MODUE ON ETHICS

Ruben a. Corpuz, Brenda B. CorpuzCourse Orientation and the Importance ofMorality and

CHAPTER I- UNDERSTANDING MORALITY AND MORAL STANDARDS

Lesson I : Course Orientation and the Importance of Rules

Learning Outcomes

1. To state what are expected of me in this course

2. To explain the importance of rules

Introduction

everywhere you go are rules – at school, at home, in church, in the barangay. Do these rules
make our life difficult and so should be eliminated or do these rules make our life more peaceful and
orderly?

Activity 1

Recall and share with the google class a rule that you have to follow at school, at home or in the
barangay that you have to follow and the reason behind that rule.

Analysis

1. What if there were no rules? What are possible consequences?

2. Are rules important? Why or why not?
3. Do you find them constricting? Why or Why not?

Abstraction

Rules are meant to set order. Rules (The Philippine Constitution and other laws included) are
meant for man. The greatest teacher, Jesus Christ, preached emphatically. “The Sabbath is made for
man and not man for the Sabbath.” The Law of the Sabbath, i.e. to keep it holy and observe rest, is
meant to make man whole by resting and by giving him to thank and spend time in pryer and worship
for his own good.

In a democratic country like the Philippines, we often hear the statement “No One is Above the
Law,” including the highest official in the country. We are all subject to rules or else court chaos.

In fact, if you are a rule or law-abiding citizen, you don’t even feel the restricting presence of a
rule or law because you do what the law or what the rule states everybody should do. This is an ideal
state which the Ancient Chinese sages (Confucius, Lao Tzu) referred to as state of no-more rules, no
more laws, because people discern what is right or good and do what is right or good without thinking
or rule or law.

Application

1. The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath> What does this mean? Illustrate
with an example.
2. The ancient Chinese sage named lao Tsu taught: “Leave the people to themselves, no laws and
inner goodness will flourish.” “The more Laws and commands there are, the more thieves and
robbers will be.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

Lesson 2: Moral and Non-moral Standards

Learning outcome

1. Distinguish between moral and non-moral standards

ETHYMOLOGY AND MEANING OF ETHICS

The term “Ethics” comes from the Greek word “ethos” meaning “custom”, while the term
“moral” is the Latin equivalent.

ETHICS or moral Philosophy is a branch of philosophy which deals with moral standards, inquires
about the rightness and wrongness of human behavior or the goodness and badness of personality, trait
or character. It deals with ideas, with topics such as moral standards or norms of morality, conscience,
moral values and virtues. Ethics is the study of the morality of human acts and moral agents, what
makes an act obligatory and what makes a person accountable.

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 STANDARDS OR MORAL FRAMEWORKS AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS

Moral Standards – are norms or prescriptions that serve as the frameworks for determining what ought
to be done or what is right or wrong action, what is good or bad character.

Moral standards: stealing is wrong, killing is wrong, telling lies is wrong, adultery is wrong. Environment
preservation is the right thing to do, Freedom with responsibility is the right way, giving what is due to
others is justice.

Moral standards are either consequence standards (like Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism) or non-consequence
standards (like Aristotle’s virtue, St Thomas’ natural law, or Immanuel Kant’ good will or sense of duty)

The Consequence standards depend on results, outcome. An act that results in the general welfare, in
the greatest good of the greatest number, is moral.
The Non-consequence standards are based on the natural law. Natural law is the law of God revealed
through human reason. It is the law of God written in the hearts of men. Respect for humanity,
treatment of the other as a human person, an act that is moral, springs from a sense of duty, a sense of
duty that you wish will apply to all human person.

A Non-moral standard are social rules, demands of etiquette and good manners. They are guides of
action which should be followed as expected by society. In sociology, non-moral standards or rules are
called FOLKWAYS – example- rules of behavior set by parents, right conduct etiquette, standards of
grammar or language and others.

An indicator whether or not a standard is moral or non-moral lies in its compliance as distinguished from
its non-compliance. Non-compliance with moral standards causes a sense of guilt, while non-compliance
with a non-moral standard may only cause shame or embarrassment.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF THE THEORIES OF MORAL STANDARDS (Garner and Rosen, 1967)

1. Consequence – (teleological, from” tele” which means end result, or consequence) standard
states that an act is right or wrong depending on the consequences of the act, that is the good
that is produced in the world.
2. Not-only consequence standard (deontological), hold that the rightness or wrongness of an
action or rule depends on sense of duty, natural law, virtue and the demand of the situation or
circumstances.
Natural Law and Virtue ethics are deontological moral standards because their basis for
determining what is right or wrong does not depend on consequences but on the natural Law
and Virtue’
Situation ethics, is deontological because the rightness or wrongness of an act depends on
situation and circumstances requiring or demanding exception to rule.

