INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

Philosophy
 ‘philo’ - love ‘sophia’ – wisdom
 love of wisdom, coined by Pythagoras (one of the sages of ancient Greece, born
about the year 584 B.C.)
 the search for wisdom/meaning
Philosopher- lover of wisdom
Wisdom
 means learning the principle of things, the first cause of all things, and the meaning
and purpose of understanding such things
 deals with an understanding of the meaning of one’s existence and the importance
of the things around the human person
Wise Person
 one who is aware of what he knows and what he does not know
 holds beliefs that are not only true but which can also justify
 knows a lot about things that are valuable in life
 can put his knowledge to practical use
 does not only know what is true, but also knows what is good or what ought to be
done in a given situation and acts accordingly
Wisdom consists in:
 knowing what one knows and does not know
 having justified true beliefs
 knowing things that are valuable in life
 having the ability to put knowledge into practice
 knowing what should be done and acting accordingly
Philosophy
 science of beings (things) in their ultimate reason, causes, and principles acquired
by the aid of human reason alone
 search for meaning
 engaged in the search of the meaning of life
 important part of the human person’s life whether he knows it or not because a
human person is, by nature, a rational being,
Importance of Philosophy
 Philosophy supplements scientific explanations to come up with holistic explanations
 Contributes to the development of some disciplines
 Provides ethical guidelines for the use of modern technology
 Contributes to social transformation
 Expands the boundaries of knowledge
Philosophy concerns itself with the acquisition of truth. Because it focuses on truth,
Philosophy, therefore, involves critical thinking. Philosophy deals basically with the
systematic search for the origin and nature of the world, the explanation of one’s
knowledge and belief, and the explanation regarding the manner of life.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
A. Philosophy of Thought
Epistemology
 Episteme- knowledge; logos- study
 philosophical theory that deals with the origin of human knowledge
 also known as the Theory of Knowledge
 tries to seek for the criterion of truth, it also became known as Criteriology
  main concern is the nature of knowledge, its possibility, scope, and general basis
Logic
 branch of philosophy that deals with the problem of reasoning
 science and art of distinguishing correct from the incorrect
 study of the methods and principles used in determining the correct from the
incorrect reasoning
 considered as the scietia scientiarum, the science of sciences

B. Philosophy of Reality
- part of philosophy that deals with the reality of the world, the existence of God,
the metaphysical beings, and the immortality of the human soul
Metaphysics
 the most abstract and the most ‘highfalutin’ part of philosophy
 branch of philosophy that deals with the origin of things
 concerned with the ultimate reality and deals about being-ness beyond the physical
entity; hence the word meta which means beyond
 “What is being?” and “what are the fundamental properties of being?”
Theodicy
 Natural Theology or the Philosophy of Religion
 branch of philosophy that deals with the problem of God’s existence
 study of God under the light of natural reason
Cosmology
 kosmos- universe; logos- study
 study of the universe from a philosophical viewpoint
Philosophy of Psychology
 psuche/psyche- soul, logos- study
 study of the soul
 Philosophers consider the soul as the principle of life and the reason why people
behave
 Philosophy of Psychology or Rational Psychology, is the study that deals with
man not only as a sensing and thinking subject, but also as a being composed of
body and soul
 “Is there a soul? “Is the soul really immortal?”
Social Philosophy
 branch of philosophy deals with the philosophical study of a society and its
institutions
Political Philosophy
 equivalent to social philosophy since both deals with the discussion on the society
as a whole
 polis- city/community
 focuses on one social institution, the state, and seeks to determine its justification
and proper organization

C. Philosophy of Morality
- deals with man’s question regarding the problems of morals and good deeds
- makes the human person understand the good as good and the evil as evil
Ethics
 ethos- customs, usage, or character
 philosophical study of moral judgments
 study the human acts and searches for the means on how to obtain wisdom
regarding how life should be lived
Aesthetics
  aesthesis which means harmony
 branch of philosophy that provides meaning on arts and beauty; hence, it is also
known as the philosophy of art
. Philosophy of Person
 deals with the philosophical inquiry into the human being as a person and as an
existing being in the world
 deals with the study about the dignity of man, truth, freedom, justice, love, death and
his relationship with other human beings and with God

