WHAT IS ETHICS?
MORAL DILEMMA
• Analysis & Investigation
• Rules & Guidelines
• Framework
• What should we do?
• How should we live?
• What choices should we make?
• What makes our lives worth living?
“ETHOS” – Greek, character, moral nature. Ethics
“MOS” |” MORES” – Latin, norms, custom. Morality
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions
about morality – concepts of good and bad, right and
wrong, justice, and virtues. MORAL PHILOSOPHY.
It also provides and puts order and harmony in
our lives. THE ART OF CORRECT LIVING.
Ethics, process of reflection, conscious reflection
Law, enforceable standard of behavior, formal rules, just
and unjust
Morality, informal rules, “how should I live?”,
unconscious habits
Man has MORAL SENSE
• INTELLECT/RATIONAL – able to distinguish
what is good and bad
• SOCIAL/RELATIONAL – feel oblige to do
good and avoid bad
• FREEDOM/FREE – accountable with our
actions
WHY STUDY ETHICS?
MORAL STANDARDS
ETHICAL APPROACH
WHY ETHICS EXISTS?
Man is moral agent, rational, relational, & free.
Rational, because of our reason, we can deliberate and
make conscious decisions.
Free, because of our freedom, we determine our own
actions.
Relational, shows our ability and responsibility to relate
to others. Responsible for our actions and consequences.
GOOD
• Real and Objective Good – health & knowledge
• Apparent Good – looks good but not, like vices
VALUE
• Objective Value – good health, knowledge
• Subjective Value – wants, appreciation of man
FREEDOM
Foundation of ethics
Only human beings are rational, autonomous, and self-
conscious. We can freely and consciously choose and
select our actions.
Good in Itself, not because of usefulness, or purpose
Duty, doing good because it’s good but not totally free
Moral Responsibility, don’t act for self-serving interest
Freedom, doesn’t give us ability to decide similarly
Rationality, not entirely the same for all of us
World with unlimited freedom = CHAOS
World with no freedom = CHAOS
Our freedom is not absolute. It ends when the
other person’s freedom begins.
“Hindi dahil kaya mong gawin, dapat mong gawin”
RELATIONAL
Relating with others
Culture, knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, customs
Function of Culture
• Provides identity to people in society
• It mirrors laws of the land
• It unifies people in ways they understand others
• Influences our concept of MORALITY
Cultural Relativism, viewing people’s behavior from
the perspective of their own culture.
Strengths:
• Right and Wrong – judged based on cultural
contexts
• Answer to cultural annihilation
• Promotes multiculturalism
Challenges:
• Universal standards don’t exist
• If universal standards don’t exist so thus
morality
• Gives birth to ethical relativism – away from
objective moral standards
Understanding over judgment.
No culture can be the basis of all that is good and true.
Ethical judgments are relative to cultural contexts.
Cultural Diversity, defer judgment and extend
understanding
Ethnocentrism, practice of taking one’s own people,
society, and culture to be the vantage point from which
all else is viewed and judged.
How do we relate to others?
Morality is a social phenomenon, most of our concerns
when it comes to what is good are related to situations in
which humans are living with others.
Connection, interconnectedness
SOCIAL CULTURE;
• Individualism, me, selfie culture
• Bystander, not me
• Polarization, against me
• Indifference, you’re not me
• Apathy, me don’t care
TRANSACTIONAL VS RELATIONAL;
Transactional, contract-based, won’t work
Relational, value people more deeply
Establish culture of encounter and dialogue;
• This person is valuable
• Authentic listening
• Dignity of humans
• Fraternity and social friendship
• Love bridges
• Have empathy
RATIONAL
Ability to think, reflect, and reason out
Mind (reason/gut) or Heart (emotion/feeling)
Challenges to emotions:
Irrational, non-sense, too much emotion
Heartless, apathy/indifference, too little emotion
Challenges to reason:
• Rationalization, rigidly keeping our beliefs
• Justification, making our beliefs consistent and
rational
• Echo chamber
• Filter bubbles
• Cognitive bias
• Cognitive dissonance
Reason & Impartiality, minimum requirements for
morality
Reason, moral truth are truths of reason.
Impartiality, no biases, prejudices, preferences.
MORAL REASONING
Enables us to think clearly and systematically.
Analysis paralysis, over thinking, over analyzing
Scott Rae’s 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model