ETHICS – MIDTERM REVIEWER
LESSON 1  The term is derived from the Greek word
INTRODUCTION
 Man alone of all earthly creatures is a
moral being.
 He endowed with the great gift of
freedom of choice in his actions, yet he
is responsible for his own freely chosen
acts, his conduct.
 He distinguishes between right and
wrong, good and bad in human
behavior.
 He can control his own passions.
 He is the master of himself, the sculptor
of his own life and destiny.
 This moral power in man is the most
distinctive features of the human
personality.
 For MAN is principally and primarily a
human person whose highest faculty is
moral power, his willpower, his freedom.
 Viewed in this perspective, everything
Human has naturally a moral bearing,
reference and relevance.
Thus, to be truly human, is to be moral
which is the essence of ethics.
ETHICS
 Ethics is the philosophy of life. It delves
into the deepest whys and wherefores of
human existence, men’s actions,
problems and destiny.
 To live well and happy we must know
what we are living for.
 This is taught to us by ethics, that
investigates the meaning and purpose of
human life.
 According to Socrates the unexamined
life is not worth living for a man.
 Plato proclaimed ethics as the supreme
science, the highest in the hierarchy of
human values, as it is Ethics that is
concerned with the attainment of life’s
greatest Good and Goal-- HAPPINESS.
DEFINITION OF ETHICS
 Ethics is concerned with what is good
for individuals and society and is
also described as moral philosophy
ethos which can mean custom, habit,
character or outlook.
 From this etymological meaning, ethics
is taken to mean as a philosophical
science that deals with the morality of
human conduct or human acts.
 General Ethics is a philosophical inquiry
concerning norms of morality, its
clarification, justification, and application
in relation to good life.
ELEMENTS OF GENERAL ETHICS:
 First, general ethics is a philosophical
inquiry. It is based on reason and not on
divine revelation.
 Second, it is about an inquiry on moral
norms or standard of what is good and
what is evil, what ought to be done and
what ought not to be done, and tries to
find out the strengths and weaknesses
of moral positions and the arguments of
ethical proponents.
 Third, it is about the formation of moral
character that can promote good life of
the individual and of the society as
whole.
 Ethics concerns not only the basis of
what is good or bad but also the basis of
our being as well because our moral
perspective reflects the kind of character
we have.
 The study of ethics aims not only to give
students information but also guide them
on things they want to change in
themselves.
 It is not merely information but
transformation of one’s character and
giving individual a moral paradigm in
making moral decision. It aims also to
widen student’s in looking of reality.
THE IDEA OF GOOD
 Deontologist - goodness lies in an
action itself which is the position of the
so-called deontologist.
 Consequentialist - goodness lies in the
consequences of an action
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 ETHICS – MIDTERM REVIEWER
 According to Aristotle, the goodness of
an action lies in the action itself
whatever consequences it may occur.
 It is very important to understand this
idea of good because there are
situations where some of our actions
accrued negative consequences even
though we have good intention in
performing an action.
 The human good can be achieved
through and by action, especially when it
is a good action.
 The good for Aristotle is attainable by
action.
 For Aristotle, however, the good is a
human act and not an abstract idea.
 Aristotle-“So the goodness and
performance of man would seem to
reside in whatever is his function”
(Ostwald, 1962)
 Everything in the universe has a function
and because everything has a function,
man has a function as well.
 There is purpose in being human.
 That’s why it is significant to know
precisely the proper function of man.
VALUE
 Is the value of something intrinsic or is
something valuable because it is
valued?
 This is a question regarding values.
 According to the voluntarist conception,
valuing is the ground value.
 A thing can only be valuable when it is
valued; therefore, it has no intrinsic
value.
 As a consequence, there are no other
considerations to account on value so
long as something is that being valued is
valuable. For instance, studying has no
intrinsic value unless it is valued by an
individual.
 Good is everything that is desirable but
we know for a fact that there are things
that we do not value but valued by
others.
 In other words, not just because a thing
is not desirable for me, it does not have
value.
 On the other hand, the value of
something may not be intrinsic but in the
state potentiality which can be
actualized and achieved through
valuation.
VIRTUE
 Virtue is a disposition or character
that enables its possessor to perform
a noble or good action according to
the mean as determined by practical
wisdom.
