Ethics: An: Sir Anz Tolentino

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CHAPTER 1:
ETHICS: An
Introduction
Prepared by:
Sir Anz Tolentino
VIRTUE EXCELLENCE SERVICE
Lesson scope:
•Ethics and philosophy

•Ethics and morality
•Meta-ethics and
normative ethics
Ethics and philosophy

PHILOSOPHY
philia
love
(strong desire for a
+ sophia
wisdom
(correct application of
particular object) knowledge)
love of wisdom
PHILOSOPHY
• science that studies beings in
their ultimate causes, reasons and principles
through the aid of human reason alone.
*being/beings
- all things that exist:
material or immaterial
GOD, SOUL,
SPIRIT
Ethics and philosophy

Philosophy is concerned with basically four
(4) areas:
Epistemology
Metaphysics
Logic
Ethics
Epistemology (the study of knowledge)

Epistemology deals with the following questions:
1. What is knowledge?
2. What are the truth and falsity, and to what do they apply?
3. What is required for someone to actually know
something?
4. What is the nature of perception, and how reliable is it?
5. What are logic and logical reasoning, and how reliable is it?
6. What’s the difference between knowledge and belief?
7. Is there anything such as certain knowledge?
All these questions deals with absolutes and truth.

Metaphysics (the study of nature of reality)

Metaphysics deals with the following questions:
1. Is there really cause and effect in reality, and if

so, how does it work?
2. What is the nature of the physical world, and is
there anything other than the physical, such as the
mental or spiritual?
3. What is the nature of human beings?
4. Is there freedom in reality or is everything
predetermined?
Logic (the science of correct thinking)

Logic asks the following questions:
1. What is correct reasoning?
2. What distinguishes a good argument from a
bad one?
3. How can we detect a fallacy in argument?
4. What are the criteria in determining the
validity of an argument?
5. What are the types of logic?
Ethics (the study of morality)

Ethics deals with what is right or wrong in human
behavior and conduct. It asks such questions as:
1. What constitutes a person or action being good, bad,
right, or wrong, and how do we know (epistemology)?
2. What part does self-interest or the interest of others play in
making moral decisions and judgements?
3. What theories of conduct are valid or invalid and why?
4. Should we use principles or rules or laws, or should we let
each situation decide our morality?
5. Are killing, lying, cheating, stealing, and sexual acts right or
wrong, and why or why not?

Key Terms
1. Ethical – comes from the Greek word “ethos”,
meaning character. Ethics, then seems to pertain
to the individual character of a person or persons.
2. Moral – comes from the Latin word “moralis”,

meaning customs or manners morality seems to
point to the relationships between human beings.
3. Unethical – means wrong.

4. Immoral – means bad.

ETHICS
Chapter 1
WHAT IS ETHICS?
• A branch of Philosophy and a social science and academic discipline that

aids in understanding and adapting situations that affect lives.
• It is an inquiry into some standard to guide one’s action, or as a tool to

understand a given condition.
ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY
• Greece is traditionally considered the birthplace of philosophy.
• Early Greek thinkers realized they needed more than what poets and
storytellers could tell about the world around them.
• These Greek wise men were also recognized as “first natural scientists”
because of their efforts to understand the inner workings of nature through
theoretical experiments.
NOTED GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
• Thales of Miletus – postulated this primal matter to be water.
• Anaximander – a student of Thales, said this substance was unidentifiable

and called it “apeiron” (infinite).
• Anaximenes – a student of Anaximander said it was air.
• Anaxagoras – another Greek philosopher, traced all natural movements to
the ordering power of a cosmic mind or “nous”.
• Pythagoras – described their pursuit as “philo sophia”.
• Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
SOCRATES
• Appeared in 15th century B.C.
• Though not the first one, yet still
recognized for being the first to
redirect the focus of philosophy
from natural world to the human
person.
• Roam the street of Athens to teach
the importance of critical inquiry
beginning from his assumptions
about human beings.
SOCRATES
• He believed that if one knows
what the good is, one will
always do what is good.
• Thus, if one truly understands
the meaning of courage, self-
control, or justice, one will act
in a courageous, self-
controlled, and just manner.
PLATO
• He took place after his
teacher Socrates was
executed.
• Enhanced the ethical
orientation of philosophy, that
is, to live according to a
certain idea or form of what
life ought to be.
PLATO
• His conception of ethics is
happiness or well-being
(eudaimonia) is the highest
aim of moral thought and
conduct and the virtues
(arête) are the requisite
skills and dispositions
needed to attain it.
ARISTOTLE
• The student of Plato, who carried
on what Socrates and Plato
started as evidenced in the
famous Aristotelian work
“Nicomachean Ethics” – that
happiness is the end of human
endeavor.
• For him, a happy life is not just
merely an art of doing particular
tasks but also knowing what are
these for.
ARISTOTLE
• Hence, that people should
achieve an excellent
character as a pre-
condition for attaining
happiness or well-being.
ETHICAL DILEMMA
• Moral dilemma is a problem in the decision-making
between two possible options, neither of which is
absolutely acceptable from the ethical perspective.
• It is also referred as ethical dilemma.
• Ethical dilemma as a “decision-making problem
between two possible moral imperatives, neither of
which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. It
is sometimes called an ethical paradox in moral
philosophy.”
STEPS IN DEALING ETHICAL
DILEMMA
1. Identify the ethical problem.
2. Identify the ethical principles involved.
1. Principle of Socrates
2. Principle of Aristotle
3. Principle of Plato
3. List all possible course of action.
4. Describe the course of action you decide upon
and the rationale for choosing this decision.
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
1) An elderly woman living alone in poor circumstances with
few friends or relatives is dying, and you, her friend, are at her
bedside. She draws your attention to a small case under her
bed, which contains some mementos along with the money she
has managed to save over the years, despite her apparent
poverty. She asks you to take the case and to promise to
deliver its contents, after she dies, to her nephew living in
another state. Moved by her plight and by your affection for
her, you promise to do as she requests. After a tearful
goodbye, you take the case and leave. A few weeks later the
old woman dies, and when you open the case, you discover
that it contains $500,000 dollars. No one else knows about the
money, or the promise you made. You learn that the nephew
is a compulsive gambler and has a drug addiction.
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
2) Suppose you are a famous anthropologist. One day you
find a remote tribe in the middle of the Amazon rain
forest. The tribe is really surprised by your visit. After
all, you are the first stranger they have ever seen. The
tribe is just in the middle of a religious ritual. They are
preparing to execute 20 prisoners from a neighboring
tribe as a gift to the sun god. However, since they also
want to honor you, they offer you the honor of strangling
one of the prisoners with your own hands. If you do that
they will let the others go back to their own tribe. If you
refuse to accept this honor, they will sacrifice all 20
people. You try to tell them that your god does not allow
you to strangle people, but the tribe leader is unwilling to
make any deals. He is very clear, either you strangle one
of the prisoners or else all 20 will be killed.
NOTE IN ETHICAL DILEMMA
• If confronted with an ethical dilemma,

