The Philosophical

Background of
Business Ethics
CHAPTER 2
“Without moral perception, man is
only an animal. Without morality,
man as a rational being is a
failure.”
-Ramon B Agapay
 I.

ETHICS and
PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy
Philosophy came form the greek word
“philos” which means love and “sophia”
which means Wisdom.

Philosophy means love of wisdom

 II.

DIVISION OF
PHILOSOPHY
DIVISION OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Theoretical Philosophy- Studies the
principles of human knowledge, the
development of science and the basis for
scientific knowledge, the principles of
thought, argumentation and
communication, the nature of language
and consciousness, metaphysics, and the
history of the subject itself.
THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY
Cosmology - study of the creation of
universe. This word in fact comes from
the Greek word kosmos, meaning “order,”
and “the world.”
Ontology - deals with the nature of
existence of things and status of reality.
The word “onta” is a greek word which
means “being”.
THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY
Metaphysics - deals with the mind, the
self and consciousness. The word meta
came from the greek word means
“beyond” and physikon means “nature” .
Psychology - study of the nature of the
soul of a person and other entities.the
word “psyche” means soul.
THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY
Theodicy- known as rational theology.
The word “theos” means god and “dike"
means justice..
Epistemology- it addresses the
philosophical problems surrounding the
theory of knowledge. The word
“episteme” means knowledge.
DIVISION OF PHILOSOPHY
2. Practical - Practical philosophy can be
defined as the study of the philosophical
foundations of "practical thought", with a
particular emphasis on values, attitudes to life
and norms of behaviour
PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
Semantics - the philosophical and
scientific study of meaning in natural and
artificial languages.
Axiology- the branch of practical
philosophy which studies the nature of
value.
PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
Aesthetics- aesthetics is the branch of
philosophy concerned with the nature and
appreciation of art, beauty and good taste.
Logics- the study of valid or correct
inferences.
Ethics- the discipline concerned with what is
morally good and bad and morally right and
wrong
 III.

DEFINITIONS OF
ETHICS
DEFINITIONS OF ETHICS
Ethics is the practical science of the
morality of human acts.
Ethics is the study of human conduct
from the standpoint of morality.
Ethics is a normative science based on
reasons which studies human conduct
and provide norms for its natural integrity
and honesty.
DEFINITIONS OF ETHICS
Ethics is a practical science that guides us in
our actions that we may live rightly and well.
Ethics is the science which lays down the
principles of right living.
Ethics is the science of human acts with
reference to right and wrong.
Ethics is the scientific inquiry into the
principles of morality.
 IV.

ETHICS AND
MORALITY
 MORALITY
Morality refers to the quality of goodness or
badness in a human act.
-Good is described as moral and bad as immoral.
It means conformity to the rules of right
conduct.
It implies judgment and refers to what we
would call moral standards and moral
conduct.
 ETHICS
Ethics is the formal study of moral standards and conduct.
Ethics is often called as "Moral Philosophy"
Ethics involves the study of moral standards and judgments which people
create.
Ethics assumes that the standards exist and seeks to describe them, to
evaluate them, or to evaluate the premises upon which those standards
exist.
Ethics investigates the nature of moral principles, ethical systems and
moral norms that people use to justify their moral judgments.
E. Babor (2004) argues that while ethics provides principles or bases for right
or wrong and good or bad actions, morality actualizes the theory.
-According to him, morality is nothing else but a doing of ethics.
Ethics outlines the theories of right or wrong, good or bad actions while
Morality translates these theories into actions.
 V.

ETHICS AS
NORMATIVE
SCIENCE
 ETHICS AS NORMATIVE
SCIENCE
It is a normative science because it involves a
systematic search for moral principles and
norms that are used to justify our moral
judgement.
3 CATEGORIES OF
GENERAL ETHICS
DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS- studying and describing
the morality of a people, culture, and society.
Example, Psychological Egoism and Cultural
Relativism
NORMATIVE ETHICS- involves moral judgement based on ethical norm or
theory.
a. To form into a related whole the various norms, rules and values of a
society's morality.
b. To find the basic principle from which the particular norm can be
derived.
C. To justify an ethical norm or moral principle.

METAETHICS- concerned with the analysis of

the meaning of the words and the logic of
moral reasoning.
 VI.

THE PROBLEM OF
ETHICAL
RELATIVISM AND
SITUATION ETHICS
THE PROBLEM OF ETHICAL
RELATIVISM AND SITUATION ETHICS
1. Ethical relativism
2. Approaches to moral differences
There is no moral truth
there is no universal moral truth
Deep down, we can find basic moral
truths
There is one universal moral truth
 VIl.