1. Character is formed through
repeated good actions (eupraxia)
or vices (habit), as it is realized in an
action according to the mean.
2. Virtue allows individuals to perform
noble or good actions, requiring a
good character to perform them,
making it crucial to teach good from
childhood.
3. Practical wisdom is essential for
becoming virtuous as it provides a
clear understanding of what is good
and enables us to take action..
 It is a character.
 For even a vicious person may perform
an action the way it was done by
virtuous person.
 So, an action may vary depending on
the person’s character performing the
virtuous action.
 Therefore, if an action is done by a
person of good character, that action
can be called virtuous action.
 It is not a capacity because capacity
comes from nature, but virtue is formed
through habit.
 If virtue comes from nature, there is no
way to change it.
 It is not a capacity for even a person
may have the capacity to perform a
virtuous action but opt not to do so.
It is not a feeling for we cannot be
praised nor blamed for our feelings.
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 Virtue is a character and a person who
has a virtuous character performs a
good action and performs for the sake of
performing good action, not for other
reason.
 For instance, a person may perform a
generous act but intends other people to
see his action.
 However, to a virtuous person, what is
significant is the performance of good
action and not the reaction of other
people towards the action.
 Virtue enables its possessor to
determine the end and practical wisdom
guides our character to move towards
the end.
 Because even if we know that our end
must be the good, if we are not able to
prepare the way towards it we cannot be
virtuous.
 That’s why Aristotle says, “It is
impossible to be good in the full sense
of the word without practical wisdom or
to be a man of practical wisdom without
moral excellence or virtue” (Ostwald,
1962).
Practical wisdom is not only a guide to
our character but it is united with it.
DIFFERENT APPLIED FIELDS IN ETHICS
1. Bioethics/Biomedical Ethics - 
concerned with the rightness or
wrongness of procedures that are
performed in the practice of medicine
and the provision of health care
systems.
2. Environmental Ethics - it covers
acceptable or unacceptable actions
affecting the environment (De Castro &
De Villa, 2012). As what one of the
green movements’ slogans is saying,
“harm to the environment will bring harm
to the people.”
3. Business Ethics - concerned with what
is acceptable and unacceptable
business code of conducts are affecting
the business enterprises. And when
speaking of the business enterprise, it
includes both the owner or investor and
or the consumer.
4. Legal Ethics - norms of conduct or
standards that law practitioners, such as
judges, lawyers, notary public, law
makers, must follow in the practice of
the profession.
Relation of Ethics with Other Sciences
Ethical science is particularly concerned with the
study of man and human conduct and is,
therefore, especially related to all those sciences
dealing with the study of human nature and
human living.
1. Ethics and Logic.
 Logic is the science of right
thinking.
 Ethics is the science of right
living.
 But right living presupposes
right thinking. Doing follows
thinking. To think right often
means to do right, as knowledge
of right leads to the doing of
right.
2. Ethics and Psychology
 Psychology is not interested in
the morality of human behavior,
unlike ethics.
Psychology - studies how man
behaves
- Not concerned with moral
obligation
 Ethics - ethics studies how
man ought to behave
- oncerned with moral
obligation
3. Ethics is related to Sociology
 Ethics - deals with the moral order
which includes the social order.
Whatever does violence to the
social order does violence also to
the natural and the moral order.
 Society - depends on ethics for its
underlying principles:
Sociology - deals with human
relations in a society, but human
relations are based on proper order
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 ETHICS – MIDTERM REVIEWER
and proper order comes only with
proper observance of moral laws
and principles which regulate the
actions of men in a community.
4. Ethics and Economics
 Economics deals with such topics as
wages, labor, production and
distribution of wealth. But will
determine the relations between
employer and employee, for
instance.
 This and all other relations in
business must be based on justice
and charity which, after all are moral
principles. In order that peace and
happiness will prevail in a
community, the actions of man must
be governed by the invariable
principles of morality.
5. Ethics and Education
 Education develops moral,
intellectual, and physical
capacities, promoting moral
character and civic
consciousness.
 Ethics provide direction, goal,
worth, and meaning in life.
6. Morality and Law
 Morality and law are closely
linked, with right and wrong in
human actions requiring a law.
 State laws are interpretations of
natural moral laws, but morality
governs internal acts like
thoughts and desires, excluding
legal actions.