you have to choose either of the
following:
• greater good and less evil;
• do only what you can where you are;
• love and do what you will.
Ethics and Morality
Ethics refers to standards of
conduct, standards that
indicate how one should
behave based on moral
duties and virtues, which
themselves are derived from
principles of right and wrong.
Ethics and Morality
Moral is the adjective
describing a human act as
either ethically right or
wrong, or qualifying a
person, personality,
character, as either
ethically good or bad.
Moral Relativism
Values are determined by
the society we grow up in,
and there are no universal
values. Moral values are
simply customs or
conventions that vary from
culture to culture.
Moral Consistency
To what extent do you think the following individuals are
morally inconsistent?
A. an anti-abortionist who supports the death penalty

B. a vegetarian who buys leather shoes
C. a socialist who educates his children at a private
school
D. A politician who advocates family values and has
an affair
E. An environmental activist who drives an SUV
F. Someone who thinks stealing is wrong but makes
illegal copies of computer software or music.
How do I know what to do?
Can you choose three values which are universal for all humans? Why do
you think so?
We have clearly made scientific progress over the last three hundred years.
Does it also make sense that we have made moral progress?
Are serial killers “bad” or “mad”
Are people basically good, and corrupted by society, or are people basically
bad and must be kept in line by society?
Imagine that you arrive in a “democratic” country in which adult women have
the vote but men have no political power. When you interview them, the
men tell you that they are quite happy with the situation, that public life is for
women, and a man’s place is in the home. To what extent would you accept
the situation, and to what extent would you try to “re-educate” the men and
make them see the extent to which they have been indoctrinated?
Self Interest Theory
Human beings are always and everywhere selfish. Even
if there are objective moral values, we are incapable of
living up to them.
ｷ Definitional argument – we are selfish when we do

what we want to do, and we always do what we
want to do.
ｷ Evolutionary argument – humans are naturally
selfish - programmed (biologically) to survive.
ｷ Hidden benefits argument – selfish benefits to
helping others.
ｷ Fear of punishment argument – what if I get
caught? (Ring of Gyges).
Consider This…
Are people basically good, and
corrupted by society, or are people
basically bad and must be kept in
line by society?
Theories of Ethics
While it may be that some values are relative and that people are
often selfish, we do not have to conclude that all values are relative or
that people are always selfish. An ethical theory attempts to provide
a set of fundamental moral principles in harmony with our moral
intuitions.
Religious Ethics – an authoritative rule book to tell us what rules to

follow.
Duty Ethics - Fulfill your obligations. Duties and rights are two
sides of the same coin.
Utilitarianism – There is one and only one supreme moral principal –

that we should seek the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
Maximize happiness. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill (1800).
Kant’s Approach To Ethics – Can your actions be consistently

generalized? Ask yourself “What if everyone did that?”. According to
Kant, if something is wrong, it is always wrong!
Duty Ethics
Duties and rights are two sides of
the same coin.
Choose 2 rights from the UN

Declaration of Human Rights and
rewrite these to describe a human
“duty”.
Utilitarianism
We care about morality because we care about human
happiness
What do you think is the relationship between

pleasure and happiness? Is happiness just the
sum of pleasures, or can you have many
pleasures and still be unhappy?
Are the richest nations of the world home to

the happiest people in the world?
According to Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), “To

be without some of the things you want is an
indispensable part of happiness.” What did he
mean? Do you agree?
Kant’s Approach to Ethics
In Kant’s view, happiness does not equal
morality. Only a good will has ultimate
moral value. Moral rules should be
universal.
• Special pleading – rationalizing to

ourselves
• The golden rule - treat others the way you
wish to be treated
• Veil of ignorance - imagine the situation
from both points of view
Which of the following is a special
case that justifies breaking a generally
accepted rule?
1a. You should respect the highway code, but it is ok to drive through a red light if
you are late for work.
1b. You should respect the highway code, but it is ok to drive through a red light if
you are taking a critically ill person to the hospital.
2a. You should keep your word, but it is ok to break a social engagement if
something more interesting comes up.
2b. You should keep your word, but it is ok to break a social engagement if you
have just contracted an infectious disease.
3a. You should pay your taxes, but it is ok not to pay them if you are short of
money that year.
3b. You should pay your taxes, but it is ok not to pay them if they are being spent
on a nuclear arms program.
4a. Murder is wrong, but it would have been ok to assassinate Hitler in 1942.
4b. Murder is wrong, but it would be OK to kill someone planning a terrorist
attack.
Ethical Dilemmas
An elderly woman living alone in poor circumstances with few
friends or relatives is dying, and you, her friend, are at her
bedside. She draws your attention to a small case under her bed,
which contains some momentos along with the money she has
managed to save over the years, despite her apparent poverty.
She asks you to take the case and to promise to deliver its
contents, after she dies, to her nephew living in another state.
Moved by her plight and by your affection for her, you promise to
do as she requests. After a tearful goodbye, you take the case
and leave. A few weeks later the old woman dies, and when you
open the case, you discover that it contains $500,000 dollars. No
one else knows about the money, or the promise you made. You
learn that the nephew is a compulsive gambler and has a drug
addiction.
What would Kant say you should do?

