Introduction To Ethics PDF

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS  HISTORY OF ETHICS The known history of pure ethics or ethics (moral) theories begin with ancient Greek philosophers and after recovered by early English positivists. IMMANUEL KANT - the German philosopher, is considered as the father of modern ethics and one of the g...

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS  HISTORY OF ETHICS The known history of pure ethics or ethics (moral) theories begin with ancient Greek philosophers and after recovered by early English positivists. IMMANUEL KANT - the German philosopher, is considered as the father of modern ethics and one of the great philosophers in the history of philosophy. He wanted to establish a firm foundation for moral philosophy. What is Ethics? Greek word “Ethicos”, “custom or character” PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCE that deals with the morality of human conduct or human acts.  What is Ethics? a system of moral principles that includes ideas about right and wrong, and how people should (or should not) behave in general and specific cases.  The relevance of ethics is seen in the fact that it is a basic discipline. It is the backbone of human existence. Without ethics, there will be a total collapse of the whole human person and the entire human society. EVALUATION Directions: Analyze and comprehend the given scenario below applying what you have learned from the previous chapter. Answer the follow-up questions after the case study presented. Situation: A young man enters pilot training and needs to take a leave of absence owing to mental health issues, which he describes as “burnout”. Following therapy, he is allowed to return his studies and completes the course. After graduation he applies for a position with a small regional airline, fully disclosing his previous problems. He completes the application and health examinations and is found to be fit for service and employed. He again begins to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts and seeks professional outpatient care. Although as a pilot he is required by professional duty to self-report any health condition to his employer that would restrict his ability to perform his duties, he fails to do so. As a result, the unthinkable occurs, and he crashes his plane, killing himself, the crew and all of the passengers.  The health care providers in this case knew that the young pilot was having difficulties that would preclude him from flying a plane and therefore had given him a note providing him a medical release from duty that day. However, given the level of professionalism of his duties and the need for personal privacy and medical confidentiality, the established process called for self-reporting, which the pilot did not do. Questions: 1. Given the nature of his work and his condition, should the health care providers have reported his condition to his employers and not depended on him performing his professional duty of self- reporting? 2. Would you be willing to generalize your decision to other positions such as bus drivers and train engineers? CHAPTER 2 Foundation of Moral Valuation Ethics is a philosophical science. This means that ethics is one of the many disciplines in philosophy. In general, we can speak of four divisions or disciplines in philosophy namely: Descriptive/Speculative Normative Practical Critical  DISCIPLINES IN PHILOSOPHY 1. DESCRIPTIVE OR SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY  is a discipline in philosophy that posits the question: “What is the nature (essence and substance) of reality?  Deals with people’s beliefs about morality.  Deals with what society thinks is good or bad.  2. NORMATIVE PHILOSOPHY What is good and what is bad? What is right and what is wrong? Ex. Ethics  Deals with questions like “is that action right (ethical)? OR was that act wrong? Checks if the action/outcome of action fits into the definition of right or wrong.  PRACTICAL is a discipline in philosophy which reflects upon truth in relation to action. Example: Logic - reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.  CRITICAL is a discipline in philosophy that posits the question: “What is truth?” Example: Epistemology - the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. Ethics is a science (normative science) because it systematically establishes standards or norms of human conduct. It, therefore qualifies human conduct as to whether it is good or bad and right or wrong. After it qualifies human conduct, ethics also requires a definitive human conduct. This means that it requires man to act properly as a human being. And to act properly as man, ethics idealistically requires man to do what is good and what is right.  Meta-ethics investigates where our moral and ethical principles come from and what is the meaning behind using them. ‘abortion is good’, or ‘abortion is bad’? There are many arguments both in favour and against abortion in ethics. The main argument from those who are against abortion is that it is the killing of an innocent human being. They believe that a fetus has a right to life, and thus abortion is murder. The main argument from those who are in favour of abortion is that the woman should have the right to choose what she does with her body. They argue that the fetus is not a person until it is born, and therefore abortion is not murder. CHAPTER 3 - Ethical Dimension of Human Existence Lesson 1. Ethics and morals  WHAT IS HUMAN CONDUCT? It is a combined representation of Values(asal) and character(pag uugali) MORALITY OF HUMAN CONDUCTS - GOODNESS/BADNESS RIGHTNESS/WRONGNESS  Applied Ethics Deals with ethical questions specific to practical fields. Includes bioethics, legal ethics, business ethics, medical ethics, etc. ETHICS VS. MORALITY  ETHICS- Ethos or character(pag uugali) MORALITY- Mos/Mores/Moralis/Mo ralita or Custom(kaugalian) ETHICS MORALITY Universal Culture based what you do what you believe society personal perspective tells us how we tells us if we did the should behave right thing think what they ask people to do before they examine their action act after the fact ETHICS MORALITY code of ethics Tell the truth Do not cheat Be loyal To live acc. to the will of God Keep promises  There is Ethics in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Confucianism, Zen Buddhism, Judaism. 1. Immanuel Kant -It is man's rational duty 2. Mill and Bentham -Pleasure and happiness 3. Fletcher -It depends upon the situation 4. Kohlberg -Fear of punishment 5. Ralph Perry -Every human person is a creature of values 6. Beauchamp -As a member of a society he adopts a moral way of life. 7. Lao-tzu and Confucius - man deepest pleading to be in harmony with nature 8. Socrates/Plato/Aristotle- Happiness 9. Hindu- because of man's karma with brahman 10. Augustine and Aquinas- Because there is God 11. Mohammed- because of Allah What if there's no God? Can't we become moral?  " Friedrich Nietzsche, God has nothing to do with man's quest for goodness. Man could do good even without God"  1. We want to be moral because we want to win the good opinion or impression of others concerning our self image 2. We want to be moral because we want to refrain from troubles, or consequently, punishment, which could result from immorality  3. We want to be moral because we are person, person who exist in the collectivity of persons.  Man's realistic desire to be good is caused by a great deal of his obsession concern with public relations  MORALITY AND HUMAN EXISTENCE “There is Morality because there is Man” 1.Man is a being of action 2.Man has intellect 3.Man has will  ANIMAL Knowledge:Senses Appetency:Instict MAN- Knowledge: Senses/Intellect Appetency: Instinct/Will