MORALS AND ETHICS

TOPIC 3: MORAL REASONING

Criteria for Moral Judgments
Principles of Moral Reasoning
Principle of Beneficence
Principle of Non-Maleficence
Principle of Respect for Autonomy
Principle of Justice

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 Case Study:
• Henry is producing and marketing a pill that he claims
cures cancer.
• He knows it has no effect on cancer but he also knows
that desperate cancer patients will buy it. He reasons
that they will probably die anyway and taking the pills
will give them some hope which is a benefit. And
taking the harmless pills won’t hurt them.
• He thinks he won’t get caught & be punished for it
and he will make millions of dollars.
How do you apply moral reasoning in
judging whether he behaves morally?
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Three Requirements for Moral Judgments

• Moral Judgments Should be _________

• Moral Judgments Should be Based on
_________
• Moral Judgments Should be Based on
Acceptable _______________

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Moral judgments should be Logical:
• Use logical moral reasoning eg.
Argument 1
Premise 1: If a person is a mother, the person is a
female
Premise 2: Fran is a mother.
Conclusion: Therefore, Fran is a female
If you accept premise 1 & 2 as true, then, you must
accept conclusion __________[you can’t hold 2
beliefs that are contradictory/__________ at the
same time]
Argument 1 is a valid argument [conclusion is logical]
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Argument 2
Premise 1: If a person is a mother, the person is
a female
Premise 2: Fran is a female.
Conclusion: Therefore, Fran is a mother
The conclusion is not valid /conclusion is not
correct logically
How to prove using a counter example:
If Fran is a two-year-old for premise 2, she can’t be
a mother as in conclusion
If Fran is an unmarried adult female, the
conclusion is not correct 5
Argument 3:
Premise 1: If a person is a female, she must be a

mother
Premise 2: Fran is a female
Conclusion: Therefore, Fran must be a mother
The argument is valid. If I accept its premises as
true, I must accept its conclusion as _______.
But Argument 3 is unsound because premise
1 is _______.
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• Therefore, sound arguments eg Argument 1
have true premises & valid reasoning
• Unsound arguments have at least 1 false
premise eg Argument 3, or invalid/illogical
reasoning eg Argument 2

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 Moral Argument--1
Argument 1
Premise 1 [moral standard] :
If an action breaks the law, it is morally wrong
Premise 2 [claim/an argument] :
Stealing breaks the law
Conclusion [moral judgment] :
_____________________________
Moral reasoning starts from looking at the moral
standard to the argument so you can judge morally
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 Moral Argument--2
Argument 2
Premise 1 [moral standard] :
If an action violates the will of the majority, it is
morally wrong
Premise 2 [claim/an argument] :
The majority believes that women do not have
the right to marry who they choose
Conclusion [moral judgment] :
Choosing who to marry is morally wrong
What do you think about the conclusion?
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 CRITERIA FOR MORAL judgments
I: Moral Judgments Should be Based on
Facts
• We should gather as much ___________ information
as possible before making judgments
• Information :--
1. Supports a moral judgment, the facts, should be
relevant
2. should be ___________, including all
the important data
3. should be ____________ and _____________
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 II: Moral Judgments Should be Based
on Acceptable Moral Principles
•Moral judgments are based on ______________
•Therefore, reliable moral judgments must be
based on sound moral principles

Eg What happens if everyone does this?

Do I want people to do this to me?

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 Principles of Moral Reasoning
1. ______________ makes decisions in the same
way, even though they have the _______
information. Why?
2. Some common principles to follow to be
successful in making the right decision
- a. Principle of _______________
- b. Principle of _______________
- c. Principle of Respect for Autonomy
- d. Principle of Justice
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 a. Principle of Beneficence
1. A guide in making decision on what is right & good
with emphasis on ______________________
Golden Rule: Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you
2. Suggest that ethical theories should achieve the
greatest good as people benefit from the most
good
3. These theories discourage _________________
__________ which may directly or indirectly harm
or deprive other people.
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 b. Principle of Non-Maleficence
1. means to avoid needless _________or ________ that can arise
through what you do & what ___________
2. main concern when doing something is to do no harm
Silver Rule: Do not do unto others what you would not have
them do unto you
3. If a harm is unavoidable, do everything possible to
______________.”
4. Combining beneficence and non-maleficence: Each action
must produce _______________ than harm.

Example: A grandpa smokes while holding his 5-year-old

grandson on his lap. 14
5. ________________ of another human being
as a means to an end is ___________, even if
the end is legitimate (fulfil a graduation
requirement, enhance a résumé)

• Example: A 1st year medical student who

wishes to get hands-on experience goes to
Africa & begins to diagnose & treat patients in
an understaffed urban clinic with little
supervision. Is it acceptable at home based on
his level of training?
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 c. Principle of Respect for Autonomy
1. ____________ to make decisions affecting their
lives
2. _______________their own lives as much as
possible because they know themselves better
[emotions, motivations, physical capabilities]
3. ________________ of personal information,
respectful of other people’s autonomy [making
decisions concerning their own lives].
4. also called the principle of ________________.
We do not interfere with the decisions of
competent adults, and a positive duty to
empower others for whom we’re responsible. 16
5. Does an autonomous decision have to be rational?
We should allow _________people to make their own
decision, ________ when their decisions can cause harm:

The Harm Principle

Autonomy should be restricted if, by doing so, we act to
prevent harm to others.
• Example: A Jehovah’s Witness who refuses a life saving
blood transfusion for his sick 5-year-old daughter. The
decision appears irrational to the doctors but it is what
his religion teaches.
a) If you were the doctor, what would you do?
b) If the patient is a 35-year-old adult?
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Case Study- Man dragged off the plane

• A man was asked to leave the plane because it

was overbooked. He refused to and was
dragged off by the police working at the
airport. He suffered injury to his face.
• How did the airline respond to the man’s
autonomy and rights?

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 d. Principle of Justice
1. Justice refer to the moral obligation to distribute
benefits, risk & cost in a ______, _________ manner
2. Combining beneficence and justice: We are obligated to
work for the ________of those who are unfairly treated.
3. We have an __________ to provide others with whatever
they are owed or deserve. In public life, we have an
obligation to treat all people equally, fairly, and
impartially. Eg. minimum wage
4. Impose no unfair burdens.

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5. We should treat similar cases in similar ways,
possibly according to:
• The Principle of Equality: Benefits and burdens should
be __________________.
• The Principle of Need: Those with ______ need should
receive ________ benefits so as attain an eventual
equilibrium.
• The Principle of Contribution: Everyone should benefit
according to the ________to which they produce.
• The Principle of Effort: Everyone should benefit
according to the extent of _____________.

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Example: At a school, students are not allowed
to smoke on facility grounds. However, the
school allows teachers to smoke in
designated smoking areas. Students, visitors,
& teachers were not treated uniformly, fairly,
or equally.

What can be done?

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 Case Study 1: Money Scam
• Dynasty Marine Farm was a seaweed company
in Semporna, Sabah founded by its CEO Chong
Mang Tung a few years ago.
• The company promoted its seaweed project as
a low risk and high income investment to
ordinary people.
• Many investors from Taiwan, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore invested their life
savings in this company.
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• Some even persuaded their family members and
friends to do the same. They trusted in the company’s
management and believed in the abilities of its
founders.
• Testimonies of DMF clients:
Invest in DMF has no worries
1. Name : Doris (Seremban) Occupation : Housewife
Doris is not rich but a bold woman. She dared to
“gamble” a little bit, using her children’s saving to
invest in the Plan. Her doubt and suspicion disappeared
altogether after seeing this huge seaweed farm in
Semporna. She has built up her confidence and felt
lucky to have chosen the right company. Since the
Seaweed Plan is insured she has no reason to worry
about her own decision to invest here. 23
• 2. Name : Ben (Kuala Lumpur)
Occupation : Noodles Manufacturer Owner
Ben once asked Dato Seri Dr .Chong Man Tung,
one of the Directors of this seaweed plan,
how could he prove that those seaweed
actually belongs to DMF, he said he could
provide whatever evidence he wanted and
he gave him this assurance. That raised his
confidence instantly. He had found beyond
doubt that Dato Seri Dr.Chong Man Tung is a
true and genuine businessman.
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3. Name : Jenny Ong (Singapore) Occupation : Housewife
I am glad that I was introduced to a wealth creating vehicle DMF
seaweed investment by my sister. What impressed me most is its
Management team lead by Dato’ Seri Dr Chong. They are passionate,
prudent, environmentally friendly and loving group of people. Not
only are they enterprising in constantly improving on its seaweed
farming to produce good, consistent and quality seaweed, which
attracts buyers to purchase from them, they are mindful of protecting
the environment by using bio-friendly farming method. And their act
of providing better living conditions for all their workers and giving a
chance to their children at education, by having a teacher on Platform
2 to teach them is very touching. With such good, dedicate & caring
management team in DMF, I have confident and trust in them and I
can also sleep in peace at night, knowing that my money is well
invested & protected (as DMF has an insurance coverage of RM$50
Million to guard against nature mishap, if any), for they have help me
accumulate my wealth within the 5 years since I started investing with
DMF in 2009. 25
• In April 2013, Chong Mang Tung together with his
family [wife and three children] disappeared from
Malaysia.
• He stole more than US$50 million [RM225
million] of his investors’ money.
• Every investor lost their life savings even his
childhood friend who invested RM1 million.
• All his employees lost their jobs. The company
board members held a meeting with the investors
and explained that they were unable to find him
and there was no money left to refund them.
Some investors openly cried because they had
just lost their whole life savings. 26
• One old lady even knelt and begged the directors to
find Chong as her entire life savings for her
retirement was invested in DMF.
• Some even had cut off family relationships with their
families who introduced them to DMF. Until now,
there is no official news of Chong and his family.
• People believed that they had fled to US living on the
ill-gotten money from their victims.

Discussion: Elaborate on the 4 principles of justice,

beneficence, non-malevolence and respect for
autonomy shown by Chong Mang Tung’s actions.
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His Company, Dynasty Marine Farm

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His Award in 2008

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His Family

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