7. Ethics and Art
 Ethics stands for moral
goodness; art, for beauty. But
as transcendentals the beautiful
and the good are one.
 Evil always implies ugliness or
defects and the good is always
beautiful since it is the very
object of desire and therefore,
like beauty, pleases when
perceived. The question often
arises as to whether a piece of
art which is offensive to morals
can ever be considered
beautiful.
8. Ethics and Politics
 Politics - aims at good
government for the temporal
welfare of the citizens.
 But between the temporal and
the spiritual and eternal welfare
there is no conflict. Politics has
often become very dirty and the
reason is precisely because it is
divorced from ethics. Disorder
and confusion inevitably follow
in a state from such violations of
ethical principles, as: electoral
frauds, bribery, graft, blackmail,
intrigue, etc.
9. Religion and Ethics
 The relationship between
religion and ethics is the closest
among the phases of human
activity.
 Both of these are based on the
same postulates:
 The existence of a Creator,
 Freedom of the will of man
 Immortality
 Both have the same end- the
attainment of man’s supreme
purpose or man’s ultimate end.
 Both prescribe the same means
for attaining the goal of man:
right living.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
 Ethics means right living and good moral
character, and it is in good moral
character that finds his true worth and
perfection.
 The primary objective of education is the
moral development of the will.
“Knowledge is good, bodily health and
strength and strength are good, but first
and above all- GOOD CHARACTER.
 Ethics is the investigation of the
meaning of life.
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 Ethics is an indispensable knowledge.
without moral perception, man is only an
animal.
 Ethics is LIFE because ethics is the very
science and art of human living, one that
gives life its direction, goal, worth, and
meaning.
LESSON 2
THE ETHICAL DIMENSION OF HUMAN
EXISTENCE
CLARIFICATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
KINDS OF VALUATION
Our first point of clarification is to recognize
there are instances when we make value
judgments that are not considered to be part of
ethics.
ETHICS AND MORALS
Our second clarification is on the use of the
word’s “ethics” and “morals”.
DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE
Our third point of clarification is to distinguish
between a descriptive and a normative study of
ethics.
Descriptive study - reports how people,
particularly groups, make their moral valuations
without making any judgment either for or
against these valuations.
Normative study - as is often done in
philosophy or moral theology, engages the
question: What could or should be considered as
the right way of acting?
In other words, a normative discussion
prescribes what we ought to maintain as our
standards or bases for moral valuation.
MORAL ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGMENT, AND
DILEMMA
Moral Issue - refer to those particular situations
that are often the source of considerable and
inclusive debate
Moral Decision - When one is placed in a
situation and confronted by the choice of what
act to perform, she is called to make a moral
decision.
Moral Judgement- When a person is an
observer who makes an assessment on the
actions or behavior of someone, she is making a
moral judgement.
For instance, a friend of mine chooses to steal
from a store, and I make an assessment that it is
wrong.
MORAL ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGMENT, AND
DILEMMA
MORAL DILEMMA - Finally, going beyond the
matter of choosing right over wrong, or good
over bad, and considering instead the more
complicated situation wherein one is torn
between choosing one of two good or choosing
between lesser of two evils:
We have a moral dilemma when an individual
can choose only one from a number of possible
actions, and there are compelling ethical
reasons for the various choices. A mother may
be conflicted between wanting to feed her
hungry child, but then recognizing that it would
be wrong for her to steal is an example of a
moral dilemma.
REASONING
 As Traer (2013) explains, in moral
philosophy, an argument is not simply
about our beliefs or opinions; instead, it
is about the reasons underlying those
beliefs or opinions.
 This means that the real value of
discussing and debating ethical
questions is not to ‘win the argument’ or
to ‘score points’ against the other
person!
 It is more important to provide carefully
considered arguments to support our
ideas, and to allow for rational – and
deeper – understanding of the reasons
underlying our beliefs, ideas and
attitudes.
REASONING
 Crucially, this requires careful listening
to, analysis of and learning from the
arguments that others make.
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One common fault with many arguments about
what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – and one that Traer
(2013) highlights – involves what is known as a
rationalization.
A rationalization occurs when we use what at
first glance seem to be rational or credible
motives to cover up our true (and perhaps
unconscious) motives.
