CHAPTER ONE

ETHICS: Its Meaning , Nature and

Scope
OBJECTIVES
1. Define and explain the nature and scope of ethics as a philosophical
discipline;
2. Articulate the importance of studying ethics;
3. Discuss and distinguish the different norms or standards pertaining to
right and wrong/good or bad;
4. Describe the moral dimension of human existence; and
5. Identify the various characteristics of moral principles.
 Ethics
 Greek word = “ethos” Meaning
Customary behavior
 Ethics = word/Theory
 Ethics outlines theories of right and
wrong and good or bad actions
 Ethics is the systematic study of the
rightness and wrongness of human
actions
 The science of “morals”
Morality
 Latin Word = “mos” or “mores”
Meaning customary behavior
 Morality = flesh/action
 Morality is the doing or practice of
ethics
 Morality is the rightness or
wrongness of human actions
 Morality is the practice of ethics
ETHICS : A PHILOSOPHY OF ACTION

*It does not necessarily follow that knowledge leads or

results to practical action.
*The learning of ethics does not actually guarantee
morality on the person’s concrete and practical conduct
and behavior.
* ethics and morality truly need and complement each
other
ETHICS : A PRACTICAL DISCIPLINE
*Ethics should be taken not just as an academic study, but
as fundamentally, a “way of life.”
*Ethics “should be shown as a discipline which has an
intimate connection with the daily lives of man….
*Knowing what is right without actually changing the way
we behave morally is nothing but useless knowledge
ETHICS : IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING
ETHICS
*It is said, “without moral perception, man is only an animal. Without
morality, man as a rational [and free] being is a failure” (Agapay
1991:3).
*If one does have a sense of morality , of what is right and wrong in
relation to their conduct and behavior, people and society in general
would naturally and expectedly deteriorate and collapsed.
* Every corporations and organizations there is always that code of
ethics.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS
AND LAW
*Legality is not identical with morality. What is legal is
not always moral and also, what is moral is not always
legal.
* laws are only concerned with “public” actions
*Ethics goes beyond the concern and parameters of law,
for it includes private actions and the human motivations
and intentions of its actions
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS
AND LAW
*Laws, more often than not, are decided by a majority
vote.
*Morality is not all about how many people say that
something is good or bad, right or wrong. It is much
deeper than that.
What is right is right even though no one is
doing it.
Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing
it.
*Ethics serves as the very foundation of
our laws.
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ETHICS
AND RELIGION
*Ethics as a philosophical discipline, as mentioned, solely
relies on natural reason, logic and experience, especially in
the justification and validation of certain theories and
principles concerning good and bad.
*Religion, on the other hand, relies primarily and mainly
on supernatural reason, that is divine revelation or divine
authority.
SO, WHAT IS ETHICS?
*Philosophically, Ethics is defined as the practical science
of the morality of human act or conduct and of the good
life.
* As a science, Ethics is a body of knowledge
systematically arranged and presented in such manner that
it arrives at its conclusions coherently and logically.
MATERIAL AND FORMAL OBJECTS OF
ETHICS
*the material object of ethics is human conduct or the human
act
- Human conduct refers to the act that is done by a human
person which he/she is conscious of, which proceeds from
one’s deliberation and freewill, and thus, for which one is
held morally responsible.
*FORMAL OBJECT OF ETHICS is the morality or the
moral rectitude of human act or human conduct.
- Ethics deals with the human person’s right conduct, whether
his/her actions conform to right reason which is the
immediate norm of morality.
NORM
*A norm is here understood as a rule, standard, or
measure. Specifically, it is something by which an act or
conduct is measured as good or bad, right or wrong, moral
or immoral.
*Richard Gula defines norm as “the criteria of judgment
about the sorts of person we ought to be and the sorts of
actions we ought to perform” (as cited in Agapay
2008:77).
*by norm of morality, we mean the standard of right and
wrong in human actions.
TYPES OF NORMS
1. Technical Norm – “This refers mainly to man’s needs which
come from his bodily space-time limitations. This norm has to do
with survival, health and well- being.
It is concerned with problems of effecting change, of transforming
the natural world, the problems of coping with natural forces….
This norm is concerned with the techniques of [how certain things
pertaining to survival, among others, should be done or not done]
every community prescribes certain proper ways of working and
doing things. For example, there are the ‘right’ way of preparing
the field for planting rice, the ‘correct’ way of constructing the roof
of a house, house hold chores, how to assemble things etc.
TYPES OF NORMS
2. Societal Norm – “This norm has something to do with
the need for group cohesion and for strengthening the bonds
that keep the community together.
example, certain manners or attire, certain ways of speaking
or of conducting oneself, certain rituals and ceremonies are
considered ‘proper’ and ‘fitting,’ ‘appropriate’ or
‘recommended,’ because they maintain and strengthen the
bonds that keep the community together.
Other ways of behavior are prescribed or frowned upon
because they are unmindful of or destructive of social
relations.”
TYPES OF NORMS
2. Societal Norm
Example – “knock first before you open the door,”
“one should not pick one’s nose in public,” “it’s not