Rosen and Garner consider deontology, be it rule or an act deontology, as the better moral
standard because it synthesizes all includes all the other theory of norms.

WHAT MAKES STANDARDS MORAL?

Moral standards are commandments of God revealed to man through prophets. The TEN
Commandments were revealed by God to Moses. For theists, God is the ultimate source of what is
moral revealed to human persons.

Non-theists- more standards are based on the wisdom of sages like Confucius or Immanuel Kant.

Confucius the Chinses Philosopher taught the moral standard “Do unto others what you like others do
unto to you”

Immanuel Kant – the German philosopher- “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the
same time will that it should become a universal law” thus the Universal necessity of the maxim, what
makes it a categorical imperative is what makes it obligatory” “Do not kill means one ought not kill”,
ultimately the obligation arises from the need of self-preservation.
THE ORIGIN OF MORAL STANDARDS: THEIST AND NON- THEIST

For theists, the origin of moral standards is God who “wrote his Law in the heart of every person” the
natural Law.

The evolutionist claims that the sense of moral standards must have evolved with man not something
that was implanted in every human person instantly at the moment of creation. Creation as a process
may have taken place not only in 6 days as the creationist claims but in billions of years as the
evolutionist asserts. For the theists, belief in God strengthens them to be moral.

REFLECTION:

It is difficult to do only that which is moral than to do anything you want to do. But you keep on striving
to do only that which is moral, anyway. What makes you strive to do only which is moral even if
difficult? Share your reflection in the google meet.

LESSON 4: THE THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS

Learning Outcomes

1. Illustrate the three levels of moral dilemma

Activity

1. A principal ought to welcome and encourage parents and community participation in school
affairs. Based on her experience, parents and community are passive and so the principal always
ends up deciding and doing things just the same. She is obliged to observe parent’ and
community participation which do not give any input at all at the same time she is obliged to
accomplish things on time.
2. The mission of a catholic School A is to serve the poor by giving quality education. It is torn
between the obligation to charge low tuition to help the poor and to pay better salaries to keep
quality teachers.
3. Arnold’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new drug might save
her. The drug had been discovered by a local chemist, and Arnold tried desperately to buy some,
but the chemist was charging ten times the money it cost to make the drug, and this was much
more than Arnold could afford.
Arnold could only raise half the money, even after help from the family and friends. He
explained to the chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug cheaper or
pay the rest of the money later.
The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going to make money
from it. The husband was desperate to save his wife, so late that night he broke into the
chemist’s laboratory and stole the drug.

Analysis;

1. Among the three dilemmas, which is an example of an individual dilemma? Organizational

dilemma?
2. How do the three dilemmas differ?
LESSON 3: MORAL DILEMMAS

Learning Outcome

1. Explain moral dilemma as a moral dilemma as a moral experience

2. Distinguish between a moral dilemma and a false dilemma

Introduction

After learning moral and no-moral standards, you must now have an idea of what a moral
experience is. When you find your self in a moral dilemma, you are in a moral experience. What is a
moral dilemma?

Activity

The Pregnant lady and the Dynamite

A PREGNANT WOMAN LEADING A GROUP OF FIVE PEOPLE OUT OF A CAVE ON A COAST IS STUCK IN THE
MOUTH OF THAT CAVE. IN A SHORT TIME, HIGH TIDE WILL BE UPON THEM AND UNLESS SHE IS
UNSTUCK, THEY WILL ALL BE DRAWNED, EXCEPT THE WOMAN WHOSE HEAD IS OUT OF THE CAVE.
FORTUNATELY OR UNFORTUNATELY, SOME ONEHAS WITH HIM A STICK OF DYNAMITE. THERE SEEMS SO
WAY TO GET THE PREGNANT WOMAN LOOSE WTHOUT USING THE DYNAMITE WHICH WILL INEVITABLY
KILL HER; BUT IF THEY DO NOT USE IT EVERYONE WILL DROWN. WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

ANALYSIS

1. What would you do if you were one of the men? Explain why you decided to act that way?
2. The situation or the experience you went through is a moral dilemma. What then is a moral
dilemma?
3. Is finding your self in a moral dilemma, a moral experience? Why or why not?
MEANING OF MORAL DILEMMA

Moral dilemma is a problem in the decision-making between two possible options, neither of
which is absolutely acceptable from an ethical perspective. It is also referred to 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. (Oxford Dictionary)

Moral dilemmas have the following in common:

1. The agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions which are morally unacceptable
2. The agent can do each of the actions
3. But the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions.

