Ethics Notes.docx

**Ethics Notes (Reviewer)** General Knowledge **Difference between Ethics and Morals** - **Ethics** -- A set of structured rules or standards to be followed via profession, law, or moral obligation. - **Moral** -- Personal morals or beliefs. - Ethics comes from the word "**ethos**" me...

**Ethics Notes (Reviewer)** General Knowledge **Difference between Ethics and Morals** - **Ethics** -- A set of structured rules or standards to be followed via profession, law, or moral obligation. - **Moral** -- Personal morals or beliefs. - Ethics comes from the word "**ethos**" meaning ***character*** and "**mos**" meaning ***custom***. **Ethical Frameworks** - Ethical Frameworks are defined as structured ways of thinking that guides in decision-making. There are five (5) common ethical frameworks which are: 1. **Utilitarian Approach** -- The best action is the one that creates good for MOST people. 2. **Rights Approach** -- Decisions should respect and protect people's rights and freedom. 3. **Fairness and Justice Approach** -- Treating everyone equally and fairly based on moral and legal standards. 4. **Common Good Approach** -- Decisions should benefit the well-being of the whole community. 5. **Virtue Approach** -- Ethics is about developing good character traits. **Ethical Theories** 1. **Utilitarianism** -- Deciding is based on what is good for most people. 2. **Deontology** -- Follows moral rules or codes REGARDLESS of the outcome. 3. **Virtue Ethics** -- Morality is based on what improves your character traits. 4. **Ethics of Care** -- Morality is based on relationships 5. **Egoism** -- Right action is based on what will serve one's benefit. 6. **Religion/Divine Command Theory** -- Morality is based on Gods command or religious teachings 7. **Natural Law** -- Principles are derived from natural laws of human instinct. 8. **Social Contract** -- Morality is based on agreement with people. **Basic Concepts of Morality (Chapter II)** - **Morality** -- Refers to the set of rules and standards a person has too rightly and wrongly, or good and evil. These standards are concerned with human behaviors with two distinctions; 6. **Moral** -- Specific beliefs, behaviors, and ways derived from actions of ethics. One's morals are judged by good or bad through systematic ethical analysis. - **Immoral (Immorality)** -- Person's behavior in OPPOSITION to accepted societal, religious, cultural, or professional ethical standards. - **Moral Standards** -- Criteria for what behaviors they consider as ethically right and wrong. It contains standards that are generally "uphold" the good. 7. **Non-Moral** -- Term used to refer to actions that can normally be judged as moral or immoral but are done **WITH A LACK OF CONCERN FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR.** - **Non-moral Standards** -- It is considered non-moral if moral standards do not apply to the acts. **Foundation of Morality** - **Consequentialism** -- Actions that is considered as morally right if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness or utility for the **GREATEST or MOST PEOPLE.** - **Deontology --** (Associated with the works of Immanuel Kent) Actions focuses more on the nature than the outcome. Certain actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of their outcomes. - **Virtue Ethics --** Emphasis on character traits or virtues of individuals. Focuses on developing virtuous qualities. - **Social Contract Theory --** Moral principles and rules are based on a social contract or agreement among individuals in a society. - **Cultural Relativism --** This principle suggests that what is morally right or wrong is relative to the cultural context, and there is no UNIVERSAL or OBJECTIVE morality. **DILEMMAS** - Dilemma -- Refers to a situation in which a tough choice must be made between two or more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones. - Moral Dilemmas exists when available choices and obligations do not allow for moral outcomes. **Three Levels of Dilemmas** - **Personal Dilemmas** -- Revolve around individual decision-making and moral conflicts within oneself. These dilemmas often involve situations where an individual (alone, himself, by himself, sya lang magisa. Example: Kung icchat mob a sya or hindi), must choose between two more values or principles that are in conflict with their morals. - **Interpersonal Dilemmas** -- Arise in situations where the ethical choices and actions of one person may impact other directly. These dilemmas involve conflicts between different individuals or group (more than one, but not too many; mas marami sa isa pero hindi sobrang dami ang involved dito) - **Societal Dilemmas** -- Extend beyond the individual and interpersonal levels to encompass broader societal issues. These dilemmas involve ethical conflicts that affect communities, institutions, or society. (Nakakaapekto sa lahat) **Cultural in Moral Behavior (Chapter III)** - **Culture** -- Refers to the unique pattern or behavior and practices that are specific to human beings, along with the physical items that are closely connected to these behaviors. Culture encompasses languages, thoughts, convictions, traditions, regulations, establishments, tools, methodologies, artistic creations, rituals and celebrations, among various other aspects. - **Edward Burnett Taylor** in his *Book Primitive Culture* (1871) considers Culture as a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. **Culture Defined** - Culture is considered the sum of total human knowledge and required behaviors of human. - Culture is defined as the complex hole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art moral laws, and customs that acquired by man as a member of society. (Burke, 2008) - Daft (2010) explains that culture is a set of common values, norms, beliefs, and ideas shared by members of the same group. **Characteristics of Culture** - It can be SHARED and TRANSMITTED a. It is shared and transmitted among members of a social group b. Hofstede (2005) defined culture as "a collective programing of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group of people from another" c. Acquired learning of culture can be passed on generations through language and other symbolic means of communication. - It is LEARNED and ACQUIRED d. Culture is not automatic, it is acquired through experiences. e. No one is born equipped with a particular language, values, or knowledge. f. It is believed that human has a clean blank slate (tabula rasa). - It is a SOCIAL PHENOMENON g. Cultural practices are shaped through interactions of individuals living in the same social environment. h. Culture is a product developed by many persons interacting in a group. It is social due to human tendency. **Cultural Views** - **Ethnocentrism** -- Perception that the culture of ONE'S CULTURE OF \*MY\* CULTURE is better and superior than that of other people. - **Xenocentrism** -- Is it the preference of another culture but that of one's own. Basically, it is the view that ANOTHER PERSON'S CULTURE is better than your own or seeing OTHER PEOPLE's culture as superior than yours. **Cultural Taboos** - **Taboo** -- Action that is frowned upon and considered inappropriate to practice or even talk about within a cultural group. The word taboo comes from the Tongan word "tabu" or "tapu" meaning forbidden. - **Captain James Cook** learned about the Taboos in the 18^th^ century and brought it back to English from the pacific. **3 Types of Taboos** - **Cultural Taboos** -- A cultural taboo is something that is considered inappropriate to do or discuss within a specific cultural or sub-cultural group. - **Religious Taboos** -- These are something that is forbidden by a religion. - **Food Taboos** -- These are restrictions on what foods are considered appropriate to eat, as well as appropriate ways to eat foods. **Cultural Relativism** - Holds that everyone's values, knowledge, and conduct must be understood in the context of their own culture. - Person's ideas and practices should be evaluated considering their own culture. - Ethical practices differ among cultures and what is considered right and wrong are merely different. - Different societies have different moral codes, there is no objective standard to judge how good or bad these moral codes are, and that the job of those who study cultures is not to compare these customs to their own, but to describe them. - *Moral Relativism* claims that what is customary to a culture is right in that culture. Whereas, *Cultural Relativism* asserts no objective measure of what is right or wrong. - It is contrary to ethnocentrism. - Refers to the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not make judgement based on the standards of one's own culture. - Challenges beliefs about objectivity and universality of moral truth. - Debunks the concept of ethnocentrism. **Categories of Cultural Relativism** - **Absolute** -- Outsiders must and should not question everything that happens within a culture. - **Critical** -- Cultural practices are questioned regarding who is accepting them and why, as well as recognizing power relationships.