THREE FORMS OF CRITICAL REASONING:
1. Reasoning by analogy - explains one thing
by comparing it to something else that is
similar, although also different. In a good
analogy, the similarity outweighs the
dissimilarity and is clarifying.
For instance, animals are like and
unlike humans, as humans are also
animals.
2. Deductive reasoning - Reasoning from the
big argument to a small argument.
For instance, if every person has human
rights, and you are a person, then you
have human rights like every person.
3. Inductive reasoning – Reasoning from the
small argument to a big argument. It involves
providing evidence to support a hypothesis.
THREE FORMS OF CRITICAL REASONING:
Principles- are rationally established grounds
by which one justifies and maintains moral
decisions and judgments.
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY
Several common ways of thinking about ethics
are based on the idea that the standards of
valuation are imposed by a higher authority that
commands our obedience. In the following
section, we will explore three of such ideas: the
authority of laws, the authority of one’s religion,
and the authority of one’s own culture.
LAW
Law is an ordinance of reason promulgated for
the common good by one who has charge of
society (St. Thomas Aquinas). It is supposed
that law is one’s guide to ethical behavior.
Laws are “ordinance of reason” because they
are rational deliberations intended to guide men
towards what is good for them and for society.
They direct men to perform certain activities as
good for them and for society. The main
objective or purpose of the laws is the
attainment of the common good.
Laws are “promulgated” – that they are made
known to the people who are bound to observe
them.
Laws are passed by “one who has charge of
society” – because they can only be valid if
they are only be valid if they are the legitimate
exercise of authority. Accordingly, only those
who have the power and responsibility to govern
have the power to enact the law.
Laws are necessary to man. They regulate
human activity. Without laws, there will be
anarchy and chaos, because each one will act
according to his wishes without regard for the
common good. Without laws, Man will not realize
his ultimate purpose in life.
CLASSIFICATION OF LAW
1. Eternal Law
 Are those promulgated, or made known
to us, by special command of God/
Instituted by the will of God.
 Is the design of God, as a Supreme
Creator, to direct all created things to
their respective proper ends.
 God’s eternal plan and providence for
the universe. Example: The Decalogue
of Moses- Ten Commandments
Classification of Law
2. Natural Law/Moral Law (God as the author -
THE ALL- WISE)
 Is the Eternal law as known to man by
his reason.
 Is recognized by all men regardless of
creed, race, culture or historical
circumstances.
 Man’s reason shows him the natural
order as a thing to be conserved and not
disturbed. By his rational nature, man is
aware of a general law: “Conserve the
natural order”, or in other words, “Do
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good and avoid evil”. This is the
fundamental expression of the Natural
Law.
Natural Law is a unchanging and unchanging
law that guides individuals towards their ultimate
end. It is derived from the nature of man and is
not communicated supernaturally. For example,
not obeying elders is against natural law, as it is
a direction towards a constant and unchanging
end.
PROPERTIES OF THE NATURAL LAW
1. It is universal- it is true wherever human
nature manifest itself.
2. It is obligatory- it is imperative because it is a
duty that ought to be fulfilled.
3. It is recognizable – it enables man to
recognize self- evident principles, such as: “Do
good and avoid evil”.
4. It is immutable or unchangeable – it is
immutable because man’s essential nature can
never be lost as long as man is man.
5. Indispensable - The natural law, originating
from God, is identical to God's will, and man has
no authority over it. It is essential for sane adults
to recognize good as good and evil as evil,
avoiding both.
Properties of the Natural Law
 In the Philippine, Filipinos are
constrained to obey the laws of the land
as stated in the country’s criminal and
civil codes.
 Making this even more particular, in
Cebu, residents are constrained to
follow any provincial laws or city
ordinances.
 One can easily imagine this becoming
even more localized to the barangay or
village level, where local or municipal
layers of obligation are there for
residents to follow.
 The term positive law or human
positive law refers to the different rules
and regulations that are posited or put
forward by an authority figure that
require compliance.
 It is law enacted by church or state.
 An ordinance of reason, derived from
the natural law, or making a concrete
and determinate application of the
natural law, promulgated for the
common good by human agency in
charge of a society.
 These laws are intended to preserve
peace and harmony within a society and
to direct each member of that society to
work towards the common good.
