Ethics Module 1 PDF

MODULE 1 THE SCOPE AND MEANING OF ETHICS Time Allotment: 9 hours/Week 1 Instructor: Lovelyn L. Granfiel Email Add: [email protected] I. COURSE OUTCOMES: CLO1. Differentiate between moral and non-moral problems. CLO2. Describe what a moral...

MODULE 1 THE SCOPE AND MEANING OF ETHICS Time Allotment: 9 hours/Week 1 Instructor: Lovelyn L. Granfiel Email Add: [email protected] I. COURSE OUTCOMES: CLO1. Differentiate between moral and non-moral problems. CLO2. Describe what a moral experience is as it happens in different levels of human experience. CLO4. Describe the elements of moral development and moral experience. II. INTRODUCTION Man alone of all earthly creatures is a moral being. He endowed with the great gift of freedom of choice in his actions, yet he is responsible for his own freely chosen acts, his conduct. He distinguishes between right and wrong, good and bad in human behavior. He can control his own passions. He is the master of himself, the sculptor of his own life and destiny. This moral power in man is the most distinctive features of the human personality. For MAN is principally and primarily a human person whose highest faculty is moral power, his willpower, his freedom. Viewed in this perspective, everything Human has naturally a moral bearing, reference and relevance. Thus, to be truly human, is to be moral which is the essence of ethics. Ethics is the philosophy of life. It delves into the deepest whys and wherefores of human existence, men’s actions, problems and destiny. To live well and happy we must know what we are living for. This is taught to us by ethics, that investigates the meaning and purpose of human life. According to Socrates the unexamined life is not worth living for a man. Plato proclaimed ethics as the supreme science, the highest in the hierarchy of human values, as it is Ethics that is concerned with the attainment of life’s greatest Good and Goal-- HAPPINESS. We will discuss ethics further in this chapter.  III. TEACHING-LEARNING ACTVITIES A. Engage Try to remember the moments when your life was shaped as a young person. Recall the values your parents passed on to you. Then, choose six core values that you and your young person believe would be good ones to embrace today. You may choose words as simple as honesty, service, or generosity., etc. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ B. Explore How do these values affect your life? Think of a specific situation in your life that you think has something to do with these values? Explain. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ C. Explain Definition of Ethics Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. From this etymological meaning, ethics is taken to mean as a philosophical science that deals with the morality of human conduct or human acts. General Ethics is a philosophical inquiry concerning norms of morality, its clarification, justification, and application in relation to good life. We derive from this definition the following elements of general ethics:  First, general ethics is a philosophical inquiry. It is based on reason and not on divine revelation. Meaning, it establishes its claims and justification through the aid of human reason alone. Second, it is about an inquiry on moral norms or standard of what is good and what is evil, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, and tries to find out the strengths and weaknesses of moral positions and the arguments of ethical proponents. The principles in general ethics will help in resolving moral problems arising in the practice of the profession. Third, it is about the formation of moral character that can promote good life of the individual and of the society as whole. Ethics is merely concern in laying down the different moral perspectives. It is necessary to inquire to know the moral justification of an ethical theory. Since ethics is a branch of philosophy and philosophy is concerned with reason, we must direct our endeavor in searching for a reason towards ethical theories’ moral justification. It is a widely held definition that ethics is the study of the morality of human acts. It is also significant to study the moral basis why a human act is said to be moral or immoral. Ethics concerns not only the basis of what is good or bad but also the basis of our being as well because our moral perspective reflects the kind of character we have. The study of ethics aims not only to give students information but also guide them on things they want to change in themselves. It is not merely information but transformation of one’s character and giving individual a moral paradigm in making moral decision. It aims also to widen student’s in looking of reality. The Idea of Good “Good” has been given various meanings and justification by several philosophers. According to proponents a situation or an action may have two moral spectrums: the first considered that goodness lies in an action itself which is the position of the so-called deontologist and the second considered that goodness lies in the consequences of an action, which is the position of the so-called consequentialist. Let’s consider the instance when we were children, parents do usually tell their children not to hit other kids because according to them hitting or spanking is bad. Hitting is bad, and that’s it, period. Other parents would rather focus on explaining the consequences of the action. They would tell their children that hitting or spanking is bad because the other child gets hurt, physically and emotionally. When do we say that an action is good? According to Aristotle, the goodness of an action lies in the action itself whatever consequences it may occur. For instance, the act of “truth telling”, whatever consequences it may incur, is good itself. What is essential if you do the right things base on your deliberation on what is good. It is very important to understand this idea of good because there are situations where some of our actions accrued negative consequences even though we have good intention in performing an action. Let’s consider this situation: A teacher defends the school which he works for from his co-teachers badmouthing and engaging in activities degrading the school’s