MINDORO STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

College of Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

ETHICS
Alternative Instructional Material
COURSE DETAIL
COURSE CODE HUM 111 COURSE TITLE ETHICS
CREDIT UNIT 3 SEMESTER OFFERED FIRST SEMESTER
INSTRUCTOR Ms. Dianne Hernandez Dudas

STUDENT INFORMATION
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ID NUMBER PROGRAM
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Whenever we make a choice, it was possible for us to have made a different one.
-Soren Kierkegaard
 INTRODUCTION
Good? Do you consider yourself a good person? Or do you think you were a
Write your own definition of man with a kind nature, if you say “Yes, I am!” How do you say so? How can
ethics. you say that an act is good or how can you consider them as bad? Do we
_______________________ have the right to judge an act? And if we have, what should be the basis of
_______________________ that judgement? These are the usual questions that comes to our mind when
_______________________ we hear or read the word ETHICS.
_______________________
_______________________ Basically, ethics has no exact definition, it can‟t be defined with specific group
_______________________ of words for this concept is abstract and limitless. The only common thing
_______________________ when it comes to numerous definition from several sources is that ethics
_______________________ deals with the theories and principles to distinguish whether an act is good or
_______________________ bad.
_______________________ ____________________________________________________________
_______________________
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After successfully completing this module, you should be able to:
1. Construct a word web about Ethics
2. Identify the distinct importance or need of studying ethics.
Do you consider yourself as a
3. Interpret personal definition of ethics through poster making.
good person? Why or why
4. Explain the basic assumptions of ethics.
not?
5. Identify Human Acts from Acts of Man
_______________________
6. Analyze situation which portrays moral, immoral or neutral actions
_______________________
7. Determine the Intention, mean and end of an act
_______________________
8. Analyze moral dilemmas.
_______________________
9. Identified the three levels of moral dilemma.
_______________________
10. Recognized the difference between moral vs. non-moral standards.
_______________________
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_______________________
_______________________ PRETEST
_______________________
_______________________ Direction: Put a check mark on the space before each number if the phrase
_______________________ or statement is correct, cross mark if wrong.

1. Ethics is a science
2. Man is free
3. Man is a rational being
4. Purpose is our reason for being
5. Socratic method use questions to come up with a new
reason
6. Ethics consists of laws that are applied in daily living.
7. Ethics is a practical science
8. Ethics is a philosophical science
9. Assumptions can be accepted without evidence of proof
10. Man is free to act according to his will without restrain.
11. Principles tell us what‟s right
12. Values tell us what‟s good
13. Ethics and Morality are different
14. Some believes that a person by nature is moral.
15. Laws have to be balanced with moral norms.
16. Judgment is about judgment of what is morally good or bad.
17.Commanded acts are body-mind acts done to carry out the
elicited acts of the subject or agent.
18. The mean of the act is the act or object employed to carry
out the intent of the act
19. Structural dilemma is about finding a satisfactory system of
roles and relationships
20. Table manner is an example of etiquette.
 CONTENT
LESSON 1: Foundation, Scope and Meaning of Ethics
Interview 3 persons, ask them How do you decide?
how they make important
decisions. Ethics isn‟t the only way to define what the „best‟ decision might look like.
1______________________ Some might see it as the one that advances their own goals and interests, or
_______________________ makes the most money. Others may focus on what‟s likely to be the most
_______________________ popular choice.
_______________________
_______________________ At the heart of these is a nugget of ethics, but each is a distraction from the
2______________________ questions that matter most. Ethics defines the best option as the one which
_______________________ best achieves what is good, right and consistent with the nature of the things
_______________________ in question.
_______________________ Values tell us what’s good – they‟re the things we strive for, desire and
_______________________ seek to protect.
3______________________ Principles tell us what’s right – outlining how we may or may not achieve
_______________________ our values.
_______________________ Purpose is your reason for being – it gives life to your values and
_______________________ principles.

