1 Ethics
LECTURE 1
Ethics, is derived from the Greek word
“Ethikos” meaning, character.
- A branch of Philosophy that deals with the
principles of conduct of an individual or
group.
- Works as a guiding principle as to decide
what is good or bad. They are the standards
which govern the life of a person.
- Defines the character of an individual.
- Related to right or wrong conduct of an
individual in a particular situation
Some ethical principles:
 Truthfulness
 Honesty
 Loyalty
 Respect
 Fairness
 Integrity
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ETHICS
1. Moral: is derived from the Greek word
“Mos” meaning, custom.
- Morals are the social, cultural, and
religious beliefs or values of an individual
or group which tells us what is right and
wrong.
- Morality is not fixed because it describes
the particular values of a specific group at
a specific point in time.
Some ethical principles:
 Do not cheat
 Be loyal
 Be patient
 Always tell the truth
 Be generous
2. Non-Moral standards refer to standards
by which we judge what is good or bad
and right or wrong in a non-moral way.
- Non-moral standards refer to rules that
are unrelated to moral or ethical
considerations.
- Either these standards are not
necessarily linked to morality or by
nature lack ethical sense.
Examples of non-moral standards are:
 Standards of etiquette by which we
judge manners as good or bad,
 Standards we call the law by which we
judge something as legal or illegal, and
 Standards of aesthetics by which we
judge art as good or rubbish.
3. Amoral, or "without morals," is defined
as "having or demonstrating no care
about whether an action is morally right
or wrong.“
- Amoral means "being neither moral nor
immoral,"
- A morally indifferent person doesn’t have a
conscience to act against it.
Here are some example:
 Infants could be said to be amoral since
they have not yet developed the brain
capacity to understand right and wrong.
 Some extreme sociopaths are also
amoral, since they lack a conscience as
a result of a cognitive disorder.
4. Immoral is something that is evil or
wrong. It means failing to adhere to
moral standards.
- Immoral describes a person or behavior that
conscientiously goes against accepted
morals—that is, the proper ideas and beliefs
about how to behave in a way that is
considered right and good by the majority of
people.
- A person who does an immoral
acts has acted against his/her
conscience/moral code.
Here are some examples:
 Stealing someone’s car.
 Cheating on one’s spouse
 Killing a person
2 Ethics
5. Unmoral refers to those having no moral
perception.
- It refers to something to which right and
wrong are not applicable, such as animals,
forces of nature, and machines.
Here is an example:
 Typhoons/tropical storms are unmoral,
since they are formed by unconscious
natural processes that exist outside the
bounds of morality.
LECTURE 2
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
STANDARDS
 Moral standards involve serious
wrongs or significant benefits.
[Serious Impact]: It means moral
standards deal with matters which can
seriously impact, that is, injure or
benefit human beings.
 Moral standards ought to be
preferred to other values. [Ought to
be preferred]: It means moral
standards have overriding character or
hegemonic authority. If a moral
standard states that a person has the
moral obligation to do something, then
he/she is supposed to do that even if it
conflicts with other non-moral
standards, and even with self-interest.
 Moral standards are not established
by authority figures [Adequate
reason]: Moral standards are not
invented, formed, or generated by
authoritative bodies or persons such as
nations’ legislative bodies. In principle
therefore, moral standards cannot be
changed nor nullified by the decisions
of particular authoritative body. One
thing about these standards,
nonetheless, is that its validity lies on
the soundness or adequacy of the
reasons that are considered to support
and justify them. Ideally instead, these
values ought to be considered in the
process of making laws.
 Moral standards have the trait of
universality [Universal]: it means that
everyone should live up to moral
standards. To be more precise, however,
it requires that moral principles be
applicable to everyone who is in a
circumstance that is relevantly
comparable. This characteristic is
exemplified in the Golden Rule, “Do
unto others what you would them do
unto you (if you were in their shoes)”
and in the formal Principle of Justice,
“It cannot be right for A to treat B in a
manner in which it would be wrong for
B to treat A, merely on the ground that
they are two different individuals, and
without there being any difference
between the natures or circumstances of
the two which can be stated as a
reasonable ground for difference of
treatment.” It is an extension of the
Principle of Consistency, that is, one
ought to be consistent about one’s value
judgments.
