Chapter One: Ethics (PDF)

CHAPTER ONE ETHICS: Its Meaning , Nature and Scope OBJECTIVES 1. Define and explain the nature and scope of ethics as a philosophical discipline; 2. Articulate the importance of studying ethics; 3. Discuss and distinguish the different norms or standards pertaining to right and wron...

CHAPTER ONE ETHICS: Its Meaning , Nature and Scope OBJECTIVES 1. Define and explain the nature and scope of ethics as a philosophical discipline; 2. Articulate the importance of studying ethics; 3. Discuss and distinguish the different norms or standards pertaining to right and wrong/good or bad; 4. Describe the moral dimension of human existence; and 5. Identify the various characteristics of moral principles.  Ethics Morality ▶ Greek word = “ethos” Meaning ▶ Latin Word = “mos” or “mores” Customary behavior Meaning customary behavior ▶ Ethics = word/Theory ▶ Morality = flesh/action ▶ Ethics outlines theories of right and ▶ Morality is the doing or practice of wrong and good or bad actions ethics ▶ Ethics is the systematic study of the ▶ Morality is the rightness or rightness and wrongness of human wrongness of human actions actions ▶ Morality is the practice of ethics ▶ The science of “morals” ETHICS : A PHILOSOPHY OF ACTION *The learning of ethics does not actually guarantee morality on the person’s concrete and practical conduct and behavior. * ethics and morality truly need and complement each other ETHICS : A PRACTICAL DISCIPLINE *Ethics should be taken not just as an academic study, but as fundamentally, a “way of life.” *Knowing what is right without actually changing the way we behave morally is nothing but useless knowledge ETHICS : IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING ETHICS *It is said, “without moral perception, man is only an animal. Without morality, man as a rational [and free] being is a failure” (Agapay 1991:3). *If one does NOT have a sense of morality , of what is right and wrong in relation to their conduct and behavior, people and society in general would naturally and expectedly deteriorate and collapsed. * Every corporations and organizations there is always that code of ethics. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW *Legality is not identical with morality. What is legal is not always moral and also, what is moral is not always legal. * laws are only concerned with “public” actions *Ethics goes beyond the concern and parameters of law, for it includes private actions and the human motivations and intentions of its actions THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW *Laws, more often than not, are decided by a majority vote. *Morality is not all about how many people say that something is good or bad, right or wrong. It is much deeper than that. What is right is right even though no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it. *Ethics serves as the very foundation of our laws. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ETHICS AND RELIGION *Ethics as a philosophical discipline, as mentioned, solely relies on natural reason, logic and experience, especially in the justification and validation of certain theories and principles concerning good and bad. *Religion, on the other hand, relies primarily and mainly on supernatural reason, that is divine revelation or divine authority. SO, WHAT IS ETHICS? *Philosophically, Ethics is defined as the practical science of the morality of human act or conduct and of the good life. * As a science, Ethics is a body of knowledge systematically arranged and presented in such manner that it arrives at its conclusions coherently and logically. MATERIAL AND FORMAL OBJECTS OF ETHICS *the material object of ethics is human conduct or the human act - Human conduct refers to the act that is done by a human person which he/she is conscious of, which proceeds from one’s deliberation and freewill, and thus, for which one is held morally responsible. *FORMAL OBJECT OF ETHICS is the morality or the moral rectitude of human act or human conduct. - Ethics deals with the human person’s right conduct, whether his/her actions conform to right reason which is the immediate norm of morality. NORM *A norm is here understood as a rule, standard, or measure. Specifically, it is something by which an act or conduct is measured as good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral. *by norm of morality, we mean the standard of right and wrong in human actions. TYPES OF NORMS 1. Technical Norm – “This refers mainly to man’s needs which come from his bodily space-time limitations. This norm has to do with survival, health and well- being. It is concerned with problems of effecting change, of transforming the natural world, the problems of coping with natural forces…. every community prescribes certain proper ways of working and doing things. For example, there are the ‘right’ way of preparing the field for planting rice, the ‘correct’ way of constructing the roof of a house, house hold chores, how to assemble things etc. TYPES OF NORMS 2. Societal Norm – “This norm has something