Examples of Positive Law are:
1. The Laws of the State - embodied in
the Constitution. Example: Everyone
must pay his due taxes, obey traffic
rules.
2. The Laws of the Catholic Church -
embodied in the Canon Law. Example:
Attend mass every Sunday, love God
above all. Etc.
PROPERTIES OF HUMAN POSITIVE LAWS:
1. Human laws must conform to divine
laws. This is because all legitimate
authority emanates from God. No
human authority may willfully
contradict God’s will.
2. Human laws must promote the
common good. This common good
is spelled out in terms of prosperity,
health, peace and order, intellectual
and moral growth- for the whole
society.
3. Human law must be just and not
discriminatory of certain individuals
or groups. All laws must be applied
proportionately to all members of
society so that the needs and
requirements of each are served.
Human Positive Law, when it is truly
law, binds the conscience of its subjects,
for it is rooted in the natural law, and
remotely in the Eternal Law of God
Himself.
RELIGION
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 The idea that one is obliged to obey her
God in all things, expresses a claim that
many people of a religious sensibility
find appealing and immediately valid.
 As a foundation to ethical values, this is
referred to as the divine command
theory.
 The divinity called God or Supreme
Being commands and one is obliged to
obey her/his Creator.
 Many people are influenced by their
religious upbringing, leading to a strong
inclination to use it to justify moral
values. However, the diversity of
religions in society can lead to
conflicting ethical standards, such as
food restrictions.
CULTURE
 Exposure to diverse societies and
cultures exposes us to diverse ways of
thinking and valuing, leading to cultural
relativism. This perspective suggests
that ethically acceptable actions are
dependent on one's culture, which is
appealing as it aligns with reality.
 Second, by taking one’s culture as the
standard, we are provided for the basis
of our valuations.
 Third, this teaches us to be tolerant of
others from different cultures, as we
realize that we are in no position to
judge whether the ethical thought or
practice of another culture is acceptable
or unacceptable.
 Our culture's moral code is neither
superior nor inferior, but it provides us
with appropriate and applicable
standards.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM - is the ability to
understand a culture on its own terms and not to
make judgments using the standards of one’s
own culture.
 The goal of this is promote
understanding of cultural
practices that are not typically
part of one’s own culture.
 Using the perspective of cultural
relativism leads to the view that
no one culture is superior than
another culture when compared
to systems of morality, law,
politics, etc.
 It is a concept that cultural norms and
values derive their meaning within a
specific social context.
 This is also based on the idea that there
is no absolute standard of good or evil,
therefore every decision and judgment
of what is right and wrong is individually
decided in each society.
 The concept of cultural relativism also
means that any opinion on ethics is
subject to the perspective of each
person within their particular culture.
 Overall, there is no right or wrong
ethical system. In a holistic
understanding of the term cultural
relativism, it tries to promote the
understanding of cultural practices that
are unfamiliar to other cultures such as
eating insects, genocides or genital
cutting.

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES
OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM:
Absolute: Everything that happens within a
culture must and should not be questioned by
outsiders. The extreme example of absolute
cultural relativism would be the Nazi party’s point
of view justifying the Holocaust.
Critical: Creates questions about cultural
practices in terms of who is accepting them and
why. Critical cultural relativism also recognizes
power relationships.
SENSES OF THE SELF
 It is sometimes thought that one
should not rely on any external
authority to tell oneself what the
standards of moral valuation are, but
should instead turn inwards.
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 In this section, we will look into three
theories about ethics that center on
the self: subjectivism, psychological
egoism and ethical egoism.
SUBJECTIVISM
 The starting point of subjectivism is
the recognition that the individual
thinking person (subject) is at the
heart of all moral valuations.
 She/He is the one who is confronted
with the situation and is burdened
with the need to make a decision of
judgment.
 From this point, subjectivism leaps
to more radical claim that the
individual is the sole determinant of
what is morally good or bad, right or
wrong.
 We often encounter these
statements: “No one can tell me
what is right and wrong.” “I am
entitled to my own opinion.”
PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
 is a theory that describes the underlying
dynamic behind all human actions. As a
descriptive theory, it does not direct one
to act in a particular way. Instead, it
points out that there is already an
underlying basis for how one acts. The
ego itself has its desires and
interests, and all our actions are
geared toward satisfying these
interests.
