MSL

ETHICS ➢ Norms, usual, common

➢ Legal ways
MORALITY & ETHICS
3. APPLIED ETHICS
➢ Life is fun from B -> D
➢ B= born ➢ examines the particular moral issues
➢ ->= choice occurring in both the personal and social
➢ D= death spheres.
➢ Life is a matter of choices ➢ It determines the moral permissibility of
actions and practices in specific areas of
human concern like business, medicine,
HOW WOULD YOU DISTINGUISH GOOD nature, law, sports, and others.
THINGS FROM BAD THINGS? ➢ Bio ethics
➢ Medical field
➢ Depends on the situation ➢ Professions
➢ Depends on the people
➢ Cause & effect
➢ Good or right?
MORAL STANDARDS
➢ often confused with other normative
MORALITY standards also concerned with “good” or
“proper” behavior, such as:
➢ refers to the set of standards an individual o Standards of Etiquette: based on
person or society uses to judge whether an culture or conventional practices
act is good or bad, whether someone is o Legal Standards: based on
virtuous or not, or whether we ought to do governmental laws
this or that. o Religious Standards: based on
➢ Principles of ideas of what is right or wrong religious laws
➢ Object

4 CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARDS

ETHICS
1. Moral standards deal with matters that can
➢ sometimes used to refer to one’s set of seriously harm or benefit human beings
moral beliefs and practices. (and other moral persons).
➢ Strictly speaking, however, it refers to the
discipline that examines the moral 2. Moral standards have universal validity.
standards of an individual or society.
• If it is morally wrong for Person A to
➢ Synonymously with morality
do act X, then it is wrong to do X for
➢ Branch of philosophy
anyone under circumstances
➢ Science, systematic relevantly similar to Person A’s.
➢ Subject
➢ Practical science studies right or wrong • Alam ng lahat
• Sanctity and dignity
3 GENERAL IDEAS OF ETHICS 3. Moral standards have a particularly
overriding importance.
1. METAETHICS
• Moral standards are used to
➢ It looks into the nature, meaning, scope,
evaluate even the correctness of
and foundations of moral values, beliefs,
other normative standards such as
and judgments. legal and cultural ones.
➢ Examples of metaethical questions are:
o Is morality objective or relative? • Kung may tama, may mas tama pa
o Is morality based on reason, (do not settle for less)
emotions, intuition, or facts?
4. Moral standards are not established by the
o What are moral persons?
decisions of authoritarian bodies, nor are
o What does it mean to be morally
they determined by appealing to consensus
accountable?
or tradition.
➢ Intangible
➢ With the mind
➢ Deals with ideas
SUMMARY
2. NORMATIVE ETHICS
The difference between ethics and morality is that
➢ It is concerned with the formulation of moral while:
standards, rules, or principles to determine
right from wrong conduct or ways of life Morals define our own character,
worth pursuing. Ethics dictates the inner working of a social system.
➢ What is normal/what should be
MSL
GOOD VS. RIGHT 2. FACULTY TO REASON
GOOD 3. GOOD
➢ Goodness ➢ Perfection
➢ Analogous ➢ Real good
➢ Nature – telos/purpose ➢ Apparent good
o Lahat ng bagay na ginawa ay para ➢ Conditional good
sa mabuti o Depends on the condition
➢ What is beneficial to others ➢ Simple good
➢ Pleasure – not harming people o It is in nature
o Lower class – bodily pleasure ➢ Imperfect good
o Higher class – intellectual pleasure o Pleasures
➢ Relative & subjective – depends on people ➢ Perfect good
➢ Tradition – what was taught to us by the o God (in Christian POV)
elders o Happiness
➢ Conscience- no guilt
o Tiny voice of God inside of us
➢ Mabuti – disposition EUDAIMONIA
➢ Mabait – characteristic
➢ Greek word means “happiness”
➢ Living & acting well
PHASES OF WHAT IS GOOD o wealth
o spirituality
1. INSTRUMENTAL o friends
o health
➢ Made for its purpose
o family
2. BIOLOGICAL
➢ Necessities as a human being
CHARACTERS
➢ Good traits
RIGHT ➢ Building blocks of identity
➢ Gather good characteristics
➢ Obligatory – duty, responsibility ➢ Comes with action
➢ Set of rules – to follow
➢ Standard – where actions are
derived/norms RESPONSIBILITY
➢ Objective – quite subjective
➢ Absolute – only to poor, quite subjective ➢ Synonymous with obligation
➢ Appropriate – can’t be superior over people ➢ What we need to do
➢ Learning – maturity
OBLIGATION/DUTY
o We learn what is right
➢ Justice = right ➢ Synonymous with responsibility
o What is right ➢ What we do
➢ Optional
o To do or not to do
Good is the ends, Right is the means but means
does not justify the ends
CONSCIENCE
➢ Being good is doing right
➢ Doing right is being good ➢ There is no bad conscience
o Erroneous conscience (bad)
▪ Upbringing of a person
KEY CONCEPTS OF ETHICS ➢ Tiny voice of God
➢ An act of the practical judgement of reason
➢ Agent/agency
deciding upon an individual action
o Moral
determining if it is good to be performed or
ASPECTS OF HUMAN is evil to be avoided

