MORALITY

ETHICAL THEORIES AND DECISION MAKING

Week3 Lesson2
The improvement of ethical character
virtues is the key to personal, academic
and professional success in life. You will
realize happiness and self-fulfillment in
life, achieve your highest potential in
school and work, benefit those around
you and contribute to human society as a
whole, if you pursue a life of virtue. Ethics
is good for you.
WHAT IS ETHICS AND WHY ETHICS IS IMPORTANT?

• Ethics can be defined as a set of principles of conduct

or a system of moral values.
• In essence, ethics is the study and practice of what is
good, what is moral, and what is best. Below is the list
of theories of what makes something right or wrong:
Absolutist theory of ethics- Perhaps you
believe that ethics is determined by some
rules, which should never be questioned or
broken such as, ”Do not steal”, “Do not
lie”, and “Do not murder”.
Universalist Approach to Ethics- Perhaps you
think that such absolute rules should be followed
by everyone. For example, many people believe in
the version of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you”
Consequentialist Theory of Ethics- Perhaps you think
that you should consider the specific consequences of
different actions in a given situation in determining what
is right and what is wrong, which choice leads to the
best result or consequences.
 Emotive approach to Ethics- You think that instead
Future of following some set of absolute rules, you should
career rationally think about ethics and what is the right
thing to do. Ethics should be thoughtful than simply
obeying rules.
 Care theory of ethics- Perhaps you think
that love, care and concern for fellow
human beings should be the foundation of Fun facts
ethics.
Personal relativism- You think
that ethics is entirely relative and
subjective, either relative to each
person who individually
determines what is right or wrong
for him or her, it can also be
relative to a specific culture.
What is Law?

This is essentially a philosophical question that

can be answered with a wide explanation.
However, several theorists have tried to answer
this question to give an idea to humanity, and
they are Professor Hart and Plato.
WHAT ARE THE SIMMILARITIES BETWEEN LAW AND
MORALITY?

 Laws are derivative from morals since they are the final
stage of the enlargement of the morals of a people.
 All laws are part of the morals of political society
because of the acceptance of such laws made by that
same society.
Law demands a complete domination
to its rules and commands.
 Law has implementing authority
derived from the state.
 Law legalizes men’s relations with
others and with society.
 Law cannot be changed into
morals.
MORALITY
 Morality demands that people have a
duty to act from a sense of moral duty.
 Morality has no such implemented
authority from state or national government.
 It administrates the inner life of men.
 Morality applies to every human act.
 Immoral acts are punishable by the
society’s moral standards.
I. ACTIVITIES
 

Activity 1.
Directions: In bullet form, write at least five important learnings you
gained from this chapter.
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Activity 2.
Directions: Using the Venn diagram, illustrate the similarities and
differences of Law and Morality