PART III: Frameworks and Principles

behind our Moral Disposition

 Lesson 1. Basic Theories as Frameworks
in Ethics
 Framework- a basic structure underlying a system or concept.
In ethics, it refers to “a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that
constitutes a way of viewing reality”

THREE GENERAL SUBJECT AREAS OF THE STUDY OF MORALITY:

1. Meta-ethics
2. Normative ethics
3. Applied ethics
1. Meta- Ethics
 Is the branch of ethics that studies the nature of morality.

 Ittalks about the meaning, reference, and truth values of moral

judgement.

 Itexplains the goodness and wickedness mean and how we know

about them.
1.1 Cognitivism vs. Non-cognitivism

a. Cognitivism- states that moral judgements convey propositions. They

are ‘truth-bearers’ or they are either true or false.

Moral realism- claims that the existence of moral facts and the truth of
moral judgements are independent of people’s thoughts and perceptions.
It maintains that morality is about objective facts and not subjective
judgement.
Ethical subjectivism- holds that the truth of ethical propositions are
dependent on the attitudes or standard of a person or group of persons.
b. Non-cognitivism- denies that moral judgements are either true or false. It
claims that ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions, hence are
neither true nor false.
Emotivism- is the most popular form of non-cognitivist theory. It submits
that moral judgements are mere expressions of our emotions and feelings.
1.2 Universalism vs. Relativism
a. Moral universalism- theorizes thar moral facts and principles apply to
everybody in all places. This applies to all similarly situated persons,
regardless of nationality, citizenship, culture, race, gender, sexual
preference, religion or any other differentiating factor.
b. Moral relativism- submits that different moral facts and principles apply
o different persons or group of individuals.
1.3 Empiricism vs Rationalism vs Intuitionism

a. Moral empiricism- is a meta-ethical stance which states that moral

facts are known through observation and experience.
b. Moral rationalism- contends that moral facts and principles are
knowable a priori, that is, by reason alone and without reference to
experience.
c. Moral intuitionism- submits that moral truths are knowable by
intuitions, that is, by immediate instinctive knowledge without reference to
any evidence.
2. Normative Ethics
 Isthe branch of ethics that studies how man ought to act, morally
speaking.

 It examines ethical norms, that is, those guidelines about what is

right, worthwhile, virtuous, or just.

 Itevaluates standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions

and determines a moral course of action.
2.1 Deontology- is an ethical system that bases morality on independent moral
rules or duties.
The term came from the Greek word deon, which means ‘duty’, implying the
foundational nature of man’s duties or obligations.

2.2 Teleology –refers to moral system determines the moral values of actions by
their outcomes or results.
From the Greek word ‘telos’ which means ‘end’, teleology takes into account
the end result of the action as the exclusive consideration of its morality.

2.3 Virtue Ethics- it places emphasis on developing good habits of character,

like kindness and generosity, and avoiding bad character traits, or vices, such as
greed or hatred.
 3. Applied Ethics
 Philosophically, it examines specific, controversial moral issues.

 Itattempts to determine the ethically correct course of action in specific

realms of human action.

 For a subject to be considered as an applied ethical issue, not only must it

be considerable groups of people both for and against the issue.
3.1 Bioethics- this concerns ethical issues pertaining to life, biomedical
researches, medicines, health care, and medical profession.
It deals with controversies like those about surrogate mothering, genetic
manipulation of fetuses, stem cell research, using human embryos in research, in-
vitro fertilization, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, patient rights, confidentiality of
patient’s records, physician’s responsibilities and mandatory medical screening.

3.2 Environmental Ethics- it deals with moral issues concerning nature,

ecosystem, and its nonhuman contents.
This includes issues such as animal rights, animal experimentation,
endangered species preservation, pollution control, and sustainable development.
3.3 Business Ethics- it examines moral principles concerning business
environment which involves issues about corporate practices, policies,
business behaviors, and the conducts and relationships of individuals in
organizations.
3.4 Sexual Ethics- it studies moral issues about sexuality and human sexual
behavior. It examines topics like homosexuality, lesbianism, polygamy, pre-
marital sex, marital fidelity, extra-marital sex, non-marital procreation,
loveless sexual relations, safe sex, and contraceptive use.
3.5 Social Ethics- it deals with what is right for a society to do and how it
should act as a whole. Some of the issues under this are those about racial
discrimination, death penalty, nuclear weapon production, gun control, drug
use for fun, and welfare rights.
 Lesson II. Virtue Ethics
Virtue Ethic is said to have started with these great philosophers. In the
medieval area, the Italian Philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274) revived, enhanced, and ‘Christianized’ the Greek Virtue Ethics.