1. FREEDOM
DETERMINANTS OF MORAL ACTS
➢ Human acts – subjected only to morally
right/wrong 1. OBJECTS
o Knowledge
➢ Action itself
o Freedom
o Volition 2. MOTIVE/INTENTION
➢ Acts of man
3. CIRCUMSTANCES
o Involuntary movements
MSL
➢ What (by what means), Where, Who, When, ➢ It’s all their fault
Why, How o “To defect from him who is the
Supreme Existence, to something of
less reality, this is to begin to have
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL an evil will”
➢ God did not create anything evil.
➢ Begins with the observation that a loving ➢ God gave creatures free will (a good thing)
and powerful God would prevent evil and so that they could choose to depart from
suffering what he intended
➢ Since evil and suffering exist, God o there will be rewards for those who
(traditionally understood) cannot exist turn to God ad punishment for those
➢ Epicurus who do not
o Ancient Greek philosopher ➢ Human free will only explains moral evil
o Credited with discovering this o Augustine argued that Fallen Angels
problem has chosen to cause earthquakes,
o Brought “carpe diem” diseases, etc.
o Pleasure
➢ David Hume CRITICISMS OF AUGUSTINE
o Promoted the problem
➢ If God knows everything, he would have
o Made Epicurus a character in his
known that Original Sin would happen.
dialogue
o Why did he allow it?
o Man by nature is greed
➢ John Mackie – free will is not an adequate
EVIL explanation
o An omnipotent God could have
➢ Pain & suffering created free moral agents who
➢ Privation of perfection (excess) would always do the right thing
➢ To eliminate God & existence ➢ The references to Adam and Eve, and
angels causing natural disasters do not fit
with our modern world view
THE INCONSISTENT TRIAD o Who would believe that?
o These are outdated myths
➢ Series of three propositions which cannot all
be true at the same time RESPONSE TO CRITICISMS
➢ Epicurus and Hume expressed this as:
o God is all-loving (omnibenevolent) ➢ God may have known that evil would occur
o God is all-powerful (omnipotent) but still has just reasons for creating things
o Evil and suffering exist as he did.
➢ Conclusion: God either is not all-loving or ➢ The ability to reject God is an important part
all-powerful, or her does not exist of giving us meaningful free choices
➢ Mackie is wrong to say that God could make
free people always choose good
➢ Alvin Plantinga – actualizing a world in
KINDS OF EVIL
which certain free choices must be made
1. MORAL EVIL contradicts the whole idea of freedom

