Lesson 1: ETHICS

Objectives:

At the end of the chapter, the learner is expected to:

1. Differentiate Philosophy, Theology and Ethics
2. Discuss the meaning of Ethics and the Formal Elements
3. Explain the types of Ethical Judgment and Ethical Reasoning
4. Identify the Postulates of Ethics and Ethical Approaches
5. Appreciate the Art of Correct Living

Input 1: The Meaning of Philosophy and Theology

Philosophy
- it came from the Greek words “philein” meaning “love” and “sophia” meaning
“wisdom”
- Is the science of beings in their ultimate reasons, causes and principles, acquired by
the aid of human reason alone.

THEOLOGY
– is the science, which explores to apprehend and re articulate the life-giving goodness
of God in Jesus Christ.

Christian Ethics or Moral Theology

- is the thematic, systematic, reflective study of Christian morality Is a branch of
ethics
The Meaning of ETHICS
ETHICS
- is deduced from the Greek word “ethos,” which means “characteristic way of acting,”
“habit,” or “custom” or “behavior”
• Moral/Morality is deduced from the Latin word “mos,” “mores”, meaning
“custom”
- Studies the characteristics behaviour of man as endowed with reason and freewill.
Custom - is an action or way of behaving that is usual and traditional among the people
in a particular group or place.
- Is defined as the practical science of the morality of human act or conduct of the good
life.
- It is a body of knowledge systematically arranged and prescribed in surely manner that
it arrives at its conclusions coherently and logically.
- Is defined as a general study of moral life which deals with two types of question, one
critically normative and the other theoretical.

What is critically normative question?

Moral Norm
- it is a standard of reference to which a particular action can be judged morally good
or bad.
o It studies moral norms critically
 o It attempts to show that certain norms are correct or incorrect.

What is critically theoretical question?

• What is it that makes an action a moral action?
• By what sort of thought processes does one use general norms in making moral
judgments about particular cases?
o It explicates what is, not what ought to be

2 elements:
- judgment
- choice
Ex. Field of Medicine
1. On the level of practice
- The physician uses general truths but he focuses on something particular (person,
ailment, treatment)

2. On the level of general study

- One studies particular cases but one focuses on the general statements, which apply
to entire classes of cases.

Moral Life: Refusing to pay a debt

1. The action of paying a debt
2. It focuses on general statements

Started with the Greek philosophers:

• Socrates
- introduced the concept of teaching ethics and acceptable standards of
conduct in 400 BC
- He believed virtue was found primarily in human relationships, love and
friendship not through material gains
• Plato
- a disciple of Socrates, accepted the beliefs in the objectivity of goodness and
in the link between knowing what is good and doing it.
believed that happiness or well-being is the highest aim of moral thought and
conduct and the virtues.
• Aristotle, the Father of Moral Philosophy
- Makes knowledge or understanding central to his conception of what is
good for us as human beings.
- Defines the supreme good as an activity of the rational soul in
accordance with virtue.
- Virtue for the Greeks is equivalent to excellence.
Three Important Treaties

1. Nicomachean Ethics
- Is a philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human
being.
 Characteristics of ultimate good:
a. complete
b. final
c. self-sufficient
d. continuous
2. Eudemian Ethics
- Is a major treatise on moral philosophy whose central concern is what
makes life worth living.
- The condition of human flourishing or of living well
Greek: “eudaimonia” means happiness
3. Magna Moralia (Great Ethics)
- The discussion focuses on the themes of good, happiness, virtue,
action, Justice, continence and incontinence, pleasure, good fortune,
friendship and gentlemanliness.
ETHICS
- is the science of the morality of human acts
- Is the study of man as moral being, one who is rationally able to distinguish between
right and wrong.
- Examines how man is accountable for his actions and its consequences
- Proposes how man ought to live his life – meaningfully.
- Is concerned with morality, the quality which makes an act good or evil, correct or
wrong.
- Examines and explains the rational basis why actions are moral or immoral

Formal Elements of Ethics

a. An understanding of the good as the goal of moral life and the basic reason for being
moral.
Conviction: God is good!
b. An understanding of the human person as an agent.
Moral character: perspectives, dispositions, affections and intentions
c. The points of reference, which serve as the criteria for a moral judgment.

Types of Ethical Judgment and Ethical Reasoning

1. Descriptive Ethics
 It describes the particular values and principles that someone holds
 It involves describing, classifying, listing and summarizing ethical beliefs.
Primary Goal: To constantly stretch our understandings, shifts our perspectives and
consciousness and help us escape the limitations implicit in common ways of thinking.

