Sir-Niño
Sir-Niño
ETHICS, GENERALLY SPEAKING IS ABOUT MATTERS SUCH AS GOOD THING THAT WE SHOULD
PURSUE AND THE BAD THING THAT WE SHOULD AVOID; THE RIGHT WAYS IN WHICH WE COULD
OR SHOULD ACT AND THE WRONG WAYS OF ACTING.
Aesthetics from the Greek word “aisthesis” which means “sense” or “feeling” and refers to the judgments
of personal approval or disapproval that we make about what we see, hear, smell, or taste.
Etiquette concerned with right or wrong actions, but those which might be considered not quite grave
enough to belong to a discussion on ethics
Technical from the Greek word “techne” and refers to a proper way—(or right way) of doing things.
Ethics – is the branch of philosophy that studies morality or the rightness or wrongness of human
conduct.
Morality- speaks of code or system of behavior in regards to standard of right and wrong behavior.
Descriptive study of ethics reports how people, particularly groups, make their moral valuations without
making any judgment either for or against these valuations.
Normative study of ethics, as is often done in philosophy or moral theology, engages the question: What
could or should be considered as the right way of acting? In other words, a normative discussion
prescribes what we ought to maintain as our standards or bases for moral valuation.
A situation that calls for moral valuation can be called a moral issue.
When one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice of what act to perform, s/he is called to
make a moral decision
When a person is an observer making an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone, s/he is
making a moral judgment.
When one is torn between choosing one of two goods or choosing between the lesser of two evils, this is
referred to as a moral dilemma.
Characteristics of Moral Standards
DILEMMA It refers to a situation in which a tough choice has to be made between two or more
options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones.
Personal Dilemma these personal dilemmas are those experienced and resorbed the personal level.
Since many ethical decisions are personally made, many, if not most of moral dilemmas fall under, or boil
down to this level.
Organizational Dilemma basically, ethical cases encountered and resolved by social organizations are
organizational moral dilemmas. This category includes moral dilemmas in business medical field, and
public sector.
What reasons do we give to decide or to judge that a certain way of acting is either right or
wrong?
Examples.
*If you hurt other people, and you didn't have an overwhelming good justification for doing so, then it's fair
to say that you acted wrongly.
*And if you not only help people as required, but go out of your way to give them surpassingly good help,
even if they are not your boss or supervisor, again, you acted rightly.
A person's fear of punishment or desire for reward can provide him a reason for acting in a certain
way.
"I did not cheat on the exam because I was afraid that I might get caught."
"I looked after my father in the hospital because I wanted to get a higher allowance."
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY
LAW It is supposed that law is one’s guide to ethical behavior. In the Philippines, Filipinos are constrained
to obey the laws of the land as stated in the country’s criminal and civil codes. The law cannot tell us what
to pursue, only what to avoid.
RELIGION The divinity called God, Allah, or Supreme Being commands and one is obliged to obey
his/her Creator (Divine Command Theory).
CULTURE Our exposure to different societies and their cultures makes us aware that there are ways of
thinking and valuing that are different from our own. Therefore, what is ethically acceptable or
unacceptable is relative to, or that is to say, dependent on one’s culture. This position is referred to as
cultural relativism.
Subjectivism The starting point of subjectivism is the recognition that the individual thinking person (the
subject) is at the heart of all moral valuations.
Psychological Egoism A theory that describes the underlying dynamic behind all human actions. As a
descriptive theory, it does not direct one to act in any particular way. Instead, it points out that there is
already an underlying basis for how one acts. The ego or self has its desires and interests, and all our
actions are geared toward satisfying these interests.
Strong points:
1.Simplicity
A theory that conveniently identifies a single basis that will somehow account for all actions.
2.Plausibility
Ethical Egoism This prescribes that we should make our own ends, our own interests, as the single
overriding concern.
Unit 2
UTILITARIANISM
Morality- is the human attempt to define what is right and wrong in thought and behavior, resulting in a
system or set of ideas about good vs. bad action, and the basis of any individual or community belief in
what constitutes good behavior or proper conduct.
Utility- is a principle where the right action is one that promotes happiness and peace. In contrast, the
wrong action is one that results in unhappiness and pain. Utilitarians are interested in making decisions
that will produce the greatest amount of happiness for the largest amount of people.
Integrity- is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or earnestness of one's actions. Integrity can stand
in opposition to hypocrisy. It regards internal consistency as a virtue, and
suggests that people who hold apparently conflicting values
should account for the discrepancy or alter those values.
Utility, within the context of utilitarianism, refers to people performing actions for social utility. With social
utility, he means the well-being of many people. According to Mill, good actions result in pleasure, and
that there is no higher end than pleasure.
Utilitarian’s have freedom to "bend the rules" and justify a bad action for a good outcome. They may
choose a wide stance on morals that may cover more ground than stricter moral principles, and they also
have options to take stricter moral sides should they decide the scales are tipped in a sides favor.
Strength of Utilitarianism is for many people happiness is an important part of decision making as it
their main aim in life.
The greatest happiness principle is the ultimate standard of morality set up by classical utilitarianism.
That classical creed conceives of good as happiness and holds that right actions are those which
maximize the total happiness of the members of the community.
Utilitarianism brings about more happiness which is relevant in today's society. However, utilitarianism can
also be seen as not being relevant to the 21st century because by promoting happiness over other goods,
it reduces morality to being simple.