ETHICS by Ma’am Joy C.

Bermudez

Chapter 1
Ethics deals with the principles of ethical behavior in modern society at the level of the person,
society, and in interaction with the environment and other shared resources.
Main elements of the moral experience:
(a) agent, including context- cultural, communal and environmental;
(b) the act; and
(c) reason or framework (for the act).

CHAPTER 1 : THE MORAL AGENT

 RULES refer to a set of guidelines which have been put in place in different countries
and communities and have been accepted by all. It is a prescribed guide for conduct or
action.
 are specific sets of norms of behavior, regulations, and law established on purpose to
regulate the life in the community.
 are useful tools in guiding and monitoring the interactions of humans in the society.
 When used appropriately, rules provide a sense of predictability and consistency for
people, thereby promoting physical, moral, social, and emotional safety.

WHY DO WE HAVE RULES?

Rules help people in many aspects of life. A well-developed system of rules help humanity to
avoid chaos and many problems that may be caused by the lack of regulations. Law dictate what
is proper and what is wrong. Norms enable people to interact, to work together and contribute to
the global development.

IMPORTANCE OF RULES
 Rules are important because they tend to protect the weaker class in the society as they
might be in disadvantageous position if rules are broken.
 They provide a stable environment and human co-existence in a society which leads to
peace and development.
 Rules are vital in one’s life because peace and order are maintained, an important
ingredients for society’s development.
 To make the world peaceful and fair.
The Subject: ETHICS
 Ethics or moral philosophy is defined as the scientific study of moral judgments. It is a
discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong.
 The subject of Ethics consists of fundamental issues of practical decision making , and its
major concerns include the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human
actions can be judged right or wrong.
 The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character
or disposition.
 At its, simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make
decisions and lead their lives. It is also about the goodness of individuals and what it
means to live a good life.

BRANCHES OF ETHICS
NORMATIVE ETHICS - actions are judged by their merits, allowing societies to develop
codes of conduct for behavior. (E.g. The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them
unto you)
DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS - This branch of ethics does not actually claim that things are right or
wrong, but imply studies how individual or societies define their morals. What makes something
right or wrong in a specific culture?
WHY STUDY ETHICS?
The study of Ethics will enable a person to…
 widened his/her understanding of moral problems
 trained his/her faculties. He/she will know the reasons for his/her moral conviction, and
also the moral convictions of others
 understand better what his conscience is, how he acquired it, how far he is likely to be
able to trusts its deliverances with safety, and how he can improved and make it more
intelligent.

Lesson 2: THE MORAL AGENT

MORALITY
 Morality can be defined as the standards that an individual or a group has about what is
right and wrong, or good and evil.
 Morality is not imposed from the outside, but innate and can even be unconscious.
 Morality is an informal public system applying to all rational persons, governing
behavior that affects others, and has the lessening of evil or harm as its goal.
  Morality is a complex of concepts and philosophical beliefs by which an individual
determines whether his or her action are right or wrong.
KEY FEATURES OF MORALITY
1. People experience a sense of moral obligation and accountability. One “ought to” act
or follow some rules, policies, practices, or principles (Kai Nielsen, 1973)
2. Moral values and moral absolutes exists. Some actions are really wrong in the same
way that things like love and respect are truly good. There are moral absolutes- truth that
exist and apply to everyone.
3. Moral law does exist. When we accept the existence of goodness, we must affirm a
moral law on the basis of which the to differentiate between the good and evil
4. Moral law is known to humans. Moral law is also called Law of Nature because early
philosophers thought that generally speaking, everybody knows it by nature.
5. Morality is objective. Morality is absolute- there is a real right and real wrong, that is
universally and immutably true, independent of whatever anyone believes it or not.
6. Moral judgments must be supported by reasons. Moral are different form mere
expressions of personal preference- they require backing by reasons.
MAN as a MORAL AGENT
 A moral agent is a being that is “capable of acting with reference to right and wrong”.
 A moral agent is anything that can be held responsible for behavior or decisions. “It is
moral agents whom we take to have choices and the power to choose”.
 If you do not believe that anything or anyone should ever be blamed or deemed
responsible, then you are going against the idea of moral agency, and denying the
concepts of responsibilities and rights.
ARISTOTLE AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Aristotle was the first to discuss moral responsibility. He stated that it is “sometimes
appropriate to respond to an agent with praise or blame on the basis of his/her actions
and/or dispositional traits of character”.
 He discusses that “only a certain kind of agent qualifies as a moral agent and is thus
properly subject to ascriptions of responsibility, namely, one who possess a CAPACITY
FOR DECISION”.
 From Aristotle’s perspective, “a decision is a particular kind of desire resulting for
deliberation, one that expresses the agent’s conception of what is good.”

