ETHICS

Foundations of Moral Values

What is Philosophy?
Greek words:
philos (love) and sophia (wisdom)

- “love of wisdom”

- Pythagoras a Greek mathematician

who first call himself a “philosopho”
which means a “lover of wisdom.”
the technical term of philosophy
the study of the fundamental nature of
knowledge, reality, and existence, especially
when considered as an academic discipline

process of constant the foundation of the ability

questioning, and to understand the basic
questioning axioms that comprise
necessarily takes the knowledge....logic is the
form of dialogue basic means of reasoning

- Plato -Aristotle
six branches of philosophy
METAPHYSICS
EPISTEMOLOGY
LOGIC
ETHICS
AESTHETICS
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
ethics
Greek: ethos,- custom, character, conduct

philosophical science that deals with morality (rightness

or goodness) of human conduct, or human acts

what do we mean by a good life?

how do we define proper conduct?
how should we live our lives?
morality
Latin: mos,- custom, conduct, habits

"mos" - mores"- social norms

application of ethics
goodness or badness, rightness or wrongness of
human acts, by an individual
ethics, in a sense, may be referred to as
Moral Philosophy
moral standards non moral standards

involve serious wrongs rules unrelated to moral or

or significant benefits ethical considerations.

deals with matters not necessarily linked to

which can seriously morality or lacks ethical sense
impact- injure or benefit
humans e.g etiquette, fashion standards, games, etc.
clarification and terminology
KINDS OF VALUATION

recognize that there are instance when we make

value judgements that are not considered to be
part of ethics
clarification and terminology
ETHICS AND MORAL
The term “moral” - refers to specific beliefs or attitudes to describe acts that people
perform

sometimes, an individual’s personal conduct is referred to as his/her morals

However, we also have terms such as “moral judgment” or “moral reasoning” which
suggest a more rational aspect.
clarification and terminology
ETHICS AND MORAL
Ethics- are also generally described as ethical and unethical

"professional ethics”
acceptable and unacceptable ways of behaving in a given field

(e.g., legal ethics for the proper comportment of lawyers and other people in the
legal profession; medical ethics for doctors and nurses; and media ethics for
writers and reporters)
clarification and terminology
DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE
Descriptive study of ethics- reports how people, particularly groups, make moral
valuations without making any judgment either for or against these valuations

Normative study of ethics- engages the question: What could or should be

considered as the right way of acting?

prescribes what we ought to maintain as our standards or bases for moral

valuation.
reasoning in ethics
Asking the question WHY might bring us to no more than
a superficial discussion of reward and punishment, but it
could bring us to another level of thinking

Our thinking may take on a level of abstraction, that is,

detaching itself from the particular situation and arriving
at a statement, for example “CHEATING IS WRONG”
reasoning in ethics
How exactly do we arrive a any of these claims?

A moral theory
- a systematic attempt to establish the validity of maintaining
certain moral principles

- a system of thought or of ideas, it can also be referred to as a

“framework” as a theory of interconnected ideas, and at the same time, a
structure through which we can evaluate our reasons for valuing a
certain decision
sources of authority
LAW

Law is one’s guide to ethical behavior.

The term POSITIVE LAW refers to the different

rules and regulations that are posited or put
forward by an authority figure that requires
compliance
sources of authority
RELIGION
expresses a claim that many people of a religious sensibility find
appealing and immediately valid: The idea that one is obliged to
obey her God in all things.

this is referred to as the Divine Command theory- GOD, ALLAH, or

SUPREME BEING commands, and one is obliged to obey their
creator.
sources of authority
CULTURE
Our exposure to different societies and their cultures makes us
aware that there are ways of thinking and valuing that are different
from our own

there is a wide diversity of how different people believe it is proper to act

cultural relativism- a perspective that sees cultures as qualitatively different and

have their own unique inner logic, and that it is therefore scientifically absurd to
rank them on a scale