What is the difference

between values and
principles?
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
What is Ethics?
_______________________ Ethics is the process of questioning, discovering and defending our values,
_______________________ principles and purpose. It‟s about finding out who we are and staying true to
that in the face of temptations, challenges and uncertainty. It‟s not always fun
and it‟s hardly ever easy, but if we commit to it, we set ourselves up to make
decisions we can stand by, building a life that‟s truly our own and a future we
want to be a part of.
Ethics was also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what
is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. The term is also
applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles.
The terms ethics and morality are closely related. It is now common to refer
to ethical judgments or to ethical principles where it once would have been
more accurate to speak of moral judgments or moral principles. These
applications are an extension of the meaning of ethics. In earlier usage, the
term referred not to morality itself but to the field of study, or branch of inquiry,
that has morality as its subject matter. In this sense, ethics is equivalent to
moral philosophy.

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 The Origin and Nature of Ethics
When the person began to wonder about the right thing to do or about life or
how should one live one's existence, another exciting field of philosophy is
How should you live your life?
born to life. Philosophers called it ethics, or moral philosophy. The term
_______________________
Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, meaning character, a
_______________________
characteristic way of acting, and ethike or doctrine of morality. Now, human
_______________________
conduct implies the free and deliberate use of the will, which is a
_______________________
characteristic of human acts. Hence, the word Ethics is suited to designate
_______________________
the science of human conduct.
_______________________
Mos (nominative) or moris (genitive) is, on the other hand, the Latin
equivalent, which also means custom, or "traditional line of conduct". It is
from this root word at the word moral or morality is derived. Thus, Ethics is
identical to moral science or moral philosophy.
An unexamined life is not Ethics and Morality
worth living - Socrates
_______________________ Usually, we brand an individual as a "morally good person" if he correctly
_______________________ distinguishes what is right from what is wrong not only in knowledge but also
_______________________ in practice. We call an individual as an "immoral person" if he does not act or
_______________________ behave in conformity with practiced moral principles or norms. An individual
_______________________ is branded amoral person if he does not have the ability to distinguish
_______________________ between what is morally good act and what is the morally evil one, and if he
cannot identify and accept norms, resulting into some sort of abnormality" or
deviance.
Ethics, in the ancient Greece, was concerned with the development of
virtues and moral character. The Greeks believed that developing the
Share one experience that can character would lead one not only to knowing the right thing to do, but to
be consider as an amoral act. actually doing the right thing or living way of life.
_______________________
_______________________ Socrates
_______________________
_______________________ The great Greek moralist, Socrates, was the first to recognize the value of
_______________________ questions that affect how a person should live. He made his investigations
_______________________ through a process which philosophers today call the Socratic Method.
The Socratic Method consists of asking people questions about ideas they
presumably know about. Usually, it begins by asking for an essential or
analytic definition of a concept ex., good, justice. Once a definition is offered,
it is reformulated. But another defect would soon appear once the new
definition is subjected once more to the same critical analyses and
examination. The process continues until others realize that what they
believed to be right is wrong. Socrates demonstrated the importance of
applying the critical method of rational inquiry. By tearing down man's
unfounded assumptions, man comes closer to the Truth.
Socrates also displayed humility with his desire to share what he knows He
never told what to believe, he simply asked questions and left them to realize
the errors embedded in their own judgments. This, in some way, reflects the
true activity of ethics. It is not saying what others ought to do but, like the
role of a midwife, it is helping others give birth to their own ideas and
showing them how to critically examine these ideas before acting on them.
For Socrates, the pursuit of truth through the critical method of rational
inquiry is the way human beings ought to live their lives. It is in this context
that he preached that man must examine his life. To Socrates, an
unexamined life is not worth living. Are you living an examined life?
 Importance of the Study of Ethics
A person by nature is moral. But to depend on innate nature alone in the
As a college student, why do maintenance and development of moral integrity is not an assurance. We
you need to study ethics? need to nourish our moral nature in order to grow and live righteously with
_______________________ our neighbor. Up keeping ourselves with the study of ethics is one best way.
_______________________ A person cannot live happily and harmoniously by legalities alone. Laws
_______________________ have to be balanced with moral norms.
_______________________ The practical importance of studying ethics may be summarized in the
_______________________ following objectives.
_______________________
1. To sharpen the moral nature of the learners by including them the moral
norms.
2. To make them aware of the principles and laws governing man‟s actions.
3. To help the students become aware of the intimate relation between their
moral nature and laws.
Do not talk what a good man
4. To show to the learners that acting in accordance with their rational and
is, but be one – Marcus
moral nature could lead them to their supernatural destiny – the ultimate.
Aurelius
5. To develop in the students a morally upright living.
_______________________
6. To let the students, realize the people cannot live together harmoniously
_______________________
in a society without the ethical norms and laws applied or followed.
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________ Ethics as a science
_______________________
Ethics is said to be a science insofar as it is a body of systematized
knowledge arranged with its accompanying explanation. In terms of content,
however, it is not to be classified as a course in science.
Ethics as a practical science means that it consists of principles and laws
Relate science and ethics that are applied in daily living. In this sense, Ethics is not a course taken for
_______________________ the sake of contemplation; rather, it is a study taken for application in man's
_______________________ everyday course of action. Ethics is an applied knowledge.
_______________________
_______________________ As a philosophical science, Ethics is not a technical course or a laboratory
_______________________ study.
_______________________
Devoid of empiricality, it presents and deliberates its subject matter "in the
light of its deepest principles by means of human reason alone" (Ibid.).
Is the term morality synonymous with the word ethics? The answer is yes in
terms of their etymological meaning. But there remains a shade of difference,
however. Ethics deals more on the principles and laws on the morality of
human acts; it provides the person with the knowledge that he may know
what to do and how to do it. In other words, ethics provides the guides to the
performance of an act.