 Moral standards are based on
impartial considerations.
[Impartiality]: It means, moral
standard does not evaluate standards on
the basis of the interests of a certain
person or group, but one that goes
beyond personal interests to a universal
standpoint in which each person’s
interests are impartially counted as
equal. Impartiality is usually depicted as
being free of bias or prejudice.
Impartiality in morality requires that we
give equal and/or adequate
consideration to the interests of all
concerned parties.
 Moral standards are associated with
special emotions and vocabulary.
[Special Emotions/Vocabulary]:
Prescriptivity indicates the practical or action-
guiding nature of moral standards. These moral
3 Ethics
standards are generally put forth as injunction
or imperatives (such as, ‘Do not kill,’ ‘Do no
unnecessary harm,’ and ‘Love your neighbor’).
These principles are proposed for use, to advise,
and to influence to action.
Retroactively, this feature is used to evaluate
behavior to assign praise and blame, and to
produce feelings of satisfaction or of guilt.
LECTURE 3
Dilemma: refers to a situation in which a tough
choice has to be made between two or more
options, especially more or less equally
undesirable ones. Not all dilemmas are moral
dilemmas.
Moral Dilemma: also called ‘ethical dilemmas,’
moral dilemmas are situations in which a
difficult choice has to be made between two
courses of action, either of which entails
transgressing a moral principle.
:Moral dilemmas involve conflicts between
moral requirements. Takes place in a decision-
making context where any of the available
options requires the agent to violate or
compromise on their ethical standards.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF DILEMMA
 Personal: are those experienced and
resolved on the personal level.
Example: A husband choosing between his
pregnant wife with cancer and his child inside
the womb.
 Organizational: ethical cases
encountered and resolved by social
organizations. This category includes
moral dilemmas in business, medical
field, and public sector.
Example: Public sector government leaders
and employees have a moral duty to act in a
manner that is fair and unbiased.
 Structural: It pertains to cases involving
network of institutions and operative
theoretical paradigms. Usually
encompasses multi-sectoral institutions
and organizations
Example: The prices of medicine in the
Philippines which are higher compared to other
countries in Asia and in countries of similar
economic status. Factors affecting medicine
prices include the cost of research, presence of
competition in the market, government
regulations, and patent protection.
RULES IN SOLVING MORAL DILEMMA
1. Golden rule: it requires that an agent
should take moral action through which
he/she will treat others in the way he/she
would like to be treated himself/herself.
2. Rule on Consequences or Outcome: it
requires that everybody should consider
the outcome of the action if it will
benefit or harm the
person/group/society
3. Rule of the Categorical Imperative: it
requires that everybody behaves in the
same way and express the universalism
in behavior
4. Rule of Duty: It requires that an agent
has to fulfill its moral obligations
(accuracy, gratitude, justice, charity,
self-esteem and not hurting others)
5. Rule of the maximum Justice: it requires
that an agent has to ensure equal rights
and freedom to everybody, except in the
cases of the social and economic
inequality
6. Rule of Proportionality: It requires that
an agent does not want, does not allow
and does not harm the others without
proper reasons.
STRATEGIES ON SOLVING MORAL
DILEMMA
1. 5 P’s Strategies (Problems,
Possibilities, People, Principles and
Priorities)
2. RIMS Strategies (Rational Interaction
for Moral Sensitivity strategy)
4 Ethics
3. Method’s based strategies
LECTURE 4
FOUNDATION OF MORALITY
Ethics works as a guiding principle as to decide
what is good or bad. They are the standards
which govern the life of a person.
FREEDOM AND LIMITATION
Human limitations, whether physical,
cognitive, or can restrict one's freedom.
Without limitations, the concept of freedom
loses its meaning. For instance, a society with
no rules or constraints could descend into
chaos.
FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
Basically, morality is a question of choice.
Morality, practically, is choosing ethical codes,
values, or standards to guide us in our daily
lives.