Lesson 3: STANDARDS AND DILEMMAS

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORAL AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS
 A moral standard refers to the norms which we have about the types of actions which
we believe to be morally acceptable and morally unacceptable.
  Specifically, moral standards deal with matters which can either seriously harm or
seriously benefit human beings.
 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.
 Etiquette refers to the norms of correct conduct in a polite society or, more generally, to
any special code of social behavior or courtesy.
 If you violate them, you’re likely to be considered ill-mannered, impolite, or even
uncivilized, but not necessarily immoral.
 Statutes are laws enacted by legislative bodies. The law that defines and prohibits theft is
a statute. Congress and state legislatures enact statutes.
 Professional codes of Ethics are rules that are supposed o govern the conduct of
members of a given profession.
HOW ARE MORAL STANDARDS FORMED?
Our moral standards are influenced by a variety of factors such as the moral principles we accept
as part of our upbringing, values passed on to us through heritage and legacy, the religious values
that we have imbibed from childhood, the values that we showcased during the period of our
education, the behavior pattern of those who are around us, the explicit and implicit standards of
our culture, our life experiences, and more importantly, our critical reflections on these
experiences.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARD
 Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant benefit.
 Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
 Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
 Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
 Moral standards are based on the impartial considerations.
 Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary.
MORAL DILEMMAS
 A moral dilemma is a conflict in which you have to choose between two or more actions
and have moral reasons for choosing each action. What is common to the two well-
known case is conflict. A moral dilemma is a situation where:
1. You are presented with two or more actions, all of which you have the ability to perform.
2. There are moral reasons for you to choose each of the actions.
3. You cannot perform all the actions and have to choose which action, or actions when
there are three or more choices to perform.
EXAMPLES OF MORAL DILEMMAS
 1. Moral Dilemmas in the Organization (Workplace)
2. Moral Dilemmas in the Health Care Services
3. The Philippine Health Care Dilemma

CHAPTER 2: FREEDOM AND MORALITY

FREEDOM and MORALITY are directly proportional.
As MORALITY increases, FREEDOM increases.
As MORALITY declines, FREEDOM declines.

Lesson 1: FREEDOM AND MORAL ACTS

KANT’S MORALITY AND FREEDOM
 To act freely is to act autonomously. To act autonomously is to act according to a law I
give myself. This is central to Kant’s notion of freedom.
 For Kant, acting freely (autonomously) and acting morally are one and the same thing.
The capacity to act autonomously in this manner gives human that special dignity that
things and animals do not have.
WHAT IS CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE?
Here are two main formulations of the Categorical Imperative:
1. Act only on that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a
universal law.
2. Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the
person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.
THE ROLE OF FREEDOM IN MORALITY
The personal aspect of morality - which might be properly called ethics- is about the
cultivation of virtue: the development of character traits so that choosing the good becomes a
matter of habit. But a person, in order to be truly virtuous, must be free to cultivate the virtues.
Freedom is so precious that God will not override it, even when we badly misuse the freedom. In
other words, we can’t get where were going if we’re not free to walk the road. The freedom is
essential to a genuinely good human life at all the levels of morality.

FREEDOM: THE FOUNDATION OF MORAL ACT

Freedom is humans’ greatest quality and it is a reflection of our Creator. Freedom is power
rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this and to do that and so to perform
deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. Having FREEDOM mean having
RESPONSIBILITY. Every action you choose further determines your character.
FREEDOM AND FREE WILL
There are many limits to our freedom: both external and internal.
 External freedom is a freedom from factors outside ourselves that limit or destroy our
free will.
 Internal freedom is freedom from interior factors that limit our free will.

REQUIREMENT OF TRUE FREEDOM

 True freedom is dependent upon truth, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set
you free” (John 8:32)
 True freedom requires responsibility.
 There is no such thing as irresponsible freedom.
HUMAN ACTS vs ACTS OF HUMANS
HUMAN ACTS - make use of his knowledge and free will.
E.g. love your enemy, pray to God, sacrifice for others.

