Republic of the Philippines

City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

MGT 108
Good Governance and
Social Responsibility
Module

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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

Module III – Relationship of Ethics with other Sciences and

other Phases of Human life
I. Introduction
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature and the morality of human
conduct. To some extent, Ethics is related to other sciences because it also deals with
the investigation of the nature of man as a rational being and a being in relation with other
beings. But unlike other sciences, the focus and the focus of Ethics is study man’s nature
and his behavior from the standpoint of morality. The material object of Ethics is the
human conduct and the formal object is morality.

II. Learning Objectives

After studying the module, you will be able to:
• Understand the scope of ethics as a science that investigates the nature of the
human conduct.
• Distinguish ethics from other sciences that study man’s nature and behavior.
• Differentiate ethics from etiquette and the professional codes of conduct.

III. Key Topics and Concepts

Relationship of Ethics with Other Sciences

The following discussion is focused on how Ethics, as a science which studies

nature of man and the human conduct, is especially related to other sciences which
likewise deal with the study of human nature and human conduct.

Ethics and Logic

Ethics is the study of correct action or doing, while Logic studies the process of
correct and organized thinking. Doing follows thinking. Logic therefore is aimed at the
right thinking and Ethics is aimed at the right acting or right doing and behavior.

Based on perceiving information, Ethics focuses first and foremost on the demands
of the subjective human world, or world of people and relationships. In communication,
ethics focuses and studies people’s feelings and emotional states based on nonverbal
information and how things are said. Logic is focused on the demands of the material,

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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

nonhuman world, or world of “things” in one’s environment. In communication, Logic

focuses on and studies what is done and said, or the content of one’s speech.

On intellectual qualities, Ethics is people-oriented while Logic is task-oriented.

Ethics is focused on enhancing relationships, modifying content and forms of speech to
match or contradict what others expect to hear. Logic is focused on not misleading a
person and giving him correct information.

Lastly, on behavioral relationship, Ethics shows people’s feelings for their partners
directly through emotions; while Logic shows their feelings for their partners by doing
things for them.

Ethics and Psychology

Both Ethics and Psychology deal with the study of man and his behavior. However,
Psychology studies how man behaves, while Ethics studies how man ought to behave.
Psychology is not interested in the morality of human behavior, while Ethics is concerned
with man’s moral obligation or the result of his behavior. Ethics is the study of human
behavior from the perspective of morality. Psychology, on the other hand, is the scientific
study of mental and behavioral characteristic, associated with a particular kind of
behavior.

Ethics and Sociology

Sociology deals with the study of the social order while Ethics deals with the study
of moral order in the society. There is no social order if there is no moral order. Therefore,
the foundation of any society depends on the moral values of people and their perspective
concept of what is good and bad in human relationships.

Society depends on Ethics for its underlying principles. Sociology deals with
human relations in a society, but human relations are based on proper order and proper
order comes only with the proper observance of moral laws and principles which regulate
the actions of men and women in a community.

Ethics and Economics

Man supports himself by earning a living. Earning a living to support his expenses
makes a man an economic being. Economics as a science deals with the study of wages,
labor, production and distribution of wealth. The study of these issues also involves
relationships among individuals. For example, wages: between employer and
employees; production: between seller and customer. These fiduciary relationships must

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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

be governed by human values that can only be understood in the light of moral principles
and the nature of values themselves.

At the heart of these relationships are moral norms and moral rules that should guide
people’s behavior as they relate with others. Without these moral norms and moral
values, harmonious relationships between and among parties cannot exist.

According to Charles K. Wilber )1986), there are three ways in Ethics enters
economics. First, economists have ethical values that help shape the way they do
economics. This builds into the core of economic theory a particular view of how the
economy does work and how it should work. Second, economic actors (consumers,
workers, business owners) have ethical values that help shape their behavior. Third,
economic institutions and policies impact people differentially and thus, ethical
evaluations, in addition to economic evaluations, are important.

Relationship of Ethics with Other Phases of Human Life

The study of Ethics crosses religious and cultural boundaries and is directed at the
question of how critical decisions are to be made so that an organization may work best
together, to build a community and social relationships in a positive and productive way.
How we live ethically becomes more important as we are required to make complex
decisions concerning customer relationship, employer-employee relationship and other
business issues.