The personal aspect of morality is about the
development of virtues:
 To think morally: where individuals
engage in moral
 To act morally: acting morally is the
practical application of ethical thinking.
It involves translating one's moral
beliefs and values into actions that align
with those beliefs.
 To choose to do what is good:
Choosing to do what is good implies
making choices that are not only
beneficial to oneself but also contribute
positively to the well-being of others
and society as a whole.
Freedom: is the power to choose between two
or more courses of action without being forced
to take one or the other by anything except our
own will.
:Is the ability to act free from outside
influences or the independence from the
impediments of one’s own wishes
: is the willful act and decision that give form
and shape to the actions and inclinations of
people
:Free human acts are governed by knowledge,
discernment, reflections and are freely
decided such that they are not determined by
internal or external forces
CHARACTERISTICS OF FREEDOM
 Freedom is a gift – is the ability to act
significantly- achieve our full potential.
 Freedom is Complementary to Reason –
both are necessary faculties for
consciously making sense of things.
 Freedom is Absolute – humans have
higher kind of freedom
The good use of freedom guarantees man the
affirmation of his better self (excellence) and
the achievement of the purpose and meaning of
life.
The abuse of freedom is the origin of man’s
guilty conduct.
Unbalanced freedom (freedom of
indifference/license) is dangerous especially
when it controls a social group.
Authentic Freedom is not “the right to say and
do anything,” but to “act on the four basic
ethical principles: being true, good, just and
loving.”
Responsibility: taken from two words:
Response and Ability. It means, one is able to
respond in a situation with morally sound
decision (full knowledge of moral laws) It
means, a person has a moral, legal, mental or
psychological and emotional accountability or
culpability
5 Ethics
LECTURE 5
HUMAN BEING-A MORAL AGENT
Instincts are what functions to animals such as
a pack of wolves that need to survive, suicide
attacks of worker honeybees that protect the
colony from intruders, and when chimpanzees
scratch each other’s back as an
Rationality is a concept of decision-making
when people act on their best to attain their
needs, preferences, priorities, and principles.
We are free to act.
Thus:
o Only human beings are rational,
autonomous, and self-conscious
o Only human beings can act morally or
immorally
o Only human beings are part of the moral
community
o Only beings capable of ethics because of
free moral judgment.
The term “character” is derived from the Greek
word “charakter”, which was initially used as a
mark impressed upon a coin. The word
character gives a distinct mark by which one
thing was distinguished from others, and then
primarily to mean the collection of qualities that
distinguish one person to another.
Moral character: refers to the existence or lack
of virtues such as integrity, courage, strength,
honesty, and loyalty.
- The moral character traits that constitute
a person’s moral character are
characteristically understood as
behavioral and affective dispositions.
- Moral character, in philosophical sense,
refers to having or lacking moral virtue.
- If one lacks virtue, he/she may have any
of the moral vices, or he/she may be
marked by condition somewhere in
between virtue and vice, such as
continence or incontinence.
- Moral character traits are those
dispositions of character for which a
person is deserving of a positive reactive
attitude, such as praise or gratitude, is a
virtue.
- On the other hand, a vice is a moral
character trait for which the agent is
deserving of negative reactive attitude,
such as resentment or blame.
- A good moral character is practically a
disposition to do virtuous acts.
- Oppositely, a bad moral character is, in
effect, a disposition to do malicious
deeds.
VIRTUE-A HABIT FOR HUMAN BEING
Virtue: “arete” in Greek means Excellence in
Greek thought is how a thing/being fulfills its
function in accordance with its nature
- is a state of character which makes a person
good and capable of fulfilling his/her end
(telos)
- as character, it emphasizes a certain
consistency or constancy in facing
different situations (mesotes, it is a mean
between excess and difficiencies)
- is a result of one’s character that is the
result of choice (governed by prudence or
practical wisdom- phronesis)
Virtuous: means to exhibit one’s capacity to
fulfill one’s essence or purpose in such a way
that one’s potentiality as a particular being may
be said to be actualized in the most excellent
way.
A VIRTUOUS HUMAN BEING
Intellectual: has to do in harnessing reason’s
contemplative/reflective activity for arriving at
knowledge.
