Understanding Ethics and Human Values

• Chapter objectives include:

• Identifying the ethical aspect of human life and the scope of ethical thinking

• Defining and explaining terms relevant to ethical thinking

• Evaluating difficulties in maintaining commonly-held notions on ethics

• In August 2007, Cris Anthony Mendez, a UP student, died due to fraternity violence.

• The Sigma Rho fraternity denounced the death, but members vanished.

• The incident raised ethical questions about  the value of life, fraternity actions, and ethics in general.

VALUE

• Ethics deals with good and bad, right and wrong, and acceptable/unacceptable human behavior.
• Ethics determines the grounds for values with particular significance to human life.

Clarifications And Terminology

• Ethics concerns the notions of good/bad and right/wrong, and clarifying these points is essential.

Kinds of Valuation

• Not all value judgments are part of ethics i.e. aesthetic judgments.
• "Aesthetics" from Greek "aisthesis" involves personal approval or disapproval such as senses like taste in music.
• Some actions are relatively trivial and are of etiquette such as knocking politely, not grave enough for the consideration and concerns of ethics.
• Indignation for the lack of trivial actions, is not as concerning when compared to when one deliberately pushes one out of the bus.
• Some notions of right and wrong appear in non-ethical contexts such as the right way to bake or play basketball.
• "Technique" and "technical" refer to proper ways of doing things, but may not be ethical.
• Ethics include valuations in human actions with gravity, concern for well-being or life such as war, poverty, or sexual identity.
• Distinction between ethics and non-ethics can be unclear, with debates over trivial matters, such as clothing or verbal abuse of partners.

Ethics and Morals

• Discussions of ethics and morals would include cognates like ethical, unethical, immoral, amoral, morality, and so on.
• One should be careful with the application of the word "not" as it can be ambiguous
• "Morals" refers to individual beliefs, attitudes, or actions with immoral descriptions if they fall short.
• "Ethics" discipline studies ideal human behavior and thinking belonging to philosophy.

The Terms "Moral" And "Ethics"

• Acceptable/unacceptable behaviors are ethical/unethical.
• "Professional ethics" are legal, medical, or media.
• Thinkers differ on the distinction between "moral" and "ethics," with no consensus, and have rigidity.
• "Ethical" and "moral" terms are interchangeable.

Philosophy

• Philosophy explores reality, knowledge, and values.
• Word rooted in Greek for "love of wisdom".
• Philosophy began in ancient Greece, aiming for understanding in a systematic manner.
• Specific questions developed specific methods, creating empirical sciences like biology or psychology.
• Philosophy addresses questions beyond other fields.
• Metaphysics is concerned with reality.
• Epistemology concerns knowledge.
• Axiology studies value e.g. aesthetics and ethics for the beauty and the value of human actions.

Descriptive and Normative

• Descriptive ethics reports moral valuations without judgment for the historians, sociologists, or anthropologists.
• Normative ethics in philosophy or theology asks what is right, prescribing standards for moral valuation.
• Philosophical discussions surpass descriptive theory or accepting normative and engages in critical consideration of their strengths.

Issue, Decision, Judgment, And Dilemma

• A moral issue involves situations calling for valuation ex: stealing due to poverty.
• 'Issue' can refer to sources of debate like capital punishment.
• A moral decision is the choice of action in a situation e.g. not stealing.
• A moral judgment is an assessment of others' actions e.g. judging a friend's theft as wrong.
• A moral dilemma is a complex situation with conflicting choices between goods or lesser evils.

Reasoning

• Study of ethics asks why certain actions are considered right or wrong with reasoning.

• Fear of punishment or desire is a reason for acting a certain way.

• Shallow reasoning doesn't explain cheating is wrong or family care is good.

• Rewards and punishments don't determine rightness or wrongness.

• Decisions and judgments consider reasons beyond rewards or punishments as well.

• They are detaching from situations, recognizing "Cheating is wrong" by its own merit.