1. Virtue Ethics Defined

It is a moral philosophy that teaches that an action is right if it is an action
that a virtuous person would perform in the same situations.
Virtue Ethics emphasis on developing good habits of character and
avoiding bad character traits or vices.
Virtue Ethicists, such as Aristotle hold that people live their lives
trying to develop their faculties to the fullest extent.
2. Socrates and Plato’s Moral Philosophy
In the dialogue Gorgias written by Plato, Socrates indicates that pleasure
and pain fail to provide an objective standard from determining moral from
immoral since they do not exist apart from one another, while good and evil do.
In Euthyphro, Socrates asks Euthyphro whether something is good
because the gods love it, or whether the gods love it because it is good .
Socrates therefore believed in the existence of objective ethical standards
though he admitted that it is not that easy to specify them.
Central to Plato’s philosophy is his theory of Forms- the objectively
existing immaterial entities that are proper object of knowledge.
 3. Aristotle’s Ethics
Aristotle’s work specifically concern morality, The Eudemian Ethics and the
Nichomachean Ethics.
Three general descriptions, which are interrelated, can be used to depict
Aristotle’s ethics. First, his ethical system may be termed “self-realization”. In
his philosophy, when someone acts in line with his nature or end (‘telos’) and
thus realizes his full potential, he does moral and will be happy.
Like Plato’s and most of the other ancient philosophers’ ethical theories,
Aristotle’s view is also a type known as eudaimonistic. As such, it focuses on
happiness (eudaimonia), or the good for man, and how to obtain it.
3.1 Aristotle’s Telos
A telos is an end or purpose. Aristotle believes that the essence or essential nature of
beings, including humans, lay not in their cause (or beginning) but at their end (telos).

3.2 Happiness and Virtues

Aristotle believes that the ultimate human goal is self-realization. This entails
achieving one’s natural purpose by functioning or living consistently with human nature.
Aristotle identifies three natures of man: the vegetable of physical, animal or
emotional, and rational or mental.
Ethics for Aristotle is the inquiry into the human good.
He also considers happiness as the summum bonum- the greatest good of all human
life.
3.3 Virtue as Habit
Aristotle’s idea of happiness should also be understood in the sense of human
flourishing. The flourishing is attained by the habitual practice of moral and
intellectual excellences, or virtues.
Moral virtue for Aristotle is the only practical road to effective action. The
virtuous person, who has good character, sees truly, judges rightly, and acts morally.
3.4 Virtues and the Golden mean
Virtue refers to an excellence of moral or intellectual character.
Aristotle distinguishes two kinds of virtue: virtues of intellect and moral virtues.
He mentions four basic moral virtues: courage, temperance, justice and prudence.
Temperance- the mean between gluttony (excess) and extreme frugality (deficiency).
Justice- is the virtue of giving others right what they deserve, neither more nor less.
Prudence- enabling us to keep away from excess and defect is the moral virtue.
3.5 Phronesis and Practice
In using the golden mean to become virtuous , we must recognize not only
that the mean is neither too much nor too little but also it is relative to us as
moral agents.

