.
 PPT No.4
Utilitarianism
An Introduction to the Moral Theories of
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
Ethical Judgments
o Ethical philosophy differs from the sciences
because it is normative or prescriptive,
rather than descriptive.
o In other words, ethics tell us how we ought
to act or what we should do, while the
sciences are more likely to observe how
things are in nature or society.
Making Ethical Judgments
Areas of Emphasis in Making Moral Judgments
✓ Purpose or motive
✓ Act, Rule, or Maxim
✓ Results or Consequences
Making Ethical Judgments in Utilitarianism
o Utilitarianism says that the Result or the
Consequence of an Act is the real measure
of whether it is good or bad.
o This theory emphasizes Ends over Means.
o Theories, like this one, that emphasize the
results or consequences are called
teleological or consequentialist.
Bentham’s Formulation of Utilitarianism
o Man is under two great masters, pain and
pleasure.
o The great good that we should seek is
happiness. (a hedonistic perspective)
o Those actions whose results increase
happiness or diminish pain are good. They
have “utility.”
Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus
o In determining the quantity of happiness
that might be produced by an action, we
evaluate the possible consequences by
applying several values:
o Intensity, duration, certainty or
uncertainty, propinquity or remoteness,
fecundity, purity, and extent.
Four Theses of Utilitarianism
1. Consequentialism: The rightness of
actions is determined solely by their
consequences.
2. Hedonism: Utility is the degree to
which an act produces pleasure.
Hedonism is the thesis that pleasure or
happiness is the good that we seek and
that we should seek.
3. Maximalism: A right action produces
the greatest good consequences and
the least bad.
4. Universalism: The consequences to be
considered are those of everyone
affected, and everyone equally.
Two Formulations of Utilitarian Theory
1. Principle of Utility: The best action is
that which produces the greatest
happiness and/or reduces pain.
2. Greatest Happiness: We ought to do
that which produces the greatest
happiness and least pain for the
greatest number of people.
Two Types of Utilitarianism
1. Rule: An action is right if and only if it
conforms to a set of rules the general
acceptance of which would produce the
greatest balance of pleasure over pain
for the greatest number. (John Stuart
Mill)
2. Act: An Action is right if and only if it
produces the greatest balance of
pleasure over pain for the greatest
number. (Jeremy Bentham)
Application of Utilitarian Theory
Actual Cases
The decision at Coventry during WWII.
The decision was made not to inform the
town that they would be bombed.

The Ford Pinto case: A defective vehicle would
sometimes explode when hit.
The model was not recalled and
repaired by Ford because they felt it was
cheaper to pay the liability suits than to recall
and repair all the defective cars.
Criticisms of Bentham’s theory
Bentham’s theory could mean that if 10 people
would be happy watching a man being eaten
by wild dogs, it would be a morally good thing
for the 10 men to kidnap someone (especially
someone whose death would not cause grief
to many others) and throw the man into a cage
of wild, hungry dogs.
John Stuart Mill’s Adjustments to
Utilitarianism
o Mill argues that we must consider the
quality of the happiness, not merely the
quantity.
o For example, some might find happiness
with a pitcher of beer and a pizza. Others
may find happiness watching a fine
Shakespearean play. The quality of
happiness is greater with the latter.
Mill’s Quality Arguments
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied
than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool,
or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is
because they only know their own side of the
question. The other party to the comparison
knows both sides.”
“As between his own happiness and that of
others, utilitarianism requires him to be as
strictly impartial as a disinterested and
benevolent spectator. In the golden rule of
Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit
of the ethics of utility. ‘To do as you would be
done by,’ and ‘to love your neighbor as
yourself,’ constitute the ideal perfection of
utilitarian morality.”
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
If I am to bring the greatest happiness to the
greatest number, not putting my own happiness
above others, that may lead to a dilemma. I live
in a neighborhood where 83% of my neighbors
use drugs. I could make them most happy by
helping supply them with cheap drugs, but I feel
uncomfortable doing that. What should a
utilitarian do?
o Bernard Williams criticizes the implied
“doctrine of negative responsibility” in
Utilitarianism. For example, a thug breaks
into my home and holds six people
hostage, telling us he will kill all of us.
“However,” the thug says, “if you will kill
two of your family, I will let you and the
other three live.”
o With Utilitarianism, the good thing to do is
to kill two members of my family.
o Utilitarianism plays fast and loose with
God’s commandments. If lying, stealing, or
killing could lead to an increase of
happiness for the greatest number, we are
told we should lie, steal or kill. Isn’t that a
rejection of God’s commands?
Mill’s Answer to the “Godless Theory”
Criticism
What is the nature of God?
o Does God make arbitrary rules just to see if
we will obey?
o Does God make rules that He knows will
lead to our happiness?
If the latter statement is true, doesn’t it make
sense God would want us to use our God-given
reason to look at the situation?
“If it be a true belief that God desires, above all
things, the happiness of his creatures, and that
this was his purpose in their creation, utility is
not a godless doctrine, but more profoundly
religious than any other, whatever God has
though fit to reveal on the subject of morals
must fulfill the requirements of utility in a
supreme degree.”
A Second Criticism of Utilitarianism

If one must decide the probable outcome of an

act before knowing whether it is good or bad,
how can children learn to evaluate acts, since
they know so little of what consequences might
arise from their actions?

Mill’s “Rule” Utilitarianism

“ . . . Mankind must by this time have acquired

positive beliefs as to the effects of some actions
on their happiness; and the beliefs which have
thus come down are the rules of morality for
the multitude, and for the philosopher until he
has succeeded in finding better.” Mill
concludes, however, that we should always
seek improvements.

Rights and Utilitarianism

o Many philosophers hold that we have
certain rights, either from God, nature, or
from a social contract
o Can the idea of rights be made compatible
with Utilitarianism?
o If ignoring rights brings about more
happiness to the greatest number, should
we ignore so-called rights?
o Mill’s rule-based view in On Liberty; having
a right to liberty will bring the greatest
happiness

Consequences of Unethical Practices

o Baucus & Baucus (2000)
o Singled out 67 companies out of the
Fortune 500 that had at least one illegal act
– ex: antitrust, product liabilities,
discrimination
o Performance of the convicted firms were
compared to unconvicted firms (five year
after the fraud was committed)
o Convicted firms experienced significantly
lower return on sales (three year lag)
o Multiple convictions are more disastrous
o Unethical activities can affect long term
performance