integrity. The teacher tells his colleagues not to bite the hand that feed them. He believes this is the right thing to do- to defend his school, to show loyalty. However, his colleagues got offended and later resort to being unfriendly and indifferent to the teacher. They even conspire to make a sinister move against the teacher. Reflecting on this situation, is the teacher’s action good because loyalty is good in its nature or it is wrong because of its consequences? The human good can be achieved through and by action, especially when it is a good action. The good for Aristotle is attainable by action. It is not something beyond the practical life of man. As Plato conceived it, the good lies in the other realm and possesses independent existence. It is a thing as such. The problem here is how it is connected to the world, to the practical life of man. For Aristotle, however, the good is a human act and not an abstract idea. Aristotle also mentioned the good of a man which can be further understood in his theory of the Ergon which states, that “So the goodness and performance of man would seem to reside in whatever is his function” (Ostwald, 1962). Everything in the universe has a function and because everything has a function, man has a function as well. There is purpose in being human. That’s why it is significant to know precisely the proper function of man and whatever we do that can flourish out ability to act rationally is good for man. Value Is the value of something intrinsic or is something valuable because it is valued? This is a question regarding values. According to the voluntarist conception, valuing is the ground value. A thing can only be valuable when it is valued; therefore, it has no intrinsic value. As a consequence, there are no other considerations to account on value so long as something is that being valued is valuable. For instance, studying has no intrinsic value unless it is valued by an individual. We can observe that there are people neglecting their studies. Is that because they are lazy or because it is not valuable for them? On the contrary, if value is will, choice or desire independent, how can it be an action guiding? How can it stimulate action if it is not valuable to a person? That’s why it is very important to look again at the definition of good in relation to value. Good is everything that is desirable but we know for a fact that there are things that we do not value but valued by others. In other words, not just because a thing is not desirable for me, it does not have value. On the other hand, the value of something may not be intrinsic but int the state potentiality which can be actualized and achieved through valuation. Virtue Imagine a person being lectured by his teacher on how to drive a bicycle. After the lecture, do you think the student would have learned driving a bicycle? Imagine another student being taught of driving a bicycle with his teacher holding the bicycle seat while running along with the bicycle. The student keeps on falling but the teacher never stopped guiding him. Do you think the student would learn driving? The same with virtue, it is formed through action, by performing an action. The student who actually rides a bicycle will most likely learn how to run a bicycle. Likewise, a person learns how to be generous by performing a generous act and learns how to be courageous by performing courageous act. Virtue is a disposition or character that enables its possessor to perform a noble or good action according to the mean as determined by practical wisdom. 1. It is a character realized in an action according to the mean. It is character formed and integrated in us when we do good actions (eupraxia) repeatedly (habit), as much as when a bad action is done over and over it gradually becomes a vice. 2. Virtue enables its possessor to perform a noble or good action. It is only in having a good character that a person performs a good action according to the mean. That’s why it is very important that a person is taught of good during childhood. 3. It is through practical wisdom that a person can become virtuous because it is through practical wisdom that we may have a clear understanding of what is good and it is the enabling virtue that put us into action. It is a character. For even a vicious person may perform an action the way it was done by virtuous person. So, an action may vary depending on the person’s character performing the virtuous action. Therefore, if an action is done by a person of good character, that action can be called virtuous action. That’s why it is important that we know that virtue is a character. It is not a capacity because capacity comes from nature, but virtue is formed through habit. If virtue comes from nature, there is no way to change it. It is not a capacity for even a person may have the capacity to perform a virtuous action but opt not to do so. It is not a feeling for we cannot be praised nor blamed for our feelings. Virtue is a character and a person who has a virtuous character performs a good action and performs for the sake of performing good action, not for other reason. For instance, a person may perform a generous act nut intends other people to see his action. However, to a virtuous person, what is significant is the performance of good action and not the reaction of other people towards the action. Virtue enables its possessor to determine the end and practical wisdom guides our character to move towards the end. Because even if we know that our end must be the good, if we are not able to prepare the way towards it we cannot be virtuous. That’s why Aristotle says, “It is impossible to be good in the full sense of the word without practical wisdom or to be a man of practical wisdom without moral excellence or virtue” (Ostwald, 1962). Practical wisdom is not only a guide to our character but it is united with it. Different Applied Fields in Ethics There are different ethical fields wherein the provision of general ethics can be applied. It is not enough to be acquainted with different ethical theories without gaining knowledge about their application in actual situations that we confront in our daily lives. We can come up with the realization of the significance of the different moral principles into their application in the setting of the different ethical fields. We can also come up with the realization of how valuable it is that an individual or groups have knowledge about moral principles and apply them in performing an action. 