ETHICAL EGOISM
 differs from psychological egoism in that
it does not support all our actions are
already inevitably self-serving.
 Instead, ethical egoism prescribes that
we should make our own ends, our own
interests, as the single overriding
concern.
 We may act in a way that is beneficial to
others, but we should do that only if it
ultimately benefits us.
ETHICAL EGOISM
 This theory acknowledges that it is
dog-eat-dog world out there and
given that, everyone ought to put
herself at the center.
 One should consider herself as the
priority and not allow any other
concerns, such as the welfare of
other people, to detract from this
pursuit.
LESSON 3: UTILITARIANISM
 Is an ethical theory that argues for the
goodness of pleasure and the
determination of right behavior based on
the usefulness of the action’s
consequences.
 This means that pleasure is good and
that the goodness of an action is
determined by its usefulness.
 Its root word is “utility”, which refers to
the usefulness of the consequences of
one’s action and behavior.
 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John
Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are the two
foremost utilitarian thinkers.
 Their system of ethics emphasizes the
consequences of actions.
 This means that the goodness or the
badness of an action is based on
whether it is useful in contributing to a
specific purpose for the greatest number
of people.
 Utilitarianism is consequentialist.
 This means that the moral value of
actions and decisions is based solely or
greatly on the usefulness of their
consequences; it is the usefulness of
results that determines whether the
action or behavior is good or bad.
While this is the case, not all
consequentialist theories are utilitarian.
 For Bentham and Mill, utility refers to a
way of understanding the results of
people’s actions.
 Specifically, they are interested on
whether these actions contribute or not
to the total amount of resulting
happiness in the world.
 The utilitarian value pleasure and
happiness; this means that the
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usefulness of actions is based on its
promotion of happiness.
 Bentham and Mill understand happiness
as the experience of pleasure for the
greatest number of persons, even at the
expense of some individual’s rights.
The Principle of Utility
 Jeremy Bentham begins by arguing that
our actions are governed by two
“sovereign masters” -- which he calls
pleasure and pain.
 These “masters” are given to us by
nature to help us determine what is
good or bad and what ought to be done
and not; they fasten our choices to their
throne.
 The principle of utility is about our
subjection to these sovereign masters:
pleasure and pain.
 This principle refers to the motivation of
our actions as guided by our avoidance
of pain and our desire for pleasure.
 It is like saying that in our everyday
actions, we do what is pleasurable and
we do not do what is painful.
 On the other hand, the principles also
refer to pleasure as good if, and only if,
they produce more happiness than
unhappiness.
 This means that it is not enough to
experience pleasure, but to also inquire
whether the things we do make us
happier.
 Having identified the tendency for
pleasure and the avoidance of pain as
the principle of utility, Bentham equates
happiness with pleasure.
 Mill supports Bentham’s principle of
utility.
 He reiterates moral good as happiness
and, consequently, happiness as
pleasure.
 Mill clarifies that what makes people
happy is intended pleasure and what
makes us happy is the privation of
pleasure.
 The things that produce happiness and
pleasure are good; whereas, those that
produce unhappiness and pain are bad.
 Mill argues that we act and do things
because we find them pleasurable and
we avoid doing things because they are
painful.
 If we find our actions pleasurable, Mill
explains, it is because they are
inherently pleasurable in themselves or
they eventually lead to the promotion of
pleasure and the avoidance of pain.
 Bentham and Mill moral value as utility
and understood it as whatever produced
happiness or pleasure and the
avoidance of pain.
 The next step is to understand the
nature of pleasure and pain to identify a
criterion for distinguishing pleasures and
to calculate the resultant pleasure or
pain.
 What Bentham identified as the natural
moral preferability of pleasure, Mill
refers to as a theory of life.
 If we consider, for example, what moral
agents do and how they assess their
actions, then it is hard to deny the
pursuit for happiness and the avoidance
of pain.
 For Bentham and Mill, the pursuit for
pleasure and the avoidance of pain are
not only important principles--- they are
in fact the only principle in assessing an
action’s morality.
Four Theses of Utilitarianism
Consequentialism
 The rightness of actions is determined
solely by their consequences.
Hedonism
 Utility is the degree to which an act
produces pleasure.