What would John Stuart Mill say you should do?
What would you do? Why?
Ethical Dilemmas
Suppose you are a famous anthropologist. One day you find a
remote tribe in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. The tribe is really
surprised by your visit. After all, you are the first stranger they have
ever seen. The tribe is just in the middle of a religious ritual. They are
preparing to execute 20 prisoners from a neighboring tribe as a gift to
the sun god. However, since they also want to honor you, they offer you
the honor of strangling one of the prisoners with your own hands. If you
do that they will let the others go back to their own tribe. If you refuse
to accept this honor, they will sacrifice all 20 people. You try to tell
them that your god does not allow you to strangle people, but the tribe
leader is unwilling to make any deals. He is very clear, either you
strangle one of the prisoners or else all 20 will be killed.
What would you do? Why?

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Although it has been questioned as to whether it applied equally to different genders and different
cultures, Kohlberg’s (1973) stages of moral development is the most widely cited. It breaks our
development of morality into three levels, each of which is divided further into two stages:
Preconventional Level (up to age nine): ~Self Focused Morality~
1. Morality is defined as obeying rules and avoiding negative consequences. Children in this
stage see rules set, typically by parents, as defining moral law.
2. That which satisfies the child’s needs is seen as good and moral.
Conventional Level (age nine to adolescence): ~Other Focused Morality~
3. Children begin to understand what is expected of them by their parents, teacher, etc.
Morality is seen as achieving these expectations.
4. Fulfilling obligations as well as following expectations are seen as moral law for children in
this stage.
Postconventional Level (adulthood): ~Higher Focused Morality~
5. As adults, we begin to understand that people have different opinions about morality and
that rules and laws vary from group to group and culture to culture. Morality is seen as
upholding the values of your group or culture.
6. Understanding your own personal beliefs allow adults to judge themselves and others based
upon higher levels of morality. In this stage what is right and wrong is based upon the
circumstances surrounding an action. Basics of morality are the foundation with independent
thought playing an important role.
Integrity
What is integrity?
What does integrity mean to you? Do you aspire to be a
virtuous person?
Has someone of high moral principles been an inspiration to
you?
Reflection - Integrity
1. Have you had ethical dilemmas in your own
life? How did you reason your way through
them? What ethics theory best matches your
approach?
2. What does integrity mean to you? Do you
aspire to be a virtuous person? Has
someone of high moral principles been an
inspiration to you?
The Three Main Branches of the
Philosophical Study of Ethics
1.Meta-ethics
2.Normative Ethics
3.Applied Ethics
Meta-ethics consists in the attempt to answer the
fundamental philosophical questions about the nature
of ethical theory itself.
Examples:
1. Are ethical statements such as "lying is wrong", or "friendship is good" true or
false?
a) cognitivism: the view that moral judgments are capable of being true or
false
b) non-cognitivism: the view that moral judgments are not capable of being
true or false (instead they are like commands or interjections)
c) debate limited to statements like examples above NOT statements like
“Most Catholics oppose abortion”
Examples:
2. Assuming there are truths of morality, what sorts of facts make them true?
a) subjectivism: the view that moral truths are subjective, i.e., dependent
upon the subjective attitudes, values, desires and beliefs of
individuals, not on anything external to these things.
b) objectivism: the view that moral truths are objective, i.e., based on facts
that are independent of the attitudes, values, desires and beliefs of
any individual.
Examples:
3. What makes ethical discourse meaningful? Is it different from what makes
other sorts of discourse meaningful?
4. How do the rules of logic apply to ethical arguments and ethical

reasoning? Is it possible to validly infer a moral conclusion based on
non-moral premises?
Examples:
5. Assuming we have any, what is the source of our knowledge of moral
truths? Is it based on reason, intuition, scientific experimentation or
something else?
6. What is the connection (if any) between morality and religion? If God
exists, is God's will the basis of morality? Can there be morality if God
doesn't exist?
Normative ethics is the study of what makes actions
right or wrong, what makes situations or events good
or bad and what makes people virtuous or vicious.
1. Axiology: the study of goodness and badness.
Some theories:
a) hedonism: the theory that pleasure and the absence
of pain are the only things that are good in and of
themselves
b) desire satisfactionism: the theory that the satisfaction
of someone’s desire is the only sort of thing that is
good in and of itself
c) non-naturalism: the theory that being good is a
simple property that is irreducible or indefinable in
terms of anything else
2. Normative ethics of behavior: the study of right and
wrong. Some theories:
a) egoism: the theory that an action is right if an only if it

has the best consequences for the person doing it
b) utilitarianism: the theory that an action is right if and
only if its consequences are optimal, i.e., it
produces the best balance of goodness over
badness for everyone involved
c) Kantian deontology: the theory that an action is right
if and only if the person performing the act could
consistently will that the act become a universal
law
3. Virtue theory, the study of what makes a person’s

character morally praiseworthy
Applied ethics consists in the attempt to answer
difficult moral questions actual people face in their
lives.
For example:
1. Is abortion always morally wrong?

