G-SOSC004 (ETHICS)

MIDTERM CHAPTER 1: MORAL VERSUS NON-MORAL STANDARDS

SUMMARY: THE DERIVATION OF MORAL STANDARDS

- The foundations of evolving moral systems rest on a complex cybernetic process that sustains
and preserves the human species.
- This process drives the creation of moral and ethical standards.
- Every human action inspires a corresponding reaction whether subtle in nature of violent.
- Rules are a stabilizing force that enhance the survivability of individuals, families and nations.
- The evident in human behavior is the survival of the species (concern for public safety).

Full Summary:
https://dlsud.edu20.org/files/463594/The_Derivation_of_Moral_Standards.pdf?lmsauth=52b0daa31
3fb4aefb48393b044d08a5ec228dcdf

ETHICAL TERMS: AMORAL, NONMORAL, AND IMMORAL

- NONMORAL actions or events: areas of interest where moral categories cannot be applied.
o Almost all examples involving human intention, volition or behavior.
o Wondering whether one should eat grapefruit, wear socks of a specific shade of color,
or part your hair on the left side of the head.
o Factual statements (statement in the sciences).
- IMMORAL actions or events: areas of interest where moral categories do apply and of are such
a kind as to be evil, sinful, or wrong according to some code or theory of ethics.
o Telling a lie.
o An action which violates a rule of code of ethics.
- AMORAL actions or events: areas of interest exhibiting indifference to and not abiding by the
moral rules or codes of society. Sometimes defined with reference to value-free situations
(neither moral nor immoral). This could be nonintentional but not necessarily unintentional
actions.
o Sociopath, a person without a conscience.
o A white lie

Full Topic:
https://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/amoral.html

PROCESS QUESTIONS:
1. How are moral standards derived?
2. How do we distinguish between a moral action or behavior from a nonmoral action?
3. Cite two to three differences between moral and non-moral standards, one of which should
be the most important.

ETHICS AND MORALS: STUDY GUIDE

- INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS video (https://youtu.be/3_t4obUc51A\)
o Ethics originated in Ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago.
o Socrates and a group of teachers from Ancient Athens known as the Sophists are said
to be the first moral philosophers in Western civilization.
o Ethics is often defined as the study of morality.
G-SOSC004 (ETHICS)
MIDTERM CHAPTER 1: MORAL VERSUS NON-MORAL STANDARDS

o According to John Deigh in his book Introduction to Ethics, “Ethics is a study of what
are good and bad ends to pursue in life and what it is right and wrong to do in the
conduct of life. It is therefore, above all, a practical discipline. Its primary aim is
to determine how one ought to life and what actions one ought to do in the
conduct of one’s life.”
o John Deigh also defines morality in the sense used in philosophical ethics as standards
of right and wise conduct whose authority and practical thought is determined by
reason rather than custom.
o Ethics is a Normative Discipline for the reason it is concerned with prescribing
action.
o Metaethics is concerned with the nature of ethical statements.
o Moral Subjectivism are moral judgements reflect personal
preferences/opinions/attitudes.
o Moral Realism are moral judgements that can be true or false and are made so by
objective features of the world.
o The Is-Ought Problem was famously examined by the Scottish Philosopher David
Hume and his exposition of it forms the basis of what is called Humes Law.
o The Is-Ought Problem concerns whether one can derive a statement of what ought
to be the case from descriptive statements about the world.
o Hume is commonly interpreted as being of the belief that one cannot logically
derive an “ought” from an “is”.

PROCESS QUESTIONS:
1. What is ethics?
2. Is there a distinction between ethics and morality? Where you able to see the difference
between ethics and morality?
3. What are the three categories of ethics? Come out with your own personal examples and list
them down.

- The term ethics comes from Greek ethos which means the customs, habits and mores of
people.
- The term morality is derived from Latin mos, moris which denotes basically the same and
was introduced by Cicero as an equivalent to the Greek ethos.
- We assume a standard definition that morality means the customs, the specials do’s and
don’ts that are shared and widely accepted as standard in a society or community of
people.
- Ethics on the other hand is the philosophical reflection upon these rules and ways of
living together, the customs and habits of individuals, groups of mankind as such.
- Eudaimonia is the “human flourishing”; a contented state of being happy and healthy
and prosperous.
- THREE SUB-BRANCHES OF ETHICS:
o Descriptive Ethics aims precisely mapping existing morality within communities. It is
linked to the social sciences. It also aims to explain the development of existing
moralities from a historical perspective.
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MIDTERM CHAPTER 1: MORAL VERSUS NON-MORAL STANDARDS

o Metaethics is a relatively new discipline in the ethical arena. The Greek meta means
after or beyond and indicated that metaethical studies is morality and ethics itself. It
aims to better understand logical, semantic and pragmatic structures of moral and
ethical argumentations (origin and meaning).
o Normative Ethics means the methodological reflection upon morality tackling its
critique and rationale. In the realm of normative ethics, there is applied ethics.
Normative theories are applied to specific, controversial moral issues like animal rights,
abortion, euthanasia etc. are called hyphen-ethics. There are three different theories as
to how criteria of moral conduct should be defined:
▪ Deontological i.e., duty theories locate the basis of morality on specific,
foundational principles of duty and obligation. These principles are binding
regardless of consequences that acting on their basis might bring.
▪ Consequentialist theories determine the value of an action on the grounds of a
cost-benefit analysis of its consequences. If the positive consequences outweigh
the negative ones, then the action is morally proper.
▪ Virtues theories focus on a given set of rules like “do not steal” etc. but instead
of defining them merely as obligatory duties, the emphasis lies on the individual
to develop good habits of character based on these rules (and vices). Thus, virtue
theory emphasizes moral education.