- Its existence and development arises from
teaching/instruction
- Excellence of thought
6 Ethics
Moral: has to do with excellence in the
performance of decisions relating to moral and
practical activity
- Excellence of character
- It arises from habitual practice (ethos)
All persons have the latent potentiality to
develop moral virtues, only if they habitually do
excellent deeds. The role of practice and habit
is necessary in developing moral virtue. It is
only by practice that we come to know that we
truly know how to do something
We become morally virtuous by doing morally
virtuous. We become just by doing just acts. We
become temperate by doing temperate acts We
become courageous by doing courageous acts.
SIX STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
The American psychologist Lawrence
Kohlberg (1927-1987) is best known for his
theory of stages of moral development.
In principle, he agreed with the Swiss clinical
psychologist Jean Piaget’s (1896-1980) theory
of moral development but wanted to develop
his ideas further.
Level 1 – Pre-conventional morality: Seen in
preschool children, most elementary school
students, some junior high school students, and
a new high school students
 Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment
Orientation
People make decisions based on what is best for
themselves, without regard for other’s needs or
feelings. They obey rules only if established by
more powerful individuals; they may disobey if
they aren’t likely to get caught. “Wrong”
behaviors are those that will be punished.
 Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange
People recognize that. Bothers also have need.
They may try to satisfy other’s needs if their
own need are also met (“you scratch my back,
I’ll scratch yours”). They continue to define
right and wrong primarily in terms of
consequences to themselves.
Level 2 – Conventional morality
 Stage 3. Good Interpersonal
People make desicions based on what actions
will please others, especially authority figures
and other individuals with high status. They
concerned about maintaining relationships
through sharing trust, and loyalty, and they take
other people’s perspective and intention to
account when making decisions.
 Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order
People look to society as a whole for guidelines
about right or wrong. They know rules are
necessary for keeping society running smoothly
and believe it is their “duty” to obey them.
However, they perceive rules to be inflexible;
they don’t necessarily recognize that as
society’s needs change, rules should change as
well.
Level 3 – Post-conventional morality
 Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual
Rights
People recognize that rules represent
agreements among many individuals about
appropriate behavior. Rules are seen as
potentially useful mechanisms that can
maintain the general social order and protect
individual rights, rather than as absolute
dictates that must be obeyed simply because
they are “the law.” People also recognize the
flexibility of rules; rules that no longer serve
society’s best interests can and should be
changed.
 Stage 6. Universal Principles
Stage 6 is a hypothetical. “ideal” stage that few
people ever reach. People in this stage adhere to
a few abstract, universal principles (e.g.,
equality of all people, respect for human
dignity, commitment to justice) that transcend
specific norms and rules. They answer to a
7 Ethics

strong inner conscience and willingly disobey

laws that violate their own ethical principles.
GETTING TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL,
Stage 6: DECIDING ON BASIC MORAL
CONSCIENCE-BASED MORAL
PRINCIPLES BY WHICH YOU LIVE YOUR
DECISIONS
LIFE AND RELATE TO EVERYONE
Stage 1 (1-5 yrs. old): Respect for power and FAIRLY
punishment In this level, to be right, one ought
In this stage, rare people have evaluated many
to be obedient to the people in power and, thus,
values and have rationally chosen a philosophy
avoid punishment.
of life that truly guides their life. Individuals
Motto: “Might makes right” judiciously elect fundamental principle to
follow, such as caring for and respecting every
Stage 2 (5-10 yrs. old): Looking out for #1
living thing, feeling that people are all equal
Instead of loyalty, gratitude, or justice, the case
and thus deserve equal opportunities.
is more a matter of “you scratch my back and
conscience-based moral decisions.
I’ll scratch yours.”
Motto: subscribing to the Golden Rule or act on
Motto: “What’s in it for me?”
my own
Stage 3 (Age 8-16 yrs. old): “GOOD BOY” or
“NICE GIRL” They seek approval and thus
conform to someone else’s expectations. When
charged of doing something wrong, their
behavior is likely to be justified by stating
“everyone else is doing it” or “I didn’t intend to
hurt anyone.”
