UNIT 1 - INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

ETHICS (Moral Philosophy)

- Branch of Philosophy that explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates human actions.
- It is a discipline or study in which we ask- and attempt to answer- basic questions about key areas
or subject matters of human life and about pervasive and significant aspects of experience.
- The study of human conduct impacting other humans.
- An inquiry into some standard to guide one’s action, or as a tool to understand a given condition.
- Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “characteristic way of acting”
 Ethos – characteristics belonging to man as a rational being with intellect free will.
- Defined as the science of Morality of Human Acts.
- May be described as a critical reflection on various life situations.
- Showcases the intimate connection between thought and action (theory and practice).
- It asks basic questions about the good life, about what is better and worse, about whether there is
any objective right and wrong, and how we know it if there is.
- Ethics as an academic discipline helps us understand and adapt to situations that affect our lives.
- Ethics as a Philosophical and practical science, is a systematized body of knowledge that deals with
the study of the ultimate cause and principle of the morality of human act performed by means of
human reason alone.

Ethics as a Science
That which is a systematized body of knowledge is science;
Ethics is a systematized body of knowledge;
Therefore, ethics is a science.
> It includes data on the morality of human acts that are put together and arranged in order.
Such order along with the causes and reasons by which said data are considered factual,
makes it systematized body of knowledge.

Ethics as a Philosophical Science

That which takes a look at the ultimate cause and principle of reality by the use of human reason
alone is philosophy;
Ethics takes a look at the ultimate cause and principle of reality (the morality of a human act) by
the use of human reason alone;
Therefore, ethics is philosophy.
> Deals with the ultimacy of the cause and principle concerning the morality of a human act in
the light of human reason alone.
> It does not only explore the truth by asking the question ‘how’, which is the concern of
empirical science but most significantly, by asking the question ‘why’ – viewed from what can
ultimately be known about the morality of a human act as far as human intelligence can afford.
Examples:
 “Why is good, good?” (What makes it good?)
 “Why is evil, evil?” (What makes it evil?)
> Ethics can also be called as Moral Philosophy since it delves into the morality of a human act
in its ultimate cause and principle by means of human reason alone.

Ethics as a Practical Science

The study of that which is to be acted upon is a practical science;
Ethics deals with the study of that which is to be acted upon;
Therefore, ethics is a practical science.
> It provides a body of knowledge which is not only an intellectually stimulating knowledge
source, but it is also applicable in daily human conduct and activity.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
1. Ethics directs man to know the truth of what a morally upright life is as opposed to what is not.
2. It urges man to engage in the performance of human conduct according to the said truth devoid
of errors and falsities.
3. It ensures that all forms of human activities are undertaken in good moral standing.
4. It paves the way to the right living in every endeavor, profession, and venture man deals with his
life.
a. Ethics guides a person in the practice of what truly constitutes “good manners and right
conduct” and in avoidance of what makes up “bad manners and bad conduct”.
5. It sets the proper direction for a man to attain not just his proximate end but also his ultimate end
toward which his existence is directed.

SOURCES OF ETHICS/MORAL PHILOSOPHY

 Human Reason – serves as a primary source of ethics
 Experience
o Personal Experience
o Experience of others
 Contemporary/Historical
» Since the primary source of ethics is based on human reasons, ethics looks only into its
natural end – to which the study of ethics in the light of reason is directed – which is the
acquisition of ethical knowledge and its application on human conduct.

2 PRINCIPAL PARTS OF ETHICS

1. General Ethics – presents truths about human acts and from these truths deduces the
general principals of morality.
2. Special Ethics – applied ethics
- Applies the principles of general ethics in different departments of human
activity, (both) individual and social.
- 2 Divisions of Special Ethics
o Individual Ethics
 As regards God
 As regards self
 As regards fellowmen
o Social Ethics
 In the family
 In the state
 In the world (International ethics)