Ethics and Law

Ethics and law are closely related. Ethics deals with morality, and when we speak
of morality, we mean primarily the moral law. Law may be defined as crystallized ethics.
Law and morality presuppose the concepts of right and wrong, good and bac, even the
rules of conduct.

However, there is a difference between what is moral and what is legal. Laws are
intended to regulate the external actions of man while ethics investigates the external
actions of man while ethics investigates and probes the internal disposition of man, such
as his motivations and his thoughts.

Though the law often embodies ethical principles, law and ethics are far from co-
extensive. May acts that would be widely condemned as unethical are not prohibited by
law—lying or betraying the confidence of a friend, for example. A man can also commit
a thousand adulteries in his mind, yet that same person cannot be legally or criminally be
guilty because this exercise innates and private to the person himself. Though he may
not be legally or criminally liable for entertaining adultery in his thoughts, that same person
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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

can be morally responsible for entertaining adulterous intents and motives in his thoughts.
Law therefore is focused on external regulations of man’s actions while ethics is
concerned with the investigation of the internal disposition of man from the moral
perspective.

Ethics and Religion

Ethics is a discipline or set of moral principles and values governing an individual or

institutional behavior. Religion generally refers to the service and worship of God (or
some other object) and is typically expressed as a personal or institutional set of beliefs,
attitudes and practices.

Ethics evaluates the behavior of man against his values regardless of the source of
those values. While religion certainly can create an impact on individuals and may
actually include mandates for ethical behavior, it is a distinct concept from ethics. It is
however, in the practice of religion that ethics and religion may overlap.

Religion and ethics are two phases of human activity which are closely related. Both
ethics and religion are based on the same postulates. Moreover, ethics and religion have
the same end of purpose --- that is, the attainment of man’s happiness in this life and
beyond. Lastly, ethics and religion prescribe right living as the means of attaining the
goal of man in this world.

Authentic ethics cannot be separated from the existence of God. If there is morality,
there must be a moral law; and if there is a moral, there must be lawgiver, and this ultimate
lawgiver can only be God himself.

Ethics and religion likewise presuppose the concept of the immortality of man’s
existence, e.g., that there is life after death. For this reason, we believe that the soul of
the person which continues to exist even after physical death, is a soul that is immortal.

Lastly, ethics and religion both seek the absolute truth. Ethics seeks the absolute
truth by using human reason alone, while religion tries to understand this same absolute
truth by virtue of one’s faith and his adherence to divine revelation. In this case, faith is
our response to God’s disclosure to us.

Ethics and the Professional Codes of Conduct

The era of globalization has created a need for specialized skills and knowledge.
This is brought about by paradigm shifts in almost all facets of human activities that have
resulted into a more complex society that we have today. Full automation has almost
taken over a lot of jobs done by an unskilled labor force that in turn, creates a demand for

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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

workers with special skills. The need for specialized skills and knowledge in business
has created a trend which prods people and organizations to be identified with a particular
profession basically because it brings with it prestige, a sense of respect, personally
esteem and status symbol.

Based on the Webster’s Dictionary, the meaning of professional is relating to or

characteristic of a profession; engaged in one of the professions; participating for gain in
an activity not engaged in by amateurs. Professionalism on the other had is the conduct
that characterizes a profession or a professional person; or it can also be the pursuit of a
profession for gain or livelihood, e.g., as a manager, engineer or as a lawyer.

The words “profession” and “professional” imply a public declaration with the force
of a promise. Professions are groups which declare in a public manner that their
members will act in certain ways according to their profession and that the same group
and in some instance, the society discipline those who fail to conform to its prescribed
ways. The traditional professions include medicine, law, education and clergy.