D. The Philosophies of Discipline

- Although philosophy may have been divided into three main divisions, eventually,
it covers many disciplines and areas of intellectual inquiry
Philosophy of Science
 branch of philosophy that deals with the justification and objectivity of scientific
knowledge
 can be subdivided into two broad areas: the epistemology of science, which uses
the justification and objectivity of scientific knowledge, and the metaphysics of
science, which discusses the philosophically puzzling aspects of reality uncovered
by science
Philosophy of Mathematics
 provides an account of the nature and methodology of mathematics and the place of
mathematics in the overall intellectual life
Philosophy of Education
 branch of philosophy that provides a philosophical understanding of the issues in
education
Philosophy of Law
 deals with the why’s of law
 investigates the relation of those standards to the directives laid down by usage or
authoritative decision
Philosophy of Biology
 branch of philosophy that provides explanations for some biological traits, not only
of the human person but of other organisms in question

E. The Philosophies of Subjects

Philosophy of Mind
 deals with the problem of giving an account of how the mind, or mental processes
are related to the bodily system
Philosophy of History
 attempts to answer substantive questions dealing with such matters as the
significance or possible purpose of the historical processes
Philosophy of Sport
 “How close is the aesthetic interest we take in the sport to our interest in the arts?”
Philosophy of Culture
 philosophical study of all the aspects of human life, that is, the historical,
anthropological, and the sociological dimensions of social life
Philosophy of Love
 deals with affection or attachment

F. The Contemporary Philosophical Traditions

Analytic Philosophy
 belief that the proper method of philosophy is analysis
 analytic philosophers focus on the problems that can be resolved through analysis
  influential non-literary approach to philosophy that stresses logic, testability,
precision, and clarity
 Analytic philosophers, like John Locke, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig
Wittgenstein
Existentialism
 The focus of existentialism, or continental philosophy, lies on the problem that
arises from our living in a world that in many ways is unreasonable and absurd
 emphasizes fundamental questions of meaning and choice as they affect existing
individuals
Phenomenology
 philosophical tradition that defaces assumptions and presuppositions and
upholds phenomena as they are apprehended
 first developed by Edmund Husserl, who claimed that we have to focus on concrete
“experienced facts” rather than abstractions in order to reveal the “essence” of
human consciousness
Ethics
 “A practical and normative science, based on reason, which studies human acts,
and provides norms for their goodness and badness”
 SCIENCE: systematic study of the grounds and norms of morality
 PRACTICAL SCIENCE: deals with systematized body of knowledge that is
applicable to human action
 NORMATIVE SCIENCE: ethics sets a basis or a norm for the direction and
regulation of human actions
 Science: ethics must be based on reason
 studies human acts
 provides norms for the goodness and badness of a certain act

NORMS OF MORALITY

A. THE OBJECTIVE STANDARDS OF MORALITY

THE OBJECT OF THE ACT
 basic factor of morality for it is the substance of the human action
 According to St. Thomas, the primary and specific goodness or badness of an action
is derived from the OBJECT
THE LAW
 St. Thomas Aquinas defined law as an ordinance of right reason
 must be reasonable and this means that it must be just
 precept is an ordinance issued by public or private authority for the particular or
private good of one or several persons
Classification of Laws
a. According to the Immediate Author
i. Divine Laws - which come directly from God
ii. Human Laws - which are the enactments of Church or State
Ecclesiastical Laws - human laws enacted by the Church
Civil Laws - human laws enacted by the State
b. According to their Duration
i. Eternal Law - is God’s plan and providence for the universe
ii. Temporal Law - all human laws are temporal laws
c. According to the manner of their Promulgation
i. Natural Law - eternal law as apprehended by human reason
ii. Positive Law - law enacted by positive
d. According to the effect of their violation
i. Moral - violation of which is fault or sin
ii. Penal - violation of which renders the violator liable to penalty, but does not infect
him with sin
iii. Mixed - violation of which involves both fault and penalty