2. Is euthanasia always morally wrong?
Applied ethics consists in the attempt to answer
difficult moral questions actual people face in their
lives.
3. What about the death penalty?
sex before marriage?
so-called "white lies"?
being gay or lesbian?
fighting in a war?
using rough interrogation tactics on criminals?
eating meat?
using illegal drugs? ETC.
The difference between normative ethics and
applied ethics:
1. Normative ethics studies what features make an action

right or wrong.
Applied ethics attempts to figure out, in actual cases,
whether or not certain acts have those features.
2. If we agree that slavery is wrong…
but disagree about what makes it wrong…
…then our disagreement is a matter of normative ethics.
The difference between normative ethics and
applied ethics:
3. If we agree that morality is whatever produces the best

consequences…
but disagree about whether the death penalty produces
the best consequences…
…then our disagreement is a matter of applied ethics.
The Goal of Axiology
1. Axiology studies what makes things good

(or have value) or bad (or have disvalue)
2. A distinction is made between:

Intrinsic good: good in and of itself (inherently good)
Extrinsic good: good because it can be used to obtain
other things that are good (instrumentally good)
a) E.g., having money is extrinsically good
b) If money could not be used to obtain other things,
money would have no value
3. Much of axiology investigates what things are
intrinsically good
a) Many believe that pleasure has intrinsic value
b) It is good whether or not it leads to anything else
c) Does anything else have intrinsic value? knowledge?
friendship? love?
d) Some things might be both intrinsically and
extrinsically good
4. A distinction can also be made between things that are
intrinsically bad or extrinsically bad
a) pain is intrinsically bad
b) Drug use is probably only extrinsically bad;
if it didn’t have bad consequences it wouldn’t be bad
5. Some things can be both intrinsically good but

extrinsically bad
(e.g., the pleasure taken in unprotected sex)
6. Other things can be both intrinsically bad but
extrinsically good. (e.g., pain from exercise)
7. Related questions:
a) Is there a fact of the matter as to which is worse: my
headache or your toothache?
b) Are certain kinds of pleasure better than others?
c) What is the relationship between goodness and
badness? Is badness just the absence of goodness, or
is it something distinct?
The Goal of the Normative Ethics of Behavior
1. Primary question: What makes actions right or wrong?

2. An important distinction:
an act type is a category of actions
an act token is a specific action performed by a specific
person on a specific occasion
a) Jaywalking is an act type

b) My act of jaywalking across North Pleasant Street on
may way to campus this morning at 10:37am is an act
token
c) Two different people can each perform actions of the
same type
I can jaywalk at the same time that you jaywalk

d) a given act token will be an instance of many different
kinds of act types
The same act token can be an instance of:
(i) jaywalking
(ii) walking
(iii) crossing the street
(iv) doing something before noon
(v) doing something wearing pants
(vi) breaking the law, etc.
3. Most theories focus on the conditions under which an
act token is morally right or morally wrong
a) The conditions may refer to what type or types the
token is an instance of
b) However, focusing on tokens makes the theory more
flexible:
At least it makes it possible to hold that one token of
a certain type is right while others are wrong.
4. The primary words used are interconnected:
a) Our primary word is right:
An act token is right if and only if it is morally
permissible, OK, allowable, "all right", or acceptable
from the point of view of morality.
b) By definition, a morally wrong action is one that is not
morally right.
c) By definition, a morally obligatory action is that it is
morally wrong not to do.
5. Obligatory acts are ones that we morally should
perform.
This notion of "should" must be distinguished from other
notions of "should".
a) things we should or are obligated to do by the law
b) ““““ by etiquette
c) ““““ by prudence
d) ““““ by the rules or strategy of some game we play, etc.
6. N.E.B. looks for a criterion of moral rightness:
something that is both a necessary and sufficient
condition of a morally right act
a) X is a sufficient condition of Y: this means that
something or someone cannot be or do X without being
or doing Y
· being a thief is a sufficient condition for being a criminal
(the reverse, however, is not true)
· getting an A on all assignments and exams is a
sufficient condition for passing the course
b) X is a necessary condition of Y: this means that
something cannot be or do Y without being/doing X
· being made in France is a necessary condition for
being Champagne
· being 35 years or older is a necessary condition of
becoming US President
c) we are looking for traits of an act that are both
necessary and sufficient for it being right.
7. In other words, we are looking for something to fill in
the blank in the following:
An act token x is morally right if and only if ______.
And not simply to fill in the blanks in one of these
An act token x is morally right if _____.
(sufficient condition for moral rightness) OR
An act token x is morally right only if _____.
(necessary condition for moral rightness)
8. Some example attempts to specify a criterion for
rightness:
10C: An act is morally right if and only if it does not violate
any of the ten commandments.
GR: An act is morally right if and only if the person
performing it, by performing it, treats others as
he/she would have others treat him/herself.
GHP: An act is morally right if and only if it leads to the
greatest happiness for the greatest number.
9. Two possible ways a criterion may not be adequate:
a) The criterion may not be a sufficient condition for
morality.
An act may have the trait(s) in question and yet not be
morally right.
b) The criterion may not be a necessary condition for morality:
An act may not have the trait(s) in question and still
be morally right
c) Either sort of problem is called a counterexample, an
action that shows problems for a given criterion


























