Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves Moral standards pertain to the rules people have about
e about the kinds of
systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and
wrong behavior”
Yes, Ethics is responsibility we have given freewill we can do whatever
we want but we have also the responsibility to face the
consequences of our actions
What is ethics?
At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how
people make decisions and lead their lives.
Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and
is also described as moral philosophy.
The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean
custom, habit, character or disposition.
Ethics covers the following dilemmas:
 how to live a good life
 our rights and responsibilities
 the language of right and wrong
 moral decisions - what is good and bad?
Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies
and cultures. They infuse debates on topics like abortion, human
rights and professional conduct.
actions they believe are morally right and wrong, as well as the values
they place on the kinds of objects they believe are morally good and
morally bad.
Non-moral standards, on the other hand, are the rules that are
unrelated to moral or ethical considerations. Either these standards
are not necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical sense.
Moral standards are also referred to as moral values and moral
principles. On the other hand, usual examples of non-moral standards
include rules of etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and
various house rules.
Amoral- is "having or showing no concern about whether behavior is
morally right or wrong"—compendiously, "without morals." For
example, an infant, unlearned in what is right and wrong, is amoral;
someone who lacks the mental ability to understand right or wrong
due to illness might be described as amoral. These are illustrative
examples, however; amoral can be used to describe any person, or his
or her actions, who is aware of what is right and wrong but does
wrong anyway and responds indifferently about it.
A moral dilemma - is a conflict in which a person must choose
between two or more actions, all of which they have the ability to do.
There are moral reasons for each choice. No matter which choice you
make, someone will suffer or something bad will happen. In order to
help you understand exactly what is meant by “moral dilemma” we
have provided some examples, some of which are classic moral
dilemmas.
MORAL AND NON MORAL STANDARDS
What are standards?
 Level of quality of attainment
  An idea or thing used to measure, norm or model in
comparative evaluation
morality
 Morality comes from the word moral, meaning ‘related to
goodness’ and –ity suffix
 Set of standards of the society used to decide what is right or
wrong behavior.
Moral standards
1. Moral standards are the norms that individuals or groups have
about the kinds of actions believed to be morally right or wrong,
as well as the values placed and what people believe to be morally
good or morally bad. It forces others to act accordingly and it
affects other people.
2. Moral standards are the sum of combined norms and values.
( norms + values = moral standards)
• Norms- general rules about our actions or behaviors
• Values- enduring beliefs or statements about what is good or
desirable or not
Characteristics
1. Moral standards deal with matters we think can seriously injure or
benefit humans, animals, and the environment, such as abuse,
rape, murder, harassment.
2. Moral standards are not established or changed by the decisions
of authoritative individuals or bodies.
3. Moral standards are overriding.
4. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations. Hence,
moral standards are fair and just.
-not partial or biased : treating or affecting all equally.
5. Moral standards are associated with special emotions(such as
guilt and shame) and vocabulary (such as right, wrong, good and
bad) .
6. Moral standard have the trait of universality
Why we need to distinguish moral standards from non-moral ones?
 Some values do have moral implications while other’s don’t
 People have to understand the difference between the two to
identify fundamental ethical values that may guide our actions.
Non- moral standards
 Refers to standards by which we judge what is good or bad and
right or wrong in a non- moral way
 Are matters of taste or preference
 Any violations that does not pose a serious threat to human well-
being and do not affect other people, ex: wearing shorts to formal
party
 Refers to rules that affect the choice of person but are not linked
to moral or ethical considerations, similar with ethics people use
value judgment in dealing with these aspects
 Are the unwanted principles, which in opposition to everything
that we are expected to be and do, and it is influenced by largely
by the construct prescribed in our society.
 Manage individual life, aspirations and desires and may decide a
person’s place in his group. Some non- moral standards of any
society could be the table manners, general etiquette, clothing
etc.
 The immoral person knowingly violates human moral standards,
the amoral person may also violate moral standards because
he/she has no moral sense.
Characteristics of non- moral standards
 Welfare of non- beings
 Relies on authority –law
 Religion, tradition
 Limits hegemony
 Self interest
 X emotions and vocabulary
Examples
 Standards of etiquette by which we judge manners as good or bad
 Standards we call The law by which we judge legal right and
wrong
 Standards of aesthetics- good or bad art
 The athletic standards- how well a game is being played
Etiquette
 Is a set of rules on how an individual should responsibly behave in
the society. Table manners such as proper use of utensils and the
proper manner of eating are examples of etiquette.
MORAL DILEMMA
is a conflict in which you are force to choose between two or more
actions and have moral reasons for choosing each action
A moral dilemma is a situation where:
1. The agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about
which course of action is the best.
