Module 3

THE RELATIONSHIP OF ETHICS WITH OTHER SCIENCES AND OTHER

PHASES OF HUMAN LIFE

“ The unexamined life is not worth living ”

INTRODUCTION
Ethics is a branch of Philosophy that studies the nature and the morality of human
conduct. To some extent, Ethics is related to other sciences because it also deals
with the investigation of the nature of man as a rational being and a being in relation
with other beings. But unlike other sciences, the focus and the locus of ethics is the
study man’s nature and his behavior from the standpoint of morality. The material
object of ethics is the human conduct and the formal object is morality.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Understand the scope of ethics as a science that investigate the nature of the
human conduct
2. Distinguish ethics from other sciences that study man’s nature and behavior
3. Differentiate ethics from etiquette and the professional codes of conduct

KEY TERMS:
 Etiquette
 Professional codes of conduct
 Sociology
 Economics
 Law
 Religion
 Moral Theory

1. Relationship of Ethics with Other Sciences

The following discussion is focused on how Ethics, as a science which studies the
nature of man and the human conduct, is especially related to other sciences which
likewise deal with the study of human nature and human conduct

Based on perceiving information, Ethics focuses first and foremost on the demands
of the subjective human world, or world of people and relationships. In
communication, Ethics focuses and studies people’s feeling and emotional states
based on nonverbal information and how things are said. Logic is focused on the
demands of the material, nonhuman world, or world of “things” in one’s
environment. In communication, Logic focuses on and studies what is done and said,
or the content of one’s speech.
 On intellectual qualities, Ethics is people-oriented while Logic is task-oriented This is
focused on enhancing relationships, modifying content and forms of speech to
match or contradict what others expect to hear Logic is focused on not misleading a
person and giving him correct information.

Lastly, on behavioral relationship, Ethics shows people’s feelings for their partners
directly through emotions while logic shows their feelings for their partners by doing
things for them.

2. Ethics and Psychology

Both Ethics and Psychology deal with the study of man and his behavior. However,
Psychology studies how man behaves, while Ethics studies how man ought to
behave, Psychology is not interested in the morality of human behavior, while Ethics
is concerned with man’s moral obligation or the result of his behavior. Ethics is the
study of human behavior from the perspective of morality Psychology, on the other
hand, is the scientific study of mental and behavioral characteristics, associated with
a particular kind of behavior

3. Ethics and Sociology

Sociology deals with the study of the social order while Ethics deals with the study
of moral order in the society. There is no social order if there is no moral order.
Therefore the foundation of any society depends on the moral values of people and
their perspective concept of what is good and bad in human relationship.

Society depends on Ethics for its underlying principles. Sociology deals with human
relations in a society, but human relations are based on proper order and proper
order comes only with the proper observance of moral laws and principles which
regulate the actions of men and women in a community.

4. Ethics and Economics

Man supports himself by earning a living. Earning a living support his expenses
makes a man an economic being. Economics as a science deal with the study of
wages, labor, production and distribution of wealth, The study of these issues also
involves relationships. Among individuals For example, wages between employer
and employee production between seller and customer, These fiduciary relationship
must be governed by human values that can only be understood in the light of moral
principles and the nature of values themselves

At the heart of these relationships are normal norms and moral rules that should
guide people’s behavior as they relate with others, Without these moral norms and
moral values, harmonious relationships between and among parties cannot exist.

According to Charles K. Wilber (1986), there are three ways in which Ethics enters
economics. First, economics have ethical values help shape the way do economics.
This builds into the core of economic theory a particular view of how economy
actors. (consumers,workers,business owners.) have ethical values that help shape
thier behavior. Third economic institutions and policies impact people differentially
and thus, ethical evaluations in addiction to economic evaluations, are important.

2. Relationship of Ethics with other Phases of Human Life

The study of Ethics crosses religious and cultural boundaries and is directed at the
question of how critical decisions are to be made so that an organization may work
best together to build a community and social relationships in a positive and
productive way. How we live ethically be somes more important as we are required
to make complex decisions concerning customer relations, employer-employee
relationship and other business issues.

5. Ethics and Law

Ethics and law are closely related. Ethics deals with morality, and when we speak of
morality, we mean primarily the moral law. Law may be defined as crystalized ethics.
Law and morality presuppose the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad, even
the rules of conduct

However, there is a difference between what is moral and what is legal. Laws are
intended to regulate the external actions of man while ethics investigates and
probes the internal disposition of man, such as his motivation and his thoughts.

