The Moral Act

Part I - The Moral Agent

The Moral Act

• Humans possess a natural inclination to seek the truth.
• The core of philosophy is questioning commonly accepted truths.
• Philosophical inquiry involves examining beliefs and assumptions about reality and how it functions.
• Philosophy studies fundamental problems related to existence, knowledge, values, and reason.
• Philosophers explore moral behaviors by asking about good, evil, the difference between moral and immoral, and justice.
• Philosophy and ethics are related and offer varied perspectives for reasoning about right and wrong.
• Metaethics determines the meanings of terms like right, good, virtue, justice, etc.
• Approaches in metaethics include cognitivism, intuitionism, naturalism, and subjectivism.
• Normative ethics studies ethical actions and questions the standards of morally good or bad conduct.
• Normative ethics is concerned with why one should be moral and how to discern right from wrong, encompassing consequentialism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics.
• Ethics of religion is a system of beliefs and practices through which people relate their lives to a supernatural force or being, such as God.

Philosophical Methods of Inquiry

• Branches of philosophy provide different methods for inquiring, knowing, and understanding the truth.
• Philosophical inquiry involves a clear understanding of common human issues in everyday life, requiring logical reasoning.
• Philosophical inquiry includes Logic, Epistemology and Metaphysics
• Logic is the science and art of correct thinking, employing methods to achieve accuracy and objectivity in explaining what constitutes a valid logical argument.
• Epistemology studies knowledge theory, particularly its scope, method, and validity
• Metaphysics studies the nature of things, what is real and what is apparent.
• When explaining what is considered morally good or bad, philosophers follow a process that involves knowing information and certainty or uncertainty and determining or evaluating ethical behavior.
• This process includes identification of a problem needing solution.
• A tentative explanation of the problem
• A conclusion that is based on evidence and findings
• Other researchers are able to verify the results and ensure that they are accurate.

Moral Dilemma

• Moral dilemmas occur when individuals face conflicting answers to the question "What is Right," necessitating a difficult choice.
• Moral dilemmas relate primarily to the principle of double effect.
• Self-defense is morally justifiable for several reasons
• The intention is to save one’s life
• The act of self-defense may have double effect
• Self-defense is not unlawful unless unnecessary violence was used
• Key elements in moral decision-making
• An act itself must be morally good or, at least, indifferent.
• The agent may not positively will the bad effect but may permit it.
• The good effect must flow from action at least as immediately as the bad effect.
• The good effect must be sufficiently desirable to compensate for allowing the bad effect.
• The evil effect must not precede the good effect or justify the means.
• There must be a sufficiently grave reason calling for the action and the intention of the agent must be honest.
• Steps in solving a moral dilemma
• Examine the acts in relation to the agent
• Determine the consequences of the act
• Identify the intention of the act
• Decide in accordance to divine and natural laws which govern moral life.

Ethics and Culture

• Ethics, or moral philosophy, studies the principles differentiating right from wrong and good from bad.
• Ethics comes from the Greek word "ethos," meaning custom or habit.
• Ethics is theoretical, dealing with moral ideals, whereas morals refer to the practice of those ideals.
• Ethics varies across cultures, which influences how ethical problems are perceived.
• Culture is defined as the "complex whole" of knowledge, beliefs, art, laws, morals, and customs individuals acquire in society.
• Characteristics of culture:
• Shared and transmitted through language and symbols
• Learned and acquired, not innate, but gained through experience
• A social phenomenon formed through human interaction
• Gratifies human needs because it fulfills basic human needs
• Dynamic and evolves through discoveries, inventions, and adaptations
• Integrated and consists of components that work together as a system
• Ethnocentrism and Xenocentrism are cultural views
• Ethnocentrism judges other cultures based on one's cultural standards.
• Xenocentrism is the tendency to value other cultures more highly than one's own.
• Culture is a shared way of life for people living together in the same environment.
• Every culture is different and no culture is perfect
• All human beings are equal in dignity.
• Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs governing behavior.
• Shared values influence people in organizations and dictate how they dress and perform their jobs.
• Ethical standards are the explicit code of conduct an organization sets to be followed by the members.
• Unethical standards are practices in the organization that superiors or leaders approve and support or ignore.
• Natural Culture and Ethics refers to shared values, beliefs, customs, practices, and behaviours that are common to a particular country or nation.
• Examples include; pagmamano, pilipino language, catholic religion
• National culture and ethics together shape how individuals and organizations behave and interact, and how they approach moral dilemmas and decision-making.

Cultural Relativism

• Cultural relativism, ethical norms vary from one society or culture to another.
• Cultural relativism implies no universal norms of morality exists.
• Morality is different from one culture to another.
• Respect and tolerance are encouraged when interacting with other cultures.
• Cultural relativism avoids moral dictatorship and respects the belief of different countries
• Cultural relativism helps to respect diversity and the plurality of rich cultural and historical traditions.
• Promotes unity and harmony among cultures by understanding and respect to better relationships among diverse cultures.
• Cultural relativism can cause tolerance and acceptance of social injustices and inhumane activities
• Rejection of higher universal or common moral standards reduces morality to customs, traditions, and cultural preferences
• Assumes that knowledge of other culture is impossible and can cause vulnerability to racial discrimination

Moral character and Stages of Moral Development

• Moral character refers to qualities, dispositions, and habits that contribute to a person's ethical behavior.
• Qualities: are traits that define a person's moral character, like honesty, integrity, compassion, responsibility, fairness, and courage.
• Dispositions: are tendencies or inclinations to act in certain ways.
• Habits: are repeated patterns of behavior that become ingrained over time.
• Ways to live by your values: consistently acting in accordance with one's principles, considering the consequences of actions and owning up to your mistakes and striving to make amends.
• Examples of moral character:
• Integrity: Being honest, trustworthy, and standing by principles
• Compassion: Caring about others and showing empathy
• Responsibility: Accountability for actions and ownership of your choices
• Fairness: Treating everyone equally and with justice
• Courage: Standing up for what you believe in
• Three stages of moral development: preconventional, conventional morality and post conventional.
• Preconventional; ideas depend on the response of others, obedience and punishment and individualism of exchange
• Conventional: a transition from selfish to mature reasoning
  • It values good interpersonal relationship and Maintaining the social order
• Post conventional; involves preservation of life at all costs and importance of dignity
• Social contract and individual rights, in addition to a Universal Principle

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ethics

• SDG 4 (Quality Education):
  • The Moral Act helps individuals develop critical thinking skills for moral decision-making.
  • Moral Dilemma equips individuals with frameworks to identify, analyze, and resolve moral dilemmas.
  • Ethics and Culture plays a role in teaching ethical principles in diverse cultural contexts, fostering understanding and tolerance.
  • Cultural Relativism helps individuals understand cultural perspectives on morality, and promoting critical engagement with cultural relativism.
• SDG 5 (Gender Equality):
  • Moral principles are applied fairly to all genders with no gender bias.
• SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities):
  • Inequalities, whether economic, social, or political, can create environments where ethical principles are not equally applied.