ETHICS
between two or more ethical
- also known as Moral Philosophy
- Deals with the morality, moral
rectitude or the rightness and
wrongness of human acts
- is a set of theories that determine
right and wrong, morals involve
practice of these theories or
principles.
- is Practical and Normative science
based on reason, which studies
human acts and provides norms for
their goodness / badness
Ethics (Practical Science)
 Deals with a systematized body of
knowledge that can be used,
practiced and applied to human
action.
 It considers the usefulness,
practicality and application of human
knowledge to one’s experience as
distinguished from theoretical
knowledge which is simply
interested in truth for its own sake
without any bearing on action and
experience
o .
Ethics (Normative Science)
 Established norms and standards for
the direction and regulation of
human actions.
 Ethics (Based on Reason)
 Investigates the facts, analyses
them from practical applications to
particular actions.
 Deals also with Human Acts insofar
as they are performed with
intellectual deliberation and freedom
 The science of human acts with
reference to right and wrong.
 Ethical Dilemma
 Occurs when there is a conflict
principles
 There is no correct decision
 The member of the health team
will decide from two alternatives
which produce bad effects
Human Act
 Are those which are done with
knowledge and full consent of the
will
 One knows what one is doing and
one does it freely and willingly
Elements of Human Act
Knowledge
 Primary element
 Aware and conscious of what he is
doing
Freedom
 The act is performed under control
of the will
 Without any element of force or
coercion
Voluntariness
- Intentional
- Within the power of his will
Acts of Man
 Refers to those which are performed
in the absence of either/both of the
two conditions:
 No element of human acts
RAPE CASE
Human Act
- Rapist who thinks and behave as a
Normal Individual.
Acts of Man
- Rapist (Insane/Idiot)
 - Rapist does not know what he is
doing
- Rape victim suffers from the ACT
OF MAN
IGNORANCE
 the absence of knowledge in an
individual who is supposed to
know it
 The absence or lack of
knowledge
Types
 Vincible Ignorance
 Invincible Ignorance
Vincible Ignorance
 which can be overcome by exerting
some effort
 Dishonest individual
 Alibis
Invincible Ignorance
 Honest individual
 With true reasoning
 Which can hardly be removed
even if one were to exert extra
effort to overcome it
SCHOOL CASE
 There is a test to be given in a
class tomorrow. Two students
were absent during the previous
meeting and do not have any
idea about the scheduled test to
be given tomorrow. Students
should be responsible enough to
know their schedules.
 Student A knows the telephone
numbers of some of the people
in the class and does not inquire
from them and does not furnish
any necessary information,
therefore does not know the
scheduled test to be given.
 Student B exerts all effort to verify
the test and yet cannot obtain
necessary information because the
phone numbers had bogged down
for some reason
Who has a Vincible Ignorance?
 Student A
 Dishonest
 Can overcome one’s ignorance if
one wants, but does not prefer to.
Who has Invincible Ignorance?
 Student B
 Student was being honest
 Exhausted all possibilities to
overcome one’s ignorance but this
was to no avail
CONSCIENCE
 3 Latin words: CUM ALIA SCIENTIA
 A practical judgment of reason
deciding upon an individual’s action
as good and to be performed or as
evil and to be avoided
 Application of knowledge to a
specific individual
 to determine what one ought to be
done in a given situation
 Voice of GOD
Types of Conscience
Correct/True Conscience
 An act as good when it is truly good
and act as evil when it is truly evil
Example: A nurse for in his conscience,
euthanasia is evil and so he refuses to give
lethal injection to a suffering patient whose
case is perceived by doctor as useless.
Erroneous/False Conscience
 An act as good when it is evil and an
act as evil when it is good.
Example: A medical doctor rejects the moral
teaching of the Church that therapeutic
direct abortion is evil.
a. Culpable (guilty/has fault)
b. Inculpable (not guilty/no fault)
Certain Conscience
 Assured and firm judgment of an
act without any fear of being in
error.
Example: a patient who is a member of
Jehovah’s Witness firmly believe without
any fear to die that BT is sinful and never
morally allowed thus refuses to be
transfused with 500 cc of blood.
Doubtful Conscience
 There is no sure judgment of whether
an act is good or bad
Example: A medical doctor is in doubt about
whether or not it is morally permissible to
expel the non-viable fetus whose motives
are to save the mother and avoid the loss of
two lives.
Lax Conscience
 An act which goes on and on
without being corrected and become
blinded with the truth of goodness
that has to be done and of evil that
has to be avoided.
Example
 An abortionist who justifies and
rationalizes the act of abortion by
saying that an embryo or a non-
viable fetus is not yet a human
which tends her to continuously
go on with her occupation.
Scrupulous Conscience
 An act which is demanding,
meticulous over something that has
been done
 perceives evil in an act when there is
none.
 Example: A patient who suffers from
spontaneous abortion feels guilty
that she is accountable for the loss
of her baby.
Morality
 refers to standards for behavior or
their beliefs about what is right and
wrong
 The quality of human acts where the
acts either be good or right, evil or
wrong.
Why ethics are important?
 It serves as a guide to moral daily
living and helps us judge whether
our behavior can be justified. 
 To establish rules, principles, and
values on which we can base our
conduct.
Why NURSES should have Ethics?
 To distinguish what is right and
wrong
 He has an obligation to do what is
good and avoid what is wrong
 He has a sense of accountability for
his actions.