Republic of the Philippines

Region IX - Zamboanga Peninsula

JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
The Premier University in the Province of Zamboanga Del Norte
Dapitan City

In partial fulfilment
of the requirements
for the subject
SocSci 213
(Advanced Philosophy)

Assignment:

On Ethics

Submitted by:

ADAM KETH J. LAQUIO

MA-Social Sciences

Submitted to:

JOHN WAYNE JACINTO, MA Social Sciences

Professor

April, 2020
 Ethical Behavior

Ethics are set of moral principles. Moral principles are those that determine

whether a behavior is good or bad. This follows that an ethical behavior are those that

conform to what is right and what is wrong may it be in an organization or group. But

what is the difference between ethical and unethical behavior? Let us start by examining

the following situations.

Suppose you are alone in your apartment and bored after the third week of the

community quarantine. To amuse yourself you start singing Queen’s “We will rock you!”.

You try to keep your tone as low; in fact you keep the volume of your music that guides

you the lyrics through the whole song low. That is an ethical behavior. Later on you

didn’t notice that you are getting louder as the pace of the song is getting intense. You

hear your neighbour from the adjacent room knock your door to stop you from your

terrible voice and disturbance. You ignore the call and even opened the window of our

room and started shouting the rest of the song to everyone. That is an unethical

behavior. To continue, your neighbour in the adjacent room is an old couple. Since they

could barely move their body when going outside and their grand children could barely

visit them because of the community quarantine, you offered to hand them the food

ration from the government when it arrives. That is an ethical behavior. However, to

retaliate with your injured pride and moment before, you took some of it. That is an

unethical behavior. Lastly, you turn your television on and watch the live press

conference of the president. The intention is to address the nation especially the front

liners who risk their lives to the daily threat of the disease. He thanked the people who
are cooperating in their various ways, like staying at home, for the success of all, hence

the slogan “We Heal as One”. That is an ethical act for the president to do. Later on he

directed his and the nation’s attention to Chel Diokno who is openly giving guides to the

people for supposed violation of human rights in relation to the law enforcement, just to

mock his appearance, specifically the latter’s teeth. That is an unethical behavior.

A behavior is ethical when it conform to the set moral principles like respect,

honesty and individual rights as what the above situations demonstrated, respectively.

Unethical behavior on the other hand is the opposite of set moral principles. This act or

behavior are done either to cheat or dominate anyone for one’s sole benefit. In short

ethical behavior follows what is right while unethical behavior follows what is wrong. As

an individual living in the community these are set to ensure that everything will be in

order. In fact according to Camus "A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this

world." This person may not only cause damage to one’s self but havoc to the entirety of

the society. In a hedonistic outlook an individual sees good to things that satisfy his/her

life. Those that do not are seen as bad. We are unique hence have conflicting desires

and needs to fulfil. This makes Hobbes moral positivism reliable. The community set

rules that serves as the basis of ethical standard that a member shall obey. In a place

that all members respect moral principles, ethical behavior shall be powerful than

unethical behavior. This place shall be strong amidst challenges for as Confucius states,

"The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home”.

 Essence Before Existence, or the Other Way Around?

Existence is the mere fact of being while essence refers to necessity or value of

a thing. To explain which comes first between these two, I’ll use the scenario below to

illustrate it clearly.

Suppose a sculptor is making a bust of President Duterte out of marble. His

purpose is to give it to the president as a gift and expects that the latter will display it

maybe in Malacanang or in his house. On the first month he gathered the needed

materials and started planning the bust. On the second month he started carving the

head and the face. Unfortunately on the sixth month while working to complete the face

of the bust, the sculptor suffered a stroke. This stroke made him unable to finish the

project forever.

In this example, although the sculptor already conceives what his finished

product is for – the essence, he cannot yet utilize it according to the intent nor do

anything out of his conception from the thing he is yet to accomplish – that is a bust of

President Duterte. The sculptor has to finish his work before he can make something

out of it, in this sense as a gift to the president. But as what the situation tells, the

sculptor suffered a stroke and was not able to finish the project. In this sense the

supposed intent for the bust is not accomplished and cannot be accomplished in one

way or another, for the reason that the thing to use in order to accomplish the intention

or essence does not exist.

If the essence is established without a thing existing for the former to be done

then it is equivalent to saying that there is no existing thing for the essence to be
accomplished. This means to say that it is wrong to establish first the essence when the

thing is not yet physically whole or complete. Therefore a thing is to exist before it has

its essence. For Sartre, existence precedes essence.

Essence follows existence. When an individual assign what a certain thing is for

in relation to its design that creates the value of such object. A knife is used for cutting

things since it’s designed for it. If one uses knife to clean one’s ear it might cut his/her

ear because it’s designed for cutting. A cell phone is used for communication and not as

chopping board because it is not designed for it, otherwise it will disintegrate.

