Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ETH1O1 Reviewer
ETH1O1 Reviewer
WHAT IS ETHICS?
As a branch of Philosophy, ethics stands to queries about where there is reason to do. Dealing
with human actions and reasons for action, ethics is also concerned with character. In fact, the
word ethics is derived from the Greek “ethos”, which means “character”, or in plural “manners”.
Ethics
• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that studies morality or the rightness or wrongness of human
conduct.
• Morality speaks of a code or system of behavior in regards to standards of right and wrong
behavior,
• Ethics evaluates moral concepts, values, principles, and standards. It is concerned with norms
of human conduct.
• Ethics is considered a normative study of human actions
"Moral" is the adjective describing a human act as either ethically right or wrong, or qualifying
a person, personality, character, as either ethically good or bad.
Some questions that are ethical in nature are: What is the good? Who is a moral
person? What are the virtues of human being? What makes an act right? What duties do we
have to each other?
Also called moral philosophy, ethics evaluates moral concepts, values, principles, and
standards. Because it is concerned with norms of human conduct, ethics is considered a
normative study of human actions.
Understanding your moral compass in order to develop better judgment is the aim for
studying Ethics. Ethics gives a sense of justification in one’s judgment, and helps ensure that
decisions at work are not made based on purely subjective factors. Without the study of ethics,
the practice of one’s profession will fall prey to vastly conflicting individual interpretations.
Moral standards are either consequences standards (like Stuart Mill's utilitarianism) or non-
consequence standards (like Aristotle's virtue, St. Thomas' natural law, or Immanuel Kant' good
will or sense of duty). The consequence standards depend on results, outcome. An act that
results in the general welfare, in the greatest good of the greatest number, is moral. To take
part in a project that results in the improvement of the majority of people is, therefore, moral.
The non-consequence standards are based on the natural law. Natural law is the law of God
revealed through human reason. It is the "law of God written in the hearts of men." To preserve
human life is in accordance with the natural law, therefore it is moral. Likewise, the
non-consequence standard may also be based on good will or intention, and on a sense of duty.
Respect for humanity, treatment of the other as a human person, an act that is moral, springs
from a sense of duty, a sense of duty that you wish will apply to all human persons. On the other
hand, non-moral standards are social rules, demands of etiquette and good manners. They are
guides of action which should be followed as expected by society. Sometimes they may not be
followed or some people may not follow them. From time to time, changes are made regarding
good manners or etiquette. In sociology, non-moral standards or rules are called folkways. In
short, non-moral actions are those where moral categories cannot be applied.
Examples of non-moral standards are rules of good manners and right conduct, etiquette,
rules of behavior set by parents, teachers, and standards of grammar or language, standards
of art, standards of sports set by other authorities. Examples are "do not eat with your mouth
open;" "observe rules of grammar," and "do not wear socks that don't match."
In the Activity phase of this Lesson, the following are non-moral standards:
• No talking while your mouth is füll.
•Wear black or white for mourning; never red.
• The males should be the one to propose marriage not females.
• Observe correct grammar when writing and speaking English.
• Submit school requirements on time.
• If you are a male, stay by the danger side (roadside) when walking with a female.
• Go with the fashion or you are not "in."
Characteristics of Moral Standards that set its part from Non-moral Standard
1. Moral standards involve behaviors that seriously affect other people’s well- being. It
can either profoundly injure or benefit a person or persons.
2. Moral standards take a more important consideration than other standards, including
self-interest.
3. Moral standards do not depend on any external authority but in how the person
perceives the reasonableness of the action
4. Moral standards are believed to be universal. Thus, when you truly believe an act is
wrong you also will not agree or consent when other people commit what you consider
a wrongful act. On the other hand, if you believe an action is morally right, then you will
also support other people doing such acts.
5. Moral standards are based on objectivity.
6. Moral standards are associated with vocabulary that depicts emotion or feelings.
7. Deal with matters we think can seriously injure or benefit humans, animals, and the
environment;
8. Not established or changed by the decisions of authoritative individuals or bodies:
9. Overriding, that is, they take precedence over other standar and considerations,
especially of self-interest:
10.Based on impartial considerations;
11.Associated with special emotions and vocabulary.
➢ MORAL DILEMMA
A moral dilemma is a problem in the decision-making between two possible options, neither of
which is absolutely acceptable from an ethical perspective. It is also referred to as ethical
dilemma. The Oxford Dictionary defines ethical dilemma as a "decision-making problem
between two possible moral imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or
preferable. It is sometimes called an ethical paradox in moral philosophy. Moral dilemmas are
situations where two or more moral values or duties make demands on the decision-maker,
who can only honor one of them, and thus will violate at least one important moral concern, no
matter what he or she decides to do. Moral dilemmas present situations where there is tension
between moral values and duties that are more or less on equal footing. The decision-maker
has to choose between a wrong and another wrong.
B. Organizational
An organizational dilemma is a puzzle posed by the dual. necessities of a social organization
and members" self-interest. It may exist between personal interests and organizational welfare
or between group interests and organizational well-being. Organizational dilemmas arise due to
different opposing concerns between various groupings in an organization.
C. Structural
The case of the principal whether to be participatory or non-participatory in school affairs but
due to her not so favorable experience of attempting to be participatory ended up to one-woman
rule is an example of a structural dilemma.
Structural dilemma is the dilemma arising from conflicting concerns among various sectors of
society.
- Owning moral standards means internalizing them, making them part of your conviction.
Internalized or embodied moral standards are being followed with or without anyone
telling you.
- You internalize a rule after using reason to understand. When you are persuaded of its
wisdom, it becomes your basis of resolving an ethical problem. You decide to do
something not because the law says so but because you yourself say so.
- This may be termed as the embodiment of the moral standard in you. The moral
standard becomes one with the moral agent. As the moral agent, this moral standard
becomes your natural and immediate basis in your ethical decision making.
- The presupposition is that you have come to own the moral standard after having been
convinced of its wisdom, having chosen it among other principles or standards. Any
dilemma regarding the standard has been resolved.
Culture: How It Defines Moral Behavior
What is Culture?
Culture "is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors. This
consists of language, ideas, customs, morals, laws, taboos, institutions, tools, techniques,
and works of art, rituals and other capacities and habits acquired by a person as a member of
society." (Taylor as quoted by Palispis, 1997)
Inculturation
- is a two way process:
- it roots the Gospel in a culture and introduces that transformed culture to Christianity.
Acculturation
- It is the "cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or
borrowing traits from another culture
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Relativism says "what is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me is true for me."
Analogously, cultural relativism would say, "what you believe, value or practice depends on your
culture while what I believe, value and practice, depends on my culture." In other words, cultural
relativism is "the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based
on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another." Cultural
relativism is the view that moral or ethical systems, which vary from culture to
culture, are. all equally valid and no one system is really "better" than any other.
The problem with moving from cultural perspective to cultural relativism is the erosion of reason
that it causes. Rather than simply saying, "we need to understand the morals of other cultures,"
it says, "we cannot iudge the morals of other cultures. regardless of the reasons for their
actions. There is no longer any perspective, and it becomes literally impossible to argue that
anything a culture does is right or wrong, If we hold on to strict cultural relativism, it is not
possible to say that human sacrifice is "wrong," or that respect for the elderly is "right." After all,
those are products of the culture. This takes any talk of morality right over the cliff, and into
meaningless gibberish.