The motto here: “I want to be nice.”
Stage 4 (Age 16 and older): LAW AND
ORDER THINKING
In this stage, individuals believe that everyone
breaking the rules deserves to be punished and
“pay his/her debt to society.”
The motto here is: “I’ll do my duty.”
LECTURE 6
Stage 5: JUSTICE THROUGH
DEMOCRACY. CULTURE
In this stage, people understand the underlying Culture describes a collective way of life, or
moral purposes that are supposed to be served way of doing things. It is the sum of attitudes,
by the laws and social customs. It is said that values, goals, and practices shared by
only about 20-25% of today’s adults ever reach individuals in a group, organization, or society.
this stage and most of those that do supposedly
It varies over time periods, between countries
only get there after their mid-twenties.
and geographic regions, and among groups and
The motto here: “I’ll live by rules or try to organizations.
change them”.
8 Ethics

It reflects the moral and ethical beliefs and the members of that society or group; and so
standards that speak to how people should profoundly affects the thoughts, actions, and
behave and interact with others. feelings of people in that group that individuals
are a product of their culture" and "learning a
Culture describes a collective way of life, or
culture is an essential part of human
way of doing things. It is the sum of attitudes,
development"
values, goals, and practices shared by
individuals in a group, organization, or society. CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Culture includes all the things individuals learn Since interpretations of what is moral are
while growing up among particular group: influenced by cultural norms, the possibility
attitudes, standards of morality, rules of exists that what is ethical to one group will not
etiquette, perceptions of reality, language, be considered so by someone living in a
notions about the proper way to live, beliefs different culture.
about how females and males should interact,
Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a
ideas about how the world works and so forth.
culture on its own terms and not to make
CULTURAL NORMS judgments using the standards of one’s own
culture.
Cultural norms are the shared, sanctioned, and
integrated systems of beliefs and practices that Descriptive ethical Descriptive ethical
are passed down through generations and relativism relativism
characterize a cultural group. Normative ethical Normative ethical
relativism relativism
It acts as prescriptions for correct and moral Describes the fact A theory, which
behavior, lend meaning and coherence to life, that in different claims that there are
and provide a means of achieving a sense of cultures one of the no
integrity, safety, and belonging. variants is the sense Universally valid
of morality: the moral principles.
Norms cultivate reliable guidelines for daily mores, customs and
living and contribute to the health and well- ethical principles
being of a culture. may all vary from
one
Normative beliefs, together with related
culture to another.
cultural values and rituals, impose a sense of
What is thought to be What is thought to be
order and control on aspects of life that might moral in one moral in one
otherwise appear chaotic or unpredictable.
CULTURE AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR MORAL in USA MORAL in USA
Culture is learned as children grow up in society IMMORAL IN: IMMORAL IN:
and discover how their parents and others Eating Beef India Eating Beef India
around them interpret the world. People learn Drinking alcohol, Drinking alcohol,
moral and aspects of right or wrong from Gambling Middle Gambling Middle
Eastern Islamic Eastern Islamic
transmitters of culture: respective parents,
Countries Countries
teachers, novels, films, and television.
Women in school or Women in school or
Anthropologically speaking: culture-including business Afghanistan business Afghanistan
moral values, beliefs, and behavior-is learned under the Taliban under the Taliban
from other people while growing up in a Women wearing Women wearing
particular society or group; is widely shared by shorts, face shorts, face
9 Ethics
IMMORAL in USA IMMORAL in USA
MORAL/acceptabl MORAL/acceptabl
e IN: e IN:
Killing newborn Killing newborn
females China, India females China, India
Female genital Female genital
mutilation Many mutilation Many
African nations African nations
Family kills a woman Family kills a woman
family family
Filipino culture is a mix of both Eastern and
Western cultures. The beliefs and traditions of
pre-colonial Philippines was mainly indigenous
Malay heritage. Hispanic culture influenced the
natives; the Americans shaped the modern
Filipino culture. Filipino cultural morality
especially that which concerns social ethics,
centers on ideally is having a smooth
interpersonal relationship (SIR) with others.
