Introduction to Ethics and Standards

Non-Online Meeting Days

Days without online meetings are for worksheets and projects.
Submissions are due by the end of the class period.
Group project leaders must submit a work allocation list for each team member.

Rules, Moral and Non-Moral Standards

Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerning how people should act.
Good conduct is identified as actions that produce the greatest good.
A good life is one worth living, fulfilling, and happy.
Ethics originates from the Greek word "ethos", meaning custom or habit.
Ethics studies the theory of right action and the greatest good.
It encompasses moral ideals and behavior and is not limited to specific acts.

Historical Roots of Ethics

Socrates is considered the "Father of Western Ethics".
Socrates believed people do good when they know what is right; evil stems from ignorance.
The essential good is self-knowledge and self-awareness.
Virtue ethics posits that moral decision-making is based on personal reasoning, not rules or consequences.
Plato emphasized the importance of knowledge in decision-making.
Aristotle (a student of Plato and Socrates) believed self-realization leads to happiness.
Diogenes of Sinope promoted a simple life as essential for virtue and happiness, advocating detachment from conventionally "good" things.

Socrates

Socrates believed that knowledge is the only good and ignorance is the only evil.
He is considered the Father of Western Ethics.
He argued that people will do good if they know what is right.
He believed the essential good is equated to self-knowledge and self-awareness

Plato

Plato believed a good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.

Aristotle

Aristotle believed that self-realization was a path to happiness.
He was a student of Plato, who was a student of Socrates.

Diogenes of Sinope

Diogenes of Sinope believed a simple life is essential for virtue and happiness.
He emphasized detachment from conventionally "good" things.

Aristippus

Aristippus introduced hedonism, emphasizing maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.
He believed pleasure was the highest human value and pain was the lowest.

Epicurus

Epicurus believed that pleasure is the beginning and end of a happy life.
Excessive indulgence leads to pain and fear, which must be avoided.
The greatest good is finding modest pleasures to attain inner peace.

Epictetus

Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher.
He believed that the greatest good comes from self-mastery over desires and emotions.
Freedom from material attachments is key
Difficult problems should be viewed as spiritual exercises.

Pyrrho

Founder of Pyrrhonian Skepticism.
He believed that it's impossible to rationally determine what is good and bad due to self-interest.

Thales

Thales believed that humanism entails recognizing human dignity and worth to determine right and wrong based on universal qualities, not on specific experiences.

Moral vs. Non-Moral Standards

Moral standards are actions that are judged as right or wrong, concerning a person's actions.
Non-moral standards are actions that are considered by society as acceptable or unacceptable behavior.
The origin of moral standards is either from a higher power or from evolution.

Classification of Moral Standards

Teleological: morality based on the consequences of actions.
Deontological: morality based on duty, natural law, virtue, and circumstances.

Non-Moral Standards

Social conventions, etiquette, and good manners.

Moral Dilemmas

Moral dilemmas involve choosing between two or more options, none of which are ethically acceptable.
There are individual, organizational, and structural dilemmas.
Individual dilemmas concern personal problems and choices.
Organizational dilemmas involve choices within an organization.
Structural dilemmas are conflicts between groups, sectors, or institutions.

Resolving Moral Dilemmas

Explore alternative options.
Follow the principle of situational ethics; do the best one can knowing that extraordinary or supernatural means may not be possible.

Freedom, Culture, and Values

Freedom is the ability to choose.
Culture shapes our perspectives on what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Free Will

Free will is the capacity to make choices without being coerced.
Immanuel Kant believed that free will is essential to personal responsibility.

Morality and Free Will

Because we have free will, we are accountable for our choices.
Examining choices is the first step towards internalizing and owning our moral standards.

Society and Culture

Society is a group of people who share a common culture, territory, and identity.
Culture is a complex whole encompassing knowledge, beliefs, values, arts, laws, customs, and other abilities acquired by people in society.

Elements of Culture

Symbols, language, norms, values, beliefs, cognitive elements, and material elements.

Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism suggests no universal moral standard; each culture's perspective is valid.
It emphasizes understanding actions within a specific culture's context.

Moral Progress

Moral progress might not be possible if society's morals are constantly dependent on the current understanding of each culture's perspective.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Filipino Character

Filipinos are known for family relationships, joy, patience, adaptability, hard work, faith, religiosity, and the capability to survive.
Filipinos may also suffer from extreme personalism, lack of discipline, passivity, colonial mentality, and a "kanya-kanya" mentality, lack of self-analysis, and emphasizing form over substance.