2. There must be different courses of action to choose from.
3. No matter what courses of action is taken, some moral principles
are always compromised
Moral Dilemmas in Organizations/ Businesses
Letting Clients Go
Keeping Employees Because Of Seniority
Moral Dilemmas in the Health Care Service
By definition, an ethical dilemma involves the need to choose from
among two or more morally acceptable options or between equally
unacceptable courses of action, when one choice prevents selection
of the other. Advances in medicine, increasing economic stress, rise of
patient self-determination and differing values between healthcare
workers and patients are among the many factors contributing to the
frequency and complexity of ethical issues in healthcare, In the cancer
patient near the end of life, common ethical dilemmas include those
dealing with artificial nutrition and hydration, truth-telling and
disagreements over management plans. It would stand the clinician in
good stead to be aware of these issues and have an approach toward
dealing with such problems. In addition, organisations have a
responsibility to ensure that systems are in place to minimise its
occurrence and ensure that staff are supported through the process
of resolving dilemmas and conflicts that may arise
The Philippine Health Care Dilemma:
Our geographical location and growing population are still the top
and pernual reasons why developing the Philippine health care
system retain a thalienge said the Department of Health (DoH) and
several United Kingdom based pharmaceuticals executives in a recent
dialogue. The World Health Organization recommends that there
should be 20 beds in a nospital per 10.000 people. The current
population of the Philippines is 100 million. Beds, among our many
needs, are usually insufficient, Accordi the 2008 DoH report The
Philippine Health System at a Glance" available on its website, almost
all regions have insufficient beds relative to population. The
sufficiency of beds is one indicator of a good for a failing) healthcare
systems The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has
the smallest bed population ratio, said the data. "It is a paradigm shift
we're trying to implement, " said DoH Undersecretary Kenneth
Hartigan-Go. The PNDF has over 600 drugs listed and approved by the
Food and Drugs Authority. Mr. HartiganGo said the formulary was last
updated in 2008. Many drug innovations have happened since thery
new drugs need to be listed and entered into the formulary. "There
are also a lot of drugs, which are no cost effective, that need to be
replaced, " he said. The World Health Organization (WHO) labels a
healthcare system as "well-functioning" if it provides impartial access
to quality healthcare regardless of pay dimensions while protecting
them from financial consequences of poor health. Healthcare in the
Philippines does not meet these set standards
THE THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS
We can classify moral dilemmas according to levels: (a) personal,
(b) organizational, and (c) structural.
A. Personal
Simply put, these personal dilemmas are those experienced and
resolved on the personal level. Since many ethical decisions are
personally made, many, if not most of, moral dilemmas fall under, or
boil down to, this level.
French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre gave an example or a case that
could exemplify a personal moral dilemma:
“Sartre tells of a student whose brother had been killed in the
German offensive of 1940. The student wanted to avenge his brother
and to fight forces that he regarded as evil. But the student’s mother
was living with him, and he was her one consolation in life.’
The student believed that he had conflicting obligations. Sartre
describes him as being torn between two kinds of morality: one of
limited scope but certain efficacy, personal devotion to his mother;
the other of much wider scope but uncertain efficacy, attempting to
contribute to the defeat of an unjust aggressor.” (“Moral Dilemmas,”
n.d.)
We can give many other examples of personal moral dilemmas. If
someone makes conflicting promises, he faces a moral conflict. When
an individual has to choose between the life of a child who is about to
be delivered and the child’s mother, he faces an ethical dilemma
B. Organizational Dilemmas
Basically, ethical cases encountered and resolved by social
organizations are organizational moral dilemmas. This category
includes moral dilemmas in business, medical field, and public sector.
For example, a hospital that believes that human life should not be
deliberately shortened, and that unpreventable pain should not be
tolerated encounters a conflict in resolving whether to withdraw life
support from a dying patient. This is a common moral dilemma faced
by healthcare organizations and medical institutions.
Moral dilemmas also arise in professional work. Administrative
bodies in business are confronted with situations in which several
courses of action are possible but none of them provide a totally
successful outcome to those affected by the decision or actions taken.
These moral dilemmas in business involve issues about corporate
practices, policies, business behaviors, and the conducts and
relationships of individuals in the organizations. Other business-
related dilemmas pertain to the social responsibility of businesses,
employee rights, harassment, labor unions, misleading advertising,
job discrimination, and whistle blowing.
On the part of public sector, government leaders and employees have
a moral duty to act in a manner that is fair and unbiased. They should
be loyal to the public and ought to put public interest before personal
gain, and fulfill duties of competency, integrity, accountability, and
transparency.
Having said that, public officials nonetheless may encounter
foreseeable moral dilemmas in fulfilling these ideals. So ethical or
moral dilemmas which arise include the following examples:
-whether or not to favor family, friends, or campaign contributors
over other constituents;
-favoring the agenda of one’s political party over a policy one believes
to be good for the community;
– dealing with conflicting public duties inherent in serving both as a
council member and as a member of an agency or commission;
– resigning from organizations in which membership may give rise to
future conflicts;
– becoming whistle blower even if it means potentially derailing a
policy objective one is pursuing; and,
– accepting gifts if it is legally permitted but creates the appearance of
impropriety.
C. Structural Dilemmas
These structural moral dilemmas pertain to cases involving network
of institutions and operative theoretical paradigms. As they usually
encompass multi-sectoral institutions and organizations, they may be
larger in scope and extent than organizational dilemmas.
An example is the prices of medicine in the Philippines which are
higher compared to other countries in Asia and in countries of similar
economic status. Factors affecting medicine prices include the cost of
research, presence of competition in the market, government
regulations, and patent protection.
The institutions concerned may want to lower the costs of medicine,
thereby benefiting the Filipino public, but such a move may ruin the
interests or legal rights of the involved researchers, inventors or
discoverers, and pharmaceutical companies which own the patent of
the medicines or healthcare technologies.
An example of dilemma which is also structural in nature is that of
Universal Health Care (UHC). Locally applied, it is called “Kalusugan
Pangkalahatan” (KP). It is the provision to every Filipino of the highest
possible quality of health care that is accessible, efficient, equitably
distributed, adequately funded, fairly financed, and appropriately
used by an informed and empowered public.
“Kalusugan Pangkalahatan” (KP), as a government mandate, aims to
ensure that every Filipino shall receive affordable and quality health
benefits by (ideally) providing adequate resources – health human
resources, health facilities, and health financing.
Nonetheless, health financing is first and foremost a big issue here.
Government could set aside bigger budget for health for the
implementation of this provision. But then, this would mean cutting
down allocations on other sectors (such as education or public
works.).