DEONTOLOGICAL VS. TELEOLOGICAL

APPROACHES TO ETHICAL
EVALUATION OF THE
HUMAN CONDUCT
Deontological Ethics
In deontological ethics an action is considered morally
good because of some characteristic of the action itself,
not because the product of the action is good.
Deontological ethics holds that at least some acts are
morally obligatory regardless of their consequences for
human welfare.
Examples of Deontological Ethics
Kantian Ethics or Kantianism
refers to a deontological ethical
theory developed by German
philosopher Immanuel Kant that is
based on the notion that: "It is
impossible to think of anything at
all in the world, or indeed even
beyond it, that could be considered
good without limitation except a
good will."
Divine Command Theory
Divine command theory is a meta-
ethical theory which proposes that
an action's status as morally good is
equivalent to whether it is
commanded by God. The theory
asserts that what is moral is
determined by what God commands,
and that for a person to be moral is
to follow his commands.
 Teleological Ethics
Teleological ethics is a theory of morality that derives
duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable
as an end to be achieved. It is also known as
consequentialism. Teleological ethics holds that the basic
standard of duty is the contribution that an action makes
to the realization of nonmoral values.
Examples of Teleological Ethics
Hedonism
Hedonism is a term for ethical
theories that hold that pleasure or
happiness is the highest good or
the criterion of morality. Hedonism
derives from the Greek word
hedone, meaning “pleasure” or
“sweet”.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory
that determines right from wrong
by focusing on outcomes. It is a
form of consequentialism, which
means that the moral value of an
action depends on its
consequences.
 VIII.

The “Moral Sense”

in Us
The Synderesis of Man
According to St.
Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)

Italian philosopher
theologian
and priest is sometimes called the
Prince of Scholastics.
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)

Founder of psychoanalysis (a theory of how the

mind works and a method of helping people in
mental distress)

Born on 6 May 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia (now Pribor,

Czechoslovakia) to a family of Jewish wool
merchants.
Freud believes that human
mind has 3 components.
Id
Ego
Superego
Kohlberg’s Theory of
Moral
(1927- 1987)
Development
Lawrence Kohlberg
Born in Bronxville, New York on October 25, 1927
Engineer on a freighter
Taught at the University of Chicago in 1962
Harvard University as professor of Education and Social
Psychology in 1968
Tropical disease in 1971
Rumored to have committed suicide at the Boston Harbor
on January 19, 1987
 “People progressed in their moral
reasoning through a series of stages.”
Kohlberg’s Moral development was based on the earlier works of the Swiss psychologist
Jean Piaget.

Kohlberg’s Classification of the Person’s

Moral Development
LEVEL STAGE SOCIAL ORIENTATION
Pre-Conventional 1 Obedience and Punishment
2 Self-Interest Driven / Individualism
Conventional 3 Conformity & Interpersonal Accord
4 Authority and Social Order
Post-Conventional 5 Social Contract/ Rights
6 Principled Conscience
7 Transcendental Morality
Pre-Conventional
Young children and toddlers
Externally controlled sense of morality.
Punishment is avoided and rewards are sought

Stage 1
The concept of being good by following commands and authority to avoid
being punished.

Stage 2
A right behavior means acting in one’s own best interests.
“I’ll scratch your back and you will scratch my back.” mentality.
Conventional
Adolescents/Adults
Conforming to the society’s standards and norms

Stage 3
Morality is determined by social standards.
Good boy/Good girl image

Stage 4
Abiding to law and responding to the obligations of duty
Maintaining Social Orders
Post-Conventional
Through Adulthood
Acting up based on their own personal beliefs
Difficult to attain

Stage 5
"the greatest good for the greatest number of people"
Individuals employ abstract reasoning to justify behaviors

Stage 4
Moral behavior is based on self-chosen ethical principles.
 IX

TWO ETHICAL
SYSTEMS
ATHEISTIC ETHICS

assumes that only matter exists and a man is responsible to himself

because there is no God who creates and rules the universe. They propose
following principles::
Matter is the only reality
Man is matter and does not have spiritual dimension
There is no life after death
Man is free and must exercise his freedom to promote welfare of
society
Man is only accountable to the state
THEISTIC ETHICS

assumes that God is the supreme Lawgiver and everything must conform
to God’s eternal plan of creation. They propose following principles::
God is the supreme creator
Man is free and must use his freedom to his personal and social
interests along with his fellowmen
Man has an immortal soul
Man is accountable for his actions, both good and bad
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