BSAIS 2E: ETHICS

 Ethics- Is a branch of philosophy that studies morality or the rightness or wrongness of

human conduct.
Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos which means character, custom, or manners.
Ethics centers on norms of human conduct
 Morality- Speaks of a code or system of behavior in regards to standards of right or
wrong behavior
Morality and ethics are oftentimes used interchangeably but both carry the concept of
moral standards or rules with regard to behavior
Influences the concept of morality
 Religion
 Culture
 Social contract to live in harmony
 Evolutionary trait to survive
 Empathy
Importance of rules to human beings
Rules refer to explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a
specific activity or sphere dictates what is allowed or not allowed in a particular situation
1. Rules protect social beings by regulating behavior
 -rules limit behavior by imposing consequences to those who will violate them
 - to gain acceptance in a society
 -fear to be imprison
 Example: panopticon
2. Rules help to guarantee each person certain rights and freedom
 -Rules are framework for society
 -nation of laws Constitution
 -checks and balance of power between government and its people
 -grants freedom and protection
3. Rules produce a sense of justice among social beings
 -prevents exploitation and domination of the strong/privilege
 Rules provide justice richest and powerful people have limitations that they need to
abide like the rest
 Justice- giving what is due
4. Rules are essential for a healthy economic system
 It ensure product safety, employee safety, and product quality.
  Regulate monopolies and competitiveness
Non-Moral and Moral Standards
 Moral standard- These are moral values and moral principles that people have for kinds
of actions they believe are morally right/acceptable and wrong/unacceptable,
 Non-moral standard- Rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations they
are not necessarily linked to morality or lack ethical sense
Example: rules of etiquette, fashion standards, games, house rules
Religious rules, some traditions, ordinances are technically non-moral standards.
Distinctions
 Moral Standards involve serious wrong or significant benefits.
Example: lying, deception, killing
Compared to non-moral standards for example; violating rules in sports does not necessarily
affect one’s life or wellbeing
 Moral Standards are not established by authority figures- moral standards are not
invented, formed, or generated by authoritative bodies or persons for they are socially
constructed
Moral standards cannot be nullified by the decisions of particular authoritative body
Concept of superiority and achieve social reality apart from the individual
 Moral Standards have the trait of universalizability- everyone should live up to moral
standards must apply to all who are relevantly in the same situation
Example: murder is a criminal offense, stealing is wrong
Consistency
 Moral Standards are based on impartial consideration- it goes beyond certain personal
interests in which each person’s interests are impartially counted as equal and giving
equal consideration to the interests of all concerned parties
Impartiality- free of bias or prejudice
Example: observance of laws-objectivity
Dilemma and Moral Dilemma
 Dilemma- refers to a situation in which a tough choice has to be made between two or
more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones, not all dilemmas are
moral dilemmas
Example: A friend discovers her best friend’s boyfriend is cheating. She must decide whether to
tell her friend or keep it a secret.
  Moral/ Ethical Dilemmas- are situations in which a difficult choice has to be made
between 2 courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle. In
short, it involves conflicts between moral requirements
Key Features of Moral Dilemma
1. the agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions;
2. the agent can do each of the actions; but cannot do both or all the actions
 Often condemned to a moral failure, no matter what he does, he will do something
wrong, or fail to do something that he ought to do.
Three levels of moral dilemma
1. Personal Dilemmas- are those experienced and resolved on the personal level.
 Since many ethical decisions are personally made, many, if not most of, moral dilemmas
fall under, or boil down to this level.
 2. Organizational Dilemmas- refer to ethical cases encountered and resolved by social
organizations. This category includes moral dilemmas in business, medical field, and
public sector.
 Example: healthcare orgs- euthanasia, right to die
 Business-related dilemmas- employee rights, harassment, misleading advertising, job
discrimination, labor unions
 Public government- accepting gifts, transparency, agenda setting
3. Structural Dilemmas- refer to cases involving network of institutions and operative theoretical
paradigm. As they usually encompass multi-sectoral institutions and organizations, they may be
large in scope and extent than organizational dilemmas.
 Example: prices of medicine in the Philippines (conflict between the buyers and involved
researchers)
 Political dynasties
Only human beings can be ethical
One basic tenet in ethics is the belief that only human beings can be truly ethical. Most
philosophers hold that unlike animals, human beings possess some traits that make it possible for
them to be moral.
a. Only human being are rational, autonomous, and self-conscious.
 These qualities are believed to confer a full and equal moral status to those that possess
them as these beings are the only ones capable of achieving certain values and goods.
 These qualities are deserve full and equal moral status. In short, these are only exclusive
to humans.
  Example: appreciation of art, literature, music that come with deep personal relationships
 -Human have the ability to select his actions and is not led by blind instinct
 - capable of self-respect through empathy
b. Only humans can act morally or immorally
 Only beings that can act morally or immorally can sacrifice their interests for the sake of
others
 Other species do things out of instinct
c. Only human beings are part of the moral community
 The so-called moral community is not defined in terms of the intrinsic properties that
beings have, but rather in terms of the essential social relations that exist between or
among beings. Distinctively, only human beings can possess or practice values such as
love, honor, social relationships, forgiveness, compassion, and altruism.
 Only human beings can communicate with each other in truly meaningful ways, and can
form deep personal relationships with each other (showing concern)
 Only humans has the ability to participate in collective cognition.
Minimum requirement for morality: reason and impartiality
 “Moral judgments must be backed by sound reasoning and that morality requires the
impartial consideration of all parties involve” (Rachels, 1941)
Reason and Impartiality
 Reason- as a requirement for morality entails, that human feelings may be important in
ethical decisions, but they ought to be guided by reason. It helps us to evaluate our
feelings and intuitions.
 Impartiality- known as evenhandedness or fair-mindedness involves the idea that each
individual’s interests and point of view are equally important. Decisions must be based
on objective criteria rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to
one person over another for improper reasons.