THE CIRCUMSTANCES
- conditions that affect an act and may affect it morally although they do not
belong to the essence of the act as such
- conditions without which the act could exist

Moralists identify seven circumstances of an act:

a. Quis - Who? Circumstance of Person. This refers to either the person who
performs the act or to the person upon whom the act was done.
b. Quid - What - Circumstance of Quantity or Quality of the Object, i.e., the
act. What is the extent of the act? Was the injury inflicted serious or slight?
c. Ubi - Where? Circumstance of Place. act of a legislator.
d. According as they prescribe an act or forbid it
 Affirmative Law - binds always, but not at every moment.
 Negative or Prohibitory Law - binds always and at every moment.
Where was the action done?
e. Quibus Auxiliis - With what Ally? Circumstance of Means or Instrument.
Ally does not mean a companion but it refers to the instrument used in the
performance of the act.
f. Cur - In What Condition? How? Circumstance of Manner. Was the doer in
good or bad faith? Was the doer’s disposition good or bad, intensely
malicious or only slightly so?
g. Quando - When? Circumstance of Time. This points to the time when the
act was performed.
h. Quomodo - Why? Circumstance of Purpose. What was the doer’s purpose
in doing the act? What does he want to achieve? Is his intention good or bad?

B. THE SUBJECTIVE STANDARDS OF MORALITY

 These are norms of morality whose direct source is the human doer.
1. CONSCIENCE
 It is the practical judgment of reason upon an individual act as good to be done; or
an evil to be avoided.
 Conscience is the inner voice of God to man.

Kinds of Conscience
a. True Conscience - good what is really good; and as evil what is really evil.
b. Erroneous Conscience - what is good as evil; and what is evil as good.
c. Sure Conscience - firm and assured without any fear of committing error.
d. Doubtful Conscience - doer is aware of the possibility of committing error.
e. Scrupulous Conscience - when the doer is constantly beset by fear of
doing what is wrong even when he thinks that the act is good.
f. Lax Conscience - when the doer becomes so permissive and easily
excuses his own wrong doings or blames it upon others.
g. Dead Conscience - when the reason of the doer becomes so numbed and
can no longer
Education of Conscience
 Due to the moral and eternal consequences of our human acts, it becomes clear for
us to understand the necessity and importance of educating our conscience.
Developing a true or sure conscience is possible through:
 1. Study - one should study and have a sufficiently clear understanding of the truths of
faith and the moral principles.
2. Consultation - in case of moral doubts or problems, it is best to seek help from
prudent and knowledgeable persons through consultation.
3. Learn the Value of Small Things - negligence can become disastrous.
4. Lead a Good Moral Life - when one does not practice what he believes, time will
come when distinguish what is right from what is wrong.

2. PURPOSE OF THE DOER

 By the purpose of the doer or the end of the agent, we mean that which the agent
(doer, performer of an act) intends or wishes to achieve by his act. It is the end he
has in view, his purpose, his motive in performing the act.
 A human act which is good in itself (i.e., as object) may still be evil by reason of the
end (of the agent) for which it is performed. But a human act which is evil in itself
cannot be made good by reason of the end for which it is performed.
HUMAN ACTS
- Human acts: playing games Acts of Man: natural breathing

A. CONCEPT OF HUMAN ACTS

 Human acts (actus humani) are actions that proceed from insight into the
nature and purpose of one’s doing and from consent of free will; or shorter,
they are acts which proceed from insight and free will
 Human acts are to be distinguished from acts of man (actus hominis), which are
performed without intervention of intellect and free will. They comprise all
spontaneous biological and sensual processes
 Acts of man are man’s animal acts of sensation as well as acts that man
performs indeliberately or without advertence and the exercise of free choice.