1. Bioethics/Biomedical Ethics - concerned with the rightness or wrongness of procedures that are performed in the practice of medicine and the provision of health care systems. Let us try to understand this description of bioethics in the light of this situation. “Theresa Ann Campo Pearson, an infant known to the public as “Baby Theresa” was born in Florida in 1992. Baby Theresa had anencephaly, one of the worst genetic disorders. Anencephalic infants are sometimes referred to as “babies without brains”, but that is not accurate. Important parts of the brain --the cerebrum and cerebellum are missing, as is the top of the skull. The brain stem, is still there, and so the baby can still breathe and possess a heartbeat. In the United States, most cases of anencephaly are detected during pregnancy, and the fetus are usually aborted. Of those aborted, half are still born. About 350 are born alive each year, and then they usually die within days. Baby Theresa’s story is remarkable only because her parents made an unusual request. Knowing that their baby would die soon and could never be conscious, Theresa’s parents volunteered her organs for immediate transplant. They thought her kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and eyes should go to other children who could benefit from them. Her physicians agreed. Thousands of infants need transplants each year, and there are never enough organs available. But Theresa’s organs were not taken, because Florida law forbids the removal of organs until the donor is dead. By the time Baby Theresa died, nine days later, it was too late-her organs deteriorated too much to be harvested and transplanted.  Baby Theresa’s case was widely debated. Should she have been killed so that her organs could have been used to save other children? (Rachels & Racchels, 2012). 2. Environmental Ethics - it covers acceptable or unacceptable actions affecting the environment (De Castro & De Villa, 2012). As what one of the green movements’ slogans is saying, “harm to the environment will bring harm to the people.” So, this particular ethical field promotes the welfare of human beings by promoting the well-being of the environment since we are part of it. Here is a simple example of an environmental ethical concern. There was a news that the mayor in one of the municipalities was trying to catch the endangered species Butanding in their seas because Butandings were eating small fishes in their bodies of water which was causing loss of income to the townspeople. Are you in favor of the mayor’s initiative? What is your moral valuation about the practice of catching sharks and to get their spin and returning the shark to the sea after? 3. Business Ethics - concerned with what is acceptable and unacceptable business code of conducts are affecting the business enterprises. And when speaking of the business enterprise, it includes both the owner or investor and or the consumer. This field measures and establishes guidelines for the economic dynamics as a whole, including the moral aspect of the supply and demand, the benefits-cost-profit ratio, rule of competition and fair opportunity for the consumers. Let’s also take a look at the example below. It is wrongful for a celebrity to endorse a product that may be harmful to consumers? Is it wrongful if a celebrity endorses a product that he or she does not use? What about the companies that set up these deals? Do they have any responsibilities to the celebrities who sign on with them? (Bredeson, 2012) 4. Legal Ethics - norms of conduct or standards that law practitioners, such as judges, lawyers, notary public, law makers, must follow in the practice of the profession. Relation of Ethics with Other Sciences Ethical science is particularly concerned with the study of man and human conduct and is, therefore, especially related to all those sciences dealing with the study of human nature and human living. 1. Ethics and Logic. - Logic is the science of right thinking. Ethics is the science of right living. But right living presupposes right thinking. Doing follows thinking. To think right often means to do right, as knowledge of right leads to the doing of right. Both ethics and logic aim at rectitude: the former aims at right doing; the latter, at right thinking.  2. Ethics and Psychology - Both deal with the study of man, human nature, and human behavior. There is, however, a basic difference. Psychology is not interested in the morality of human behavior, unlike ethics. Psychology studies how man behaves; ethics studies how man ought to behave. The word “ought” to be emphasized to show the difference: Ethics is concerned with moral obligation while psychology is not. 3. Ethics is related to Sociology - Ethics deals with the moral order which includes the social order. Whatever does violence to the social order does violence also to the natural and the moral order. Society depends on ethics for its underlying principles: Sociology deals with human relations in a society, but human relations are based on proper order and proper order comes only with proper observance of moral laws and principles which regulate the actions of men in a community. 