MODULE 1: KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

DEFINING ETHICS AND MORALITY

Ethics

 The branch of philosphy that studies morality, or right and wrong behavior.
 Also known as moral philosophy.
 Asks basic questions about a good life.
 A philosophical activity that deals with the nature of human actions, its
morality and desire to live a happy life.

Religion Philosophy

 Founded upon revelation  Founded upon reason

 Concerned with morals
 Concerned with supernature
 Miracles are apart
 Goal is to find God
 Concerned with ethics
 Not concerned with nature,
but with metanature
 Miracles are irrelevant
 Goal is to find the truth

Moral Reasoning – logical process of determining whether an action is right or wrong.

Moral Reasoning Practical Reasoning

 Decision based on
 Decision based on right or funcionality and outcomes
wrong Aesthetic Reasoning
 Decision based on good or bad  Decision based on worth or
quality
PRINCIPLES OF MORAL REASONING

1. If two cases are fundamentally the same, then both cases should be treated
the same.
2. If two similar cases are not treated the same, it is the burden of the person
acting in both cases to prove the situations are different, and thus that the
actor has not violated any moral principle.

MORAL AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS

Moral Standards = Norms + Values

 Norms are the rules about actions and behaviors.

 Values are the enduring beliefs about what is not good and desirable.

Non-moral Standards
  Standards by which we judge what is good or bad and right or wrong in a
non-moral way.
 Matter of taste of preference
 Etiquette, law and aesthetics

Moral Standards Non-moral Standards

 Forces others to act  We have no right to impose

accordingly on others
 Not established or changed  Can be changed based on the
by authority mandate of the authority
 Overriding – takes  Not following these standards
precendence over other do not make one an immoral
standards person

Example: Example:
 Do not harm an innocent  Pay attention to the road
people while driving
 Do not steal  Wear the prescribed uniform
 Do not maliciously deceive  Maintain proper decorum in
other people class
 Be compassionate  Chew quietly

FREEDOM AS THE FOUNDATION OF MORALITY

Freedom

 Capacity to make choices that are genuinely our own.

 Foundation of morality.

WHY STUDY ETHICS?

 Ethics is always relevant

 We must demand moral progress
 We want to be happy
 We are uncomfortable with moral disagreements
 Morality defines humanity

WHY BE GOOD?

 The Ring of Gyges by Plato

 “By nature humans are selfish and unjust, and that justice is not good in
itself: instead justice is consequential good. Glaucon told the story of The
Ring of Gyges to illustrate his point that justice is always self-interested.”
  Gyges was a sheperd in the service of the King of Lydia. He found a ring,
which turned him invisible when he twisted it unto his finger. Gyges used
this power of invisibility to commint unjust acts: he seduced the queen and
then worked with her to create a plan to kill the king, and take over the
kingdom. Because the ring made him invisible, Gyges was protected from the
consequences of his actions.
 The sprouts of Mencuis
 “Human nature is good and that all human being possess four senses – the
feeling of compassion, shame, respect, and the ability to approve and
disapprove – which he variously calls hearts or sprouts.
 ren , li , yi , zhi
 The strongest feature od the difference between human and animals is the
moral sense or conscience. – Charles Darwin

CONCLUSION

 Learning the value of ethics becomes more important now more than ever
because of need for moral progress.
 Our moral beliefs require more security, and studying ethics can help us
rationalize these beliefs.
 The answer to the question “why be good?” is still ellusive, requiring more
reflective thinking.
 MODULE 2: MORAL REASONING
EMOTIONS AND MORAL DECISION-MAKING
Moral Reasoning

 Process of determining whether anaction is right or wrong

 Contains the rules and standards for what people should do
 Ability to reason ethically about issues
 Depends on the use of cognitive skills, a perception of reality, and evaluation
of experiences

Emotions

 Intense feelings directed at something or someone

 Astrong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships
with others

Emotions and Moral Decision-Making

 Emotions play abig role in the way we judge morality and make moral
decisions.
 Emotions evoked by suffering, such as sympathy and empathy, often lead
people to act ethically toward others.
 While we may believe that our moral decisions are influenced most by our
philosophy or religious values, in truth our emotions play asignificant role in
our ethical decision-making.

DISSECTING MORAL DILLEMAS

Moral Dilemma

 Conflict of morals situations in which the decision-maker must consider two

or more moral values or duties but can only honor one of them.
 Aconflict situation in which the choice one makes causes amoral harm,
which cannot be restlessly repaired.

