GEC 8 ETHICS

LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

Instructor: Dr. Luis Manuel Paita

What is Ethics?
Definitions
1. Ethics is the practical science of the morality of human actions.
2. Ethics is the scientific inquiry into the principles of morality.
3. Ethics is the science of human acts with reference to right and
wrong.
4. Ethics is the study of human conduct from the standpoint of
morality.
5. Ethics is the study of the rectitude of human conduct.
6. Ethics is the science which lays down the principles of right living.
7. Ethics is the practical science that guides us in our actions that
we may live rightly and well.
8. Ethics is the normative and practical science, based on reason,
which studies human conduct and provides norm for its natural
integrity and honesty.
9. According to Socrates, ethics is the investigation of life.
What is Ethics?
Definitions
Science – systematic study or a system of scientific conclusions clearly
demonstrated, derived from clearly established principles and duly
coordinated. Ethics is a philosophical (as opposed to experimental) science

Morality – The quality of right or wrong in human acts.

Norm of Morality – The standard by which a human act is deemed “right” or
“wrong”.

Human acts – Acts done with knowledge and consent.

Voluntary acts of man
Acts which are proper to man as man
Conscious acts, under our control and for which we are responsible
What is Ethics?
Relationship with other sciences
Ethics and Logic – Logic is the science of right thinking. Ethics is the science
of right living. Right living presupposes right thinking.

Ethics and Psychology – Both deal with the study of man, human nature,
and human behavior. Basic difference - Psychology is not interested in the
morality of human behavior. Psychology studies how man behaves, Ethics
studies how man ought to behave. Ethics is concerned with moral
obligation while psychology is not.

Ethics and Sociology – Ethics deals with the moral order which includes the
social order.

Ethics and Economics – Economics and morality are two aspects of one and
the same human nature. Human behavior is governed by moral codes as
well as by economic motivation; at times they are in conflict
What is Ethics?
Morality and Other Phases of Human Life
Ethics and Education – Education develops the whole man: his moral,
intellectual and physical qualities.

Morality and Law – Right and wrong, good and bad in human actions
presuppose a law or rule of conduct. Laws are restatements, specifications
or interpretations of moral laws. The legal only covers the external acts of
man; the moral governs even the internal acts of man (e.g., thoughts and
desires)
Ethics and Politics – Politicians ought to be the models of ethical behavior
and decision making. In politically chaotic countries like the Philippines,
they are not.

Ethics and Religion –

Both are based on the same postulates: The existence of a Supreme Being, free will in
man, and immortality of the soul.
Both have the same end – attainment of man’s supreme purpose
Both prescribe the same means to attaining the goal – right living
Imperatives of Ethics
• The existence of God or a Supreme Being
– There is no reason for man to deny himself evil but pleasurable acts
if there is no final judge to dispense justice and retribution – reward
or punishment.
– There are significant cultural and religious differences in the notion
of a Supreme Being, conceptions of good, and form of reward and
punishment
• The existence of Human Freedom
– Ethics is the science of the morality of human acts which
presupposes responsibility which, in turn, is based on the freedom to
do or not to do.
– There are cultural and regional differences in the degree of man’s
free will.
• The existence of an afterlife
– Immortality of the soul is a postulate in Ethics.
– If there were no afterlife, there would be no incentive for man to live
a purely moral life.
What is “good” ?

1. Name three “good” things that you want to happen in the

next 24 hours.
2. Describe three things you regret doing in the past year.
Why do you regret doing them?
3. List down three words or phrases that you would use to
describe a “good life”.
Conceptions of the Good Life – Cultural