MODULE 1 INTRODUCTION: KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

● Ethics is derived from the Greek word “Ethicos” which means character, custom or
manners.It is a science of character of an individual expressed as right or wrong conduct
or action.
● Socrates - On a day in 399 BC the philosopher Socrates stood before a jury of 500 of
his fellow Athenians accused of "refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state"
and of "corrupting the youth." If found guilty; his penalty could be death.
● Plato -He was Socrates’s student who took over the task when He (Socrates was
executed for allegedly “Corrupting the youth’s minds of Athens. Plato discussed every
kind of philosophical idea, including Ethics wherein he enhanced the ethical orientation
of philosophy by presenting on human life as a struggle to live what life is ought to be.
● Aristotle, a student of Plato, is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, who made
important contributions to logic, criticism, rhetoric, physics, biology, psychology,
mathematics, metaphysics, ethics, and politics.
● Rules are established to protect the weaker class in society since they are at a
disadvantage if such regulations are broken.
● Rules benefit man in various ways:
Rules protect social beings by regulating behavior - rules build boundaries that limit
man’s behavior. The rule is a means for imposing consequences on those who violate
them.
● Rules help to guarantee each person certain rights and freedom. Rules serve as
frameworks for society. Rules on a division of power and checks and balances further to
protect individuals' freedom and liberty.
● Rules produce a sense of justice among social beings. Rules are needed to keep
the strong dominates the weak, in other words, it prevents exploitation and domination.
● Moral Standard
○ Moral standards are norms that individuals or groups have about the kinds of
actions believed to be morally right or wrong, as well as the values placed on
what we believed to be morally good or morally bad.
○ Moral standards normally promote “the good”, that is, the welfare and well-being
of humans as well as animals and the environment.
○ Moral standards, therefore, prescribe what humans ought to do in terms of rights
and obligations.

● Non-Moral standard
○ Non-moral standards refer to standards by which we judge what is good or bad
and right or wrong in a non-moral way.
○ - Examples of non-moral standards are standards of etiquette by which we judge
manners as good or bad, standards we call the law by which we judge something
as legal or illegal, and standards of aesthetics by which we judge art as good or
rubbish.
○ Hence, we should not confuse morality with etiquette, law, aesthetics, or even
religion
 ● Reason and impartiality are the minimum requirements for a person to be considered
moral.
● Reason for morality tells those human feelings may be important but sound reasoning
helps us to evaluate whether our feelings and intuitions are correct and defensible.
● Impartiality, on the other hand, refers to the idea that each individual’s interests and
point of view are equally important.
● In short, impartiality is a principle of justice that holds a decision to be objective rather
than bias.
● Dilemma is a term used to a situation in which a tough decision is to be made between
two or more options.
● What are the three levels of moral dilemmas?
● Personal dilemmas - are dilemmas that are experienced on the personal level.s
● Organizational dilemmas - refer to ethical cases encountered by people in an
organization.
● Structural dilemmas - is wider in scope in which it involves cases of a network of
institutions that encompass multi-sectoral organizations.
MODULE 2
Topic #1: Definition of Culture and its Role in Behavior

Topic #2: Theories Explained

4.1. Social Convention Theory

4.2. Social Conditioning Theory

5. Topic #3: Analysis of Cultural Relativism

6. Valuable Lessons and Ethical Faults

Topic #4: Asian Moral Understanding (Filipino Moral Character) and Universal Values

Topic #5: Moral Character and Virtues

12. Topic #6: The Circular Relationship of Acts and Character

14. Topic #7: Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development

14.1. Level 1 (Stage 1 & 2)

14.2. Level 2 (Stage 3 & 4)

14.3. Level 3 (Stage 5 & 6)

Module # 3 - PART II: THE ACT
Topic 1: Feelings and Moral Decision-Making

3.1. Feelings as Instinctive Response to Moral Dilemmas

3.2. Feelings as Obstacles to Making the Right Decisions

3.3. Ethical Subjectivism

3.4. Emotivism
One way to look at Emotivism is to view it as an improved version of subjectivism. Considered
by its proponents as far more subtle and sophisticated than subjectivism. Considered by its
proponent as far more subtle and sophisticated than subjectivism. Emotivism is deemed
invulnerable to many objections. This theory was developed chiefly by the American
Philosopher Charles L. Stevenson (1909-1979) has been one of the most influential theories of
Ethics in the 20th Century.
3.5. Emotivism vs Subjectivism
3.7. Feelings and Decisions

4.1. Reason and Impartiality Defined

Reason. Humans have not only feelings but also reason, and reasons plays a vital role in
Ethics. In fact, moral truths of reasons; that is, a moral judgment is true if it is espoused by
better reasons than the alternatives.
Impartiality. On the other hand, impartiality involves the idea that each individuals interest and
point of view are equally important.

