An

Introduction
to Ethics
 What is right and wrong?

• A 12-year-old girl was taken in marriage in the village of

Lohutok, S. Sudan. Is that good or bad? Why?

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 What is right and wrong?

• Should the death penalty apply for a man or woman

engaged in consensual homosexual acts?

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• Is it good for a husband to donate his sperm to his infertile wife, so
that she can be artificially inseminated and perhaps bear their child?

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 DILEMMA

• Dilemma: a situation that challenges an agreeable

solution. In literature, dilemmas form the central
conflict many protagonists encounter. Many people
face all kinds of dilemmas in life, and the choice they
make can have long-lasting impacts. Sometimes
these dilemmas have even caused changes in society
and history! Common types of dilemmas
include classic, ethical, and moral.

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 DILEMMA

1. Classic Dilemma
• A classic dilemma is a choice between two or more alternatives, in which the outcomes are
equally undesirable, or equally favorable. The dilemma does not typically involve a moral or
ethical crisis, but the person or character’s life may change as a result of their decision. As a
young adult, some examples of classic dilemmas include:
• Deciding between colleges to attend
• Uncertainty about which job offer to take
• Wondering whether or not to make the move to a new city

Classic dilemmas are more than simple choices, because they usually prompt the person to think
about the outcomes of the choices. As a result, a character in a story may find themselves on an
adventure, in fear for their lives, or instituting change because of the choice they made in their
dilemma.

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 DILEMMA
2. Ethical dilemma arises when a person is forced to decide between two morally
sound options, but they may conflict with the established boundaries of a business,
a governmental agency, or the law. Some ethical dilemmas may involve following
the truth versus being loyal to a friend; following the laws or rules versus having
compassion for an individual’s plight; and concerns about an individual person
versus the larger impact on a community.
• An administrative assistant discovers her boss has been laundering money, and
she must decide whether or not to turn him in.
• A doctor refuses to give a terminal patient morphine, but the nurse can see the
patient is in agony.
• A government contractor discovers that intelligence agencies have been spying
on its citizens illegally, but is bound by contract and legalities to keep his
confidentiality about the discovery.
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 DILEMMA

3. Moral dilemma is a situation in which a person is torn between right and wrong and
looks at the very core of a person's principles and values. The choice the person
makes may leave them feeling burdened, guilty, relieved, or questioning their values.
A moral dilemma often forces the individual to decide which option he or she can live
with, but any outcomes are extremely unpleasant no matter what. Moral dilemmas
are often used to help people think through the reasoning for their beliefs and actions,
and are common in psychology and philosophy classes. Some examples of moral
dilemmas include:
• The classic “lifeboat dilemma”, where there are only 10 spaces in the lifeboat, but there are 11
passengers on the sinking ship. A decision must be made as to who will stay behind.
• A train with broken brakes is speeding towards a fork in the tracks. On the left, there is a woman
crossing with her two children; on the right, there is a man doing routine maintenance on the tracks.
The engineer must decide which side to aim the speeding train towards.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ETHICAL ISSUES

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 MEANING OF ETHICS
Ethics refers to the evaluation of moral
values, principles & standards of
human conduct & its application in
daily life to determine acceptable
human behaviour.
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 Ethical Rules
• Ethical Rules are rules that follow in our interactions with other
people and in our actions that affect other people.
• Ethical rules apply to all of us and are intended to achieve good
results for people and situations in general.
• A set of rules that does this well respects the fact the we are each
unique and have our own values and goals, that we have judgement
and will, and that we act according to our judgement to achieve our
goals
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Branches of Ethics.

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Branches of Ethics…

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Branches of Ethics…

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Branches of Ethics…

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 Here are some of the questions that involves ethics:
1. How should we live?
2. Shall we aim at happiness or at knowledge, virtue,
or the creation of beautiful objects?
3. If we choose happiness, will it be our own or the
happiness of all?
4. Is it right to be dishonest in a good cause?
5. Can we justify living in opulence while elsewhere in
the world people are starving?
6. Is going to war justified in cases where it is likely
that innocent people will be killed?
7. Is it wrong to clone a human being or to destroy
human embryos in medical research?
8. What are our obligations, if any, to the generations
of humans who will come after us and to the nonhuman
animals with whom we share the planet? 22
• On the other hand, ethics are external standards that are provided
by institutions, groups, or culture to which an individual belongs.

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 Ethics and Morality

Ethics refer to rules provided by an

external source, e.g., codes of
conduct in workplaces or principles in
religions. Morals refer to an
individual’s own principles regarding
right and wrong.
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 Characteristics of Moral Principles

1. Prescriptivity. Refers to the action-guiding nature of moralist.

2. Impartiality. Means the moral rule should be neutral.
3. Autonomous from Arbitrary Authority. Moral standards should be
independent hence be able to stand on its own.
4. Overridingness. Moral principles should tower over the other norms
or standards of evaluation.
5. Publicity. Rules should be promulgated to advice as well as praise or
blame certain actions.
6. Practicability. Moral standards exist in which human beings are
capable of doing.

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 Accountability in Moral/Ethical Actions

It is important to determine on what kind of human act of

which man is morally accountable:
1. Knowledge – where the doer is aware of what he/she
is doing.
2. Freedom – in which the act is not done by force.
3. Will – of which the doer has given its consent to do
the act.

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Conflicts Between Ethics and Morals

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Why be moral and how are we to behave toward one
another?

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 Why should humans care about being moral?

