St.

Thomas More School of Law and Business

Doctolero Avenue, Magugpo East, Tagum City

Philo 2
Ethics

Instructor: Lucien Edmond J. Bautista

E-mail: lucienedmond.bautista@stms.edu.ph
May also be contacted through Facebook/Messenger

Course Description:
How should one live? From its etymological word alone, ethos, ethics is concerned with specific
ways of doing things. In this sense, ethics is a philosophical discipline that focuses on how a
person should think and act.

Questions about right and wrong, and good and evil form part of the discipline of ethics. These
are complex questions that need to be examined carefully. Thankfully, ethics gives us the
platform to discuss and analyze these questions and their answers, which are crucial in one’s
moral decision-making.

This course will focus on some ethical theories, and the issues they present and try to solve.

Course Objective:
Students will be able to:
 Identify the ethical theories
 Summarize each ethical theory
 Show the practical significance of each ethical theory

Course Policies:
a. Attendance (only applies to Zoom sessions): Online class attendance is vital for this
course. Sixteen (16) minutes late may be considered as an absence for the day’s class.
Four (4) absences may be considered as dropping the subject.
a. Zoom sessions: 3rd and 4th Sunday of every month
b. Project submission: Any project must be submitted on or before the deadline. Failure to
submit on time may result in a grade not higher than 80. Non-submission means a grade
of 50. Projects may need to be presented in class.
c. Classroom behavior:
a. Be respectful (to yourself, to your classmates, and to your instructor).
b. Be responsible.

Grading System:
Exams – 40%
Reporting – 30%
Class Discussion – 20%
Quizzes – 10%
100%

Materials:
 Ethics: Basic Concept, Theories & Cases by Ambong Fernandez
 Ethics: Foundations of Moral Valuation by Oscar Bulaong Jr., Mark Calano, et. al.
Academic Honesty:
No plagiarism!
Committing plagiarism may have grave consequences. Plagiarism is intentional or unintentional
copying of ideas without proper acknowledgment of the author(s). According to Plagiarism.org,
plagiarism means:
 turning in someone else's work as your own
 copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
 failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
 giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
 changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
 copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your
work, whether you give credit or not
The simplest way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources.

No cheating!
Cheating may have grave consequences. Do not take your classmates’ ideas. Just write or
speak what you know. Believe in yourself and be responsible!

Course Schedule:
 Week 1: Orientation
 Week 2: Orientation and Introduction
 Week 3: The Morality of Human Acts
 Week 4: The Morality of Human Acts
 Week 5: Utilitarianism
 Week 6: Utilitarianism (Discussion)
 Week 7: 1st Exam
 Week 8: Duty Ethics
 Week 9: Duty Ethics (Discussion)
 Week 10: Natural Law Theory
 Week 11: Natural Law Theory (Discussion)
 Week 12: Just War Theory/Just Rebellion
 Week 13: Just War Theory/Just Rebellion (Discussion)
 Week 14: 2nd Exam
 Week 15: Divine Command Theory
 Week 16: Divine Command Theory (Discussion)
 Week 17: Virtue Ethics
 Week 18: Virtue Ethics (Discussion)
 Week 19: Synthesis
 Week 20: Synthesis (Discussion)
 Week 21: Individual Recitation
 Week 22: Final Exam
*Course schedule may be changed depending on exam dates, holidays, school activities, and other unforeseen
circumstances.