Module 1: Ethics: Basic Concepts and Issues PDF

Module 1 Ethics: Basic Concepts and Issues Lesson 1. Meaning and Scope of Ethics Lesson 2. Normative Nature of Moral Statements Lesson 3. Characteristics of Moral Standards Lesson 4: The Issue of Ethical Relativism  Lesson 1: Meaning and Scope of Ethics...

Module 1 Ethics: Basic Concepts and Issues Lesson 1. Meaning and Scope of Ethics Lesson 2. Normative Nature of Moral Statements Lesson 3. Characteristics of Moral Standards Lesson 4: The Issue of Ethical Relativism  Lesson 1: Meaning and Scope of Ethics Morality and Ethics Morality Morality refers to the set of standards an individual person or society uses to judge whether an act is good or bad, whether someone is virtuous or not, or whether we ought to do this or that. Ethics The word “Ethics” is sometimes used to refer to one’s set of moral beliefs and practices. Strictly speaking, however, it refers to the discipline that examines the moral standards of an individual or society. Being a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of morality, it is sometimes also called moral philosophy.  3 General Areas of Ethics 1. Metaethics It looks into the nature, meaning, scope, and foundations of moral values, beliefs, and judgments. Examples of metaethical questions are: Is morality objective or relative? Is morality based on reason, emotions, intuition, or facts? What are moral persons? What does it mean to be morally accountable? 2. Normative Ethics It is concerned with the formulation of moral standards, rules, or principles to determine right from wrong conduct or ways of life worth pursuing. Normative ethical theories are generally built on 3 considerations about acts: (a) that they lead to consequences; (b) that they follow or violate rules; and (c) that they are done by persons with character traits. Accordingly, these theories are generally classified into consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. 3. Applied Ethics It examines the particular moral issues occurring in both the personal and social spheres. It determines the moral permissibility of actions and practices in specific areas of human concern like business, medicine, nature, law, sports, and others. Areas in applied ethics include business ethics, bioethics, environmental ethics, computer ethics, and social media ethics. __________ Descriptive Ethics Metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are areas of Ethics taken as a philosophical study of morality. A non-philosophical study of morality which seeks to objectively record and present how people in a certain community make moral judgments or develop their capacity for such is called descriptive ethics. Descriptive ethics can be done in the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and psychology.  Lesson 2: Normative Nature of Moral Statements Moral Statements as Normative Statements Moral statements are normative or prescriptive, not descriptive or factual. They are concerned with how things should be rather than how things are. Normative Statements in General While we appeal to the results of research, experiment, or observation in validating factual statements, we appeal to certain standards in validating normative statements. Normative statements may involve matters concerning morality, aesthetics, grammar, legality, and etiquette (among others), which are distinguished according to the standards used for making these statements. Examples: Normative Statements Standards “You ought to return the excess change to the cashier.” Moral Standard “There should be unity, balance, and contrast in your painting.” Aesthetic Standard “You ought to use the preposition “in” rather than “on.” Grammatical Standard “It is illegal to make a U-turn there.” (“Based on the law, you Legal Standard ought not to make a U-turn there “You ought to cover your mouth when you laugh.” Standard of Etiquette  Lesson 3: Characteristics of Moral Standards Moral Standards and Other Normative Standards Moral standards are often confused with other normative standards also concerned with “good” or “proper” behavior, such as: 1. Standards of Etiquette: based on culture or conventional practices 2. Legal Standards: based on governmental laws 3. Religious Standards: based on religious laws What may be acceptable for these other normative standards may not be acceptable for moral standards due to the characteristics of moral standards. Four Characteristics of Moral Standards 1. Moral standards deal with matters that can seriously harm or benefit human beings (and other moral persons). 2. Moral standards have universal validity. If it is morally wrong for Person A to do act X, then it is wrong to do X for anyone under circumstances relevantly similar to Person A’s. 3. Moral standards have a particularly overriding importance. Moral standards are used to evaluate even the correctness of other normative standards such as legal and cultural ones. 4. Moral standards are not established by the decisions of authoritarian bodies, nor are they determined by appealing to consensus or tradition.  Lesson 4: The Issue of Ethical Relativism Defining Ethical Relativism Ethical Relativism: the view which states that all moral principles are valid relative to a particular society or individual. Ethical Relativism should be distinguished from: Ethical Skepticism: the view which states that there are no valid moral principles at all (or at least we cannot know whether there are any) Ethical Objectivism: the view which states that there are universally valid moral principles binding all people. Two Forms of Ethical Relativism 1. Individual Ethical Relativism /Ethical Subjectivism The rightness or wrongness of an action lies on the the individual’s own commitments and interests. There is no interpersonal basis by which to judge whether an act is morally good or bad, right or wrong. 2. Cultural Ethical Relativism /Ethical Conventionalism The rightness or wrongness of an action depends on society’s norms. Morality is social in nature. While there are no universal moral principles, there are valid moral principles justified by virtue of their cultural acceptance. Considered more acceptable or reasonable than individual ethical relativism.  Arguments For and Against Ethical Relativism Some Arguments in Support of Ethical Relativism 1. Ethical relativism must be true since moral beliefs and rules vary from culture to culture (and within the same culture, they vary over time). (Diversity Argument) 2. Our perception of things is inescapably culture-bound: there is no independent, non-cultural viewpoint. Consequently, moral beliefs can only be true or valid relative to certain groups. (Dependency Argument) 3. Relativism must be the right way to view the nature of morality since acknowledging the differences among various societies in terms of their moral beliefs and practices leads to respect, social harmony, and peaceful co-existence among the different cultural, religious, and social groups. (Toleration Argument) Some Arguments Against Ethical Relativism 1. Moral diversity or disagreement does not establish moral relativism. When two people disagree about something, it may be that one of them is correct while the other is wrong. 2. Ethical relativism leads to absurd consequences. First, moral criticism would be impossible or meaningless. It would be senseless to criticize an action by another individual or group however abhorrent or inhumane. Second, morality would simply be a matter of following social norms, which would undermine our rational nature. Third, moral progress would be impossible. For how can we change social practices for the better if we cannot criticize them? 3. Despite the fact that some moral beliefs and practices vary among cultures, there are still universal moral standards that exist, such as those that respect life and promote the pursuit of truth, justice, and peace. Cultural practices may differ but the fundamental moral principles underlying them do not. GEETHIC Blueprint Presentations Prepared by: Napoleon M. Mabaquiao, Jr Department of Philosophy DLSU, Term 3, AY 2019-20 Reference: Evangelista, F. and N. Mabaquiao. Ethics: Theories and Applications (Anvil Publishing Inc., 2020).