• Moral valuations base on principles and judgments of fair play, respect of importance, and rationality.

• Principles define grounds for moral decisions and judgments.

• Ethical frameworks guide reflection on principles, decisions, and judgments which strengthens morals/decisions.

• Moral theory tries to establish the validity of principles and can be a theory or framework of ideas used to evaluate reasons.

• Understanding of moral reasons vary such as belief based explanations to priceless dignity, etc...

• Plato claimed that spending time discussing goodness and virtue is beneficial.

Utilitarianism

• Chapter objectives consist of the following

• Discuss the basic principles of utilitarian ethics

• Distinguish between the two utilitarian models: the quantitative model of Jeremy Bentham and the qualitative model of John Stuart Mill

• Apply utilitarianism in understanding and evaluating local and international scenarios

• In January 2015, The 84th Special Action Force (SAF) conducted a police operation at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano in Maguindanao.

• The news article detailed the political fallout from a failed anti-terrorist operation in Mamasapano which sparked debate over wiretapping legality.

• Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senator Francis Escudero had to determine the wiretapping recording be used as evidence

• The question raised a question of whether the government had the right to infringe individual rights in wiretapping?

• Utilitarianism assesses the value of actions based on their consequences advocating actions for pleasure and right behavior based on usefulness.

• Utilitarianism directs actions toward the greatest pleasure over pain for the most people and utility refers to usefulness.

• Individual rights must be sacrificed for happiness for many arguing permissibility in wiretapping.

• Philosophers Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are key voices in utilitarianism.

• The utilitarian system of ethics focuses on action consequences meaning goodness based towards a specific purpose/people.

• Utilitarianism is a consequentialist idea where moral value depends on usefulness and results determine good or bad.

• For Bentham and Mill, utility judges actions' capacity for maximizing worldly happiness.

• They tie happiness to experiencing pleasure for most individuals at the cost of individual rights.

On The Principle Of Utility

• Our actions are governed by pain and pleasure which guide us toward the good and steer us away from the bad.

• Actions are a pleasure guided by motivation without pain which leads us to happiness.

• Having identified the tendency for pleasure and pain as the principle of utility, Bentham equates happiness with pleasure.

• John Mill further supports Benthams principle saying happiness is moral good and ultimately pleasure.

• What makes people happy is intended pleasure meaning happiness and pleasure are good with unhappiness and pain being bad.

• We act and do things because they are pleasurable or lead to the promotion of pleasure and if things are painful we choose to avoid it.

• Mill describes moral value as utility, understood produced happiness/pleasure and avoiding pain

• Next step involves understanding pleasure nature, identifying pleasure criteria, and calculating pleasure/pain. as distinguished By Bentham/Mill

• Mill viewed moral choices in terms of the theory of life pursuing pleasure, avoiding pain assessing actions' morality.

• Is it justifiable to wiretap private conversations instances of treason, rebellion, espionage, and sedition?

• No matter how much that others are suffering, can some people indulge in extravagant pleasures at the expense of others?

The differing views of Bentham and Mill:

• Mill called the natural moral preferability of pleasure the theory of life denying the pursuit of happiness, avoiding being only important.

• Assessing what is not the only principle in an action's morality such as private conversations in events such as treason, espionage, war?

• Actions of pleasure must have standards in that not all pleasures, in eating, exercise, are morally good or acceptable.

• Supporters of utilitarians do not condone excessive pleasures, even should no one be suffering, for a wanton intemperance.

• In short While Bentham and Mill are together on agreement with moral value of pleasure, they split on views on the questions above.

• Bentham provides framework evaluating pleasure commonly called Felicific calculus to measure strength, duration, certainty.

• Extent means to choose pleasure and evaluate our tendency it has to be followed of the same kind along with its effects.

• The felicific calculus allows action evaluations and means that based on single scale preferences and values with pleasure pain differing quantitatively.

• Mill dissents from Bentham’s single pleasure scale stating that it is qualitatively not quantitatively distinctive.