 Hedonism is the thesis that pleasure or
happiness is the good that we seek and
that we should seek.
Maximalism
 A right action produces the greatest
good consequences and the least bad.
Universalism
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 The consequences to be considered
are those of everyone affected, and
everyone equally.
Principle of the Greatest Number
 Equating happiness with pleasure does
not aim to describe the utilitarian moral
agent alone and independently from
others.
 This is not only about our individual
pleasures, regardless of how high,
intellectual, or in other ways noble it is,
but it is also about the pleasure of the
greatest number affected by the
consequences of our actions.
1. It is concerned with what is good for
individuals and society and is also
described as moral philosophy.
Ethics
2. A philosophical inquiry concerning
norms of morality, its clarification,
justification, and application in relation to
good life.
General Ethics
3. _______ believe goodness lies in the
action itself.
Deontologists
4. ___________ believe goodness lies in
the consequences of the action.
Consequentialists
5. It is a disposition or character that
enables its possessor to perform a noble
or good action according to the mean as
determined by practical wisdom.
Virtue
6. It is formed through action, by
performing an action.
Virtue
7. It is concerned with the rightness or
wrongness of procedures that are
performed in the practice of medicine
and the provision of health care
systems.
Bioethics/Biomedical Ethics
8. It covers acceptable or unacceptable
actions affecting the environment.
Environmental Ethics
9. It focuses on establishing acceptable
business codes of conduct, affecting
enterprises, owners, investors, and
consumers, influencing economic
dynamics, moral aspects, benefits-cost-
profit ratio, competition rules, and
consumer opportunities.
Business Ethics
10. Norms of conduct or standards that law
practitioners, such as judges, lawyers,
notary public, law makers, must follow in
the practice of the profession.
Legal Ethics
11. Both deal with the study of man, human
nature, and human behavior. ________
studies how man behaves; ethics
studies how man ought to behave.
Psychology
12. To think right often means to do right, as
knowledge of right leads to the doing of
right.
Ethics and Logic
13. Ethics deals with the moral order which
includes the social order. Whatever does
violence to the social order does
violence also to the natural and the
moral order.
Ethics is related to Sociology
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14. Education develops moral, intellectual,
and physical capacities, promoting
moral character and civic
consciousness. Ethics provide direction,
goal, worth, and meaning in life.
Ethics and Education
15. Man is also an economic being because
he has to support himself by earning a
living.
Ethics and Economic
16. ________ and ____ are closely linked,
with right and wrong in human actions
requiring a law.
Morality and Law
17. _____ and ____ are both about moral
goodness and beauty, but they are
interconnected. Evil implies defects,
while good is beautiful.
Ethics and Art
18. Man owes allegiance to the State.
Ethics and Politics
19. The relationship between
_______________ is the closest among
the phases of human activity.
Religion and Ethics
20. _____ alone of all earthly creatures is a
moral being.
- Man
21. For ___ is principally and primarily a
human person whose highest faculty is
moral power, his willpower, his freedom.
- Man
22. _____ is the science of right thinking.
- Logic
23. _____ is the science of right living.
- Ethics
24. ______ studies how man behaves
- Psychology
25. _____ deals with human relations in a
society, but human relations are based
on proper order and proper order comes
only with proper observance of moral
laws and principles which regulate the
actions of men in a community.
- Sociology
26. ___ studies how man ought to behave
and is concerned with moral obligation.
- Ethics
27. ________ develops moral, intellectual,
and physical capacities, promoting
moral character and civic consciousness
- Education
28. Ethics stands for moral goodness; ____,
for beauty.
- Art
29. _________ aims at good government for
the temporal welfare of the citizens.
- Politics
30. A ______ study of ethics reports how
people, particularly groups, make their
moral valuations without making any
judgment either for or against these
valuations.
- Descriptive
31. A _______ study of ethics, as is often
done in philosophy or moral theology,
engages the question: What could or
should be considered as the right way of
acting?
- Normative
32. It refers to those particular situations
that are often the source of considerable
and inclusive debate.
- Moral Issue
33. When one is placed in a situation and
confronted by the choice of what act to
perform, she is called to make a moral
decision.