5. Thomas Aquinas Ethics

Also called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of Scholastics.
Aquinas believes that all actions are directed towards ends and that
happiness is the final end.
He thinks that happiness consists in activities in accordance with virtue.
5.1 The Natural Law
By the term ‘law’, he means an ordinance of reason for the common good,
promulgated by someone who has care of the community.
Four primary types of law:
Eternal law- refers to the rational plan of God by which all creation is ordered. Everything
in the universe is subject.
Natural law- is that aspect of the eternal law which is accessible to human reason. The law
or order to which people are subject by their nature ordering them to do good and avoid
evil.
Human law- refers to the positive laws. It includes the civil and criminal laws. These are
not real laws, and people are not obliged to obey those unjust laws.
Divine law- serves to complement the other types of law, it is a law of revelation,
disclosed through sacred text or Scriptures and the Church which is also directed toward
man’s eternal end.
5.2 Feature of Human Actions
Aquinas evaluates human actions on the basis not only of their conformity to the
natural law but also of their specific features.
He mentions three aspects:
Species- of an action refers to its kind. It is also called the object of the action.
Accidents- refers to the circumstances surrounding the action.
End- stands for the agent’s intention. An act might be unjust through its intention.

5.3 Happiness, Moral Virtues, and Theological Virtues

Aquinas believes that all actions are directed towards ends and that happiness is
the final end.
Theological virtues- are concerned directly with God. They provide us with true
knowledge and desire of God and of His will.
LESSON III: Kant and Right Theory

 Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is a German thinker regarded by many as the most

significant philosopher in the modern era.
1.Kantian Ethics- Kant categorically rejects that ethical judgements are based on feelings.
For him, feelings even serve as obstructions to our discernment of right and wrong. His
ethical theory instead bases moral judgements on reason alone.
1.1Goodwill.
• Kant believes that when we wish to determine the moral status of an action, we
consult reason.
• Kant believes that one of the functions and capacities of our reason is to produce a will
which is good not as a means to some further end, but good in itself. For him, it is the
goodwill which is the highest good and the condition of all other goods.
• Kant does not agree with many ethicists that happiness is the summon bonum or the
highest good.
Inclination refers to the feeling that pushes us to select a particular option or make a
particular decision.
1.2 Categorical Imperative. What we have discussed so far is Kant’s
emphasis on the ethical relevance of good will and acting from a
sense of duty. First, it is one’s duty, as rational being, to act on
principle or maxim, as contrasted to simply acting on impulse.
To distinguish ‘actions on maxim’ from ‘actions on impulse’,
let’s provide some illustrations. Suppose a man Wants to financially
help a certain lady who is in need, merely because he likes her
personally, and he might not want to give the same assistance to
another woman in an exactly similar situation because he does not
happen to like her. This is acting on impulse and not done for a
reason or on any principle or maxim.
 Kant divides the maxims of conduct into two classes:
1. Hypothetical and,
2. Categorical imperatives

 The term ‘hypothetical, on the other hand, entails being true only
under some conditions, and therefore not universally true or
valid. Accordingly, a hypothetical imperative is how reason orders
one to achieve one’s specific ends.

 The categorical imperative, on the other hand, pronounces, “No

matter what end you desire to attain, act in such-and-such a
way.” Clearly, it commands a person to act in particular ways
regardless of what goals one looks for or what one’s ends may
be.
2.An Analysis of Kantian Ethics
Many who have read and understood Kant’s ethical system find it
sensible and plausible. However, we may argue that the reason kant’s
ethics is appealing is that it’s just another way of stating the highly
accepted golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you” and it’s proscriptive counterpart.
3.Rights Theory
Immanuel Kant proposed the principle of rights. He saw a distinctive
correlation, yet difference, between the intent of the law and the
enforcement of law. For Kant, governments were entrusted with the
capacity to create laws by the citizens they governed in exchange for
protection.
The principle of rights theory is the notion that in order for a society to
be efficacious, “governments must approach the making and enforcement
of laws with the right intentions in respect to the end goals of the society
that it governs.
 Rights Based Ethics- is a broad moral theory in which Kant’s principle
of rights theory is included. The concept of rights based ethics is that
“there are some rights, both positive and negative , that all humans
have based only on that they are human. These rights can be
natural or conventional.
Examples of Rights Based Ethics System include the following(“Right
Based Ethics,” n .d.):
a) The right to life
b) The right to liberty
c) The right to pursue happiness
d) The right to a jury trial
e) The right to a lawyer
f) The right to freely practice a religion of choice
g) The right to express ideas or opinions with freedom as an individual
h) The right of individuals or organizations to express opinions or share
information freely in written medium
i)The right to come together and meet in order to achieve goals
j)The right to be informed of what law has been broken if arrested
k)The right to call witnesses to speak on one’s behalf if accused of a
crime
l)The right of a person to be treated with respect and dignity even
after beign found guilty of a crime
m)The right to freely live and travel within the country
n)The right to work
o)The right to marry
p)The right to bear children
q)The right to free education
r)The right to join any peaceful parties or groups of choice
s)The right to be free from slavery
t)The right to not be tortured
u)The right to be treated as equal to others
v)The right to be considered to be innocent until proven guilty
w)The right to personal privacy
x)The right to own property