Carpenters, plumbers, barbers, athletes, gardeners, beauticians, and even soldiers

may be considered professionals because they have extensive knowledge and training
of their crafts and they are also paid for the practice of it. These “professionals”, however,
may undergo extensive training but what they do can’t be classified as a profession.
Membership of a profession requires sophisticated skills and extensive training as well as
advanced education so that they become competent in their line of work. The medical
and legal professions fit the description of the word profession because the skills of
lawyers and doctors cannot be mechanized and require good judgment to apply the
appropriate treatment/advice to their patients/clients. There is also the trust or secrecy
that is shared by the doctor/lawyer with their patients/clients that is not observed with
other professionals. What makes the job of the medical and legal professions important
is that they are expected to serve the good of the public or society. This is also the main
reason that constitutes to their being in the group of professionals. Members of the
profession create their own set of rules; set of standards for practice of the profession,
and at the same time discipline their own members. This set of standards of the
profession is reflected in their own professional codes of conduct. A professional code of
ethics is a set of behavioral guidelines that members of a profession are required by their
association to observe in the course of their professional practice. These guidelines, in
general terms, prescribe responsibilities that members must adhere to and questionable
situations in which they must not be involved.

In some case, members must be sanctioned for violation of the code. These
sanctions may include the following:

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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

▪ Payment of a fine;
▪ Payment of the cost of any investigation;
▪ Reprimand;
▪ Imposition of conditions on membership;
▪ Suspension from membership; and
▪ Expulsion from membership.

Ethics and Etiquette

The word etiquette came from a French word which means ticket. During the
medieval times, when people visit the palace of their king, they were required to follow in-
house instructions that were posted (ticket) in the different areas of the palace. Hence,
the word etiquette are supposed to be followed in special situations and circumstances,
including one’s visit to the palace of the king. Today, the word etiquette refers to a special
code of behavior or courtesy, like saying “thank you”, “you are welcome”, and saying
“congratulations” to the groom and “best wishes” the bride, and the like.

Although the rules of etiquette are generally non-moral in character, the violation of
these rules of etiquette however may have moral implications. For example, a boss and
his secretary develop a special friendship in the workplace and the boss, because of this
closeness to the secretary now fondly calls the same secretary as “sweetheart”. This
scenario in the workplace may have tacit moral implications if, for example, the wife of
the boss may drop by one day at her husband’s office and discovers that her husband
calls his secretary “sweetheart”. This definitely will create a suspicion on the part of the
wife.

Ethics and Education

Education is defined as an instruction or training by which people learn to develop

and use their mental, moral and physical powers and abilities. It is also one way of gaining
experience about human life. It is also one way of gaining experience about human life.
Since man however, is primarily a rational moral being, the purpose of education is to
perfect the moral character in man.

A great educator once said “education is co-extensive with life.” Hence, we can
say that ethics is life because it is the one that gives life its direction, purpose, and
meaning.

Ethics and Art

Art is concerned with the use of imagination of make things of aesthetic

significance. Ethics is aimed at conforming to an accepted standard of good behavior.
Ethics also stands for moral goodness, art and beauty.
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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

It may be difficult to ascertain whether a piece of art which is offensive to morals

can be considered beautiful. Both true art and true ethics have the same aim: That is, to
arouse and to inspire the noble emotions of man, thereby creating no conflict at all.
Consequently, an art which arouses the lower impulses of man defeats the very purpose
of art.

IV. Teaching and Learning Materials/Resources

Learning Modules, Lecture Notes, PowerPoint Presentation, Textbooks and
Handbooks, Online Resources (Online Articles & Audio or Video Clips)

V. Learning Task 2-1

Case 3: The Immoral Video Shop

Mr. Jun Quesadilla owns a video shop in Manila. His store has a wide variety of
original VCDs And DVDs which he gets from a legal source and approved by the
Videogram Regulatory Board. He has all the legal papers and permits to operate this
type of business. However, Mr. Jun Quesadilla has secret Room in his store which he
uses to avoid the authorities. The Room contains all the latest titles of pirated VCDs
and DVD, Including X-rated tapes. He also uses another selling strategy to make more
money by telling customers that the VCCDs and DVDs they want to rent are “reserved”
and he would only give this to them if they would rent them for higher prices.

Questions:

1. Is it right to sell pirated VCDs, DVDs and X-rated tapes in the show of a certified
video shop? Briefly explain why?

2. In your opinion, would you patronize pirated CDs and DVDs which are cheaper
than the original one because it is more economical? Why or why not?

8
NOT FOR SALE. EXCLUSIVE FOR GORDON COLLEGE USE ONLY.
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

VI. References
Ballada et. al., Good Governance and Social Responsibility, DomDane
Publishers, 2015
Roa, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Rex Printing. Inc., 2015

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