ETHICS REVIEWER FOR

FINAL EXAM

PREPARED BY:
OBILLO, CLAIRE P.
1 PSYCH - 7
MODULE 6: KANT’S THEORY OF ETHICS

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) a German thinker, wrote two major books entitled, “The
Foundation of Metaphysical of Morals” and “The Critique of Practical Reason”, in
which he argued that Categorical Imperative (CI) is considered the fundamental
principle that underlies moral reasoning.

As an ethicist, he starts philosophizing using three questions such as:

1) What do I know,
2) What should I do?
3) What am I allowed to hope for?

Kant argued that when it comes to morality, simple virtues such as courage,
intelligence, can be used for good or for evil. For this reason, the virtues praised by
the Greeks were not a satisfactory way to distinguish good and bad. According to him,
virtues are nice traits to have, but they are not enough. His ethical theory of moral
judgment not only focuses on reason alone, but it should be coupled with ethical
action.

Morality provides people with a framework of rational rules that guide and prevent
certain actions and are independent of personal intentions and desires. Here are
Kant's examples of arguments: "If I give a homeless person a dollar because I want to
help them, my action is good". "If I give them a dollar because they are making a
weird noise and I want them to shut up, the action is not good". A good action, Kant
says, is one where you do it with the intention of doing a good thing, which he calls it
goodwill.

Goodwill
● Kant argued that in order to intend a good action, a rational agent (person)
must possess the goodwill to do the action.
● Kant does not agree with many ethicists that happiness is the highest good
summum bonum. He argued that happiness alone can be corrupting or
worthless when not combined with goodwill.

Duty
● it is not doing something because it’s your duty to follow certain external rules
or orders, but it is by doing something from duty which is the right way to act
only when that duty is towards your own internal moral law that you have
figured out by applying careful thinking and logic.
 ● According to Kant, we should not trust our natural inclinations as motivations
for actions because they were unreliable and passive. If we take the time to
figure out what the moral laws are (see later the categorical imperative), then
we can follow the law from duty in a way that is reliable, consistent, and
immutable.
● For Kant, an authentic moral act is one that is done because we understand it to
be our obligation, a command, an imperative.

Inclination
● refers to how an agent's thinking and actions are driven by his desire.

Imperative
● a command of reason which can be classified as hypothetical and categorical.
❖ If you want to stay healthy, eat healthy foods, and exercise regularly.

Categorical Imperative
● is a principle that every rational person must accept, which he also believed
and called the supreme principle of morality.

The Formula of the Universal Law of Nature. Kant's first formulation of the CI states
that you are to “act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the
same time that it become a universal law” (G 4:421). If your maxim passes all four
steps, only then is acting on it morally permissible.

Universality
● If we think that something is right, we think that everyone should do it (at least
if they are in a similar situation, although he thought there were principles that
were valid independent of the situation).
Maxims
● are rules that guide our actions.
● For Kant, an action is right depending on the maxim that motivates it.

Kant’s Right Theory

● is the notion that in order for a society to be efficacious, “government must
approach the making and enforcement of laws with the right intentions in
respect to the end goals of the society that it governs.
● When applied to war, rights theory states that in order for a war to be deemed
morally justifiable, the intention of entering into war ought to be right in
relation to human rights.
Legal vs Moral Rights
● What is legal is not always moral. And sometimes, what is moral is not
necessarily legal in a particular country.
● Human rights are meant to apply to all human beings universally, regardless of
whether or not they have attained legal recognition by all countries everywhere.
● Kant's legal theory derives from the assumption that concrete individuals, each
acting out subjective choices, enter into civil society in order to secure their
rightful claims, as Kant puts it, to "mine and thine."
● Legal rights denote all the rights found within existing legal codes.

Legal considerations exist at the scale of society as a whole

● Laws are the most general of all the constraints on behavior.
● Lawbreakers typically risk punishment but are not always punished.

Analysis of Kantian Ethics

● Many found Kant’s ethical system sensible and plausible.
● Kant’s view is deemed by some as a rule-bound moral philosophy that puts a
premium on rules rather than on humans.
● Another shortcoming of Kant’s ethics is its lack of solution to instances when
there is a conflict of duties.
● Regardless of consequences, an act is moral if the motive was to act from
goodwill and out of respect for duty.

MODULE 7: UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarianism is a consequential theory, which is a subclass of teleological moral

theory.