2. Normative /Prescriptive Ethics

 This level of ethical reasoning involves making ethical judgments, suggesting
advice and offering ethical evaluations.
 Ex. The “ought” and “should”
3. Philosophical Ethics
- It is also called moral philosophy
- It is a higher level of generality and abstraction in which normative judgments
and their supporting reasons are analyzed and evaluated.

a. Ethics of being (character ethics)

- it focuses on the interiority of the person, or the person’s character.
- It focuses on what is happening to the person performing actions
- It stresses the pattern of actions, or the habits we acquire, the vision we have of life,
the values and convictions or beliefs we live by, the intentions we have, the dispositions
which ready us to act and the affections which move us to do what we believe is right.

b. Ethics of doing
- it focuses on the right action
- It makes a decision to resolve conflicts of moral values so that we might do the
right action
- Ex. Canon law, jurisprudence, moral theology

Activity 1
Direction: Answer briefly the following:

1. Give two definitions of ethics and explain the terms found therein.
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2. Why is ethics considered a practical science?

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3. Why is ethics called a normative science?

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 4. Show the similarity and the difference:
a) Ethics of being
b) Ethics of doing
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Input 2: Postulates of Ethics

1. The Existence of God

- God is the author of our life and is the only center of value
- It entails the self-awareness of human persons as stewards of creation and
provides a reason for being moral.

2. Human Intellect and free will

- Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness.
- Freedom is so central to the moral life without it we cannot properly speak of
being moral persons at all. CCC1730, CCC1731
a. Basic Freedom or the Freedom of self-determination
- Through the use of psychological instruments, we recognize the limiting
conditions to who we can become and to what is possible to us to achieve.

Fundamental Option
- Is a choice that emerges from a personal depth or reinforces the fundamental
direction of our lives.
 Deep knowledge of self
 Freedom to commit oneself

b. Freedom of Choice
- Freedom is the power rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or
that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.
CCC 1731, 1734
- Has to do with realizing our capacity to be ourselves through the particular
choices we make.

Threats to Freedom:
The exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. The
economic, social, political and cultural conditions that are needed for a just exercise
of freedom are too often disregarded or violated.
3. Immortality of the Soul
 Human Acts and Acts of Man

1. Human Acts (actus humanus)

- Is a description of an action performed by a human person in a truly
authentic/human manner.
- They are performed with awareness and free choice
- Are actions performed by a human with human capacities for knowledge and
freedom
- Are deliberate, intentional and voluntary.
- are actions done intentionally and freely, like walking, reading, working, playing,
shopping, joining a contest or signing a contract.
2. Acts of Man (actus hominis)
- Is a description of a behavior emerging through human agency, but without the
same knowledge or freedom
- They are acts done by man without deliberation or volition and simple acts of
sensation and appetition
• They are (instinctive) such as physiological and psychological movements:
breathing, feeling happy, falling in love
Ex. Metabolism, respiration, emotive sphere (fear, hatred, jealousy, love

The Art of Correct Living

Art – provides for what is orderly and harmonious in an artwork

Ethics
– is an art, “the art of correct living”, because it teaches how we may put order and
harmony in our lives.
- Is beneficial only when its truths are put into practice as rules of conduct.
• Every person is expected to be decent and trustworthy.
• “Moral integrity is the true measure of man’s greatness.” – attested by people
• Some Philosophers: Ethics as “the only necessary knowledge”
Emilio Jacinto (Katilla ng Katipunan):
• the rich, the famous and the powerful: unless they are morally upright, they live
vainly.
• Poor & Ignorant: God-fearing, patriotic, diligent, honest, helpful of others, self-
respecting and protective with one’s family (dakila)
Morality is not only necessary to a person but also to society.
• Beltrand Russell:
“Without civic morality, communities perish; without personal morality their
survival has no value.”
When people do not accept the rule of law, society crumbles.

ETHICS and the Filipino

• Filipinos believe in moral integrity as essential to life.
• Filipinos also believe in a just society
Situations:
- Corruption in government
- Commercialism
- Over population
- The unequal distribution of wealth
- The lack of economic opportunities
It weakens the morals of the Filipino.
• When we speak of “living standard” we inevitably mean “economic”, that is,
higher salaries and low prices.
• We should think more of moral standard as our priority.

ETHICS and Religion

They are both concerned with moral education, but they differ from each other.
Ethics
- Is a science and relies on reasons for its conclusions.
- Teaches the value of religion, presenting it as a duty of man towards the
Supreme being
• Religion
– is a system of beliefs and practices based on faith and revelation, or truths
revealed to man by God.
- As an organized church or institution, contributes to the development of ethical
thought.
Thus, religion and ethics compliment each other.

ETHICAL Norms and Law

Laws of Society:
legalizes immoral acts: gambling and divorce
Hence, what is legal is not necessary moral.

Human Laws: regulate external actions, but not thoughts and feelings.
Ex. Thinking of robbing a bank is not a crime until it is attempted.

