Fundamentals of Ethics

and Ethical Theories

Unit 1
• Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit, student should be able to:

1. Define ethics and its origin.

2. Discuss the assumption of Ethics
3. Explain the meaning of Morality
4. Know the forms of act, classification of human act
5. Describe the components of Moral acts
6. Discuss the different Ethical Theories
7. Identify the model theory of Morality
8. Understand the other model theory
• Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had
eight children already, three who were deaf, two who
were blind, one physically disabled, and she had
syphilis, would you recommend that she have an
abortion?
• Question 2:
It is time to elect the world leader, and yours is the
deciding vote. Here are the facts about the three
leading candidates:
Candidate A: He associates with crooked politicians,
and consults with astrologers. He's had two
mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks up to
ten Martinis a day.
Candidate B: He was ejected from office twice,
sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a
large amounts of whisky every evening.
Candidate C: He is a decorated war hero. He's a
vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer
and hasn't had any extra-marital affairs.
 ANSWERS:

Question No. 1

If you said yes, you just killed Beethoven.

 Question No. 2

Candidate A is Franklin D Roosevelt

Candidate B is Winston Churchill
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

Please note: This ethics puzzle became popular during the 1990's when it was widely circulated in various
formats by email. Certain historical facts in the puzzle however are not correct, notably relating to
Beethoven's background, which while humble was not nearly so disadvantaged as the puzzle suggests.
Similarly the negative aspects of Roosevelt and Churchill are exaggerated, and Hitler would have found it
difficult to conduct any extra-marital affairs given that he was first married in a bunker shortly before his
death.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
• Ethics – from Greek word “Ethos” means
characteristics way of acting. The field of ethics
(or moral philosophy) involves systematizing,
defending, and recommending concepts of right
and wrong behaviour.

Assumption of Ethics according to Philosophy

Assumption are fundamental beliefs or statement
that are Accepted to be true without the burden of
proving or of proof.
1. Human is a rational being
2. Human is free
3. Human is a passionate being

• Morality – The quality of human acts by which we

call them right, wrong or indifferent; good, evil or
neutral.
• Two general forms of acts • Classification of Human Acts
1. Acts of Man 1. Moral or ethical acts
a. Involuntary natural acts (heart beat, blinking of 2. Immoral or unethical acts
eye) 3. Amoral or neutral acts
b. Voluntary natural acts – usually part of our daily
life (eating,, sleeping, and
• Components of Moral Acts
drinking)
1. The Intention or motive
2. Human Acts – include actions that are
conscious, deliberate, intentional, 2. The means of the act

voluntary and are within the preview of human 3. The end of the act
value judgment.
 ETHICAL THEORIES - ARE DEVICES WHICH A PERSON MAY USE TO
ANALYSE AND DETERMINE THE MORAL GOODNESS OF HIS
DECISIONS.
• Shipwreck situation
This is a classic case in ethics theory. Imagine that you are involved in a shipwreck situation - a
ship has started to sink in the middle of the ocean. Eleven people have jumped into a life-boat that
has been designed for a maximum of ten people only, and the life-boat is also starting to sink. What
should the passengers do? Throw one person overboard and save ten lives? Or stick to the principle
of "do not kill", which means that everybody will drown?
• Case study (Baby Theresa)

This full case is included in The Elements of Moral

Philosophy (Rachels and Rachels, 2012). The following is a
summary of the case:
Summary: Baby Theresa was born in Florida (United States of
America) in 1992 with anencephaly, one of the worst genetic
disorders. Sometimes referred to as "babies without brains",
infants with this disease are born without important parts of the
brain and the top of the skull is also missing. Most cases are
detected during pregnancy and usually aborted. About half of
those not aborted are stillborn. In the United States, about 350
babies are born alive each year and usually die within days.
Baby Theresa was born alive. Her parents decided to donate her
organs for transplant. Her parents and her physicians agreed
that the organs should be removed while she was alive (thus
causing her inevitable death to take place sooner), but this was
not allowed by Florida law. When she died after nine days the
organs had deteriorated too much and could not be used.
 THREE MAJOR ETHICAL THEORIES :

1. UTILITARIANISM
2. CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
3. SITUATIONAL ETHICS

1. Utilitarianism
Theory in Ethics by which actions are judged to be right or wrong solely according to their causal
consequences.
Under the utilitarian theory of morality, an individual should seek only those things that tend to produce
"The greatest happiness of the greatest number of people"

• The Utilitarian Precepts of Pleasure Regarding:

Physical Pleasure - are sensual indulgences or bodily gratification

Mental Pleasure - refers to intellectual, spiritual and moral pleasures.
• Utilitarian Rules of Morality
1. If the end of the act promotes
unhappiness, even if it has intended to
promote the greatest happiness, the act
can be considered morally wrong.
2. If the end of an act has promoted the
greatest amount of happiness of the
greatest number of people, whatever
means the act employs is morally
justified.
3. If an act unintentionally produces the
greatest amount of happiness, the act is
still morally good.
• Utilitarianism and the Workplace