Chapter 2
ETHICS AND CRITICAL THINKING

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, the students should

be able to:
 Differentiate critical thinking from ordinary

thinking
 Identify the nine elements of critical thinking
 Apply the said elements in ethical reasoning; and
 Recognize the importance of critical thinking in

ethical reasoning.
 Critical – refer to something alarming or
threatening.
 Does it?
 Critical – in relation to the thinking process
 Critical thinking is used in this context to

refer to the challenge of making individuals
critics of their own thoughts.
 A critical thinker is someone who has acquired
the disposition and the skills to be his or her own
critic.
 Critical thinking is not confined to the ability
to analyze a given issue.
 It can be used as a tool that can provide better

understanding of the close connection between
acting and thinking.
 Richard Paul and Lina Elder (2014).
 they defined critical thinking as a mode of

thinking, about any subject, content or
problem – in which the thinker improves the
quality of his or her thinking skills by skillfully
taking charge of the structures inherent in
thinking and imposing intellectual standards
upon them.
 Thinking in ordinary mode –such as when one
thinks of what to eat or what to include in a
schedule for the next morning is described as
first-order thinking.
 It is the kind of thinking that makes people

aware of a particular object of thought.
Examples:
 “Drug addiction is wrong”
 “Murder is against the law”

 The moment a person turns his or her attention
to how he or she is thinking instead of simply
what he or she is thinking, then he or she is
ready to engage in the second – order thinking.
 To think about the how and not just what is to
engage in reflection, assessment and
interpretation.
 Therefore, it is not enough to simply state that,

“Drug addiction is wrong”, or “ Murder is
illegal’’ . One must be able to understand as
well as the thought processes that lead to this
conclusion.
 “Unless one commits himself or herself to the
practice of constantly improving the way he or
she thinks, one cannot yet consider himself or
herself a critical thinker”
 Try to have a reflection with this…

 Give an occuring social issue..
 Make a statement about it using “what” (describing the
general knowledge about it)
 And using “how” in a question, resolving having a
reflection, an outcome pertaining to that social issue.
 Example: Covid19
 What:
Covid19 is another term for a severe corona virus that
killed for about 1000 individuals from the different parts of
the world,
 How:
Due to organic eating, and unhygienic food preparations
and environment from the market of Wuhan China, the
widespread transmission of this virus is caused initially
from the respiratory droplets (cough, sneeze, and
interaction) of an infected individual, and in addition, as
for by further research for the recent month of February
2020, airborne is also considered in transmission of the
said virus.
 What:
 Prevention and Treatment
There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is
to avoid being exposed to this virus. However, as a
reminder, CDC always recommends everyday preventive
actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases.
 How:
 Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
 Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
 Stay home when you are sick.
 Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the
tissue in the trash.
 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
 Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask.
 Wash your hands often with soap and water for
at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the
bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your
nose, coughing, or sneezing.
 Reference:
Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid19). (20. February 2020), retrieve from:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-
treatment.html
 Now its your turn…. And explain it in front.
CHAPTER 3:
Formation and Transformation
of Self
(Part 2)
Prepared by:
Sir Anz Tolentino
Jean Piaget
- As a psychologist, he focused
on the human subject’s
cognitive development or the
development of his or her
ability to know.
- Piaget theorized that the
human ability to know evolves
in stages and has distinct
peculiarities appropriate for
each particular stage.

Jean Piaget
This is the different from the notion of
pre-modern thinkers who presumed that the
human ability to know is good to go right
from the start.
Pre-modern thinkers took for granted
that the human person, along with his or her
abilities, is subject to a developmental
process.

Jean Piaget
This development is always from simple
to complex, from the very few to multiple.
Piaget’s theory, while centered on
knowing, has important implications for
understanding the self. It suggests that self-
knowledge happens as a process and is
integral to the history of a person.

His View:
An individual like Victoria is not
expected to know herself right away. She
needs to acquire first the necessary capacities
for her to gain insights about herself,
capacities that are likewise evolving.
For Piaget, what she underwent is not a
crisis but is a normal course of human
development.

His View:
There is no maturity; neither does it
happen overnight: it is a process that unfolds
though time. The mature person is the
individual who can bear with himself or
herself as he or she undergoes the whole
experience.

Lawrence kOHLBERG
- His theory is directly and closely
related to ethics.
- While Piaget highlighted a
person’s cognitive development,
he concentrated on a person’s
moral development.
- Like Piaget, he believed that a
person proceeds to moral
maturity in gradual stages. In
other words, one does not
become a moral person at once.
Lawrence kOHLBERG
The moral quality of a person depends
on the quality of his or her moral reasoning
which itself undergoes transformation.
Therefore, one is not expected to resolve a
particular dilemma if it involves a level of
complexity that is not appropriate for his or
her moral stage.

His View:
Another crucial insight from Kohlberg
is that moral reasoning can be shaped by
education. In Kohlberg’s theory, one can find
balance between nature and nurture,
between reality and possibility.
In Victoria’s case, Kohlberg would
probably state that her dilemma should not
be a cause of worry for it is well within the
appropriate stage, the conventional stage---
His View:
the point in which one struggles to fit in a
larger community. The main issue for a
person introduced to a new environment is
accord and conformity.
A person in Victoria’s situation, for
instance, is tasked to decide the limit and
extent of what one can retain and what one is
willing to compromise.

George Herbert Mead

- One of the influences of
Kohlberg’s theory of
development.
- Mead studied psychology and
sociology, and traces of these
disciplines are notable in his
work.
- Social experience is central to
Mead’s concept of the
development of the self.

George Herbert Mead

It requires an environment where
interactions with other selves are possible,
particularly, interactions that allow shared
meanings. Immersion in such a world enables
the self to create itself and, in doing so,
motivates an individual to shape his or her
world for the better.

His View:
Following Mead’s theory of moral
development, Victoria’s new environment aboard a
ship does not negate her process of growth. In fact,
her experience is further extension of widening
environment that can provide her impetus to assert
and create who she is.
Life on the ship revolves around a rather
artificial environment. It then depends on the ability
of an individual like Victoria to act constructively in
the midst of what seems to be a fantasy world.
CHAPTER 3:
Formation and Transformation
of Self
Prepared by:
Sir Anz Tolentino





Understanding the Self

•The eastern philosophical
traditions, such as in
China and India, also
place a high regard for
understanding the
self.