Moral dilemmas are situations where two or more moral values or duties make demands on the
decision maker, who can only honor one of them, and thus will violate at least one important
moral concern, no matter what she/he does. The decision maker has to choose between a
wrong and another wrong. The decision maker is a deadlock.

MAKING OF A FALSE DILEMMA

A False Dilemma is a situation where the decision maker has a moral duty to do one thing, but is
tempted or under pressure to do something else. A false Dilemma is a choice between a right and a
wrong.

WHAT TO DO WHEN FACED WITH A MORAL DILEMMA

Ultimately dilemmas are conflicts in the application of moral standards. The question is which
moral standards must be followed? In a state of emergency, necessity demands no moral law. You have
to decide based on your best judgment or choose based on the principle of lesser evil or greater good or
urgency.

Application

The Unfaithful Wife

You are an emergency Officer that has been called to the scene of an accident. When you arrive
you see the car belongs to your wife. Fearing the worst you rush over, only to see she is trapped in her
car with another man. He is obviously her lover, with whom she’s been having an affair.

You reel back in shock, devasted by just what you have found out. As you step back, the wreck in
front of you comes into focus. You see your wife is seriously hurt and she needs attention straight away.
Even if she gets immediate attention there’s high chance she’ll die. You look at the seat next to her and
see her lover. He’s bleeding heavily from a wound in the neck and you need to stem the flow of blood
immediately.

If you attend to your wife, her lover will bleed to death, and you may not be able to save her anyway. If
you work on the lover, you can save his life, but your wife will definitely die.

WHO SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO WORK ON?

 LESSON 4: THE THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS

1. INDIVIDUAL – personal dilemmas. It is an Individual’s damn if-you-do and damn-if-you-don’t

situation.
Kohlberg’s dilemma questions were as follows:
a. Should Arnold have stolen the drug. (Mackinon, B. et.al 2015). If he did not steal the
drug that would mean his wife’s death. He was torn between stealing the drug and
saving his wife. The dilemma is faced by an individual who is torn between 2 obligations
– to save the wife or obey the law.

2. ORGANIZATIONAL – organizational dilemma is a puzzle posed by the dual necessities of a

social organization and members’ self-interest. It may exist between personal interests and
organizational welfare or between group interests and organizational wellbeing. (Wagner,J
2019)
3. STRUCTURAL – dilemmas concern by groups or individuals as a result of structural
relationships.

Differentiation and Integration in Structural Dilemma

With decentralization, local governments have become more empowered to direct their
affairs just as schools have become empowered to address their problem or given
opportunity to localize their curriculum.
Local government and schools have become more differentiated and so it becomes
more difficult to integrate them for a unified structure.
Any attempt to introduce reform in society or government creates structural dilemma.

GAP VERSUS OVERLAP

There may be gaps and overlaps in roles and responsibilities. If there are gaps, organizations end
up with no one doing the responsibility. If there are overlaps, things become unclear and may lead to
more confusion and even conflict and worse wasted effort and perhaps even resources because of the
unintended overlap.

LACK OF CLARITY VERSUS LACK OF CREATIVITY

If employees are unclear about what they are supposed to do, they often tailor their roles
around personal preferences instead of system wide goals, frequently leading to trouble.

FLEXIBILITY VERSUS STRICT ADHERENCE TO RULES

Your jobs are so define clearly that you will stick to them even if circumstances are such by
sticking to your job description the service or product that your organization provides suffers.
 You accommodate by bending rules to help someone or you stick strictly to rules no matter
what and so unable to help someone who is thrown into a helpless situation. Or you become too
accommodating that all rules are broken.

EXCESSIVE AUTONOMY VERSUS EXCESSIVE INTERDEPENDENCE

Structural dilemma is the dilemma arising from conflicting concerns among various sectors of
society. In the first instance of differentiation versus integration, the dilemma is how to enforce a
decision, policy, or rule intended for everybody among many different or unique groups or individuals.

Second the dilemma arises because of either gaps or overlaps in the procedure of
implementation of certain projects or police among involved agencies like the FBI and CIA in the USA, or
like the NBI and PNP in the Philippines, GAPS creates serious consequences.

CENTRALIZEDVERUS DECENTRALIZED DECISION MAKING

In decentralized decision making, organization can respond to change more rapidly and
effectively because the decision makers are the people closest to the situation. However top managers
may lose some control. This is the dilemma of tight over centralization diffusing authority which is loose.