Features of a Moral Dilemma

 The agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions; the agent can do
each of the actions; but the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions.
Situations Exhibiting Moral Dilemma

 Saving your dog or saving your sister from fire

 Staying with your parents to care for them or leaving them to pursue your
dreams.

10 UNIVERSAL CORE VALUES

1. Achievement/Tagumpay
2. Benevolence/Kabutihang Loob:
3. Conformity/Pagkakasundo
4. Excitement/Pananabik
5. Hedonism/Paghahangad/kasiyahan
6. Power/Kapangyarihan
7. Security/seguridad
8. Self-direction/sariling kalayaan
9. Tradition/salin
10. Universalism/Unibersalismo – doctrine that all men will be saved

Self-Direction - independent thought and action; choosing, creating, and exploring.

Stimulation – excitement, novelty, and challenge in life.
Hedonism – pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself.
Achievement – personal success through demostrating competence according to social
standards.
Power – social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources.
Security – safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self.
Conformity – restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm
others and violate social expectations or norms.
Tradition – respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that
traditional culture or religion provide the self.
Benevolence – preserving and enhaning the welfare of those with whom one is in
frequent personal contact (the in-group)
Universalism – understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare
of all people and for nature.

SEVEN-STEP MORAL REASONING MODEL

 Gather the facts.

 Define the ethical issues.
 Identify the affected parties.
 Identify the consequences.
 Identify the obligations.
 Consider your character and integrity.
 Think creatively about potential actions
 State the problem.
 Check the facts.
 Identify relevant factors.
 Develop a list of options.
 Test the options.
 Make a choice based on steps 1-5.
 Review steps 1-6

CONCLUSION

 Emotionscan affect our moral reasoning.

 MORAL DILEMMAS pose two problems/choices with no absolute correct
answer.
 FALLACIES are encountered in reasoning; therefore, we should be careful
not to fall on its trap.
 When encountering amoral problem, it is important togather facts and ethical
issues; identify the affected parties, consequences, and obligations; consider
your character; and think outside the box.
 MODULE 3: THE MORAL AGENT
CULTURE
 includes all the things individuals learn while growing up among particular
group: attitudes, standards of morality, rules of etiquette, perception of
reality, language, notion about proper way to live, beliefs and ideas.
 Culture is not innate . It is learned.
 Culture = Behavior
 Sub-cultures form through rewards.
 People shape the culture.
 Culture is negotiated.
 Culture is difficult to change.
 Culture is learned through interaction.
 The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, art, beliefs, institutions,
and all other products of human work and thought.

CULTURE’S ROLE IN MORAL BEHAVIOR

 A culture is a “way of life of a group of people, and this so called “way of

life” actually includes moral values and behaviors, along with knowledge,
beliefs, symbols that they accept, “generally without thinking about them,
and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one
generation to the other.

IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE

 It integrates members so that they know how to relate to one another.

(Internal)
o Guides day-to-day work
o Determines how communication occurs in the workplace
o What behavior is acceptable
o How power and status are allocated

MORAL STANDARDS AS SOCIAL CONVENTION AND THE SOCIAL

CONDITIONING THEORY

 Although there are differences between moral ideas of one time or country
and those of another, the difference are not really very great--CS LEWIS we
affirm that morality of one people is better or worse than that of another,
which means that there is a moral standard or rule by which we measure both
moralities and that standard is real.
  believes that no act is good or bad objectively, and there is no single
objective universal standard through which we can evaluate the truth of
moral judgments.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ARGUMENT

 Different cultures have different moral codes.

 Therefore, there is no objective “truth” in morality. Right and wrong are
only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture.

RACHEL’S EVALUATION OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM JAMES RACHEL

(1941 -2003)

 The Greeks believed it was wrong to eat the dead, whereas the Callotian (an
Indian tribe) believed it was right to eat the dead. Therefore, eating the dead
is neither objectively right nor objectively wrong. It is merely a matter of
opinion, which varies from culture to culture.
 The Eskimos see nothing wrong with infanticide, whereas we believe
infanticide is immoral. Therefore, infanticide is neither objectively right nor
objectively wrong. It is merely a matter of opinion, which varies from culture
to culture.

FILIPINO MORAL CHARACTER: STRENGTHS AND

WEAKNESSES
1. Pakikisama
2. Hiya
3. Amor-propio (Self-esteem)
 It is the individual’s highly emotional reaction to protect his honor and
dignity when there are threatened or question and to retaliate.
 Common firms of amor-propio are hele-hele bago quire or pakipot which
shows as the outset a person initially refusing an offer even he really
wants very much to accept it.
4. Utang na loob
5. Filipino Hospitality
6. Respect for the elders
7. Universal Values
8. Live by telling the truth
9. Respect life
 MODULE 4: CULTURAL RELATIVISM
RELIGION AND MORALITY
 Issues in religion and morality
o There are a number of issues or problems faced by theologians and
philosophers when debating religion and morality:
o Is religion a good source for morality?
o Is religious morality out-dated, or not as relevant as it once was?
o Are there other, better possible sources for our morality?
o What arguments or justifications could be used to support religious
morality?

