ethics

sergio g imperio
spup
Course description

• a reflection on the morality of human acts,

on what it means to be a morally upright
person .
Course objectives:
• Gained knowledge of the ethical and moral principles
towards a good life
• Appreciated the relevance of these ethical and moral
principles to one’s daily life
• Manifested resolve to apply these principles in one’s
life.
General outline
• Introduction: Metaethics
• --- definition of ethics, ethics and morals
• --- divisions of ethics
• --- Metaethical issues in ethics
General outline
• Normative Ethical Doctrines
• --- Virtue Ethics
• --- Deontological ethics
• --- Consequentialist Ethics
• --- Duty Ethics
• --- Natural Law Ethics
• --- Ethics of Human RIghts
• --- Discourse Ethics
General outline
• Special Ethics
• --- Environmental ethics
• --- Business Ethics
• --- Feminist Ethics
• --- Biomedical Ethics
References:
• Pasco et al. Ethics. C&E Publications
• GEC 106 Module in Frontlearners
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://iep.utm.edu/ethics/
• The Basics of Philosophy: Ethics
https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_ethics.h
tml
• Crash Course Philosophy and other Ethics Videos in
YouTube
Grading and requirements
• Class standing and Quizzes– 40% ---- recitation, reaction, quizzes
• Major Project/activities ---- 30% --- 2 major activities per term
• Periodic Exam ------- 30%
• Total 100 %
i. introduction
Ethics defined
• The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves
systematizing, defending, and recommending
concepts of right and wrong behavior. (iep)

• The word "ethics" is derived from the Greek "ethos"

(meaning "custom" or "habit"). (pb)
• Ethics (or Moral Philosophy) is concerned with
questions of how people ought to act, and the
search for a definition of right conduct
(identified as the one causing the greatest good)
and the good life (in the sense of a life worth
living or a life that is satisfying or happy).(pb)
Ethics differs from morals
• Ethics differs from morals and morality in that ethics
denotes the theory of right action and the greater
good, while morals indicate their practice. (pb)

• Ethics is not limited to specific acts and defined moral

codes, but encompasses the whole of moral ideals
and behaviors, a person's philosophy of life (or
Weltanschauung). (pb)
Ethics asks questions like (pb)
• "How should people act?"

• "What do people think is right?"

• "How do we take moral knowledge and put it into

practice?" and

• "What does 'right' even mean?" (Meta-Ethics).

Divisions of ethics(iep)

•Philosophers today usually divide ethical

theories into three general subject
areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and
applied ethics.
Metaethics (iep)
• investigates where our ethical principles come from,
and what they mean.
• Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve
more than expressions of our individual emotions?
• Metaethical answers to these questions focus on the
issues of universal truths, the will of God, the role of
reason in ethical judgments, and the meaning of
ethical terms themselves.
Normative ethics (iep)
• takes on a more practical task, which is to arrive
at moral standards that regulate right and wrong
conduct.
• This may involve articulating the good habits
that we should acquire, the duties that we
should follow, or the consequences of our
behavior on others.
applied ethics (iep)

•involves examining specific controversial

issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal
rights, environmental concerns,
homosexuality, capital punishment, or
nuclear war.
seatwork

•What do you understand by

“goodness”? Why be “good”?
1. Metaethics (iep)
• The term “meta” means after or beyond, and,
consequently, the notion of metaethics involves
a removed, or bird’s eye view of the entire
project of ethics.
• We may define metaethics as the study of the
origin and meaning of ethical concepts.
1. Metaethics (iep)
• covers issues from moral semantics to moral epistemology.

• Two issues are prominent:

• (1) metaphysical issues concerning whether morality exists
independently of humans, and

• (2) psychological issues concerning the underlying mental

basis of our moral judgments and conduct.
a. Metaphysical Issues: Objectivism and
Relativism
• Metaphysics is the study of the kinds of things that
exist in the universe.

• The metaphysical component of metaethics involves

discovering specifically whether moral values are
eternal truths that exist in a spirit-like realm, or simply
human conventions.
a. Metaphysical Issues: Objectivism and
Relativism
• Objectivism
• Proponents hold that moral values are objective in the
sense that they exist in a spirit-like realm beyond
subjective human conventions.
• They also hold that they are absolute, or eternal, in
that they never change, and also that they are
universal insofar as they apply to all rational creatures
around the world and throughout time.
Examples….
• Honoring your parents is correct (4th
commandment)
• Killing another human being is wrong (5th
commandment)
• Lying is wrong (6th commandment)
• Stealing is wrong (7th commandment)
Examples:

•Max Scheler asserts that there is an

objective hierarchy of values:
•Not all values are equal in value; some
values are higher than the others….
Relativism
•Moral values are strictly human inventions-
moral relativism.
•There are two distinct forms of moral
relativism.

- Individual
- Cultural
• There are two distinct forms of moral relativism.