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 Assumptions of Ethics
Like any other discipline, ethics proceeds from some basic assumptions,
Man is a rational being
Assumptions are fundamental beliefs or statements that are accepted to be
_______________________
true without the burden of providing evidence or proof. Ethics has two major
_______________________
assumptions:
_______________________
_______________________ First, man is a rational being. This means that man is rational and acts
_______________________ with a purpose, unlike brutes that merely act of instinct and reflexes. Man is
_______________________ capable of knowing both the intentions and the consequences of his actions,
_______________________ and is capable of judging them as right or wrong, or as good or bad. The
_______________________ assumption implies the moral awareness or the capability of man to know
_______________________ and distinguish right from wrong and good and bad.
Second, man is free. Ethics assumes that man is free to act according to
his will and he has the power to act, speak, or think if s/he chooses to
without restrain. In general, this assumption tells us that man has the
capability to exercise his actions. It implies that man has the capability to
Man is free choose what to do and what is good.
_______________________
_______________________ If we look closely, these two assumptions are not simple presuppositions but
_______________________ necessary conditions for moral judgments to be possible. Without assuming
_______________________ the existence of rationality and freedom in man, it is impossible to judge acts
_______________________ as ethical or unethical, and as moral or immoral. Because he thinks and is
_______________________ free, man is thus responsible for his actions. These two elements could
_______________________ mitigate or aggravate the degree of people's moral responsibility. This is the
_______________________ reason why we cannot rightly judge the action of a five-year-old child, or a
person who has gone insane to be unethical, even if their acts harm or injure
other people. Or judge the action of an automated machine designed to
rescue people from rubble as moral, even if it has already saved hundreds
of lives, or, the act of a carnivorous animal as immoral, even it is has
Relate the concept of
devoured an entire village. Moral responsibility is, thus, basically defined
rationality with freedom.
based on these two assumptions.
_______________________
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REFERENCES
Textbooks
Montemayor, Felix M. Ethics: The Philosophy of life. National Bookstore: 125 Pioneer St. Mandaluyong
City. 1994
Bulaong, Oscar G. et al. Ethics: Foundations of Moral Valuation. Rex Book Store. Manila, Philippines ,
2018
Nery MI. P. 2003. Ethics. Katha Publishing Inc. Philippines
Agapay R.B. 1991. Ethics and the Filipino. National Nook Store Inc. Philippines
Gualdo R.S, Placido D.M, Dagwasi C.M 2012. Ethics. Mutya Publishing House Inc. Philippines
Gallinero, W. et al. Ethics. Mutya Publishing House Inc. Philippines, 2018

Online sources
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2016). Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-
virtue/
The Ethics Centre(2018) Retrieved from https://ethics.org.au/why-were-here/what-is-ethics/
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (2020) Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-
philosophy/ Anthropology -and-ethics