Divine Command Theory

 Divine command theory takes God to be the source of all ethics; it is by

Tillich’s categories a strong theonomic perspective.
 It is argued that there is no morality other than what God explicitly
commands. God’s commandments, it is claimed, are directly known from
revelation: Scripture or religious experience.
 The theory was popular in the Middle Ages, and the moral authority of
Scripture was assumed by thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas.

Scriptural ethics

 The attempt to derive morality directly from sacred texts such as the Bible or
Koran may be described as ethics; it is comprehensive held that such
documents and authoritative moral Scriptural provide guidance.
 certain clear ethical laws, such as the Ten Commandments, but also
ambiguous moral parables.

Concepts of Natural Law theory

 The most famous philosopher to develop a theory of Natural Moral Law was
Thomas Aquinas. This is a ‘theological’ and so also religious system of
ethics.
 Aquinas claimed that God as Creator had set out a series of natural and
 Aquinas claimed that faith and reason would stand in harmony, and so we
could know ethical truths by the
 Natural law is a philosophy that is based on the idea that “right” and “wrong”
are universal concepts, as mankind finds certain things to be useful and good,
and other things to be bad, destructive, or evil. This means that, what
constitutes “right” and “wrong,” is the same for everyone, and this concept is
expressed as “morality.” As an example of natural law, it is universally
 accepted that to kill someone is wrong, and that to punish someone for killing
that person is right, and even necessary.

CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 cultural relativism refers to not judging a culture to our own standards of
what is right or wrong, strange or normal. Instead, we should try to
understand cultural practices of other groups in its own cultural context.

ETHNOCENTRISM

 Ethnocentrism is the view that one’s own cultural elements such as norms,
values, ideology, customs, and traditions are dominant and superior to others
(Brown, 2007).

What is ethnocentrism in culture?

Ethnocentrism is used in social sciences and anthropology to describe the act of

judging another culture and believing that the values and standards of one's own
culture are superior – especially with regard to language, behavior, customs, and
religion.

Examples of Ethnocentrism:

 Judging Other Countries' Diets.

 Expecting Others to Speak English.
 Chopsticks vs Western Cutlery.
 An Idiot Abroad.
 Thinking you Don't have an Accent (And Everyone else Does!)
 Judging Women's Cultural Outfits.
 Colonial Imperialism.

Is ethnocentrism bad or good?

 Ethnocentrism can lead to negative judgments of the behaviors of groups or

societies. It can also lead to discrimination against people who are different.
 Ethnocentrism can lead to problems such as racism, xenophobia, cultural
ignorance, and insensitivity. It can also contribute to political, social, and
economic violence against certain groups of people.

XENOCENTRISM

 A person with xenocentric view regards other cultures as better such as that
of foreign culture. Preferences and inclined towards and styles of other
admiration are products, ideas, cultural groups.
  Individual would value the goods, services, styles, ideas and other cultural
elements of another nation
 The belief that the way of dress by another culture is significantly superior
and that those within one's native country should adopt that same dress
 The belief that other countries produce better children's toys
 The concept that a quality product can't be purchased in one's native country
 The idea that cloth to make clothes is better produced by other nation

Examples of Xenocentrism

 French perfumes are first-rate. Japanese and american technologies are of

excellent quality

Consequences of xenocentrism include:

 Loss of businesses in the home country

 Loss of jobs in the home country
 Degraded economical situation
 Overall reduction of morale within the nation
 A loss of population to emigration
 Negative impact on the identity of others in relation to culture
 If adopted by large like-minded groups, xenocentrism could cause political
polarization
 As you can see, xenocentrism can be a major problem when it occurs in a
society, especially if it occurs on a widespread scale.

Advantage of Xenocetrism

 promotes greater diversity and understanding of ethical differences and

reduces the likelihood of an imperialist imposition of values.
 Cultural relativism promotes equality - allows the individual to define their
moral code without defining the moral code of others. Each person is
separate in such a society. That separation creates equality because each
person can set their own definition of success.

Examples of Cultural Relativism

 Here in the Philippines, we do not cease to debate on the moral acceptability

of contraceptives. In another country, abortion is perfectly normal, more so
the use of artificial contraceptives.