To understand the essence of human being, since it is widely recognized as

more difficult to explain compared to things when talking about essence, existentialism

aid a lot. This puts that human beings find their essence through the use of rationality or

reason in its existence. Reason is the ability that was developed as an individual grows.

It is not innate since if it’s so then a child would not be as helpless as we’ve known – it

would not rely on its parents or guardians for rearing and on other necessities for living.

Through the individual’s ability to reason, we realize our individual purpose or goal.

Aside from it we are capable of understanding our identity and value. Furthermore, an

individual is directed where to proceed in his life. However I must consider that as

behavioural ethics is concerned an individual’s choice is influenced either by personal

circumstances or social pressure, these may be in a form of family, work, neighbour

among others. Nonetheless at the end of the day, we are the one to decide what ought

to be and what not. In Immanuel Kant’s moral rationalism our human reason is the

source of our choice in following moral order and laws. Following moral obligation, as
Friedrich Nietche puts it, is made and ought to be followed by man to make order and

guidance.
 Ethical Behavior as Subjective, Objective and Relative

Through our personal circumstances, unique abilities and talents an individual is

capable of constructing decisions and making action independent and sometimes

unique from other members in the community. Because of this, we tend to have

different paths and direct ourselves to where we feel or believe we fit into. This

independent act that an individual member show or illicit refers to the subjective ethical

behavior. However, since we live in a community, we often not act in a way that totally

shuns others. As Herbert Spencer puts it, life is a continuous adjustment of internal to

external relations, the adjustment of self to other selves co-existing in society. A society

will not be in order when each member directs their lives and action solely according to

own caprice and motivations. A society, being a collection of people, create laws, moral

or ethical to have something (or someone) to look upon as a collective authority. For

Thomas Hobbes this collective authority will ensure the survival of humanity. This is

where an individual member start to act objectively, hence ethical objectivity takes place.

Furthermore, individuals member’s direct or indirect contact with other members in the

society, as manifested through obedience to common law and regulations and even

customs enforced by the state or group where they belong manifests relativity of

decisions and acts. This makes ethical behavior relative to each member.

In connection to ethical acts, we often ask what constitute for an act to be ethical.

In the book of Montemayor there are three determinants. But in this case I’ll use the End

of Action and the End of Agent. President Duterte penned the higher budget for the

security forces to ensure that upright individuals will be motivated to join the force and
improve the enforcement of laws particularly during night time where previously infested

by criminals and addicts. A president is the commander-in-chief of all security forces in

the country. And whatever the latter does in connection to duty will be upon him. Aside

from this the president asked the security forces, that the public is not privy about, to kill

criminals and suspects. This made the Philippines the killing spree in Southeast Asia in

recent memory. The first situation explains the End of Action that is improving the

enforcement for the country’s security. The second situation explains the End of Agent

which is the killings. In the rule of mathematics, the first act clearly is positive, while the

second one is negative. Using the same rule, two factors containing positive and

negative nature makes the overall end negative. This is to say that in performing the

duty which is to secure the country constituted an unethical result or end.

An ethical act caters what is good for all. A criminal is entitled to due process

among other rights as enumerated in Article 3 of 1987 Philippine Constitution. Yes

moral quality of an action also depends on the circumstances or the situation in the

moral problem that confronts the agent, as what Situation ethics puts it. However, as a

community of rational beings, citizens are always capable of developing and improving

its system especially if educated members shall speak and help shape the future reality.

Each members act in accordance with its moral obligation not just to its limited or

immediate circle but to the whole of the society or country. This is what ensures the

survival of the whole that affects the survival of the parts. As Moral evolutionism puts it,

morality is never fixed or absolute but is continually changing and evolving gradually

into a perfect morality. We may not have a perfect enforcement at present or at least
that conforms to written laws but it is not impossible to have something near from it in

the future.

Now suppose President Duterte execute the following: increased the salary of

law enforcers; sign laws regulating improved law enforcing such as mandatory body

cams among others; ensure humane condition in prisons; aid in improving the judiciary

like increasing the number of judges for faster tackling of cases; listening to the call of

civil society; ensure the equal protection of human rights and other essential things to

ensure that Filipinos will have a safe environment. And as the commander-in-chief

maintain as an example of civil language and manners. Given his colossal popularity

and approval rating, law enforcers are expected to follow his example and the populace

in general. Criminals might be present but law enforcers are better educated to ensure

that most of them will end up in jail for breach of law and not inside the casket. Both the

End of the Act and The End of the Agent contain a positive nature. This makes the

overall end positive and ethical.

People in the community elected leaders not to satisfy the majority but the whole

in the society. Morality shall be the best standard in this respect. As a leader one shall

continue in search for the ethical standard suited to the good of all. This is true also to

every member with differing orientation. To give justice to everyone, one shall learn to

compromise.