2 DIFFERENT WAYS TO STUDY ETHICS

1. Meta-ethics – “meta” = BEYOND
- Examines the question of whether or not ethics is possible.
- Deals with the question whether or not the ethics or ethical theory exists.
- It does not concern itself with the determination of the ethical quality of specific
cases like child labor, human trafficking, or gender equality.
- It seeks to understand the meaning of ethical terms and judgments.
- It examines the validity of the standards that make such judgment of right or
wrong possible.
- Provides the clarification necessary for a more enriched treatment of normative
ethics.
 Main concern : Arguments that are so called “threats to ethics”
o 7 Threats to Ethics According to Simon Blackburn
 a. Death of God
b. Relativism
c. Egoism
d. Evolutionary Theory
e. Determinism and Futility
f. Unreasonable Demands
g. False Consciousness
2. Normative Ethics – concerns with what theory is applicable in light of a given situation.
- It determines the ethical quality of particular cases.
- Concerned with the criteria of what is morally right or wrong.
- Includes the formulation of moral rules that have direct implications for what
human actions, institutions and ways of life should be like.
- Supplies the questions that fuel the critical examination of meta-ethics.
- Typically contrasted with theoretical ethics or meta-ethics, which is concerned
with the nature rather than the content of ethical theories and moral judgments,
and applied ethics, or the application of normative ethics to practical problems.
- Central question: Determine how basic moral standards are arrived at and
justified.
o Answers fall into:
 Deontological
 Do not appeal to value considerations in establishing ethical
standards.
 Uses the concept of their inherent rightness in establishing such
standards.
 Calls for doing certain things on principle or because they are
inherently right, whereas a teleological approach advocates that
certain kinds of actions are right because of the goodness of their
consequences.
 Stress the concepts of obligation, ought, duty, and right and
wrong, while teleological theories lay stress on the good, the
valuable, and the desirable.
 Set forth formal or relational criteria such as equality or impartiality;
teleological theories, by contrast, provide material or substantive
criteria, as, for example, happiness or pleasure.
 Teleological/Consequentialist
 Consider the goodness or value brought into being by actions as
the principal criterion of their ethical value.

THE MATERIAL AND FORMAL OBJECTS OF ETHICS

The material object of science is the subject matter with which science deals in its study. In the
case of ethics, the material object is the human act or human conduct.

The formal object of science is the very viewpoint, setting, or perspective employed in dealing
with its material object. In the case of ethics, the formal object or perspective is the morality or moral
rectitude of the human act.

MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS

MORALITY
- Quality of human acts by which some of them are called good or right while others are evil or
wrong.
- It is determined by the kind of human act that is performed.
- The measure of relation between the human act performed and its norm (Divine Reason and
Will manifested in the eternal law) which can be recognized in the order of existence of things.

ETHICS AND MORALITY

Morality and ethics are two distinct concepts; in the former rules and standards precedes
action; in the latter action proceeds from understanding and inquiry.

Relation
a. Both ethics and morality deal with
human act or human conduct.
b. Ethics studies about morality.
c. Morality gives ethics a perspective of
what to study about – that is the
rectitude of whether an act is good or
bad.
d. Morality provides ethics with a quality
that determines and distinguishes right
conduct from wrong conduct.
Distinction
a. Ethics pertains to the acquisition of
knowledge of what to study about;
Morality pertains to the application of this
knowledge in the performance of human
act.
b. Ethics provides learning about the
morality of a human conduct; Morality
provides ways of practicing what is
learned.
c. Ethics is the ‘word’; Morality is the
‘flesh’.
d. Ethics indicates the ‘theory’;
Morality indicates the ‘practice’.

CONCEPTS ON MORALITY
Standards of morality is often subjected with to subjectivism and relativism.

Subjectivism – doctrine that determines the moral quality of an act in the view of the subject, the
self or the person performing it.
- Subject: Measure and Criterion of Morality
 What a man regards as good will be good and what he regards
as evil is evil.
- Moral Standards are purely within the subject devised out of his mental state,
orientation and values.
- There is no existing measure of the morality of an act outside of the subject.

Relativism – a doctrine in which the moral judgment of an act is anchored on its relation to
circumstances, situations and the like.
- Negates any measure of existing moral conduct independently of its relation to
circumstances and situations.