ACTS OF HUMAN - do not make use of his intellect or will knowledge. His action is natural.
E.g. breathing, blinking, and sneezing

Human freedom who refused God’s love becomes a slave to sin. The first sin has led to many
others. Human history attests that the problems of man come from man’s abuse to freedom.
Freedom does not give the right to say and do everything, because man’s purpose is not his own
earthly satisfaction. Deviating from the moral law violates man’s own freedom and imprisons
him within himself.
“For freedom, Christs has set us free”. – Galatians 5:1

Lesson 2: CULTURE AND MORALITY

WHAT IS CULTURE?
 Latin word “cultura” or “cultus” which means care or cultivation.
 Culture as cultivation implies that every human being is a potential member of his own
social group. He is endowed with certain innate qualities to make use. However he/she
cannot develop these inborn talents without the other people. He/she needs other people
 who can provide him/her with the needed opportunities so he/she can translate these
potentialities into realities called achievements. These accomplishments not only help
him achieve self actualization but also make him/her a contributing member of the
society.
THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE IN MORAL DEVELOPMENT
 Culture is always social and communal by which the relationship of the people towards
one another and their experience as a people are the culture’s meadow.
 The culture defines the normative principles and behaviors of the society.
 A culture, as best exemplified in the experience of the people, develops restrictions and
sets boundaries and limitations as they live and relate with one another.
 As culture helps in generating the character and identity of its people, it also includes
their moral character.
 The culture identifies the authorities or the governing individuals or groups

Lesson 3: DYNAMICS OF CULTURE

CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to
make judgments using the standards of one’s own culture. The goal of this is to promote
understanding of cultural practices that are not typically part of one’s culture. This is also
based on the idea that there is no absolute standard of good or evil, therefore every
decision and judgment of what is right and wrong is individually decided in each society

ADVANTAGES OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM

1. It is a system which promotes cooperation.
2. It creates a society where equality is possible.
3. People can pursue a genuine interest.
4. Respect is encouraged in a system of cultural relativism.
5. It preserve human cultures.
6. Cultural relativism creates a society without judgment.
7. Moral relativism can be excluded from cultural relativism.
8. We can create personal moral codes based on societal standards with ease.
9. It stops cultural conditioning.
DISADVANTAGES OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM
1. It creates a system that is fueled by personal bias.
2. It would create chaos.
3. It is an idea that is based on the perfection of humanity.
4. It could promote a lack of diversity.
 5. It draws people away from one another.
6. It could limit moral progress.
7. It could limit humanity’s progress
8. Cultural relativism can turn perceptions into truth.

Lesson 4: THE FILIPINO WAY

THE FILIPINO CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
 Having close family ties
 The Bayanihan
 Courtship
 Religion
 Superstition
 Marriage and Wedding Customs
THE FILIPINO CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
 Death
 Society
 Christmas in the Philippines
 Fiestas
 Living with Parents
CHARACTERISTICS OF FILIPINO CULTURE
Here are some characteristics of the Filipinos that set them
apart from any other culture and society: (Dumaraos, 2018)
 The Filipino people are very resilient.
 Filipinos take pride in their families.
 Filipinos are very religious.
 Filipinos are very respectful.
 Filipinos help one another.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FILIPINO CULTURE
Here are some characteristics of the Filipinos that set them
apart from any other culture and society: (Dumaraos, 2018)
Filipinos value traditions and culture.
 Filipinos have the longest Christmas celebrations.
 Filipinos love art and architecture.
 The Filipinos are hospitable people.
FILIPINO FAMILY VALUES
The Filipino family consists of many traditional values that have been treasured and passed on
for many generations already. Here under are the following traditional values:
 Paggalang (Respect)
 Pakikisama (Helping others)
 Utang na loob (Debt of Gratitude)
 Pagpapahalaga sa Pamilya (Prioritizing Family)

FILIPINO FAMILY VALUES

The Filipino family consists of many traditional values that have been treasured and passed on
for many generations already. Here under are the following traditional values:
 Hiya (Shame)
 Damayan System
 Compassionate
 Fun-loving Trait
SOCIAL VALUES OF THE FILIPINOS
The great majority of the Philippine population is bound together by common values and a
common religion. Philippine society is characterized by many positive traits. Among there are:
 High regard for amor propio (self-esteem)
 Smooth Interpersonal Relationship
 Personal alliance system
 The Compadre system
 Utang-na-loob
 Suki relationship
 Friendship
WEAKNESSES OF THE FILIPINO CHARACTER
 Passivity and lack of initiative
 Colonial Mentality
 Kanya-kanya Syndrome
 Extreme personalism
 Extreme family centeredness
 Lack of discipline
 Lack of self-analysis and reflection
 Ningas cogon
 Gaya-Gaya Attitude