There are several answers.

1. Sociological: Without morality social life is nearly impossible.
2. Psychological: People care about what others think of them.
3. Reputation and social censure.
4. Some people care about doing the right thing.
5. Conscience.
6. Theological: Some people care about what will happen after death, to
their soul or spirit. For many religions there is an afterlife that involves a
person’s being rewarded or punished for what they have done.

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What is the relation of morality to law?

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• What is the relation of law to morality? They are NOT
the same and you can NOT equate the two. Laws are
rules which are enforced by society. Violations may
bring a loss of or reduction in freedom and
possessions. While morality are rules of right
conduct concerning matters of greater importance
wherein violations of such can bring disturbance to
individual conscience and social sanctions as well as
changes in personal relationships.
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The following are examples that are illegal but are
thought to be moral (for many)!
1.Drinking under age.
2.Driving over the speed limit.
3.Smoking marijuana.
4.Cheating on a tax return.
Splitting a cable signal to send it to more than one television

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On one hand, the following are things that are
immoral (for many) but are not illegal.
1. Cheating on your spouse.
2. Breaking a promise to a friend.
3. Using abortion (practiced in many European
Nations and North America) as a birth control
measure.

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Values and Ethics

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• Values can be defined as those things that are
important to or valued by someone. That
someone can be an individual or, collectively, an
organization. Values are what people judge to
be right. Individually or organizationally, values
determine what is right and what is wrong, and
doing what is right or wrong is what we mean by
ethics.
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 Different Kinds of Values

1.Moral Values: Values you hold for yourself but don’t force on others such as right
vs. wrong, honesty vs. dishonesty, being of service to others.
2.Aesthetic Values: Personal standards of beauty as seen in nature, art, music,
personal appearance.

3.Performance Values: Benchmarks you set for yourself such as accuracy, speed,
reward for achievement, self-discipline and overall accomplishment.

4.Instrumental Values (the means): Objectives used to reach goals such as being
responsible, obedient, loving, ambitious, independent, honest.

5.Intrinsic Values (the end): Personal happiness, a comfortable life, personal

freedom, true friendship, a successful career.
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 Universal Values vs. Relativism

• A value is a universal value if it has

the same value or worth for all, or
almost all, people. Spheres of human
value encompass morality, aesthetic
preference, human traits, human
endeavor, and social order.
Relativism concerning morals is
known as moral relativism, a
philosophical stance opposed to the
existence of universal moral values.

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 Moral VS. Non-Morals

• Morality may refer to the standards that a person or a group

has about what is right and wrong, or good and evil.
Accordingly, moral standards are those concerned with or
relating to human behavior, especially the distinction between
good and bad (or right and wrong) behavior. On the other
hand, non-moral standards refer to rules that are unrelated
to moral or ethical considerations. Either these standards are
not necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical
sense. Basic examples of non-moral standards include rules
of etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and various
house rules. 45
 Characteristics of Moral Standards

1. Moral standards involve behaviors that seriously affect other

people’s well being.
2. Moral standards take a more important consideration than other
standards, including self-interest.
3. Moral standards do not depend on any external authority but in how
the person perceives the reasonableness of the action.
4. Moral standards are believed to be universal.
5. Moral standards are based on objectivity.
6. Moral standards are associated with vocabulary that depicts emotion
or feelings like feeling of guilt, remorseful, or ashamed.

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• The following six (6) characteristics of moral standards further
differentiate them from non-moral standards:
a. Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant
benefits.
b. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
c. Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
d. Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
e. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
f. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and

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 Morality and Etiquette

• Etiquettes are rules of conduct concerning matters of

relatively minor importance but which do contribute to the
quality of life. Violations of such rules may bring social
censure. Etiquette deals with rules concerning dress and
table manners and deal with politeness. Violations would
bring denunciations for being, RUDE or CRUDE or
GROSS.

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Freedom as Foundation of Moral Acts

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• Freedom is a condition in which people have the
opportunity to speak, act and pursue happiness
without unnecessary external restrictions. Freedom is
important because it leads to enhanced expressions
of creativity and original thought, increased
productivity, and an overall high quality of life.
Freedom itself is based off of a moral argument
specifically that everyone is equal and should have
the right to succeed.
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 Freedom and Responsibility

• Freedom is the ability to set your schedule, to

decide on the work you do, to make decisions.
Responsibility can be defined as the state of
being responsible or accountable; that for
which one is answerable, for example, a duty
or trust. It also means the ability to meet
obligations or to act without superior authority
or guidance. Moreover, it is the capacity to
distinguish between right and wrong – having
ethical discrimination. And of course, in the first
place, it is accepting full responsibility for one's
own life and all that it entails.
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 Excuses

• An excuse is based on a reason for an

action or omission that reduces
(vitiates) responsibility. Excuses come
in degrees; so, to claim that one was
compelled to do Z means that you did
not have the power to do otherwise (if
someone picked you up and threw you
at my computer and you were
powerless to resist), freeing a person
from blame entirely.
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 Duress and Coercion

• Duress describes the act of using

force, coercion, threats, or
psychological pressure, among
other things, to get someone to
act against their wishes. If a
person is acting under duress,
they are not acting of their own
free will and so may be treated
accordingly in court proceedings.
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• Coercion is the use of force or
threats to control a person's
actions. As such, it is different
from persuasion and
manipulation, it is allegedly an
integral part of the law and the
state, and it vitiates consent
and exculpates wrongdoing.

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