Expounded Doctrines of the Subjectivity and Relativity of Morality

a. Egoism
» This doctrine holds that the morality of an act is determined by what serves the interest of the
self.
» What is good or evil is conditioned by what one thinks, feels, or wishes in affirmation of what
it means to be “true to oneself.”
Example: Maligning another person’s reputation is good if it is seen as that which will uplift
the self.
b. Utilitarianism
» This doctrine derives the moral quality of an act from its usefulness and its desired results.
 » What is useful is good, what is useless or futile is evil.
Example: If cheating is useful for one to achieve his goal of passing an examination, then it
must be good.
c. Hedonism
» This doctrine asserts pleasure of whatever form, is the only basis from which the moral
quality of an act can be derived.
» What is pleasurable and comfortable is good and its opposite is evil.
Example: Premarital sex is good for it gives a lot of pleasure, while abstinence from it is evil
for it requires mortification and self-discipline causing a certain sense of “self-agony”.
d. Altruism
» This doctrine sounds reasonable compared to the previous ones. It seems in accord with the
fundamental principles of morality.
» Contrary to egoism.
» Draws the goodness of an act not out of selfishness but out of others’ interests and
advantage.
» What is beneficial to others is right and what is detrimental to them is wrong.
Example: Motivated by love and concern for her loved ones, a young lady blindly engages in
prostitution in an effort to feed them and sustain their daily living.
e. Situation Ethics
» Comes to the scenario which seems to be acceptable to all for having apparently addressed
some of the dangers posed in the aforementioned moral concepts, and for having seemingly
kept the sense of “regard” for the co-existence of human beings while retaining their
pluralistic standards of morality.
» It does not only aggravates the problem but offers more ambiguously conceived “measures”
of morality causing the postmodern man’s extreme alienation of his nature.
» 3 Common Maxims of Situation Ethics
o “Do what you think, feel, and wish is right as long as you do not impinge on others.”
 Appears to be a “safe” moral norm for it is apparently “thoughtful” of others.
 Has 2 parts:
 “Doing what you think, feel, and wish as right.”
 “Not impinging on others.”
 To make it right, the act is measured in terms of its consideration of others.
o “Respect one’s rights or freedom by not imposing your own concept of what is right or
wrong upon others or vice versa.”
 Appears to be a “safe” one for it is not intrusive and does not meddle on anyone’s
affairs. It even sounds highly adaptable to individuals without objection since anybody
can do anything he wants.
 The exercise of rights and freedom is defined in terms of the absence of imposed
moral norms.
o “Do what you think is helpful and of service to others”
 Has the highest value out of the 3 maxims.
 Takes on a positive form of regarding others and what is beneficial to them.
 Apparently in line with the Christian Charity.
 Runs deficient in addressing what determines who determines what is helpful and of
service to others.

OBJECTIVE MORALITY
- Is made possible when it is anchored on a certain unquestionable standard or norm existing
outside of the subject, of individual persons.
- The act has to be in agreement with the dictates of right reason and with God’s Moral Law
provides considering that the latter is obviously, of a higher degree.
NATURE OF HUMAN ACT

HUMAN ACTS/HUMAN CONDUCT

- The material object of ethics which refers to the act done by a human person in which his
rational and higher faculties of intelligence and freewill are utilized contrary to those acts in which said
faculties are not used.

ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN ACTS

1. Performed by a conscious agent.
2. Acting freely, by his own volition & powers.
3. Agent decides willfully to perform the act.

KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS

1. Elicited Acts
> Kinds of Elicited Acts
1. Wish – tendency of the will towards something realizable or not.
2. Intention – tendency of the will towards something attainable.
3. Consent – acceptance of the will
4. Election – selection of the will
5. Use – command of the will
6. Fruition – enjoyment of the will

2. Commanded Acts
– Done either by man’s mental or bodily powers under the command of the will.
– Kinds of Commanded Acts:
1. Internal Actions – are conscious reasons, recalling something, encouraging oneself
2. External Actions – walking, eating

WHAT MAKES REASON RIGHT?