STRUCTURAL DILEMMA IN A WORLD ORGANIZATION LIKE THE UN

A structural dilemma in a world organization like the UN is the problem of the balance between
world order and national sovereignty re stated s the balance between the measure of international
authority essential to the establishment of an organized common peace and the continued freedom of
action of the separate world community or the balance between interdependence and independence.
(Jenks, 1971)

Resolving Moral Dilemmas

1. One way is to think of available alternative options revealing that the dilemma does not
really exist. This happens where there are available alternative options.
2. Choosing the greater good and lesser evil. Or one may apply the situation ethics approach,
following the rule, one must do only what he can where he is. Do not resort to extra
ordinary or supernatural means.
3. Kant’s “ought implies I can” rule. If I ought to do something, then I can do it. By
contraposition, if I cannot do something, then I can not be obliged to do it. Or by
implication, either I can not be obliged to do something if and only if he can do it.
4. Fletcher says, do what you can where you are. “Or quoting;g] St. Augustine’s “Dilige, et quod
vis fac” (love and do what you will). The extent of one’s obligation and responsibility is the
extent of one’s ability and the measure of the “extent” is one’s capacity for love.
Application

Researching on the following events that illustrate structural dilemmas;

1. Mamapasano Encounter- SAF 44- Why were 44 killed? Based on reports, what was said to
be the cause of the death of the 44?
2. Red tape in government Offices.
3. Creation of autonomous regions like the ARMM.
4. What structural dilemma have you experienced? How dis you deal with it? Are you happy
with how you dealt with it?

All answer must be presented during the google meet.

LESSON 5: FREEDOM AS FOUNDATION OF MORAL ACTS

Learning Objective

1. Explain why only human beings can be ethical

Do the lower forms of animals have ethics? Like can we say that a dog is immoral or unethical if it
defecates right in front of your doorstep? Or is ethics only for human persons? If so why?

ETHICS APPLY ONLY TO HUMAN PERSONS

He Song My Way, born this Way; implies choice or freedom, “I did it my Way,” unlike the lower
forms of animals, human persons have a choice or freedom, hence morality applies only to human
persons.

Dilemmas presupposed freedom. Freedom loving societies have customary ways of training the
young to exercise their freedom. There is such a thing as a dilemma because there is such a thing as
freedom. If there is no ability or power of choice, then any incident simply happens without any
interference. There would also be no obligation to do any act in expectation of the responsibility
following the act.

FREEDOM OF MORAL CHOICE

Without freedom it is impossible to make a moral choice. Kant believe that we must have free will if
we are to be held morally responsible for our actions. A good moral action cannot be praised as you
had no other option. While an immoral action cannot be punished as once again there is no free
choice. Making moral choice is a consequence of being a human person, because ahuman person
has freedom of choice, and so is she/he responsible for the consequences of his/her choice.

TO BE ETHICAL: OWN NOT MERELY ABIDE BY MORAL STANDARDS

When you arrived at a personal conviction and self-affirmation, you begin to own the moral
standard. The moral standard begin to be integrated, internalized. Abiding by moral standards
means applying them as basis to resolve a moral problem without necessarily having internalized
them. Or if you do not internalize the standard, you will tend to use it for convenience. You simply
become legalistic, and adopt the maxims, “follow the rule or law, even if the sky falls down.” The law
says so; the law is hard, but it is the law; (dura lex sed lex).

Owning moral standards means internalizing them, making them part of your conviction.
Internalized or embodied moral standards are being followed with or without anyone telling you.
This may be termed as the embodiment of the moral standard in you. The moral standard becomes
one with the moral agent. As the moral agent, this moral standard becomes your natural and
immediate basis in your ethical decision making.

Reflection

What choice have you made in life recently? Are you happy with that choice? Are you grateful you
have the capacity to choose freely?
 LESSON 6: CULTURE: HOW IT DEFINES MORAL BEHAVIOR

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Explain how culture shapes the moral agent

2. Attribute facets of personal behavior to culture
3. Articulate what culture, enculturation, inculturation and acculturation mean

Introduction

THE “ABSOLUTE FREEDOM” that the existentialist and phenomenologist does not of course exist
in vacuum. It exists in a world with all its spatio-temporal conditions, its “facticity” – refers to the givens
of our situation such as language, our environment, they are the observable facts. Existentialists
believe that society should not restrict an individual's life or actions and that these restrictions inhibit
free will and the development of that person's potential.

Activity

When you hear the word culture what comes into your mind? Give different marriage practices
as a result of culture.

Explain the “why” behind these marriage practices. Are they morally acceptable?

WHAT IS CULTURE?

Culture is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors. Culture is a set of
means used by mankind to become more virtuous and reasonable in order to become fully human.

Categories of culture

1. Non-Material culture – consist of language, values, ideas, rituals, rules, knowledge, and
meanings shared by the members of the society
2. Material culture – is the physical object that a society produces, tools, streets, homes, toys,
works of art, etc.
Culture is passed on to the next generation by learning not through the genes or heredity,
includes human phenomena.