•yuch (psuche) – Greek meaning human
soul, mind, and spirit
•anima – Latin meaning mind or soul


In the past, the task of examining and
explaining the structure, activity, and
complexity of the self belonged to the
philosophers.
Their approach, however, while
significantly influential, was rather abstract
and quite limited in its appreciation of the
complex workings of human nature.

With the birth of modern sciences, a
new discipline dedicated to the empirical and
experimental study of the self as embodied by
human mind emerged.
The term “psyche”, proponents of this
new science now call this undertaking
psychology.


The study of the self and all its components:
- emotions
- intelligence
- aptitude
- stress level
- mental health
This has been the main concern of psychology.
Sigmund Freud
- Made, probably, one of
the most controversial
assumptions about the
self.
- He postulated that what
people always thought of
as self might not be what
it is.
- The father of psychology.
Sigmund Freud
Human behavior, emotions, and
thoughts that comprise the self are but masks
of that part of the human person which
always remain hidden and unknown.
That hidden and unknown dimension
underlies human personality is what Freud
referred to as the unconscious.

Unconscious
Every now and then, however, the
unconscious may manifest itself through
instincts, impulses, mannerisms, random
expressions, or the proverbial slip of tongue.

Case 1:
Victoria is a fine arts degree holder. She has
always loved the arts but does not see herself
pursuing it as a career. To her family’s and friends
surprise, Victoria took a job in a luxury cruise as a
cabin stewardess after graduation. She told them
she has always been fascinated with traveling and
has always dreamed of working abroad. She saw
the opportunity of doing both things aboard a
cruise ship. It was her first job and her first time to
leave the country and be away from home for so
long.
Case 1:
It could likewise be considered her baptism of fire.
From a relatively sheltered life. Victoria was
plunged into a job that required her to make 40
beds a day at a pace that left very little room for
her to catch her breath or take a restroom break.
She also met challenges in adjusting to the totally
different social environment aboard a ship. Back
home, her interaction was limited only to her kin
and close circle of friends.

Case 1:
In the ship, she had to deal with hundreds of
strangers with background and habits completely
different from her provincial upbringing. It took a
while before she could let go of her naïve belief
that people who are kind to her also mean well.
She experienced getting the raw end of the deal
many times despite efforts of being considerate
and friendly to others. Aboard the ship, Victoria
got the chance to confront who she really was
through the different circumstances that tested
Case 1:
her resolve to persevere and also her
determination to affirm and re-create herself
during this period of transition. Her case was a
long and difficult tale of personal odyssey but it is
definitely not hers alone. Millions of Filipinos who
took jobs abroad practically share the same story.
Their narrative of survival, self-preservation, and
self-transformation is a story of their continuing
struggle to find new reasons to live and to dream.

Implication:
If one subscribes to Freud, Victoria’s
predicament was a product of her perception
that she was the person she thought she knew
before boarding the ship. She did not realize that
her concept of self, one that is already made and
intact is a work of fiction according to Freud’s
point of view. Therefore, she should not trouble
herself anymore about reconciling who she was
before and after her cruise stint.
Implication:
For Freud, this conflict itself is what makes
Victoria who she is. The internal struggle of
knowing who one really was is a burden from
which he or she cannot escape.
Freud’s concept of the self attracted
disciples and detractors like. Many found his
theory outrageous. However, a number saw in it
a good starting point for re-thinking traditional
notions about the self.
Implication:
People are accustomed to thinking that the self is
something which can be placed under their
control. It turns out that this is a bubble. It took a
Freud to disclose to the world that what appears
as self is but the tip of the iceberg – the rest of
who people actually are is an unchartered
territory.

POLITICS AND
SOCIETY
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• After studying this chapter, the students should be able

to:
1. explain of politics;
2. determine the relationship of ethics and politics;
3. examine the political dimension of becoming human; and
4. assess the importance of citizenship education.
ETHICS AND POLITICS
• Politics is derived from the Greek word polis or city-state

which means a political community whose membership
is restricted mainly to its citizens.
• According to Aristotle, he described human being as
political animals. He meant that every human being is
always born into a community that requires interaction
with fellow human agents to achieve personal
fulfillment.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN ONE SAYS THERE
IS A CLOSE CONNECTION BETWEEN ETHICS
AND POLITICS?
• Ethics is taken up in school to help students understand
themselves and to guide them how to live their lives
well.
• A well-lived life is a life fulfilled. Each fulfillment is an
outcome of cooperative activities with other human
persons.
• To achieve and sustain this cooperation is the main task
of politics.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN ONE SAYS THERE
IS A CLOSE CONNECTION BETWEEN ETHICS
AND POLITICS?
• When Aristotle described human as being political, he
underscored a fundamental aspect of human
experience: the fullness of life depends on an
individual’s association and cooperation with others.
• Attaining happiness is a group effort and is never a
private enterprise.
• Being political means connecting with others in pursuit
of solidarity.
SOLIDARITY
• Solidarity means union or fellowship arising from

common responsibilities and interests, as between
members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc.
• Inclusion means the practice or policy of providing equal
access to opportunities and resources for people who
might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as
those who have physical or mental disabilities and
members of other minority groups.
SOLIDARITY
• Discrimination means the disqualification of an

individual from exercising his or her rights for failing
to meet some imposed criteria.
• For example, the prohibition against the right of
women to vote in the 1930s.
SOLIDARITY
• Participation is the consequence of inclusion.