• When it is in conformity with the truth which must be objective in its sense. Truths capability of
being recognized is anchored upon the intrinsic demand of human nature which is the same and
never changes among all men.

DICTATOR OF REASON –stands for norms of morality

WHAT MAKES AN ACT GOOD OR EVIL?

 An act is good when it is in agreement or in conformity not only with the dictates of right reason.
 An act is evil when it is not in agreement or not in conformity with and as in transgression of the
dictates of right reason.

CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIONS, BASED ON THE NORM OF MORALITY

1. Moral Action – actions in conformity with the norm of morality.
2. Immoral Actions – bad or evil actions, not permissible
3. Amoral Actions – neither good nor bad.

IMPUTABILITY OF HUMAN ACTS – means that the person performing the act is liable for such an
act because he assumes full responsibility and accountability for his decisions.
ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACT
1. Knowledge
- The act is done in the light of the agent’s knowing faculty.
- Man is aware and conscious of what he is doing. He knows what the performance of his acts
means.
2. Freedom
- The act is performed in accordance with and not against the will.
- Is under the control of the will determining the act.
3. Voluntariness
– Comes from the Latin word “voluntas” referring to the Will.
– The act done by the agent is intentional.
– Takes place only when knowledge and freedom are present
– Kinds of Voluntariness
1. Perfect Voluntariness – a person fully knows and intends an act.
2. Imperfect Voluntariness – a person who acts without intending the act.
3. Conditional Voluntariness – a person is forces by circumstances beyond his control to
perform an act which he would not do under normal condition.
4. Simple Voluntariness – a person doing an act willfully either:
a. Positive – the act requires performance of an activity.
b. Negative – the act that requires the omission of activity.
- Types of Voluntariness
1. Direct Voluntariness – accompanies an act which is primarily intended by the doer.
2. Indirect Voluntariness – accompanies an act which is the result of a directly willed act.

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

– Factors that influence the man’s inner disposition (the mental and emotional state) towards
certain factors, hence the voluntariness and the accountability of the act is increased or
decreased.

I. Ignorance
- The absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess.
- 2 Types of Ignorance
1. Vincible Ignorance – can be cured through ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts.
- Principle: It lessens the voluntariness and accountability of the act.
 Affected Ignorance – a vincible ignorance which a person keeps by positive efforts to
escape responsibility.
- Principle: It increases the accountability over the resultant act.
2. Invincible Ignorance – type which a person possesses without being aware of it.
- Principle: It renders an act involuntarily.

II. Passions
- May be called Concupiscence.
- It can either be:
A. 1. Positive Emotions – tendencies toward desirable objects.
(E.g. love, desire, delight, hope & bravery)
2. Negative Emotions – tendencies away from undesirable or harmful objects
(Hatred, horror, sadness, despair, fear and anger)
B. 1. Antecedent Passion – predispose a person to act
- Principle: It diminish the accountability for the resultant act.
Example: “Crimes of Passion” – voluntary act, but passion interferes
with the freedom of Will, one’s accountability is diminished.
2. Consequent Passions – those that are intentionally aroused.
 - Principle: It increases accountability.

III. Fear
- Disturbance of the mind of a person confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself
or loved ones.
- Act done with fear : a normal response to danger; voluntary
- Acts done out of fear: included the doer to act in a predetermined manner without his full
consent.
- Principles
o Acts done with fear are voluntary.
o Acts done out of fear are is simply voluntary/conditionally voluntary
o Acts done of intense fear/panic are involuntary

IV. Violence
- Refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent to compel said
person to act against his will.
- Principles
o External actions performed by a person subjected to violence, which reasonable
resistance has been offered are involuntary.
o Elicited acts are those done by the will are voluntary.

V. Habits
- A lasting readiness born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain matter (Glenn).

REFINEMENT OF EMOTIONS
 Ethics deals with emotions affecting behavior, it calls for refinement of emotions – it means that
man is expected to act not only of his mind and body but with his heart and soul.
 Filipinos refer to it as “kagandahan ng loob”, where it includes moral values as mapagmahakm
maunawain, may pakiramdam, etc.