• The first is individual relativism, which holds that

individual people create their own moral
standards.
• Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, argued that
the superhuman(Ubermensch) creates his or her
morality distinct from and in reaction to the
slave-like value system of the masses.
• Relativism
• There are two distinct forms of moral relativism.

•The second is cultural relativism which

maintains that morality is grounded in the
approval of one’s society – and not simply in
the preferences of individual people.
Examples of cultural relativism
• Some cultures accept/tolerate the practice of
discrimination
• Women are regarded as inferior to men (gender
discrimination)
• Blacks, coloreds are inferior when compared to
whites (racial discrimination)
How to discover whether these practices are
ethical or not….
•Through ethical reflection… through
discourse/ dialogue
•debates
b. Psychological Issues in Metaethics
• A second area of metaethics involves the
psychological basis of our moral judgments and
conduct, particularly understanding what
motivates us to be moral.
• We might explore this subject by asking the
simple question, “Why be moral?”
i. Egoism and Altruism (iep)
• Egoism
• One important area of moral psychology
concerns the inherent selfishness of humans.
17th century British philosopher Thomas Hobbes
held that many, if not all, of our actions are
prompted by selfish desires.
i. Egoism and Altruism (iep)
• Egoism
•Even if an action seems selfless, such as
donating to charity, there are still selfish causes
for this, such as experiencing power over other
people.
•This view is called psychological egoism and
maintains that self-oriented interests
ultimately motivate all human actions.
 “I do good because I benefit
from it”
“I do good for it is good for me”
i. Egoism and Altruism(iep)

•hedonism
•Closely related to psychological egoism is a
view called psychological hedonism which is
the view that pleasure is the specific driving
force behind all of our actions.
“I do good because I derive
pleasure from it”
i. Egoism and Altruism (iep)
• Altruism
• 18th century British philosopher Joseph Butler agreed
that instinctive selfishness and pleasure prompt much
of our conduct.
• However, Butler argued that we also have an inherent
psychological capacity to show benevolence to others.
i. Egoism and Altruism (iep)
• Altruism
• However, Butler argued that we also have an inherent
psychological capacity to show benevolence to others.
• This view is called psychological altruism and
maintains that at least some of our actions
are motivated by instinctive benevolence.
Example:

•Dr. Florentino Hornedo’s previous lecture on

human nature and values emphasized that
man seeks for three kinds of goods or
values: monastic, economic, and political
values
Monastic values

•From Latin “mono”, one

•This refers to goods that when satisfied,
would benefit the individual
Economic values

•From Greek “oikos”, home

•This refers to goods that when satisfied,
would benefit the family
Political values

•From Greek “polis”, city

•This refers to goods that when
satisfied, would benefit the entire
community
The existence of the two other values

•Manifests that man is not only concerned

for his own welfare but also for the welfare
of others, and he is willing to sacrifice for
others….
“ I do good for the benefit of
others”
“To die that others may live”
Questions for reflection:
• Share instances when what you wanted(monastics) also
promoted the welfare of your family (economics) and society
(politics)
• Share instances wherein what you wanted(monastics) came
in conflict with what your parents wanted (economics)
• Share instances wherein you had to sacrifice your
welfare(monastics) for the sake of your family (economics) or
society (politics)
ii. Emotion and Reason
• A second area of moral psychology involves a
dispute concerning the role of reason in
motivating moral actions.
• If, for example, I make the statement “abortion is
morally wrong,” am I making a rational
assessment or only expressing my feelings?
ii. Emotion and Reason
•Emotivism
• On the one side of the dispute, 18th century British
philosopher David Hume argued that moral
assessments involve our emotions, and not our
reason.
• We can amass all the reasons we want, but that alone
will not constitute a moral assessment. We need a
distinctly emotional reaction in order to make a moral
pronouncement.
David Hume:
•“reason is, and ought to be, the
slave of the passions.”
• Emotivism---- prescriptive element
• Inspired by Hume’s anti-rationalist views, some 20th century
philosophers, most notably A.J. Ayer, similarly denied that
moral assessments are factual descriptions.
• For example, although the statement “it is good to donate to
charity” may on the surface look as though it is a factual
description about charity, it is not.
• Instead, a moral utterance like this involves two things. First,
I (the speaker) I am expressing my personal feelings of
approval about charitable donations and I am in essence
saying “Hooray for charity!”
• Rationalist approach
• From Hume’s day forward, more rationally-minded
philosophers have opposed these emotive theories of
ethics and instead argued that moral assessments are
indeed acts of reason.
• 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant is a
case in point. Although emotional factors often do
influence our conduct, he argued, we should
nevertheless resist that kind of sway. Instead, true
moral action is motivated only by reason when it is
free from emotions and desires.
Immanuel Kant:

•I did something good because I regarded it

as my DUTY to do good

•(in other words, reason impels me to do

good always)
Questions for reflection
• Share an instance wherein you were influenced to do
something out of pity or based on your emotions.
• Which would you rather follow: reason or emotion?
Why?
Ethics, moral dilemmas, and
values
Question for reflection
• Give examples of dilemma you have personally
encountered. What happened, and how did you
resolve it?
Question for reflection