• For example, Gawad Kalinga or GK is an advocacy
organization initially established to offer socialized
housing programs for depressed communities.
• This project help by transforming individuals from
passive recipients of charity to active participants of the
enterprise.
SOLIDARITY
• A space is inclusive of different people and is

conducive to empowerment if each individual at
the outset is recognized worthy of respect and is
identified capable of transforming his or her
situation.
• For example, from disabled person to person with
disability to differently-abled persons
POLITICAL SYSTEM
• Government plays a significant role in politics. However, it is

wrong to think that all political tasks belong to the
government alone.
• A political system in which politics is monopolized by the
government is called dictatorial or tyrannical. Citizens do
not enjoy their full civil and political liberties, instead the
government arrogates power unto itself to perpetuate its
rule.
• For example, North Korea
POLITICAL SYSTEM
• A government to be taken over a few

individuals whose only interest is to advance
their own agenda is called aristocracy.
• The consequence of such control to the socio-
political life of the citizens can be as disastrous
as that of the tyrannical rule.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
• History shows that citizens have greater

chances of attaining well-being when people
are in charge of their own affairs, when people
organize their lives according to their own will
which is called self-rule or sovereignty.
ETHICS AND SOCIETY
• Society is the domain of politics and the center

stage of a citizen’s political life.
• It is important for a given society to experience
the freedom of attaining his or her fulfillment that
allows each citizen to experience the freedom of
attaining his or her fulfillment whether as an
individual or as a member of a larger community.
ETHICS AND SOCIETY
• The political climate in a given society is as

good as the amount of freedom its citizens
enjoy such as democracy.
• Freedom is the conditio sine qua non or the
condition without which politics is
impossible.
ETHICS AND SOCIETY
• George Wilhelm Friedric Hegel maintained

that one needs to be grafted in a political
community to experience freedom.
• He said that membership in such community
is not an impediment to freedom but leads to
the perfection of freedom.
ETHICS AND SOCIETY
• Inclusion in a society entails certain

restrictions, which may be construed as
limitations of one’s freedom.
• Laws or ethical obligations to the other
member of the community may impose these
restrictions.
ETHICS AND SOCIETY
• According to Hegel, these limitations or

restriction must be reasonable.
• For example, speed limit enforced along
expressways and class schedules
HOW DOES ONE BECOME A CITIZEN OF A
SOCIETY?
• To better understand the relationship

between citizenship and society, we need
to explore the definition of society as a
political organization and as an ethical
domain.
SOCIETY?
• Society as a political organization, is a
system characterized by formal structures
such as institutions, laws, and other
regulations, shared processes and practices.
• Its member possess a constitutionally
guaranteed identity.
SOCIETY?
• For example, OFW working in Hong Kong,

Saudi Arabia or Singapore and Rohingya
crisis
SOCIETY?
• Society as a ethical domain, is to

recognize and accept that all people are
bound by a shared humanity despite
differences in cultures and ethnicities
SOCIETY?
• Martha Nussbaum said one’s sense of humanity
can be taught, enhanced and regained through
exposure to the humanities like the arts,
literature, and philosophy.
• These are the very disciplines that comprise what
in general may be described as citizenship
education.
SOCIETY?
• Ethics is also informed by citizenship

education as it induces the cultivation of
the students’ creative, imaginative, and
critical abilities, the same abilities needed
to be fully human and humane.
CONCLUSION
• The world today is indeed a complex frontier. The