FILIPINO CULTURE-6 BASIC FILIPINO
VALUES
1. PAKIKISAMA: Pakikisama is the
opposite of individualism. In Filipino
culture, a person who has no pakikisama
is a loner, an individualist disdained by
others who seek his company. He does
not know how to “go with the crowd.”
A related word is makibagay, “to
conform” with the group in order to
maintain a Smooth Interpersonal
Relationship.
2. HIYA: Hiya is describe as feeling of
lowliness, shame or embarrassment and
inhibition or shyness which is
experienced as somewhat distressing.
“hiya” is related to the concept of “face”
and a concern with how one appears in
the eyes of others. “hiya” or “fear of
losing face” encompasses being afraid
to do bad things as it may damage one’s
reputation in the sight of other people
Too much “hiya‟, may lead to having
inferiority complex and losing self-
confidence. “Hiya” is one value that
regulates the Filipinos social behavior.
Just as one is very careful not to be
subjected to embarrassment or
“mapahiya” one must also make it a
point NOT to cause another person‟s
embarrassment. Hiya is a controlling
element in the Filipino society. A
person‟s behavior is socially restricted
by his sense of “hiya” while public
behavior is censured, or approved of, by
hiya. Public ridicule, or to be censured
openly, or to fail to do what is expected
of one, is to suffer hiya, a loss of esteem.
Inversely, if one has not acted
improperly, or continued to behave in a
manner disapproved of by the
community, it's to be without hiya
(“walang hiya” - an ultimate insult).
This label automatically results in the
withdrawal of acceptance within one’s
group, if not the entire community.
3. AMOR PROPIO: Like “hiya,” the
Filipino value of “amor propio” is
derived from the concept of “face.”
Although commonly translated as “self-
repect” or “self-esteem” “amor propio”
has been “characterized as the high
degree of sensitivity that makes a person
intolerant concerning to criticism and
causes him to have an easily wounded
pride”. “amor propio” comes from the
person‟s tendency to protect his or her
dignity and honor. Because of pride or
amor propio, for instance, a person may
refuse offers even if he she really wants
to accept them. “Amor propio” in short
means ego defensiveness, dignity or
one’s personal pride akin to the
traditional oriental attitude of having
“face‟.
4. UTANG NA LOOB: obligation and
responsibility are often viewed in terms
of reciprocity (utang na loob) --
comprised of debts (utang), and inner-
self-free will (na-loob). It is considered
10 Ethics

an important "accommodative surface instructions from elders and to do so

value," along with hiya (shame) and will lead you to a foolish act.
pakikisama (togetherness). It is one of
the values by which the Filipino
accommodates the demands of the
world around him, as opposed to
confrontative values like "lakas ng
loob" and "pakikibaka". “Utang na
loob” may be invoked by some people
to demand favors from someone, for the
right or wrong reasons. A fundamental
aspect of upholding group harmony and
relationships that demand the balancing
of obligations and debts. The inability to
repay the “utang na loob” usualy makes
a person “walang utang na loob” or
“walang hiya”. To avoid being dubbed
as „walang utangna loob,‟ some
Filipino sometimes do things that may
be bad just to return a received favour.
5. HOSPITALITY: refers to the innate
ability and trait of Filipinos to be
courteous and entertaining to their
guests. Filipinos are hospitable as they
are internationally known to be warm,
welcoming and accommodating. “Tuloy
kayo” is a Filipino warm welcoming
expression that shows kind
accommodations to their visitors.
“Tuloy” means “to go on” or “to enter.”.
Filipinos welcome them and ask them
the following as a thoughtful gesture.
“Umupo ka muna,” “Kain tayo”,
Kumain ka muna”. As Host-it’s a
pleasure for Filipinos to see their guests
feel at home and well accommodated.
Filipinos are generous and hospitable
people especially to their visitors. They
would even go out of their
6. RESPECT FOR ELDERS: this includes
the use of “po‟ and “opo‟ when talking
to elders and “pagmamano‟ or the
putting of the elder’s hand to one’s
forehead. Respect to elders makes one
dependent or irrationally obedient to
parents or elders. Failure to follow