B. CONSTITUENT PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ACTS

- inner causes which generate the act
- INTELLECTUAL CONSTITUENT AND VOLITIVE CONSTITUENT

C. DIVISIONS OF THE VOLUNTARY ACT AND EFFECT

THE PERFECTLY AND IMPERFECTLY VOLUNTARY ACT
 Perfectly voluntary act is an act which is performed with full attention and full consent
of the will.
 Imperfectly voluntary is an act if attention or consent of the will or both together are
imperfect.
THE ACTUALLY AND VIRTUALLY VOLUNTARY ACT
 Actually voluntary is an act that proceeds from the present deliberation of the will.
 Virtually voluntary is the act if it is placed by virtue of a previous deliberation that still
persists in its effect.
THE DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY EFFECT
THE POSITIVELY AND NEGATIVELY VOLUNTARY EFFECT

Immanuel Kant
• Categorical Imperative- Act according to thy maxim, so that your will becomes
a general law
• Good will- It is the highest good without qualification
• Formula of humanity- We treat each other not simply as means and ends as
well
 • Categorical Imperative- It is an imperative about fulfilling the moral law in the
absence of conditions because it is done out of duty
• Respect for Persons- It is a principle about how we treat other people not as
merely means
• Universalizability- It is a principle we apply to a certain human act whether it
has the capability of becoming a universal law
• Hypothetical Imperative- It is an imperative where the presence of conditions
becomes a prerequisite in carrying out the moral law
• Legal Rights- It is a kind of rights one possessed by simply being a citizen of a
particular country
• Freedom and Rationality- They are features that make human beings moral
entities
• Duty Ethics- This framework focuses on the agent with the motivation to do
morally good out of duty
• Means- For Kant, any act that is good happens only when we deal with other
people not as merely ______

Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics

• Nichomachean Ethics
• Eudaimonian Ethics
• Magna Moralia

• Happiness that is useful to self

• Happiness that is useful to others
• Happiness that is agreeable to self
• Happiness that is agreeable to others

• Telos- it refers to the desired end of Human act

• Good- It is what moral human beings want to achieve in the performance of the
act
• Dominant view- It is a view in which all series of human acts, that is, before
doing the final act as the ultimate end of the moral agent, are considered sub-
ordinate
• God- is considered as self sufficient good where lack and imperfections are
not part of its essence
• Character- It is the development of personality that resulted in the application
of virtues
• Virtues- It is achieved through frequent act until it becomes part of one’s
system of action
• Moral Virtues- It refers to those good habits that have something to do with the
rightness and wrongness of actions
• Doctrine of the Mean- It is a doctrine that teaches moderation- not too much
and not to little
• Eudaimonia- It is the supreme good for Aristotle
• Virtuous life- It is a state of life where moral agents perfect those good acts

St. Thomas Aquinas

Natural Law Ethics
• The application of the basic principles in life as revealed through the natural
law
4 cardinal virtues
• Temperance
• Fortitude
• Justice
• Prudence
• God - He is the highest being and highest good.
• Natural Law – It is the law found within us as God’s rational creatures.
• Irrational Creatures – It refers to those things without rationality and freedom
that are also governed by natural law.
• Eternal Law – It is the divine plan of God for his creatures.
• Participation – It is our divine vocation to realign our moral life and thinking
with the will of God.
• Civil Law – It is a law enacted and promulgated by the lawmakers of the land.
• Ecclesiastical Law – It is a law enacted and promulgated by the religious
people regarding faiths and morals.
• Conscience – It is the proximate norm of normality.
• Justice – It is an exercise of the will to give or render the things, be it
intellectual or material, to one who owns it.
• Temperance – It is an exercise of control in the midst of strong attraction to
pleasures.