BSAIS-BEL 213 Information Sheet 4.pdf

THE RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER SCIENCES AND OTHER PHASES OF HUMAN LIFE Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 1 of 7...

THE RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER SCIENCES AND OTHER PHASES OF HUMAN LIFE Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 1 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213  MODULE CONTENT COURSE TITLE: Business Ethics and Leadership MODULE TITLE: The Relationship of Ethics with Other Sciences and Other Phases of Human Life NOMINAL DURATION: __3___ HRS ( NO. of Hours per topic) SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module you MUST be able to: 1. Discuss the scope and limitations of Ethics as a science that investigates the nature of human conduct. 2. Distinguish Ethics from other sciences studying human nature and behavior. 3. Differentiate Ethics from etiquette and the professional code of conduct. TOPIC: (SUB TOPIC) 1. Relationship of Ethics with other Sciences (Logic, Psychology, Sociology, Economics) 2. Ethics as related to: a. Religion b. Professional Code of Conduct c. Etiquette d. Education e. Law f. Art ASSESSMENT METHOD/S: Lecture/Discussion/Quiz REFERENCES: http://www.christianeducational.org/ethics/er_v04i04.pdf Business Ethics and Social Responsibility – Fr. Floriano C. Roa Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 2 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213  Information Sheet BEL-213-4 THE RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER SCIENCES AND OTHER PHASES OF HUMAN LIFE Learning Objectives: After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to: 1. Know the relationship of Ethics with other sciences. 2. Know the relationship of Ethics with other phases of human life. THE RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER SCIENCES AND OTHER PHASES OF HUMAN LIFE “The unexamined life is not worth living”. -Socrates- Ethics is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature and the morality of human conduct. To some extent, Ethics is related to other sciences because it also deals with the investigation of the nature of man as a rational being and a being in relationship with other beings. But unlike other sciences, the focus and locus of Ethics are to study man’s nature and behavior from the standpoint of morality. The material object therefore of Ethics is human conduct and the formal object is morality. RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER SCIENCES 1. Ethics and Logic We should correlate the study of logic with the study of ethics. The two are closely entwined, as flip sides of the same coin. Ethics concerns the right conduct, as logic relates to the right reasoning. Where logic deals with the reasoning process pertaining to the truth or falsehood of statements, ethics deals with the rightness or wrongness of actions. Both logic and ethics presuppose that truth and goodness are real, and that reasoning logically or ethically can bring us closer to the ideal or the standard. Christians believe that God is the author of Truth and Goodness and that there are absolute standards to which we can aspire. Logic is foundational to ethics because ethics is reasoning about the rightness or wrongness of conduct. That reasoning can either be logical, and conclusions necessarily derived from premises, or illogical and inconsistent. Logic also helps us to think clearly about what is being argued ethically, and whether the basis of an argument has been assumed, or actually proved. Many people argue against the death penalty, for example, assuming that because the taking of the life of a person is involved that death is affirmed rather than life. This conclusion does not follow from the premises. The argument goes something like this. Whatever affirms life should not involve death. The death penalty involves the death of a person. Therefore, the death penalty does not affirm life. On intellectual qualities, Ethics is people-oriented while Logic is tasked- oriented. Ethics is focused on enhancing relationships; modifying content and Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 3 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213 form of speech to match or contradict what others expect to hear. Logic is focused on not misleading a person and giving him the correct information. Lastly, on behavioral relationships, Ethics shows people’s feelings for their partners directly through emotions, while Logic shows their feelings for their partners by doing things for them. 2. Ethics and Psychology Both Ethics and Psychology deal with the study of man and his behavior. However, Psychology studies how a man behaves, while Ethics studies how man ought to behave. Psychology is not interested in the morality of human behavior, while Ethics is concerned with man’s moral obligation or the result of his behavior. Ethics is the study of human behavior from the perspective of morality. Psychology, on the other hand, is the scientific study of mental and behavioral characteristics, associated with a particular kind of behavior. 3. Ethics and Sociology Sociology deals with the study of the social order while Ethics deals with the study of moral order in society. There is no social order if there is no moral order. Therefore, the foundation of any society depends on the moral values of people and their concept of what is good and bad in human relationships. Society depends on ethics for its underlying principles. Sociology deals with human relations in society, but human relations are based on proper order and proper order comes only with the proper observance of moral laws and principles which regulate the actions of men in a community. 4. Ethics and Economics Man supports himself by earning a living. Earning a living to support his expenses makes a man an economic being. Economics as a science deals with the study of wages, labor, production, and distribution of wealth. The study of these issues involves relationships among individuals. For example, wages: between employer and employee; production: between manufacturer and customer. At the heart of these relationships exist moral norms and moral rules. Without these moral norms, harmonious relationships between and among parties cannot exist. According to Charles K. Wilber, Ethical Values and Economic Theory, there are three ways in which ethics enters economics. First, economists have ethical values that help shape the way they do economics. This builds into the core of economic theory a particular view of how the economy does work and how it should work. Second, economic actors (consumers, workers, business owners) have ethical values that help shape their behavior. Third, economic institutions Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 4 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213 and policies