4.Legal vs. Moral Rights

What is moral is not necessarily legal in a particular county.
These principles prove, among other things, that being moral and
being legal may be practically related but not one and the same.
4.1 Legal rights-denotes all the rights found within existing legal
codes. As such, they enjoy the recognition and protection of the
law. Question as to their existence can be resolved by just locating
the pertinent legal instrument or piece of legislation.
4.2 Moral Rights-in plain contrast, are rights that “exist prior to and
independently from their legal counterparts. The existence and
validity of a moral right is not deemed to be dependent upon the
actions of jurists and legislators”(Human Rights,” n.d
Lesson IV: Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham (1948-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1808-73) are
british philosophers who had immense impact on british thought.

1. Utilitarianism Explained
A teleological ethical system judges the rightness of an act in terms
of an external goal or purpose. Its basis in the determination of
what one ought (or ought not) to do rests exclusively on the
consequences of the act, not the nature of the act nor the
traditional moral rules.
Consequentialist Ethics proposes that actions, rules, or policies
should be ethically measured and evaluated by their consequences
, not by the intentions or motives of the agent.
Utilitarianism is the most influential consequentialist theory. Derived from the latin term
utilis which means ‘useful’, utilitarianism basically states that what is useful is good,
and that the moral value of actions are determined by the utility of consequences.
The principle of utility can be applied to either particular actions or general rules. The
formers is usually called ‘ act-utilitarianism’ and the latter, ‘rule-utilitarianism’.
1.1 Act Utilitarianism – it is the principle of utility is applied directly to every alternative
act in a situation of choice. The right act is then defined as the one which brings about
the best results, or, the least amount of bad results.
1.2 Rule Utilitarianism – it is the principle of utility is used to decide the validity of rules
of conduct (moral standards or principles).

2. Origins and the Nature of Theory

Jeremy Bentham founded thee doctrine of utilitarianism but John Stuart Mill later
systematized and modified some of Bentham’s utilitarian principles.
Jeremy Bentham proposed the primary form of utilitarianism in his introduction to the
Principle of Morals and Legislation (1789). He confessed nonetheless that he took over
the principle of utility from David Hume.
2.1 Bentham’s Utilitarianism
Bentham’s explains that ‘utility’ means that property in any object, whereby it tends to
produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness or to prevent the happening
of mischief, pain, evil or unhappiness
2.2 Mill’s Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill is the most famous proponent of utilitarianism after Bentham. He made
the doctrine the subject of his philosophical treatise (utilitarianism) published in 1863.
Mill differs fundamentally from Bentham on two central aspects. First, Mill rejects the
purely quantitative treatment of the principle of utility; second, he introduced the so
called ‘secondary principles’ which set the tone for a contemporary variant from the
theory called rule utilitarianism.
3. An Analysis of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism appears to be direct negative reaction against Kantian Ethics. While Knat
proposes that an act is justified by the person’s motive to perform his duty, Bentham
and Mill counteract this by submitting the actions are evaluated through their
consequences.
4. Business Fascination with Utilitarianism
In an organizational context, utilitarianism basically teaches that a decision regarding
business conduct is proper if and only if that decision generates the greatest for the
greatest number of persons.
In the theory, ‘good’ is typically defined as the net benefits that accrue to those parties
affected by the choice. Moral choices must thus be evaluated by the calculating the net
benefits of each available alternative action. In business, this implies that all the
stakeholders affected by the decision must be given their just consideration.