•Give examples of dilemmas faced by our

government because of the COVID 19.
In short, dilemmas can be experienced
• In the PERSONAL and the
• SOCIAL levels…

• By PERSONS, INSTITUTIONS, including

GOVERNMENT
 To resolve moral dilemmas we often consult our
values for guidance.
Examples of value systems are
Hornedo’s values of monastics, economics, and
politics,
Christian teachings of material and spiritual values,
Max Scheler’s hierarchy of values
Christian value system

•Source: teachings of Jesus Christ

•2 recognized values: material and spiritual
values
Material values:
• Also known as values of the world
• The world teaches us that the more we have of them,
the better person we become
• The direction: toward the self (egoism)
• These are the values of
• --- wealth
• --- power
• --- fame
Spiritual values
• Also known as the values of the Gospel, the values of the
Kingdom
• Jesus teaches us the right attitude towards material things:
• The direction: towards others (altruism)
• Use wealth for SHARING, to practice CHARITY, to give it away
• Use power for SERVICE, to SACRIFICE FOR OTHERS
• Use fame to INSPIRE OTHERS TO WORSHIP THE LORD, to
LEAD PEOPLE TO GOD
Max Scheler’s Hierarchy of
Values
Max Scheler’s Values
• Here are some Assumptions of Max Scheler on values:

•Some values are more valuable than the others.

•Values are objective; they come from society
•We are expected to sacrifice a lower value for a
higher value
Here are the values of Scheler’s hierarchy

HOLY @ UNHOLY (God)

SPIRITUAL(Moral)
VITAL (LIFE/SUCCESS)
SENSORY (PLEASURE)
SENSORY: the lowest value
• Values that cater to the senses, satisfy one’s
yearning for comfort and pleasure
• Pleasurable or not pleasurable?
• Examples: Our desire to eat delicious food, join
parties, stay in air-conditioned rooms …
• But being the lowest form of values, we are
expected to sacrifice them when confronted with
a higher value
Vital
• Values that pertain to:
• life or death? Health or sickness?
• Success or failure?
• Examples: when we stop eating sweet foods
because we have diabetes, focus on our needs
instead of wants, review in order to pass our exams,
etc.
• We sacrifice pleasure for them, but these values may
be sacrificed when confronted with a higher value
 Spiritual:
• Values that pertain to:
• Moral or immoral? Ethical or unethical? Justice or injustice?
• It is the pursuit of: Common good, freedom, human dignity,
honesty, loyalty, friendship, love
• This is manifested by heroes who sacrifice their lives for their
country, by honest men who return the money they found
even if they need it badly, by students who resist the
temptation to cheat, by politicians who govern according to
the principles of good governance, etc
Holy and unholy: the highest value
•Values that pertain to:
•Belief or unbelief?
•God or other?
•For Scheler, man must be willing to sacrifice
everything for the sake of God. For instance,
in the Bible, Abraham was willing to
sacrifice his son Isaac just to please God.
Questions for reflection
• Will you sacrifice your studies for love?
• What are you willing to give up just to succeed in
your studies?
• Will you sacrifice your career for justice and
truth?
Reference: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-law-and-
ethics.html
• The core difference between law and ethics is that
disobey of law attract penalties and punishment while
ethics there is no punishment but result in social
isolation.
• However, ethics are a fundamental principle of law.
Warning:
•What is legal is not necessarily moral,
and vice versa!
The value of ethics
•Philosophy is WISDOM OF LOVE;
•Ethics is the first philosophy…

•----Emmanuel Levinas
• Ethics has something to do with realizing the
fullest potential as free persons acting in the
world and doing right for others.
• It is about realizing what people intuit to be
good.
• It is not about practicality, efficiency, achieving
objectives, legality.
•Morality is the foundation of every human
society.
•( R. Agapay, Ethics and the Filipino)
•Without civic morality, communities perish;
without personal morality their survival has
no value
•--- Bertrand Russell
•No system of power can replace morality,
which is necessary in any human society.
•--- Mikhail Gorbachev
• At the bottom of our economic problems and
political instability is the weakness and
corruption of the moral foundations of our
society. We do need an economic recovery
programme. We also urgently need a moral,
intellectual, and spiritual recovery programme.

• --- Leticia Ramos Shahani (see Nick Juaquin, “The Pinoy X-

rayed”, PDI)
Major activity 1
• Create a PowerPoint presentation entitled “My Values in Life”. This
creative activity depicts your values and priorities and how you intend
to attain them; or how they affect your actions/life.
• The first slide contains the title “My Values in Life” , your name, and
your picture.
• Slides 2-10 (or 12) contains your top 7 values/priorities in textual and
picture form. For instance, my family is my priority and I spend quality
time with them. So, I place a picture of my family and how we spend
time together, etc. The number of slides you use should not exceed
until slide 12.
• Slide 13 is the “Thank You!” slide.
• Email your output to simperio224@gmail.com . Good luck!