I.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHICAL - emphasizes the ability of humans to learn

STUDY about reality using their senses
A. METAPHYSICS RATIONALISM - argues that knowledge comes from

 Meta - over and beyond rational thought rather than from the external
 Physics - the knowledge of world
nature 3 MAJOR CRITERIA OF EPISTEMOLOGY
BELIEF
Traditionally defined as that branch of - Someone cannot reasonably be said to know
philosophy which deals with the most general something if they do not believe it to be true.
and abstract questions, such as those TRUTH
pertaining to the nature of existence, the - If someone believes something that is false,
categories of space and time, the existence of they do not know it as a fact; they are mistaken.
God, or the immortality of the human soul
JUSTIFICATION - Someone must have reasonable
Seeks to provide a comprehensive account of justification for what
the world that is they believe in order for their belief to be true
proof against knowledge.
the uncertainties of experience C. LOGIC
Can be considered the pursuit of wisdom as it The science or study thinking or
involves searching beyond empirical evidence
for truth, purpose, and meaning in life
THEORIES OF METAPHYSICS
reasoning.
ARISTOTLE: TRUTH IS GOOD ACTIONS LEARNED
RENE DESCARTES: DUALISM AND
INSTINCTUAL TRUTH (GREEK) LOGOS
IMMANUEL KANT: CATEGORICAL
- word
IMPERATIVE AND UNIVERSAL TRUTH
- discourse
B. EPISTEMOLOGY
- reason
Comes from two Greek words, “episteme”,
LOGIC
which means knowledge, and “logos”, which
means study = “study of knowledge” - Primarily deals with the principles that
govern the validity of arguments.
Branch of philosophy which deals with theory,
- 2 TYPES OF LOGICAL ARGUMENT:
nature, scope and basis of knowledge, or
INDUCTIVE
which investigates the possibility of knowledge
itself - The reader holds up a specific example,
claims that what is true.
Analyzes nature of knowledge and how it
relates to similar notions, such as truth, belief, - Example:
and justification
- ” I have just tasted this lemon. It is sour.
TYPES OF EPISTEMOLOGY Therefore, all lemons are probably
EMPIRICISM sour.”
 - DEDUCTIVE - marked out from ethics in general by its
special focus on issues of practical
- It begins with a general or universal rule concern
accepted by most people.
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
- Example:
·Ethics is deducted from the
- ”All lemons are sour” Greek word ethos, meaning
- ”That is lemon. Therefore, it too must “customs” or “behaviors.”
be sour.” is a branch of philosophy
C. ETHICS that “involves
A field of philosophy related to human and
behavior, more specifically individual behavior
in society. recommending concepts of right and wrong
behavior”
Notice at theories that can systematically
explain whether behavior is right or wrong. studies of rightness or wrongness of human
action.
Example:
According to Terrance McConnell (1994)
“Daisy doesn’t have the money to buy his “Morality is characterized
favorite dress in the famous store. Some as an end
people would steal this dress to get what they governed rational
wanted but Daisy didn’t rely on stealing and enterprise whose object
planned to earn the money to get the dress.“ is to equip people
3 BRANCHES OF ETHICS: with a body of norms
NORMATIVE ETHICS that make for peaceful and
- examine the moral principles that collectively satisfying to existence by facilitating
govern right and wrong behavior their living together and interacting in a way
METAETHICS that is productive for the realization of the
general benefit.”
- explores the status, foundations, and
scope of moral values, properties, and THE 3 BRANCHES OF ETHICS
words NORMATIVE ETHICS
- marked out from ethics in general by its Normative Ethics is one of three main
special focus on issues of practical component areas of philosophical ethics, the
concern two others are being the meta-ethics and
APPLIED ETHICS applied ethics.

Normative ethics are also known as normative

theory or moral theory, intends to find out
which action are right and wrong or which Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that
character trait good and bad. determines right from wrong by focusing on
outcomes.
The word normative is an adjective, which
comes from “norm”. In philosophical context, When individuals are deciding what to do for
the word norm usually means standard, or rule, themselves alone, they consider only their own
or principles as opposed to what is “normal” utility.
for people to do that is what they actually do
Classical utilitarianism says that the right action
Example: “The Golden Rule” is that which produce the greatest balance of
overall happiness.
Normative ethics is concerned with moral
norms. Moral norm is a norm in the sense of KANTIANISM
being standard with which moral agents ought
to comply. Kantianism is defined as a branch of philosophy
that follows the works of Immanuel Kant who
Example: “thou shall not murder” believed that rational beings have dignity and
should be respected.
Normative ethics has two concepts:
The basic idea, as Kant describes it in the
• Right Groundwork, is that what makes a good person
• Morally good good is his possession of a will that is in a
certain way.
Right
ETHICAL INTUITIONISM
-The conceptof the right is
roughly, the conceptof Also known as moral intuitionism, this refers to
duty, the conceptof action. the philosophical belief that there are objective
moral truths in life and that human beings can
Morally good understand these truths intuitively.

-The concept of morally good is a target of the When ethical intuition is them says that we can
theory of value or axiology. directly intuit or apprehend moral principles, It
is epistemological And undoubtedly belongs to
Axiology
meta-ethics.
Greek: axios = worth
VIRTUE ETHICS
Logos = the study of
Virtue ethics is arguably the oldest ethical
-it refers to morally good properties of theory in the world, with origins in Ancient
human being. Greece. It defines good actions as ones that
display embody virtuous character traits, like
THE FOUR NORMATIVE THEORIES courage, loyalty, or wisdom. A virtue itself is a
disposition to act, think and feel in certain
UTILITARIANISM
ways.
Virtue ethics mainly deals with the honesty and Is the belief that
morality of a person. independent from

METAETHICS TYPES OF NON-COGNITIVISM

Is concerned with understanding the language Emotivism

of morality through an analysis of the meaning
of ethically related concepts and theories, such -Is the theory of ethical language that holds that
as the meaning of good, happiness, and ethical statements such as ‘murder is wrong’
virtuous character. are simply expressions of emotion or attitudes
towards something.
Cognitivism
Prescriptivism
Is the meta-ethical view that
ethical sentences express -Moral claims are not personal
propositions and can therefore be true or false. prescriptions.

Cognitivists say moral claims are describing or APPLIED ETHICS

attempting to describe reality. Applied ethics is one of the three branches of
Moral language is meaningful ethics, the meta-ethics, normative ethics, and
applied ethics. It is an attempt to understand
Non-Cognitivism the application of ethics in practical life. In

Is the meta-ethical view that other words, it examines

ethical sentences do not decisions people make when
express propositions and thus cannot be true or
false. DIFFERENT TYPES OF APPLIED ETHICS

Noncognitivists do not think moral claims are Bioethics

attempts to describe reality. It is a branch of applied ethics that deals with
Moral language is meaningless the application of ethics in connection with
human life and its well-being. We can also
TYPES OF COGNITIVISM define it as the application and implications of
ethics to the field of medicine and healthcare
Realism (health-related life science).
Is the view that an object or thing really exists Animal ethics
and has certain attributes, independently of
what people think about it. Animal ethics is a branch of ethics that deals
with the treatment of animals by human
Morality can be true objectively. beings. To put it in other words, it attempts to
Anti-realism understand human-animal relationships.

Environmental ethics
Environmental ethics deals with the moral
relationship of human beings to their
environment, In other words, it deals with the
value and moral status of the environment.

Business ethics

Business ethics deals with the ethical issues and

moral dilemmas that different businesses
encounter in their conduct with costumers. It
involves a mechanism of standards and norms
that are instrumental in winning customer
confidence.