Teleological ethical system - an act to be right or wrong based on the goal or purpose
of the act.

● The determination of what one should do is based, not on the nature of the act,
unlike Kantian ethics, but on the consequences of the act, hence, consequential.
● Utilitarianism claims that the right action is one that maximizes overall
happiness.
Act utilitarianism
● an act is right if it is one that brings the best results and or the least amount of
bad results.
 ● the principle of utility is applied directly to every alternative act in a situation
where they're more than one choice

Rule Utilitarianism
● uses the utility to decide whether rules are valid or not
● consequences of the implementation of such rules are what is measured to say
if the following of a rule gives the most benefit
● It is possible to implement unjust rules according to the principle of
Rule-Utilitarianism

Strengths & Weaknesses of Utilitarianism

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

Act Utilitarianism is pragmatic which Utilitarianism seeks to predict action,

focuses on the consequences of an which is impossible
action.

It answers problem It creates unrealistic perspective

An individual can decide on his own Immeasurable

● Utilitarianism suggests that we can decide what is morally right or morally

wrong by finding out which of our possible future actions will promote
goodness in our lives and the lives of other people in general.

Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarianism

● an action is right if it produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number
of beneficiaries
● act utilitarianism focuses on the effect of individual actions
● Utilitarianism defines the morality of an act or decision by calculating the sum
of pleasure it caused or will cause and the amount of pain to be inflicted.

Seven Criteria that allow the calculation of pleasure

❖ Intensity
❖ Duration
❖ Certainty
❖ Remoteness
❖ Fruitfulness
❖ Purity
❖ Extent
John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism
● proposed that the "greatest happiness principle" that says- the greatest
happiness of the greatest number is the measure of right or wrong
● His utilitarian principles have common ground with that of Bentham in the
sense that he agrees that the measurement of the rightness or wrongness of an
act is the greatest pleasure of the greatest number of those who will benefit
from it.
● he differs from the utilitarian principles of Bentham as Mill rejects the purely
quantitative treatment of the principle of utility
● believes that experiences from our past, teach us which kind of acts and
decisions produces the greatest happiness, and which do not

Secondary Principles
● practical rules which give the moral agents knowledge and tendencies of
actions when there has no better information available

Analysis of Utilitarianism
● While Kant proposes that an act is justified by one’s reason to perform his duty,
Bentham’s and Mill’s utilitarian principles counter with the claim that actions
are evaluated through their ends.
● appears to be attractive, anchoring the basis of pleasure and pain
● teaches us that there are allowances for actions that may be justified by the
consequences
● If our moral decisions are to take into account considerations of justice, then
apparently utilitarianism cannot be the sole principle guiding our decisions. It
can, however, play a role in these decisions.

Utilitarianism and Business

● In business, utilitarianism is applied in the sense that actions and decisions
tend to be made for more money, an increase in profit, and for the benefit of the
company as a whole.
● A businessman could make the conclusion that the greatest good would amount
to the highest amount of profitability and the greatest contribution of such
business to society.
MODULE 8: JUSTICE & FAIRNESS

John Ralws (1921-2002)

● an American political philosopher in the 20th century who rejects
utilitarianism and offers a number of arguments against such a theory

What is Justice as Fairness?

● Justice and Fairness principle proposes that all the people in the society should
have equal rights, especially those who are considered the "least advantaged".

Liberty Principle
● a social justice principle that explains equal basic liberties — each citizen has a
right to the most extensive system of equal basic personal and political
liberties compatible with a similar system of liberties for others.
Difference Principle
● so-called social contract should guarantee that everyone has an equal
opportunity to prosper
● if there are any social or economic differences in the social contract, others
should help those who are the worst off
● all differences in wealth and income should work for the good of the least
favored or the skilled workers at that
● Rawls’ ranked his principles according to his supposed order of priority.

❖ Veil of Ignorance - thought experiment

❖ By being ignorant of our circumstances, we can objectively consider how
societies should operate.

Distributive Justice
● is concerned with the nature of a socially just allocation of goods and services in
a society
● includes the available quantities of goods and the process by which goods are
distributed to the society’s members

Types of Distributive Norms

● Equity - explains the member’s outcomes will be based on their inputs.
● Equality - means that regardless of your inputs, all groups should be given an
equal share of the reward.
● Power - refers to those with more authority, status should receive more than
those who belong to the lower rank.
 ● Need - those in greatest needs should be provided with the resources needed in
order to meet those needs.
● Responsibility - members of the group who have the most must share their
resources with those who have less.

