Introduction to Ethics

• Ethics comes from "ethos" (character) and "mos" (custom) in ancient Greek.
• It's a philosophy branch guiding behavior and decisions about right/wrong, good/bad.
• Ethics establishes right and wrong standards, regulating group member behavior.
• As practical science, ethics applies principles/laws in daily life.
• As philosophical science, ethics isn't a technical lab course.

Studying Ethics: Importance

• Sharpens learners' moral nature by teaching moral norms
• Raises awareness of moral principles/laws governing human actions
• Helps students see the connection between moral nature and laws
• Shows learners that acting rationally/morally leads to achieving their divine destiny
• Develops morally upright students

Branches of Ethics

• Normative Ethics aims to find general principles for governing actions.
• Applied Ethics examines real-life ethical problems.
• Metaethics explores ethics' underlying assumptions/concepts.

Basic Theories & Framework in Ethics

• Frameworks of Ethics include:
  • Utilitarian, Right, Fairness/Justice, Common Good, and Virtue approaches.
• Ethical Theories include:
  • Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, Ethics of Care, Egoism
  • Religion/Divine Command Theory, Natural Law, and Social Contract Theory.

Moral & Non-Moral Standards

• Morality is rooted in "mos" (custom) defining rules and standards of right/wrong, good/evil.
• A moral good person correctly distinguishes right/wrong in knowledge and practice.
• An immoral person's behavior does not conform with morals.
• An amoral person lacks the ability to distinguish moral acts.

Examples:

• Moral: Speaking against injustice, even when facing opposition.
• Immoral: Business leaders deceive investors to maximize profit.
• Amoral: Babies grab toys without understanding that it is wrong.

Moral Standard

• This is peoples' criteria for what is considered ethically right and wrong.

Characteristics of Moral Standards

• Moral standards concern actions that can seriously help or harm humans.
• The validity of moral standards relies on reason, not majority/authority.
• Moral standards are preferred over other values, including self-interest.
• Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
• Moral standards bring special emotions like guilt, shame, praise, etc.

Non-Moral Standards

• They do not relate to moral or ethical considerations.

Moral vs. Ethical

• A doctor refusing abortions due to the sanctity of life acts morally, but not ethically, as it violates medical practice's prioritization of patient health.
• Lawyers defending clients are acting ethically by ensuring a fair trial, but may be acting against their personal morality.

Foundations of Morality

• Consequentialism judges morality based on consequences.
• It states that the best action creates the most good for the most people.
• A doctor might prescribe a life-saving but risky treatment if benefits outweigh the risks.
• Deontology emphasizes following rules/duties irrespective of consequences.
• Virtue Ethics focuses on the character of the person and character traits.
• Social Contract Theory: People give up freedoms for societal benefits under laws.

Cultural Relativism

• It claims that beliefs/practices should be understood within their culture, not judged by others.

Moral Dilemmas

• One displays being "bothered"
• Confused about making a decision because of competing values.

Dilemmas Example

• Reporting a software bug that delays a car launch risks job security, but could save lives.

Levels of Moral Dilemmas

• Personal Dilemmas revolve around individual conflicts with oneself.
• Interpersonal Dilemmas: One's choices affect others directly, fairness is considered.
• Societal Dilemmas extend to communities regarding institutional ethics.

Moral Agent

• Has the ability to discern right from wrong Responsible for their actions

Characteristics

• Rational Thought: Able to think rationally before decision making
• Free Will: Able to make a choice based on their understanding of ethics.
• Accountability: Responsible for consequences

Culture

• Consists of beliefs, behavior, and objects common to a group of people.

Characteristics of Culture

• Shared and is not automatic
• Shaped through interactions

Rachel's stories

• Highlights how different culture have different moral codes

Examples

• Callatians eating dead fathers, Eskimos lending wives

Ethnocentrism

• Believing one’s culture is superior

Xenocentrism

• Occurs when people believe that another culture is superior to their own and cherish the products, styles and ideas.

Taboo

• A taboo is an action that is frowned upon and considered inappropriate to practice or even talk about within a cultural group.

Types of Taboos

• Cultural taboos, Religious taboos, Food Taboos

Philippines Values

• Examples include: religion, hospitality, pakikisama, respect for authority figures, saving face and family.

Developing Morality

• Virtue is displayed through good act
• Vices are displayed through bad act

Personal Moral Development

• Six stages of moral development are a continual process through life

Levels of Personal Moral Development

• Pre-conventional
• Conventional
• Post-conventional (principled)

Conscience

• According to Agapay (1991), conscience is the proximate norm of morality.
• According to Tillich, conscientia means "trial of oneself.”

Kinds of Conscience

• Correct or true
• Erroneous or false

Types of Erroneous Conscience

• Culpable conscience
• Incupable conscience

More Consciences

• Certain Consciences, Doubtful Consciences, Scrupulous Consciences, Lax Consciences

Correct Conscience

• Identify the truth by searching
• Have intellectual power and the ability to discover the truth consistently
• Perform good acts and developing virtues

Human Action & It's Characteristics

• Acts done knowingly, freely, voluntarily are considered human acts
• Acts done unknowingly, not freely, and involuntarily are considered acts of man
• An action must be done by a conscious person who knows what he is doing, is acting freely and makes the decision willingly and without coercion.

Classification of Human Action

• Elicited acts
• Commanded acts

Ends of Human Acts

• The "end" refers to the purpose or goal of an act.
• The “end of the doer or agent" is the personal purpose and desire to do a particular active.

Motive

• A reason one performs an act
• Moral Principle is considered in determining the goodness and evilness of an act based on the ends
• The end does not justify the means
• Determinants of morality
• Factors on both can determine if an act is good: Who, what, where, with who, why, how, and when.

Moral Value

• Are the principles and standards that guide individuals in distinguishing right from wrong

Values Needed

• Examples include: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship
• Traits of: Honesty, be reliable, ethical, refuse to steal, refuse to lie

Citizenship and Values

• Citizens understand and contribute to the organization, take care of resources pursue life-long, volunteer.

Moral Character

• A collection of traits that contribute to the moral worth and dignity to an individual and that guide that person to act as a normal person

Moral Decision

• Shaped by many factors: Early childhood, modeling adult, general environment

Factors To Have

• Communication, Express values and feeling

Social Learning

• Bandura's theory believes that children develop through observation and limitation.

Operant Conditioning

• According to Skinner, behavior is influenced by rewards and/or punishment

Reinforcements

• Are more likely to reoccur: positive and negative reinforcements, punishment

Cognitive Moral

• The process through which children develop standards that influence behavior

Morality

• Children believe rules handed down by authority figures and are unchangeable.
• Morality follows rules that are unchangeable.

Autonomous

• The intentions are more important for values, fairness, and corporation.

Psychoanalytic Theory

• Sigmund Freud’s states that moral behaviors are governed by unconscious ideas

Provinces of the Mind

• Include: conscious, preconscious and unconscious

Four Questions

• The questions help to address focusing on character development: What is good character, What causes or prevents, How can it be measured, how can it be developed

Feeling

• Feeling is a perception of events with the feeling

Ethics And Subjectivism

• Simple is expressing to one person
• Wider philosophical belief and that beliefs of other are to be considered