Though law often embodies ethical principles, law and ethics are far from co-
extensive. Many acts that would be widely condemned as unethical are not
prohibited by law--lying or betraying the confidence of a friend, for example. A man
can also commit a thousand adulteries in his mind, yet that same person cannot be
legally or criminally be guilty because this exercise is innate and private to the
person himself. Though he may not be legally or criminally liable for entertaining
adultery in his though law therefore is focused on external regulations of man’s
actions while ethics is concerned with the investigation of the internal disposition of
man from the moral perspective

6. Ethics and Religion

Ethics is a discipline or set of moral principles and values governing an individual or
institutional behavior Religion generally refers to the service and worship of god (or
some other object) and is typically expressed as a personal or institutional set if
beliefs, attitudes, and practices.

Ethics evaluates the behavior of man against his values regardless of the source of
those values. While religion regardless can create an impaction individuals and may
actually include mandates for ethical behavior. It is a distinct concept from ethics, it
is however, in the practice of religion that ethics and religion may overlap.

Religion and ethics are two phases of human activity which are closely related. Both
ethics and religion are based on the same postulates they both suggest and assume
the existence of God who created everything, man’s freewill and the immortality of
the soul. Moreover- ethics and religion have the same end or purpose - that is, the
attainment of man’s happiness in this life and beyond, lastly, ethics and religion
prescribe right living as the means the goal of man in this world.

Authentic ethics cannot be separated from the existence of life. If there is morality,
there must be a moral law; and if there is a moral law there must be a lawgiver, and
this ultimate lawgiver can only be god himself.

Ethics and religion likewise presuppose the concept of the immortality of man’s
existence that there is life after death. For this reason, we believe that the soul of
the person which continues to exist even after physical death, is a soul that is
immortal

Lastly ethics and religion both seek the absolute truth. Ethics seeks the absolute
truth by using human reason alone, while religion tries to understand this same
absolute truth by virtue of one’s faith and his adherence to divine revelation. In this
case, faith is our response to god’s disclosure to us.

7. Ethics and the Professional Codes of Conduct

The era of globalization has created a need for specialized skills and knowledge.
This is brought about by paradigm shifts in almost all facets of human activities that
have resulted into a more complex society that we have today. Full automation has
almost taken over a lot of jobs done by an unskilled labor force that in turn, created
a demand for workers with special skills. The need for specialized skills and
knowledge in business has created a trend which prods people and organization to
be identified with a particular profession basically because it brings with it prestige, a
sense of respect, personal esteem and status symbol

Based on the Webster’s Dictionary, the meaning of professional is relating to or

characteristic of a profession engaged in one of the professions; participating in gain
in an activity not engaged in by amateurs, Professionalism on the other hand is the
conduct that characters a profession or a professional person; or it can also be the
pursuit of a profession for gain or livelihood as a manager, engineer or as a lawyer

The word “profession” and “professional” imply a public declaration with the force
of a promises. Professions are groups which declare in a public manner that their
members will act in certain ways according to their profession and that the same
group and in some instant the society may discipline those who fail to conform to its
prescribed ways. The traditional professions include medicine, law, education and
clergy.

Carpenters, plumber, barbers, athletes, gardener, beauticians and even soldiers may
we considered professional because they have extensive knowledge and training of
their crafts and they are also paid for the practice of it. These “professionals”
however may undergo extensive training but what they do can’t be classified as a
profession. Membership of a profession requires sophisticated skills and extensive
training as well as advanced education so that they become competent in there line
of work. The medical and legal profession fit the description of the word profession
because the skills of lawyers and doctors cannot be mechanized and require good
judgement to apply the appropriate treatment/advice to their patients/clients. There
is also the trust or secrecy that is shared by the doctor/lawyer with their
patients/clients that is not observed with other professionals, What is makes the job
of the medical and legal profession important is that they are expected to serve the
good of the public or society, This is also the main reason that constitutes to their
being in the group of professionals. Members of the profession create their own set
of rules set standards for practice of the profession and at the same time discipline
their own members. This set of standard of the reflected in their own professional
codes of conduct. A professional code of ethics is a set of behavioural guidelines
that members of a profession are required by their association to observe in the
course of their profession practice. These guidelines in general terms, prescribe
responsibilities that members must be adhere to and questionable situations in
which they must not be involved.

In some cases, members must be sanctioned for violation of the code. These
sanctions may include the following.
 Payment of a fine
 Payment of the cost of any investigation
 Reprimand
 Imposition of condition on membership
 Suspension from membership; and
 Expulsion from membership.