to do with the need for group cohesion and for strengthening the bonds that keep the community together. example, certain manners or attire, certain ways of speaking or of conducting oneself, certain rituals and ceremonies are considered ‘proper’ and ‘fitting,’ ‘appropriate’ or ‘recommended,’ because they maintain and strengthen the bonds that keep the community together. TYPES OF NORMS 2. Societal Norm Example – “knock first before you open the door,” “one should not pick one’s nose in public,” “it’s not right to talk that way in the presence of visitors,” “one must not talk while one’s mouth is full,” “one ought to follow the rituals set forth by her fraternity when it comes to accepting new members.” These and other similar examples belong to the category of etiquette or what is known as “GMRC” TYPES OF NORMS 3. Aesthetic Norm – “This refers to typical perceptual forms regarding color, shape, space, movement, sound, feeling and emotion, touch and texture, taste, scent and odor…which are considered by the community as ‘ennobling,’ ‘cathartic,’ ‘heightening man’s existence,’ or ‘beautiful,’ because they represent a certain free play and celebration of the human spirit.” examples: “relegious music is good,” “the latest corona virus movie is bad,” “the food of foodpanda is terrible,” “Leonardo da Vinci’s painting is admirable,” “the color of my ethics teacher’s hair is disgraceful,” “my female students’ styles of dressing are obnoxious,” “Vice Ganda’s fashion sense is simply outrageous,” “President Duterte’s manner of speaking is utterly disgusting.” TYPES OF NORMS 4. Ethical or Moral Norm – “The moral or ethical norm refers to some ideal vision of [a human person], an ideal stage or perfection of [his/her being], which serves as the ultimate goal and norm. In This norm, the human person and its actions are judged to be right or wrong, good or bad Because of this ideal vision of what a human person should be. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRICIPLE 1.Reasonability – moral judgments must be backed by good reasons or arguments. something is right if it is “reasonable.” If it does not appeal to reason and common sense/experience, then it has to be viewed with suspicion and reservation. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRICIPLE 2. Impartiality - This means that an ethical or moral rule should be neutral when it comes to the question as to who are its recipients. Moral standards are supposed to apply to everyone regardless of one’s status and situation in life. To be impartial is to treat everyone alike, no one gets special treatment or favoritism. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRICIPLE 3. Prescriptivity This refers to the practical, or action- guiding nature of morality. This is also the commanding aspect of morality. Moral principles are generally put forth as some kind of commands or imperatives. Examples of this are : “Do not kill,” “Do no harm to your fellowmen,” “Love your neighbor,” “Do not steal,” “Tell the truth,” CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRINCIPLE 4. Overridingness Moral standards must have hegemony. This means that they should reign supreme over all the other standards or norms of valuation, whatever they may be. They have predominant authority and override other kinds of principles. whenever there is a conflict between the moral norm and any other norm, the moral must prevail. morality over legality; morality over technicality; people over dogma. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRINCIPLE 5.Autonomous from Arbitrary Authority Moral standards should stand on their own logic independent of the arbitrariness of the majority. What is right is right even though no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRINCIPLE 6. Publicity - This means that moral rules and principles must be made public if they are to serve as clear guidelines to our actions. The obvious reason for this is that principles are made and promulgated to render advice as well as assign praise or blame to certain behaviors. For one cannot be made morally accountable for something which one truly does not know. Keeping them in secret defeats the very purpose why they are created. You do not hide something that you really think is genuinely good and noble. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRINCIPLE 7. Practicability - Moral rules should not be impossible to achieve or else they are not for men but for angels. They must be “workable,” and not “too idealistic.” Ethical standards must not be over what an ordinary human being is capable of doing. CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRINCIPLE 8. Universalizability – A moral rule or principle must be applicable to everyone, without exception, provided of course that all people are in a relevantly similar situation or context. “If I judge that an act is right or wrong for a certain person, then the act is right or wrong for any other relevantly similar person. the Golden Rule: “Do unto others what you want others to do unto to you,