ETHICS

CHAPTER 2: BASIC CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

Activity 1: Rules and the Relevance of Following Rules. (pp. 11/12)

Directions: Recall the most important rules you always follow. You list down at least seven (7)
rules. Explain why you have to follow these rules.

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________________

6. ________________________________________________________________

7. ________________________________________________________________

MY EXPLANATION WHY I FOLLOW RULES

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________
Activity 2: Moral and Non-Moral Standards. (p. 28)

Direction: Analyze the given items and differentiate them whether they belong to moral
standards or non-moral standards. Arrange them by placing the letter of your answers into their
most appropriate column.

MORAL STANDARDS NON-MORAL STANDARDS

1. 8. 15. 22.
2. 9. 16. 23.
3. 10. 17. 24.
4. 11. 18. -
5. 12. 19. -
6. 13. 20. -
7. 14. 21. -

A. They are practical.

B. They are binding.

C. “Do not harm other people.”

D. They are rules of games.

E. They are autonomous.

F. They are good or bad table manners, etiquette.

G. “Do not steal what belongs to other people.”

H. They are connected with emotions.

I. “Do not talk when your mouth is full.”

J. “Be good soldiers to be able to do what is right.”

K. “Do not lie.”

L. “Do not wear socks that don’t match.”

M. They are universalizable.

N. They are manual of operations.

O. They are impartial.

P. They are standards of sports.

Q. They are directional signs.

R. They are test instructions.

S. They are prescriptive.

T. “Take one tablet of Aspirin three times a day.”

U. “Do to others what you want others do unto you.”

V. They are oriented towards well-being.

W. They are product TV commercials.

X. They are criteria in singing contest.

Activity 3: Moral Dilemma. (pp. 36/37)

Directions: Recall and narrate a moral experience with its moral dilemma. Determine the “four
crucial features” of the moral dilemma in the moral experience and write them properly on the
boxes accordingly.

TITLE: ___________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

4 Crucial Features

1. Two (or more)

behaviors.

2. Based on
moral standards.

3. Can do each
behavior but
cannot do
simultaneously.

4. Condemned to
choose even the
wrong/bad or
fail for doing
what ought to be
done.
Activity 4: Three (3) Levels of Moral Dilemmas. (p. 46)

Direction: Read and analyze each of the given case. After each case, determine the level of each
of the moral dilemmas. Choose one dilemma and discuss your solution if you are to decide on it.
Use another sheet of paper.

1. You are a lawyer, and you have been assigned a client by the court. You are supposed to
represent your client to the best of your ability, regardless of what he or she has done, even if
you know they are guilty of a crime. But the crime is the rape and murder of a child. And you
have children of your own. Do you still defend this person to the best of your ability, or don’t
you? (quora.com)
Level: ______________________________________________

2. The World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health showed
how an individual’s health is influenced by the circumstances in which they grow, live, work and
age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. The Commission also highlighted how
health and longevity in both rich, middle-income and poor countries follow the socioeconomic
gradient, and how inequalities in health within and across countries are increasing. Political
leaders face difficult decisions about where to invest resources along the causal chain of disease.
They must care for those already ill but also tackle the underlying causes of the diseases.
(cam.ac.uk)
Level: ______________________________________________

3. Governments must balance the needs of their own citizens with their obligations to provide
aid to other countries. There is a glaring global inequality in the burden of NCDs and in the
domestic resources available to address them. This raises the basic question of the obligations of
rich countries to help poor countries to deal with these diseases. (cam.ac.uk)
Level: ______________________________________________

4. Suppose you are a visitor in a nation ruled by some kind of military dictatorship. You are
walking through the streets, when you are pulled aside by a soldier who has ten people lined up
against a wall. They tell you that if you personally kill one of the people, the others will go free,
but if not, the soldier will kill them all. (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

5. You are sent back in time to 1900, but the time machine can only keep you in the past for 10
seconds. You end up in a child's room and you have a gun, and you discover that the child is 11-
year old Adolf Hitler. Would you kill him? (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

6. You are the therapist/counselor under the oath of confidentiality. On one session, your client
divulges that he murdered someone. He is saying the truth. Will you break Confidentiality and
tell the police? (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

7. You are shopping and notice a woman stuffing a pair of stockings into her purse. Do you
report her? Why? (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

8. You are a priest. A person confessed about his planned suicide. Will you break confidentiality
and tell her family? To prevent suicide. On one hand, she has a right to privacy and
confidentiality; on another hand, you must protect her from herself.
Level: ______________________________________________

9. It is 1923 and the sheriff in a Central Florida town is protecting a suspect of a violent crime
against an angry mob who wish to capture him. If the mob is frustrated, many buildings may be
destroyed and people may be killed in the ensuing riot. Should the sheriff deliver the individual
to the mob? (Please note, this is based on actual events in Rosewood Florida, January 1st, 1923).
(faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

10. You are waiting with a few other people to board a bus. The bus pulls up and before you can
board the driver gets out and goes into the convenience store to get a coffee. You are the last to
get on the bus. Do you pay your fare? (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

11. You discover Bill Gate's wallet lying on the street. It contains $1000.00 Do you send it back
to him? (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________

12. It is 3 a.m. and you are late getting home. As you approach the intersection you notice that
no one is around. Do you drive through the red light? (faculty.tru.ca)
Level: ______________________________________________
Activity 5: Freedom as Foundation of Morality. (pp. 55/56)

Direction: Answer the following questions and discuss on how you understand freedom as
foundation of morality.

1. Why only human being can be ethical? ___________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

2. Why am I freely responsible both to myself and to others? ________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

3. Why is freedom the foundation of morality? __________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

4. How can one be truly both free and responsible? _______________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

5. If you are to be given unlimited freedom, what would you do to be good? Why? __________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________