The 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model

1. Gather the Facts. Some moral dilemmas can be resolved just by clarifying the facts of
the case in question. But in more complex cases, gathering the facts is the
indispensable first step prior to any ethical analysis and reflection on the case.
2. Determine the Ethical Issues. The moral issues should be correctly stated in terms of
competing interests. It is these conflicting interests that practically make for a moral
dilemma.
3. Identify the Principles that Have a Bearing on the Case. What principles have a
bearing on the case? In any moral dilemma, there are sure moral values or principles
that are vital to the rival positions being taken. It is very significant value or principles
that are vital to the rival positions being taken. For Rae, biblical principles will be clearly
weighted the most heavily. But there may be other principles essentially relevant to the
case that may come from other sources.
4. List the Alternatives. This step involves coming up with various alternatives courses of
actions as part of the creative thinking included in resolving a moral dilemma.
5. Compare the Alternatives with the Principles. This step involves eliminating
alternatives according to the moral principles that have a bearing on the case. In many
cases, the case will be resolved at this point, since the principles will remove all
alternatives except one. As a matter, of fact, the purpose of this comparison is to
determine whether there is a clear decision that can be made without further
deliberation.
6. Weight the Consequences. If the principles do not produce a clear decision, then a
consideration of the consequences of the remaining available alternative is in order
7. Make a Decision. After deliberation, decision should be made.
Moral courage means doing the right thing even at the risk of inconvenience, ridicule,
punishment, loss of job or security or social status, etc. Moral courage requires that we rise
above the apathy or social status, etc.

7.2. Developing Will and Moral Courage

The following are tips or suggestions on how to develop will and moral courage.

1. Develop and practice self-discipline. .

2. Do mental strength training.
3. Draw inspiration from people of great courage.
4. Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will.

Module # 4 - FRAMEWORKS AND PRINCIPLES BEHIND OUR MORAL DISPOSITION

4. 1. Meta Ethics: Discussion
The branch of ethics that studies the nature of morality. As such, it talks about the meaning,
reference, and the truth values of moral judgments. It also explains what goodness and
wickedness mean and how we know about them.

1.1.a. Cognitivism states that moral judgments convey propositions that is, they are truth
‘bearers’ or they are either true or false. The most famous forms of cognitive ethics are the
moral realism and the ethical subjectivism. The most famous forms of cognitive ethics are moral
realism and the ethical subjectivism.
Moral realism claims that the existence of moral facts and the truth (or falsity) of moral
judgments are independent of people’s thoughts and perceptions. Morality is about objective
facts.
Ethical subjectivism holds that the truth (or falsity) of ethical propositions are dependent on
the attitudes or standards of a person or group of persons. Subjectivism is contrary to moral
realism.
1.1.b. Non-cognitivism denies that moral judgments are either true or false. It claims that
ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions, hence are neither true or false.
Emotivism is the most popular form of non-cognitive theory. Moral judgments are mere
expressions of our emotions and feelings. Like exclamatory sentences, ethical sentences
cannot be said to be either true or false according to the theory.
Moral universalism theorizes that moral facts and principles apply to everybody in all places.
Moral relativism submits that different moral facts and principles apply to different persons or
group of individuals.
Moral empiricism provides moral facts are known thru observation and experience. The theory
is an extension of ‘empiricism’ in epistemology which states that all knowledge of matters of fact
is derived from experience and that our mind is not equipped with pre-experience concepts.
Moral rationalism contends that moral facts and principles are knowable a priori, that is, by
reason alone and without reference to experience. In general, the theory relies on reason rather
than intuition in justifying a belief or action.
Moral intuitionism submits that moral truths are knowable by intuition, that is by immediate
instinctive knowledge without reference to evidence.
Normative Ethics Branch of ethics that studies how man ought to act, morally speaking. This
branch evaluates standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions and determines a moral
course of action.
Deontology bases morality on independent moral values or duties. Deon means ‘duty’ implying
the foundational nature of man’s duties and obligations.
Teleology determines moral actions by their outcomes or results. Telos means ‘end’, which
takes into account the end of the result of the action.
Virtue ethics places emphasis on developing good habits of character like kindness and
generosity. Give importance to moral education which molds individuals to habitually act in a
virtuous manner.