- Moral Decision
34. When a person is an observer who
makes an assessment on the actions or
behavior of someone, she is making a
_________.
- Moral Judgement
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35. When an individual can choose only one
from a number of possible actions, and
there are compelling ethical reasons for
the various choices.
- Moral Dilemma
36. Occurs when we use what at first glance
seem to be rational or credible motives
to cover up our true (and perhaps
unconscious) motives.
- Rationalization
37. It explains one thing by comparing it to
something else that is similar, although
also different.
- Reasoning by analogy
38. Reasoning from the big argument to a
small argument.
- Deductive Reasoning
39. Reasoning from the small argument to a
big argument. It involves providing
evidence to support a hypothesis.
- Inductive Reasoning
40. It is an ordinance of reason promulgated
for the common good by one who has
charge of society (St. Thomas Aquinas).
- Law
41. Are those promulgated, or made known
to us, by special command of God
Instituted by the will of God.
- Eternal Law
42. It is an unchanging law that guides
individuals towards their ultimate end. It
is derived from the nature of man and is
not communicated supernaturally. “Do
good and avoid evil.”
- Natural Law/Moral Law
43. Properties of Natural Law
- Universal, Obligatory,
Recognizable, Immutable,
Indispensable
44. Are rationally established grounds by
which one justifies and maintains moral
decisions and judgements.
- Principles
45. Refers to the different rules and
regulations that are posited or put
forward by an authority figure that
require compliance. It is law enacted by
church or state.
- Human Positive Law
46. The idea that one is obliged to obey her
God in all things, expresses a claim that
many people of a religious sensibility
find appealing and immediately valid.
- Religion
47. Is the ability to understand a culture on
its own terms and not to make
judgments using the standards of one’s
own culture.
- Cultural Relativism
48. Everything that happens within a culture
must and should not be questioned by
outsiders. (Category of Cultural
Relativism)
- Absolute
49. Creates questions about cultural
practices in terms of who is accepting
them and why. (Category of Cultural
Relativism)
- Critical
50. Is the recognition that the individual
thinking person (subject) is at the heart
of all moral valuations. She/He is the
one who is confronted with the situation
and is burdened with the need to make
a decision of judgment.
- Subjectivism
51. Is a theory that describes the underlying
dynamic behind all human actions.
- Psychological Egoism
52. It prescribes that we should make our
own ends, our own interests, as the
single overriding concern.
- Ethical Egoism
53. Is an ethical theory that argues for the
goodness of pleasure and the
determination of right behavior based on
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 ETHICS – MIDTERM REVIEWER

the usefulness of the action’s 64. A right action produces the greatest
consequences. good consequences and the least bad.
- Utilitarianism - Maximalism

54. Utilitarianism is ________
- Consequentialist.
55. For Bentham and Mill, _____ refers to a
way of understanding the results of
people’s actions.
- Utility
65. This is not only about our individual
pleasures, regardless of how high,
intellectual, or in other ways noble it is,
but it is also about the pleasure of the
greatest number affected by the
consequences of our actions.
- The Principle of Greatest Number

56. The utilitarian value ______ 66. What are the 4 Theses of Utilitarianism?
and_______; this means that the - Consequentialism
usefulness of actions is based on its - Hedonism
promotion of happiness. - Maximalism
- Pleasure and happiness - Universalism

57. The ___________ is about our
subjection to these sovereign masters:
pleasure and pain.
- Principle of Utility
58. This principle refers to the motivation of
our actions as guided by our avoidance
of pain and our desire for pleasure.
- Principle of Utility
67. The two foremost utilitarian thinkers
- Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
- John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
68. __________ begins by arguing that our
actions are governed by two “sovereign
masters” -- which he calls pleasure and
pain.
- Jeremy Bentham

59. The principle of utility is about our 69. ________ argues that we act and do
subjection to these sovereign masters: things because we find them
______ and ______ pleasurable and we avoid doing things
- Pleasure and pain because they are painful.
- John Stuart Mill
60. The rightness of actions is determined
solely by their consequences.
- Consequentialism

61. _______ is the degree to which an act

produces pleasure.
- Utility

62. _______ is the thesis that pleasure or

happiness is the good that we seek and
that we should seek.
- Hedonism

63. The consequences to be considered are

those of everyone affected, and
everyone equally.
- Universalism

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