right to talk that way in the presence of visitors,” “one
must not talk while one’s mouth is full,” “one ought to
follow the rituals set forth by her fraternity when it
comes to accepting new members.” These and other
similar examples belong to the category of etiquette or
what is known as “GMRC”
TYPES OF NORMS
3. Aesthetic Norm – “This refers to typical perceptual forms
regarding color, shape, space, movement, sound, feeling and
emotion, touch and texture, taste, scent and odor…which are
considered by the community as ‘ennobling,’ ‘cathartic,’
‘heightening man’s existence,’ or ‘beautiful,’ because they
represent a certain free play and celebration of the human spirit.”
examples: “relegious music is good,” “the latest corona virus
movie is bad,” “the food of foodpanda is terrible,” “Leonardo da
Vinci’s painting is admirable,” “the color of my ethics teacher’s
hair is disgraceful,” “my female students’ styles of dressing are
obnoxious,” “Vice Ganda’s fashion sense is simply outrageous,”
“President Duterte’s manner of speaking is utterly disgusting.”
TYPES OF NORMS
4. Ethical or Moral Norm – “The moral or ethical norm refers to some ideal
vision of [a human person], an ideal stage or perfection of [his/her being], which
serves as the ultimate goal and norm.
In This norm, the human person and its actions are judged to be right or wrong,
good or bad Because of this ideal vision of what a human person should be,
a community has what is sometimes called the ‘non-negotiables,’ those things
which the community cherishes and considers of ultimate worth, which give
ultimate sense and direction to human existence. Therefore, all the other norms
technical, societal, aesthetic are to be subordinated to this moral or ethical norm.”
it is important to be able to identify and differentiate the various types of norms
from one another. We can now pin point, with a certain degree of accuracy and
consistency, as to what particular kind of valuation we are making in a given
context. In this way, we would be able to render meaningful, relevant, and most
importantly, critical assessment on certain moral issues and actions that we
encounter.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRICIPLE
1.Reasonability – moral judgments must be backed by
good reasons or arguments.
something is right if it is “reasonable.” If it does not
appeal to reason and common sense/experience, then it
has to be viewed with suspicion and reservation.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRICIPLE
2. Impartiality - This means that an ethical or moral
rule should be neutral when it comes to the question as
to who are its recipients.
Moral standards are supposed to apply to everyone
regardless of one’s status and situation in life.
To be impartial is to treat everyone alike, no one gets
special treatment or favoritism.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRICIPLE
3. Prescriptivity This refers to the practical, or action-
guiding nature of morality. This is also the commanding
aspect of morality.
Moral principles are generally put forth as some kind of
commands or imperatives.
Examples of this are : “Do not kill,” “Do no harm to your
fellowmen,” “Love your neighbor,” “Do not steal,” “Tell
the truth,”
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRINCIPLE
4. Overridingness Moral standards must have hegemony.
This means that they should reign supreme over all the
other standards or norms of valuation, whatever they may
be. They have predominant authority and override other
kinds of principles.
whenever there is a conflict between the moral norm and
any other norm, the moral must prevail.
morality over legality; morality over technicality; people
over dogma.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRINCIPLE
5.Autonomous from Arbitrary Authority Moral standards
should stand on their own logic independent of the
arbitrariness of the majority.
We can always challenge on logical grounds the tyranny of
numbers and the tide of public opinion on matters of right and
wrong.
Something is right or wrong regardless of what the majority
decides or says. Moral rules only bow down before the throne
of “right reason” even if there are undue pressures coming
from the mob and public opinion.
What is right is right even though no one is
doing it.
Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing
it.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRINCIPLE
6. Publicity - This means that moral rules and principles must be
made public if they are to serve as clear guidelines to our actions.
The obvious reason for this is that principles are made and
promulgated to render advice as well as assign praise or blame to
certain behaviors.
It would be self-defeating to just keep them from public
knowledge. For one cannot be made morally accountable for
something which one truly does not know.
If moral principles are indeed impartial and of primordial value,
then by all means, they have to be made public.
Keeping them in secret defeats the very purpose why they are
created. You do not hide something that you really think is
genuinely good and noble.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRINCIPLE
7. Practicability - Moral rules should not be impossible
to achieve or else they are not for men but for angels.
They must be “workable,” and not “too idealistic.”
Ethical standards must not be over what an ordinary
human being is capable of doing.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
PRINCIPLE
8. Universalizability – A moral rule or principle must
be applicable to everyone, without exception,
provided of course that all people are in a relevantly
similar situation or context.
“If I judge that an act is right or wrong for a certain
person, then the act is right or wrong for any other
relevantly similar person.
the Golden Rule: “Do unto others what you want others
to do unto to you,