Bioethics concerns ethical issues pertaining to life, biomedical researches, medicines, health
care, and medical profession. It deals with controversies like surrogacy, stem cell research,
genetic manipulation of fetuses, in-vitro fertilization, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, patent
rights, confidentiality of patient’s records, and others.
Environmental ethics deals with moral issues concerning nature, ecosystem, and its
nonhuman contents. It includes animal rights and experimentation, endangered species
preservation, pollution control, and sustainable development.
Business ethics examines moral principles concerning business environment which involves
issues about corporate practices, policies, business behaviors, and the conducts and
relationships of individuals in the organizations.
Sexual ethics studies moral issues about sexuality and human sexual behavior. It examines
topics like homosexuality, lesbianism, polygamy, pre-marital sex, marital fidelity, contraceptive,
and others.
Social ethics deals with what is right for a society to do and how it should act as a whole. Its
focus is on what may be deemed as proper behavior for people as a whole. It deals with racial
discrimination, death penalty, nuclear weapon production, gun control, drug use and welfare
rights.
Virtue Ethics: Concept:
2.1 Virtue Ethics is a moral philosophy that teaches that an action is right if it is an action that a
virtuous person would perform in the same situations. According to the theory, a virtuous person
is someone who acts virtuously and people act virtuously if they possess and live the virtues. A
virtue is a moral characteristic that an individual needs to live well
Aristotle’s Ethics concerns morality, the Eudemian Ethics and the Nicomachean Ethics are
the one’s famous for this. But since only a few have studied the former, the Nicomachean Ethics
has been regarded as the Ethics of Aristotle since the beginning of the Christian era.
 ● Three general descriptions, which are interrelated, can be used to depict Aristotle’s
ethics.
○ First, his ethical system may be termed “self-realization.” In his philosophy,
when someone acts in line with his nature or end (‘telos’) and thus realizes his
full potential, he does moral andwill be happy.
○ Like Plato’s and most of the other ancient philosophers’ ethical theories,
Aristotle’s view is also of a type known as eudaimonistic. As such, it focuses on
happiness (eudaimonia), or the good for man, and how to obtain it.
○ Finally, his moral philosophy is aretaic, or virtue-based. Whereas act-oriented
ethics is focused mainly on what we should do, a virtue ethics is interested
basically in what we should be, that is, the character or the sort of person we
should struggle to become.
ARISTOTLE’S TELOS
‘Telos’ is a Greek word which means end or purpose. Aristotle believes that the essence or
essential nature of things, including humans, lay not at their cause (or beginning) but at their
end (‘telos’).
HAPPINESS AND VIRTUES
Aristotle believes that the ultimate human goal is self-realization. This entails achieving one’s
natural purpose by functioning or living consistently with human nature. Accomplishing it, in turn,
produces happiness; whereas inability to realize it leads to sadness, frustration, and
ultimately to poor life.
VIRTUE AS HABIT
Aristotle’s ideas of happiness should also be understood in the sense of human flourishing. This
flourishing is attained by the habitual practice of moral and intellectual excellences, or virtues.
VIRTUES AND THE GOLDEN MEAN
Virtue refers to an excellence of moral or intellectual character. As mentioned earlier, Aristotle
distinguishes two kinds of virtue: virtues of intellect and moral virtues. The first corresponds to
the fully rational part of the soul which can ‘obey reason’. Moral virtue is an expression of
character, formed by habits reflecting repeated choices, hence is also called virtue of character.
PRONESIS AND PRACTICE
In using the golden mean to become virtuous, we must recognize not only that the mean is
neither too much nor too little but also it is relative to us’ as moral agents.