human society has evolved into an environment
marked by conflicts and various forms of
alienation. The task of being political has never
been as urgent as before. Everyone is compelled
to be ethically minded and to be more responsive
and responsible citizens of our localities and of the
world.
Ethics and Religion
Your Subtitle
The relationship between
ethics and religion
• Ethics what is good and bad,
moral and immoral through the
light of reason.
• Religion determines what is
moral and immoral based on
revelation.
• Therefore, religion is not contrary
to ethics. Religion is in support of
ethics.
ethics and religion
• To an Asian author Sim Kwang
Yang, the question is, “Is ethics
possible without religion?”
• Yes, because two great
philosophers namely Socrates
and Confucius, “expounded their
ethics without recourse to any
supernatural being.”
ethics and religion
• Moreover, Jeremy Bentham and
John Stuart Mill, two modern
period philosophers, also dealt
with their ethical theories
without appealing to the
existence of God.
ethics and religion
• “Can ethics without religion be
justified, ultimately?”
• Answer is NO.
• According to Dostoevsky again,
“If God does not exist, then
everything is permissible. But not
everything is permitted.
Therefore, God exist.”
ethics and religion
• Immanuel Kant reasoned that if
there is no God then there are
objective moral requirements
that are not possibly met that
the moral good of virtue and the
natural good of happiness
embrace and become perfect in a
“highest good.”
ethics and religion
• C.S. Lewis argued that conscience
reveals to us a moral law whose
source cannot be found in the
natural world, thus pointing to a
supernatural Lawgiver.
• Philosopher Robert Adams has
argued that moral obligation is
best explained by appeal to the
command of a loving God.
ethics and religion
• It may be said that this life of
“not permitting oneself to do
anything” that is living a moral or
ethical life, is attributed not only
to him/her who openly professes
his/her faith in God.
• It can also be attributed even to
those who claim to deny the
existence of God but actually
affirm Him in their actual life.
ethics and religion
• Hence, one should not feel so
much sorry for people whom we
think live a atheistic life. The
ultimate assessment of one’s life
should be based on what one
does, his/her love for his/her
fellowman.
What is the role of religion
in ethics?
• Religion is the foundation of
ethics, for theists.
• Religion makes clear and
concrete what is ethical through
revelation.
• Theists draw their ethical views
from their religion.
Ethics and Religion
Part 2
ethics and religion
• Ethics and religion are naturally
connected with each other as
shown by traditions of the major
religions such as Islam, Judaism
and Christianity.
• For example, in India revolves
around customary ritual
practices and the performance of
religious laws.
ethics and religion
• In most Arab countries, they
impose Islamic customs on all
individual in their territories.
• For example, Christians are
prohibited from carrying a Bible,
a crucifix, or any religious
objects.
ethics and religion
• Clothing style and guidelines for
social interactions among
members of opposite sex are also
strictly observed.
• Non-compliance with these
ordinances is not treated as
ordinary infractions of the law
but an affront to Islamic religion
that is meted with severe
penalty.
Extremism: A Global
Concern
• What gives rise to problematic
issues is not so much the close
relation between ethics and
religion but a person’s or a
group’s penchant to subject
religion to an extremist
interpretation.
Extremism: A Global
Concern
• According Merriam-Webster
dictionary defines extremisms as
the “belief and support for ideas
that are very far from what most
people consider correct or
reasonable.”
• It defies the limits of what is
commonly accepted or publicly
defended, it breeds intolerance
and antagonism toward those
who espouse an opposite views.
Extremism: A Global
Concern
• What is worshipped in an
extremist religion is neither a god
nor a deity but an idea mistaken
for a divinity.
• The net effect of this
misconception is the detachment
of religion from the life of its
believers and the further
alienation of the believers
themselves from the fulfillment
of their basic human desires.
Extremism: A Global
Concern
• What happened to Malala
Yousafzai in Pakistan is a story
that illustrates this point.
• https://youtu.be/gjGL6YY6oMs
Extremism: A Global
Concern
• The harrowing experiences
women and children suffer under
the Taliban rule in Pakistan are
reasons why some thinkers
doubt the viability of considering
religion as an ethical norm.
• There are other instances in
some part of the world where
the extremist observance of
religion seem to contradict the
generally accepted norms of
basic civilization.
Extremism: A Global
Concern
• While this practice may appear
more of an exception rather than
the rule, this extreme observance
put religion in a bad light.
• Therefore, Christian, Jewish or
Islamic must continue to sustain
a healthy balance between
demands of their creedal
commitments and the challenges
posed by their inclusion in the
secular world.
Religion and the Secular
World
• The secular world described as
“earthly” concerns such as
health, wealth, shelter, food,
education, and relationships,
among others.
• In the latter resides values such
as spiritual values and moral
values which aid in forming the
character of an individual and his
or her relationship with others.
World
• Spiritual values are developed
through prayers, sacrifices, love
of God, observance of
sacraments and religious rites.
• Moral values are values like
charity, humility, perseverance
and etc.
World
• The secular and the religious
domains were previously thought
to oppose each other.
• Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic
philosopher, once taught that
religion and secular life are not
mutually exclusive.
• He advocated the conjunction of
between heaven and earth, spirit
and matter, body and soul and
ethics and religion.
World
• His work, Summa Theologue,
envisioned human existence as a
journey of the coming from and
returning to God.
• The human person must strive to
live a life of virtues so that he or
she can grow steadily in
increasing stages of perfection
until one attains ultimate
happiness through and with God.
World
• Aquinas theorizing is the attempt
to portray human existence as a
unity between life on earth and
life beyond it.
• Life in heaven and earth is a
single continuous experience
with no gap or conflict in
between.
World
• His notion of human existence is
consistent with his
understanding of nature of the
human person as one integral
whole or a union of body and
soul.
• For example, praying for a person
to suffering from hunger without
actually feeding him or her will
not really help the person.
World
• Similarly, a person who claims to
have a great faith in God but
nonetheless acts unjustly in his
or her day-to-day dealings with
others makes a huge mockery of
what religion is all about.
Conclusion
• Religion can function as an
effective ethical norm only if
perceived as an influence well
integrated into every facet of
human life.
Conclusion
• It loses its claim to authenticity
once constricted within purely
sectarian agenda and can
become a tool of oppression by
those who seek to impose
themselves in the name of
religion.
Conclusion
• Everyone should be cautious of
those who use religion not to
advance religious or
humanitarian causes but merely
to secure their own agenda for
power.

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EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

•Ethics and philosophy

Ethics and philosophy

Ethics and philosophy

Epistemology (the study of knowledge)

All these questions deals with absolutes and truth.

Metaphysics (the study of nature of reality)

1. Is there really cause and effect in reality, and if

Logic (the science of correct thinking)

Ethics (the study of morality)

VIRTUE EXCELLENCE SERVICE

2. Moral – comes from the Latin word “moralis”,

3. Unethical – means wrong.

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• A branch of Philosophy and a social science and academic discipline that

• It is an inquiry into some standard to guide one’s action, or as a tool to

• Anaximander – a student of Thales, said this substance was unidentifiable

• If confronted with an ethical dilemma,

A. an anti-abortionist who supports the death penalty

Are serial killers “bad” or “mad”

ｷ Definitional argument – we are selfish when we do

Religious Ethics – an authoritative rule book to tell us what rules to

Utilitarianism – There is one and only one supreme moral principal –

Kant’s Approach To Ethics – Can your actions be consistently

Choose 2 rights from the UN

What do you think is the relationship between

Are the richest nations of the world home to

According to Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), “To

• Special pleading – rationalizing to

What would Kant say you should do?

What would you do? Why?

Preconventional Level (up to age nine): ~Self Focused Morality~

Conventional Level (age nine to adolescence): ~Other Focused Morality~

Postconventional Level (adulthood): ~Higher Focused Morality~

4. How do the rules of logic apply to ethical arguments and ethical

a) egoism: the theory that an action is right if an only if it

3. Virtue theory, the study of what makes a person’s

1. Is abortion always morally wrong?

1. Normative ethics studies what features make an action

3. If we agree that morality is whatever produces the best

1. Axiology studies what makes things good

2. A distinction is made between:

5. Some things can be both intrinsically good but

1. Primary question: What makes actions right or wrong?

a) Jaywalking is an act type

I can jaywalk at the same time that you jaywalk

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