impact people differentially, and thus ethical evaluations, in addition to economic evaluations, are important. RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER PHASES OF HUMAN LIFE 1. Ethics and Law Ethics and Law are closely related. Ethics deals with morality, and when we speak of morality, we mean primarily the moral law. Law may be defined as crystallized ethics. Law and morality presuppose the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad, even the rules of conduct. However, there is a difference between what is moral and what is legal. The law covers the external actions of man. In the making of a law, the items covered in that Law is the external action and behavior of a person. When we speak of Ethics, we speak of the study of motivation and intention, including the internal disposition of the person. Though the law often embodies ethical principles, law and ethics are far from co-extensive. Many acts that would be widely condemned as unethical are not prohibited by law. –lying or betraying the confidence of a friend, for example. A man can commit adulteries in his mind, yet a person is not legally or criminally guilty because the exercise is innate within the person. He may not be legally or criminally responsible, but he is morally responsible. Therefore, Law is external- oriented while Ethics focuses on the internal disposition of a person. 2. Ethics and Religion Ethics is a discipline or set of moral principles and values governing an individual or institutional behavior. Religion generally refers to the service and worship of God (or some other object) and is typically expressed as a personal or institutional set of beliefs, attitudes, and practices. Religion and Ethics are two phases of human activity that are very closely related. Both Ethics and Religion are based on the same postulates: they suggest the existence of a Creator, freedom of the will in man, and immorality. Moreover, Ethics and Religion have the same end, and that is the attainment of man’s supreme purpose. Lastly, Ethics and Religion prescribe right living as the means of attaining the goal of man. True Ethics cannot be separated from God. If there is morality, there must be a moral law; if there is a moral law, there must be a lawgiver; God is the ultimate lawgiver Himself. Ethics and Religion presuppose the concept of immortality, that there is life after death. For this reason, we believe in the soul of the person which continues to exist, a soul that is immortal. Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 5 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213  Ethics and Religion will seek the absolute truth. Ethics will try to discover the absolute truth only by using human reason. On the other hand, Religion will try to seek the absolute truth based on faith and divine revelation. “God reveals Himself to us; our response to this revelation is our faith”. 3. Ethics and the Professional Codes of Conduct The words “profession and professional” come from the Latin word “profession”, which means a public declaration with the force of a promise. Professions are groups that declare in a public way that their members will act in certain ways and that the group and the society may discipline those who will fail to conform to prescribed ways. To be a member of a profession requires sophisticated skills and extensive training as well as advanced education so that they become competent for their line of work. What makes the job of the medical and legal professions important is that they are expected to serve the good of the public/society. Members of the profession create their own set of rules, set standards for the practice of the profession, and at the same time, discipline their own members. This set of standards of the profession is stated in the professional ethical code. A code of professional ethics is a set of behavioral guidelines that members of a profession are required by their association to observe in the course of their professional practice. Sometimes the law is silent or absent in some areas of our human conduct. The law does not say anything about human conduct and its regulation. In the absence of law, people tend to make their own Professional Codes of Conduct. Some professions subscribe to a set of moral codes in areas where the law is silent. However, ethical or professional codes of conduct are limited only to some specific professions and cannot be entirely regulated and imposed on all, Ethics is universal and applicable to everybody. Therefore, the Ethics and Professional Code of Conduct are different from each other. 4. Ethics and Etiquette Etiquette comes from a French word which means ticket. It is a special code of behavior or courtesy, like when you say “thank you”, “you are welcome”, “congratulations” to the groom, and “best wishes” to the bride. The rules of etiquette are generally non-moral in character but the violation of the rules of etiquette may have moral implications. For example, a boss and a secretary develop a special friendship and the boss now calls his secretary “sweetheart”. This scenario definitely has moral implications. On the other hand, the scrupulous observance of the rules of etiquette will not make a person moral. In fact, it can hide a moral issue. 5. Ethics and Education Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 6 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213  Education is defined as instruction or training by which people learn to develop and use their mental, moral, and physical powers. It is also gaining experience. Since man, however, is primarily a rational moral being, the primary objective of education should be the development of these powers in man, which consists of his true perfection. Education should aim to perfect the moral character in man. A great educator once said, “Education is life”; it is co-extensive with life. Hence, we can say that Ethics is life because it is the one that gives life its direction, purpose, and meaning. Ethics is both co-extensive and co-intensive with life. 6. Ethics and Art Art is concerned with the use of imagination to make things of aesthetic significance. Ethics is aimed at conforming to an accepted standard of good behavior. Ethics stands for moral goodness; art for beauty. It may be difficult to ascertain whether a piece of art that is offensive to morals can be considered beautiful. Both true art and true ethics have the same aim: that is to arouse and to inspire the noble emotions of man, thereby creating no conflict at all. Consequently, an art that arouses the lower impulses of man defeats the purpose of art. Bachelor of Science in Date Developed: Accounting Information Bulacan Polytechnic June 2020 Page 7 of 7 System College Date Revised: July 2020 BEL 213 Document No. Developed by: Business Ethics and Norminda O. Gleabo Revision # 01 Leadership 20-BEL 213