8. Ethics and Etiquette

The word etiquette came from a French word which means ticket. During the
medieval times. When people visit the palace of their king, they were required to
follow in-house instructions that were posted (ticket) in the different areas of the
palace. Hence, the world etiquette practically means rules and conduct of behaviour
that are supposed to be followed in special situations and circumstances, including
one’s visit to the palace of the king, Today the word etiquette refers to a special code
of behaviour or courtesy like saying “thank you” “you are welcome” and saying
“congratulations” to the groom and “best wishes” the bride and the like.

Although the rules of etiquette are generally non-moral in character, the violation of
these rules of etiquette however may have moral implications. For example a boss
and his secretary develop special friendship in the workplace and the boss, because
of his closeness to the secretary now fondly calls the same secret art as “sweetheart”
This scenario in the workplace may have tacit moral implications if, for example, the
wife of the boss may drop by one day at her husband’s office discovers that her
husband call her secretary “sweetheart”. This definitely will create a suspicion on the
part of the wife

However, the scrupulous observance of the rules of etiquette will not make a person
moral. In fact, it can even hide or camouflage important moral issue. For instance the
Civil Rights issue of racial discrimination in the U.S in the late 1950s and 1960s when
the white Americans claimed superiority over the African American and other
minorities. During this time, the same the Americans were taught as part of their
etiquette, that when a white man enters a bus with no available seat for him, it was
imperative for the black person or the minority to offer his seat to the white man
because people though it was the proper thing to do during those times. The black
American and the other minorities were made to believe it was the proper etiquette
The real moral issue, however , was racial discrimination.

9. Ethics and Education

Education is defined as an instruction or training by which people learn to develop
and use their mental moral physical powers and abilities. It is also one way of gaining
experience about human life. Since man however, is primarily a rational moral being,
the purpose of education is to perfect the moral character in man.

A great educator once said “education is co-extensive with life” Hence we can say
that ethics is life because it is the one that gives life its direction, purpose and
meaning.

10. Ethics and Art

Art is concerned with the use of imagination to make things of aesthetic
significance. Ethics is aimed at conforming to an accepted standard of good
behaviour. Ethics also stands fro moral goodness, art and beauty

It may be difficult to ascertain whether a piece of art which is offensive to morals

can be considered beautiful Both true art and true ethics have the same aim. That is,
to arouse and to inspire the noble emotions of man, thereby creating no conflict at
all. Consequently, an art which arouses the lower impulses of man defeats the very
purpose of art.

Questions for Discussion

1. Differentiate ethics from law. Point out their similarities and striking differences
2. How is ethics different from Religion
3. Differentiate ethics from etiquette
4. Explain the phrase: The rules of etiquette are the non moral in character but the
“violations of these rules on etiquette can have moral implications” cite a concrete
example
5. What is the difference between ethics and morality
6. How is ethics related to economics
7. What Is the difference between ethics and the Professionals Code of Conduct?
Case 1: The Confused Accountant
Yvonne Pillar is a young accountant who came from a poor family. She was recently
hired by a big company called chameleon co.

When it was the time to audit the accounting books of the company Yvonne was
instructed by her boss to manipulate the numbers in order to reduce the taxes the
company will have to pay the government. The company official said that if she
would not heed the command, she would be terminated.

The employment condition that time was really tight and the chance of finding
another job is very minimal.

Questions
1. If you were Yvinne Pillar, will you obey your boss? Why or why not?
2. Are you morally obligated to follow an order that is illegal?
3. Explain the moral implications of the military slogan: “Obey first before you
complain”

Cases 2: The Immoral Video Shop

Mr. Jun Quesadilla owns a video shop in manila. His store has a wide variety of
original VCDs and DVDs which he gets from a legal source and approved by the
Videogram Regulatory Board, He has all the legal papers and permits to operate this
type of business However, Mr. Jun Quesadilla has a secret room in his store which he
used to avoid the authorities. The room contains all the latest titles pf pirated VCDs
and DVDs, including X-rated tapes. He also uses another selling strategy to make
more money by telling customers that the VCds and DVDs they want to rent are
‘reserved’ and he would only give this to them if they would rent them for a high
price.

Question
1. Is it right to sell pirated VCDs and X-rated tapes. In the shadow of a certified video
shop? Briefly explain why?
2. In your own opinion, would you patronize pirated Cds and DVDs which are
cheaper that the original ones because it is more economical? Why or wy not?