Other related views on Distributive Justice

Egalitarian
● a set of closely related socio-economic-political theories that without
exemption, proposes that all members in a society ought to have an equal
amount of resources

Capitalist/Laissez-faire capitalism
● when people, businesses, and corporations perform based on their individuals’
interest for their own benefit.
● unjust because it reflects an unequal distribution of wealth and income
concentrated in the hands of a few people which in turn, deprives some of the
citizen’s means essential to compete fairly for desired benefits and positions.

Socialist
● a system where the government controls the production of goods and services.
● A better version of this is democratic socialism also called “welfare
democracy” which means that the system incorporates free-market principles
in producing goods and services.

Evaluation of Rawls' Principle

● Rawl's Difference principle is just unacceptable and unjust to get from rich
people what they have and redistribute it for the benefit of the less fortunate.

State and Citizenship Responsibility

● Inclusive growth - is an economic growth that creates opportunities for all
segments of societies and distributes the dividends of increased prosperity
both in monetary and non-monetary terms fairly in its society
MODULE 9: GLOBALIZATION AND PLURALISM: NEW CHALLENGES TO ETHICS

Pluralism
● refers to the theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle,
whether it be the constitution of the universe, of the mind and body, the
sources of truth, or the basis of morality.
● moral pluralism or otherwise known as ‘ethical or value pluralism,’ refers to
the idea that there can be conflicting moral views that are each worthy of
respect. It is more of a meta-ethical theory which analyzes the moral aspects in
situations

Globalization
● According to British sociologist Anthony Giddens, it refers to the
‘intensification of worldwide relationships which link distant localities in
such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles
away and vice versa.’

In relation to morality
● is the ‘radical inequality or disparity’ between the few rich and the many poor
individuals

In relation to business ethics

● a form of applied ethics that examines moral principles concerning business
environment which involves issues on corporate practices, policies, business
behaviors, and the conducts and relationships of individuals in the
organizations.

In relation to creating a global ethic or universal values

● Developing universally acceptable global principles, that is, global ethics for
administering transnational interactions through cultural dialogue is possible,
with a view to making material wealth go hand in hand with moral and
spiritual wealth.
Five (5) Generations that make up our society

GENERATIONAL COHORT BIRTH YEARS

Gen Z, iGen, or Centennials 1996 & Later

Millenials or Gen Y 1977 to 1995

Generation X 1965 to 1976

Baby Boomers: Born 1946 to 1964 1946 to 1964

Traditionalists or Silent Generation: 1945 and before

Born 1945 and before
Seven basic traits attributed to Millenials
❖ Special
❖ Sheltered
❖ Confident
❖ Team-oriented
❖ Conventional
❖ Pressured
❖ Achieving

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Workplace Boomers & Gen EXers Millennials

attitude

Positive hardworking, idealistic, committed to tech-savvy, appreciative

harmony, entrepreneurial, flexible, of diversity, and skilled in
self-reliant, and comfortable with multitasking.
technology

Negative self-centered with sense of lack basic literacy

entitlement, workaholics, fundamentals, short
self-motivated, don’t appreciate attention spans, not loyal
feedback to organization, demand
immediate feedback &
recognition, integrate
technology in the
workplace, may seek
employers & multiple
careers, and work dress is
whatever feels
comfortable.

Individualism
● Millennials have been painted as the self-entitled and selfie-snapping
generation. Considered as a class of self-centered and self-absorbed
20-somethings. But there are some who defend them by explaining that they
are just individuals who have more time to be themselves. This translates to
their individualism having a self-focused time in life.

Conflict with Parents

● Millennials are seen by Baby Boomers as somewhat greedy, self-absorbed, and
wasteful.
 ● Baby boomer’s life principles are to: attain a good education, get a well-played
full-time job, find a stable partner, purchase a house and a car, and have a child
or children. And millennials who fail in any of this, reflect on their dignity and
are perceived by boomer’s to have moral fiber.

Secularism
● a non-theistic belief system, or a worldview, which does not acknowledge
supernatural or divine views of reality.

Humanism
● a system of thought which gives emphasis to the value of human beings and
favors man’s thought over faith or religious doctrine.
● From an ethical perspective, humanism is a belief centered on human-based
morality.