Ethical Norms: cover thoughts and feelings so that a person could sin because of what
he thinks or desires.
• St. Paul: says a man who lusts after a woman is committing adultery
• Moral Norms: require proper spiritual disposition towards what is lawful.
• It is not sufficient to do good, one must be sincere in doing what is good.
Activity 2
Direction: Answer briefly the following:

1. Differentiate human acts and acts of man.

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2. Explain the intimate relation between

a) Ethics and Art

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b) Ethics and the Filipino

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c) Ethics and Religion

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d) Ethics and Law

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Input 3: Ethical Approaches/Paradigms

1. The atheistic approach

- Assumes that only matter exists and man is responsible only to the State since
there is no God who rules the universe.
- Moral truths are temporary and changeable depending on the situation:
Tenets:
1) Man is the only reality.
2) Man is matter and does not have spiritual soul
3) Man is free and must exercise his freedom to promote the welfare of society
4) There is no life after death
5) Man is accountable only to the State

Types of Atheistic Paradigms:

1. Methodological Atheism
- Brackets the existence of God for inquiry ex. Natural & Social sciences
2. Reductionist Atheism
- Advocates that religion can be exemplified without reference to the supernatural
once a human person acknowledges the genesis of religion in human nature,
human society or human desire. (L. Feurback, K. Marx, S. Freud)
3. Existential Atheism
- A negation of God for believing in God prohibits people from being fully human.
- Epitomized in Dostoevsky’s the brother Karamazov and Camus.
4. Christian Atheism
- A negation of God since the beginning of the enlightenment
- Adherents: Altizer, Jennings and Cupitt
5. Evidential Atheism
- Is a theoretical philosophical perspective advocating that there is a good reason
in not believing in god and negates his existence.
Adherents: Agnostics

2. The theistic approach

- Assumes that God is the Supreme Lawgiver and Creator.
- Man must exercise his freedom in accordance with God’s will.
- There are absolute principles of morality which are not changeable.
- Man is accountable for his actions and deserves either a reward or punishment in
this life or in the next.

TENETS:
1) God is the Supreme Creator and Lawgiver.
2) Man is free and must use his freedom to promote his personal interest along with
that of others.
3) Man has an immortal soul
4) Man is accountable for his actions, both good and evil.

General and Special Ethics

General Ethics

- Is about the principles of morality

- It explains the norms with which the moral significance of the human act is determined.
Special Ethics

- is the application of the principles of the principles of General ethics to the

problems and issues confronting a person on account of his circumstances in life.
- Includes the sub-branches of professional ethics, such as medical ethics,
business ethics, legal ethics, biological and environmental ethics.

Summative Assessment
Direction: Answer briefly the following:

1. What is the importance of ethics and morality in human life?

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2. What is the difference between atheistic and theistic approach?

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3. Of all man’s activities, with what is ethics most intimately related? Justify your
answer.
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4. How are moral norms different from civil laws?

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 5. According to Plato, ethics is the supreme science, the science par excellence. Do
you agree with this view? On the basis on this view ethics is the most important
subject in any curriculum. Express your comment on this claim.
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Assignment: Read the What is Ethics? article by Jovito R. Salonga below from the
textbook we are using.
Write a reflection paper on what you have learned from that article.
Rubrics:
Depth of Reflection: Viewpoints and interpretations are insightful and well
supported. Clear, detailed examples are provided, as applicable.
Required Components: Introduction, Body, Conclusion
Format: Size: Short Bond Paper, Arial, Font 12, Single Space,
Observe Proper Indention, Justified
Structure: Writing is clear, concise, and well organized with excellent
sentence/paragraph construction.
Evidence & Practice: Response shows strong evidence of synthesis of ideas
presented and insights gained throughout the entire course.

Reading: What is Ethics?

Jovito R. Salonga

Ethics… is the discipline dealing with right and wrong. And when we ask what
things are right, without having to go back to the ancient philosophers and scholars,
common sense tells us the things that are right are the things that help people and
society at large, such things as honesty, decency and accountability. To be sure, ethics
has a practical dimension. It is based on what one might call reciprocity, something like
the Golden Rule – “Do unto others what you would like others do unto you.” Or even its
negative version – Don’t do unto others what you don’t like them to do unto you.” I don’t
want to be lied to, hence I should not lie to others. I don’t want my possession stolen,
therefore I should not steal other people’s possessions. If I don’t want to be cheated by
the other candidates for president, there I should not cheat them.

But beyond reciprocity, ethics has a spiritual dimension. People have an inner sense of
right and wrong. That is why we feel guilt and shame. Wasn’t it Abraham Lincoln who
said: “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad?” Our best moments, as
one ethicist points out (Meyers 1989:18), are not when we made a lot of money, but
when something we did meant a lot good to others. In my own law practice before I got
into the fascinating but turbulent world of politics, I earned more than enough by serving
as lawyer for a number of big corporations; however, my happiest moment was not
when I received a handsome attorney’s fee but when I defended – gratis et amore – an
old man, a friend of my late father, who, in my opinion was erroneously convicted by a
biased judge. I appealed the judgment of conviction, prepared the written brief at my
expense and personally argued his case in the Court of Appeals, knowing he could not
pay me even if he wanted to. When the judgment of acquittal came, I thought I was the
happiest man in the world. What I am trying to say is that beyond honesty and fairness,
compassion and caring for people, especially those who are in need, are among life’s
highest ethical values (Excerpt from “Ethics in Politics” in the Intangibles That Make A
Nation Great, 2—3, p.165 – 166).