• The statement means utilitarianism cannot promote pig pleasures like a lower base pleasure but higher intellectual.

• We, as moral agents, are able to search and desire higher more than pigs since we have the capability do be satisfied by pleasure.

• Human pleasures differ from animals, it will be an unfair assumption to compare ourselves with beasts when we choose a pursuit. It is an empirical fact that are kinds of pleasures some may be better and are more valuable with quantity also being important..

• Bentham supports quality is preferable saying the need to look at quantity might resort to pain.

• If more food can be an excessive example, being pleasurable may be the same when exercising, what if quality matters?

• The test Mill suggests is simple you discover which experience is both better and preferred of the others pleasure.

Greatest Number

Equating happiness with pleasure does not aim to describe the utilitarian moral agent alone and independently from others not only with themselves.

• It accounts that it accounts the number of those involved in the consequences of actions..

• We have it is an idea that we may achieve this if we only cultivate worthiness from others than they cultivate it for us?

• Utilitarianism cannot lead to selfish acts so it is about pleasure over all not just us, we cannot be the only good.

• Therefore it accounts for the pleasure over others meaning also not dismissive of sacrifices as it makes other feel happiness.

• We must also consider consideration for ours and other happiness, to not completely cut other aims in the way of others satisfaction.

• Consequently, ultilarianism maximilizes that pleasure over greatest people which pulls the meaning of motive relevance. He who does for other will have it done back for them, or against them he serves for others benefits.

• Utilitarians are only best interested not if intentions are valid but on the amount of pleasure and good it can produce.

• If our intention is to maximize pleasure it causes questioning if we have it over those rights

Justice and Moral Rights

• Mill says people need to respect rights directed to society with them be a valid claim.

• He explains there are some forms with two elements of hurt along with demand of harm we must respect above certain violation.

• Mill tells us all of these include people over law and education if we are to hold him guarantee a right over society.

• Mill expounds that what we speak relates to what serves general good with our free will.

• Society is more happy with its actions of which gives the ability extend into animals to protect principles

• Issues if justice carry strong feeling to the best intentions, with rights being to it to life from mill’s descriptions.

• What if the objector needs reasons from how we have to protect in the possession with is but out interests ?

• He associates government along with possesion of both to certain of certain acts.

• Mill tells us when both right were respected as both moral and legal were respected as both were subjected without violatability..

• Mill speaks of the distinction to these in which there may need be neither an observance nor it when rights are morally unjustified.

Natural Law

• After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Recognize how Thomas Aquinas made use of ancient Greek concepts to provide a rational grounding to an ethical law over christian faith.

• Identify law from Aquinas: eternal, human, and divine. from distinction over relation

• What are the contemporary more. concerns of applying all three

• In October 2016, newspapers talk Pantaleon Alvarez to add Family rights legalizing the same sex relationship rights.

• This also leads to a reason to claim that those in the community are also members of the LGBT community.

• We label that is natural and not when the word gives that idea on we see or don’t see. And often confused how we see things

To do so

• The usage may come from certain intuition with women saying it would be an insect an all.

• In this chapter, we will explore with the capability the potential of our nature anchored in the power of reason as what is ethical.

• It is this that Aquinas is very fond of emphasizing. For it is human nature and anchored on the capacity of reason to provide a unique way of determining the moral status of our actions.

Thomas Aquinas

• There have been various individuals and thought leaders that emerged within these systems for certain thought. the most that

• Recognize however with vision the Christian in a larger project of ethics is to take Aquinas as whole.

• The idea that we are to be with God at first is the truth. He promises us to see God. this what Thomas states.

• It is the truth of christianity along the following trajectory in works such as Summa theologiae.

• Aquinas speaks of what his faith brings us to in those parts which we see of greatness.

• Aquinas does acknowledge that man is a the source of the good through His work.

• It would lead us to living better, then be simple. for it what the word to live

• The complexity coherence ethics can give even certain help is what we should do in accordance

THE CONTEXT OF AQUINAS'S ETHICS?