1. One of its significant contributions is its capability to

rationalize or justify the various important demands of
the workers, like the demands for higher wages, more
benefits, healthy working conditions and fair treatment.
2. The utilitarian theory provides the idea that it is
perfectly moral and just for the workers to make such
important demands, and for the employers to satisfy
these demands since that would lead to the greatest
happiness of the greatest number of people.
3. The sheer number of common workers which is far
greater than the number of the capitalists can be a basis
of moral justifications for the pursuit of their common
interests. It heightens the sensitivity and vigilance of
workers to ensure that actions, decisions or policies do
not benefit only the selfish few but the many.
• Problems of Utilitarian Morality
1. The utilitarian theory treats everything as conditional and subservient to utility.
2. Violations of human rights and other unethical acts become morally justifiable, as long as they
promote the utilitarian tenet of the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people.
3. It is difficult to imagine discrimination or corruption as morally good simply because it made the
greatest number of person happy. Utilitarian calculation: the happiness of fifty persons justifies the
denial of the happiness, or even the life of one person.
2. Categorical Imperative
• The name given by Immanuel Kant to the unconditional and unyielding principle of morality, a law by which
reason unconditionally binds itself. The categorical imperative, unlike hypothetical imperatives, does not rest on
some interest; thus, it binds unconditionally and morally. This theory focuses on the motive of an act and the
means employed by an act.
• For Immanuel Kant, the moral worth of an act proceeds from two things:

1. The Motive or intention of the act

2. The Nature of the means employed by the act.
The Two formulation of Categorical Imperative

1. Universalizability - The formula of universalizability commands: act only on maxims

that you can, and at the same time, will to become a universal law.
• First Test: Ask yourself, "Is this what I want others to do?"
• Second Test: Think of a hypothetical situation and imagine what happens when all
people do the act all at the same time.
2. Respect for Person - A major moral implication of the formula of universalizability is
the respect for person. It is expressed as follows: Act always so as to treat humanity, in
your own person or in that of another as an end in itself, never merely as a means.
• Categorical Imperative and the Workplace
Some philosophers claim that Kant's theory of morality is but an attempt to summarize the Ten
Commandments and to restate the Golden Rule: Do unto others what you want others do unto you.
Problem of Categorical Imperative

1. Categorical Imperative
unrealistically set very high standards
of conduct attainable only by “angels
and saints”.
2. The issue that Categorical
Imperative sets to high a standard of
morality
3. People tend to attract categorical
imperative, because of their
unwillingness to abandon their
selfishness.
4. The path to moral goodness and
holiness follows a narrow and difficult
road.
 APPLYING CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE IN DECISION MAKING:
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS, OUR FUTURE WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS
TO BE TRAINED IN BECOMING MORE SENSITIVE AND RESPECTFUL OF THE RIGHTS
OF OTHER PEOPLE.
1. Problem
a. Deliberation
What is the problem? What is the main issue?
b. Identification
What are my alternatives?
c. Evaluation
Will this alternatives violate my rights? The rights of other people?
Will this alternative violate any applicable laws?
Will this alternative violate policies of my firm?
d. Discrimination
What is my best alternative?
e. Implementation
2. Solution
a. Deliberation - means knowing or understanding the problem.
b. Identification - means determining all possible alternatives or courses of action
available to solve the problem.
c. Evaluation - means assessing all alternatives previously identified.
d. Discrimination - means judging or choosing from available alternatives.
e. Implementation - once an ethical course of action was identified, it should be
performed regardless of its possible consequences.
3. Situational Ethics
Claims that morality of actions depends on the situation and not on the application of any law or
principle of morality. It upholds freedom.
• Situation Ethics in the Workplace
Situational ethics provides
consideration in making moral
judgment of others who may
sometimes fail to do what is right.

• Problems of Situation Ethics

What a person honestly thinks and
feels right in a particular case is
presumed to be right without
qualification. What I think is right may
not be true to you.
Two Types of Duties

1. Prima Facie Duties – morally significant circumstances in a given situation.

Divisions of Prima Facie Duties:
a. Duties of Fidelity – duty of fulfilling promises and contract and agreement.
b. Duties of Reparation – duty of paying compensation for harming or wrongfully injuring others.
c. Duties of Gratitude – duty to reward others for their services or for their good deeds to us.
d. Duties of Justice – duty to distribute benefits and burdens fairly.
e. Duties of Beneficence – duty to love and to care for our neighbours, to help strangers in distress and
to benefit others from our expertise and knowledge.
f. Duties of Self Improvement – duty to educate ourselves in respect of virtue and intelligence.
g. Duties of Non-malevolence – duty not to injure others.

2. Duty to Prosper – refers to the actual duty after his assessment of circumstances and finally thinking it more of a duty
in a particular situation.
 OTHER MODEL OF MORAL THEORIES

1. Authoritarian Ethics
- an ethical system which claims
that the goodness or badness of human
acts is based on authority.
2. Self-Realization Ethics
- Focuses on the fulfilment or the
maximum realization of human
potentials or capacities. It inspires
training and excellence in thinking,
feeling and acting.
3. Pragmatism
- this ethical theory was popularized
by William James and is also known
as American ethics. It claims that
the morality is not categorical but
relative; that is, if an act works well
then, it is good; if not, then it is bad
or immoral.
4. Cultural Relativism
- claims that what is good or bad
depends on or it’s relative to the
norms or standards of a
particular culture. Thus, what is
good or bad to a particular
culture is applicable only for
persons possessing or living in
that culture.
5. Communist Ethics
- an ethical theory, which
focuses on equal distribution
of goods and services and of
society's burdens. It preaches
universal brotherhood of
man, society without class
distinction.
6. Power Ethics
- claims that the ultimate good of
man is power. Friedrich Nietzsche,
the founder of this moral movement.
Power ethics claim that might is
right . In this context, might is taken
as a force, strength or capacity to
rule. This ethical doctrine teaches
that actions enhancing one's strength
or capacity to rule others are morally
legitimate, tracing its roots in one's
will to power
7. Capitalist Ethics
- focuses on the distribution of goods based on individual
contributions to the economic pool of society. It emphasizes
the importance of individual freedom and the right to
accumulate wealth, to possess, and enjoy private property.
THANK YOU!