4. Ethics and Economics - Man is also an economic being because he has to support himself by earning a living. He has to live by bread (though he does not live by bread alone). Economics and morality are two aspects of one and the same human nature. Economics deals with such topics as wages, labor, production and distribution of wealth. But will determine the relations between employer and employee, for instance? This and all other relations in business must be based on justice and charity which, after all are moral principles. In order that peace and happiness will prevail in a community, the actions of man must be governed by the invariable principles of morality. Morality and Other Phases of Human Life Life is a “many-splendored thing.” It is a unity of many aspects: the social, the economic, the moral, the physical, the religious, etc. Since the rational and the moral are the essential distinguishing characteristics of man (since these distinguish him from the other animals), it follows that morality is the basic element of human life and cannot be separated from the other phases of human activity. Ethics and Education - Education develops the whole man: his moral, intellectual and physical capacities. Since man, however, is primarily a rational moral being (endowed with reason and will, which ranks him above brute creation), the primary objective of education should be the development of these powers in man, which consists his true perfection. This recognized in our constitution when it mentions “moral character” as the first and primary aim of all education. “All schools should develop good moral character, personal discipline, civic consciousness, etc. Education, a great educator said, is life; it is con-extensive with life. With greater reason and emphasis, we can even say that ethics is life because ethics is the very science and art of human living, one that gives life its direction, goal, worth, and meaning. Ethics is both co-extensive and co-intensive with life.  Morality and Law - Morality and Law are intimately related. Right and wrong, good and bad in human actions presuppose a law or rule of conduct. Furthermore, the laws of the state are restatements, specifications or interpretations of an anterior natural moral law. There is, however, a striking difference between what is moral and what is legal. The legal only covers the external acts of man; the moral governs even the internal acts of man, such as the volitional and the intentional activities of the will and mind, I.e., man’s thoughts and desires. Ethics and Art - Ethics stands for moral goodness; art, for beauty. But as transcendentals the beautiful and the good are one. Evil always implies ugliness or defects and the good is always beautiful since it is the very object of desire and therefore, like beauty, pleases when perceived. The question often arises as to whether a piece of art which is offensive to morals can ever be considered beautiful. There can be no conflict between true art and true morality because both have the same aim: to arouse and to inspire the noble emotions of man. Consequently, a piece of art which arouses the basic impulses of man defeats the very purpose of art. Ethics and Politics - Man owes allegiance to the State. Politics aims at good government for the temporal welfare of the citizens. But between the temporal and the spiritual and eternal welfare there is no conflict. The two are inseparable in ma’s present state of experience, where the material and the spiritual, the body and the spirit, form one person. Politics has often become very dirty and the reason is precisely because it is divorced from ethics. Disorder and confusion inevitably follow in a state from such violations of ethical principles, as: electoral frauds, bribery, graft, blackmail, intrigue, etc. Religion and Ethics - The relationship between religion and ethics is the closest among the phases of human activity. This is evident from the following considerations: A) Both of these are based on the same postulates: 1. The existence of a Creator 2. Freedom of the will of man 3. Immortality B) Both have the same end- the attainment of man’s supreme purpose or man’s ultimate end. C) Both prescribe the same means for attaining the goal of man: right living. The question sometimes arises whether there can really be ethics apart from religion. The answer is that true ethics can never be separated from God. Reason: Ethics implies morality and morality presupposes a distinction between right and wrong in human actions. The Importance of Ethics The Importance of the study of ethics follows immediately from the importance of ethics itself. 1. Ethics means right living and good moral character, and it is in good moral character that finds his true worth and perfection. The supreme purpose of human living lies not in acquisition of material goods or bodily pleasures nor in the attainment of good health and strength, not even in the development of intellectual skills but in the development of the moral qualities which lift man for above creations. 2. Education is the harmonious development of the whole man- of all man’s faculties; the moral, intellectual, and physical powers in man. The highest of man’s powers in man. The highest of man’s powers are his reason and will. Thus, the primary objective of education is the moral development of the will. “Knowledge is good, bodily health and strength and strength are good, but first and above all- GOOD CHARACTER. 3. According to Socrates, “the unexamined life is not worth living: for man”. Ethics is the investigation of the meaning of life. That is why Plato calls and considers ethics the supreme Science, the Science par excellence, as it is this science that deals with the SUMMON BONUM, (HAPPINESS) the supreme purpose of human living. 4. Ethics is an indispensable knowledge. without moral perception, man is only an animal. For morality is the foundation of every human society: a. “without civic morality, communities perish,” b. “Without personal morality their survival has no value.” Every culture admits the importance of morality as a standard of behavior. When the moral foundations of a nation are threatened that society, itself is threatened. 5. Ethics is LIFE because ethics is the very science and art of human living, one that gives life its direction, goal, worth, and meaning. D. Elaborate Answer the question below: (15pts) Of all man’s activities, with what is ethics most intimately related? Justify your answer. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ E. Evaluate Answer the following questions. Use the space provided. (15 pts each) 1. Choose one from the choices given below, and discuss how ethics contribute to the moral development and moral experience of the people involved. a.) Bioethics b.) Environmental Ethics c.) Business Ethics d.) Legal Ethics ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Make a comparison on how values are taught before and now. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________