➢ Caused by moral agents

o Free choices of human persons –
SAINT IRENAEUS’ THEODICY
murder, rape, etc.
➢ Own actions ➢ Irenaeus – bishop of Lyon in the 2nd century
➢ Violates law ➢ His theodicy is teleological – it is concerned
with ultimate purpose of evil and suffering
2. NATURAL EVIL
➢ Purpose of evil is:
➢ Suffering caused by natural events o To challenge human beings
o Drought, disease, earthquakes, etc. o For balance
➢ Cannot be controlled o To know what is good
➢ Argued that humans were not made perfect
in the beginning; they were created like
AUGUSTINE’S THEODICY infants
➢ The sin of Adam and Eve was not
➢ Augustine – bishop of Hippo (Algeria) in the catastrophic; humans have to struggle and
4th century make mistakes so that they can eventually
➢ Argued that evil did not really exist as a gain perfection
“thing in itself” ➢ Humans are made in the image of God, but
➢ Evil is an absence of good, a “privatio boni” they will one day share his likeness
➢ Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God ➢ Nobody’s perfect
in the Garden of Eden o “it was possible for God Himself to
o An act which Augustine calls have made man perfect from first,
“Original Sin”
MSL
but man could not receive this, being
yet an infant”
JOHN HICK
➢ Modern philosopher tried to develop and
improve Irenaeus’ theodicy
➢ The “Vale of Soul-making” approach
o If God made our world cozy and
safe, it would be like making a cage
for a pet
o Human life is meaningful because
we have to grow up
➢ Suffering and difficulties allow us to develop
integrity, courage, compassion, etc.
➢ God is also “hidden” – his existence isn’t
immediately obvious
o This makes belief more of a
challenge or trial
CRITICISMS OF IRENAEUS AND HICK
➢ It’s possible to learn values and virtues
without great suffering
o Isn’t there another way?
➢ The process of human development might
justify some suffering, but not the awful pain
experienced by many in this life
➢ A lot of suffering is “dysteleological”
o It is apparently pointless
o What does a six-year-old child who
starves to death learn from this
process?
RESPONSES TO CRITICISMS
➢ to suggest that we could learn values
without suffering is mere speculation
➢ Great/significant pain does build character
o Some people have achieved
amazing things after terrible
adversity
o It is wrong to suggest that we can
learn simply from minor pains
➢ Hick responds to dysteleological suffering
with after death
o Our souls may continue to develop
after death, justifying what appears
to be meaningless suffering now
OBJECTIONS
➢ If God is all-powerful, why could he not
make a world which is perfect, ignoring such
difficulties as natural laws?
➢ How do we know that this world is the best
possible?
o There might be a better one out
there somewhere
➢ This thought isn’t very comforting for those
experiencing pain
o As Voltaire ironically remarked: “all’s
for the best in the best of all possible
worlds”
PROCESS THEOLOGY
➢ Developed by the theologians – Alfred North
Whitehead & Charles Hartshorne
➢ God is not omnipotent in the sense that he
has not created a universe which must obey
his will
➢ Instead, the universe is in a constant state
of change and process
o God’s power is persuasion; he tries
to bring things around to his will, to
what is good
OBJECTIONS
➢ The God of Process Theology really is not
very powerful
o Is he worthy of worship?
o Since God is no longer an all-
powerful judge, is there any point of
being good?
o God may be trying to do good, but is
there really evidence of this?
FINAL THOUGHTS
➢ The problem of evil is only a problem if we
attempt to maintain a perfectly classical
definition of God
o If we change his attributes, the
problem may go away
NEW FACE OF EVIL

GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ ➢ Companionship

o Vices
➢ “The best of all possible worlds” ➢ Concept
➢ Argued that God is all-powerful, but still o Unity
could not create an absurd, logically ➢ Cosmetics
contradictory world ➢ Cheating
o A world without natural laws
➢ Given that there are reasonable limitations;
God created “the best of all possible worlds”
o The world needs things like an
atmosphere, even thought this SOURCES OF AUTHORITY (EXTERNAL)
causes problems such as
➢ Tells what is right/wrong
hurricanes.
➢ Law
o It’s not perfects, but it’s the best
➢ Religion
world that could be made
➢ Culture
o Cultural Relativism
MSL
LAW
➢ the system of rules which a particular
country or community recognizes as
regulating the actions of its members and
which it may enforce by the imposition of
penalties.
➢ A good society has set of rules and law
➢ Code of Kalansaw – earliest rules and
regulations
➢ Constitutions of 1987
➢ Government
o Legislative – passes bills
o Judiciary – applies the law (judges)
o Executive – highest authority
(president); approves the law
➢ Theodore Roosevelt – “No man is above the
law and no man is below it; nor do we ask
any man’s permission when we ask him to
obey it”
o We have an option to do or no to do
o People should be equal in the eyes
of the law
o Now, justice becomes relative
RELIGION
➢ is usually defined as a social-cultural
system of designated behaviors and
practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts,
sanctified places, prophecies, ethics,
or organizations, that generally relates
humanity to supernatural, transcendental,
and spiritual elements.
➢ Tells what is good or evil
➢ Aim to connect with God, angel, saints,
Mama Mary (supernatural)
➢ Heaven – good
➢ Hell – evil
➢ Morality of society
➢ Reminds us with what is right and wrong
➢ Role model
➢ Thomas Paine – “Every religion is good that
teaches man to be good; and I know of
none that instructs him to be bad”
o If religion teaches to be bad, it is not
religion to begin with
CULTURE
➢ Refers to the cumulative deposit of
knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion,
notions of time, roles, spatial relations,
concepts of the universe, and material
objects and possessions acquired by a
group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving
➢ Product of culture
➢ Group of people gathers and create with
common beliefs
MANIFESTATION OF CULTURE
➢ Practices
o Symbols – identity
o Heroes – death march
o Rituals – fiestas
o Values – characteristics
➢ Suzy Kassem – “Understanding languages
and other cultures builds bridges.”
o Differences build common bridges
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
➢ Cultural diversity
➢ Different cultural groups think, feel, and act
differently.
➢ There are no scientific standards for
considering one group as intrinsically
superior or inferior to another.
➢ Studying differences in culture among
groups and societies presupposes a
position of cultural relativism.
➢ It does not imply normalcy for oneself, nor
for one's society.
➢ It, however, calls for judgment when dealing
with groups or societies different from one's
own.
➢ Information about the nature of cultural
differences between societies, their roots,
and their consequences should precede
judgment and action.
➢ Negotiation is more likely to succeed when
the parties concerned understand the
reasons for the differences in viewpoints.
➢ Who is more appropriate?
➢ Who is more relative?
➢ Instead of understanding, there is conflict of
interest
➢ Solution:
o Even with difference, we must
accept and understand each other
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY (INTERNAL)
➢ Subjectivism
SUBJECTIVISM
➢ the individual is the sole determinant of
what is morally good or bad, right or wrong.
o Depends on the individual (self)
➢ Ethical subjectivism (kung ano ang feel
niya, yun ang gagawin niya)
o Moral Statement – our moral
opinions are based on our feelings
and nothing more
▪ Normative things that we do
or follow
▪ Basic
▪ Feelings
o Moral Judgements – there are no
objective moral truths
▪ Decision factors
▪ Options in life
▪ Own judgements
GOOD POINTS OF SUBJECTIVISM
1. Reflects the subjective elements of morality
✓ Comes from within
MSL
2. Reflects the evaluative elements of moral
statements
✓ We encounter different kinds of self
3. Shows that moral judgements communicate
dis/approval
✓ Maturity
4. Reflects the persuasive intentions behind
ethical discussions
✓ See to believe
5. May clarify what people are arguing about
✓ Common problem: we do not listen
✓ We are seeing what/where the
argument is coming from
BAD POINTS OF SUBJECTIVISM
1. "If I approve of something, it must be good"
✓ Sense of overriding morality is gone,
becomes selfish
2. “Moral statements seem more than
statements about feelings”
✓ Feelings and emotions are valid – if
it is the reason of an act, it is wrong
3. “How can we blame people if moral truths
are always subjective?”
✓ The law limits freedom

PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
➢ Human beings are naturally self-centered,
so all our actions are always already
motivated by self-interest.
➢ Man by nature is greed
➢ Doing what is only in our interest
ETHICAL EGOISM
➢ People ought to pursue their own self-
interest, and no one has any obligation to
promote anyone else’s interests
➢ We should only do things that would
accomplish our self-interest