ETHICS

ETHICS

• Ethics is about matters such as the good thing that

we should pursue and the bad thing that we should
avoid; the right ways in which we could or should act
and the wrong ways of acting.

• It is about what is acceptable and unacceptable in

human behavior.

• It may involve obligations that we are expected to

fulfill, prohibitions that we are required to respect, or
ideals that we are encouraged to meet
 ETHICS

• Ethics as a subject for us to study is about

determining the grounds or bases for a specific set
of values with particular and special significance to
human life.

• Ethics involve valuations that we make in a sphere

of human actions that are characterized by a certain
gravity and that concern human well-being or human
life itself.
 Sources of AUTHORITY/
GUIDES TO ETHICAL BEHAVIOR:
• LAW. People must obey the laws of the land as
stated in the country’s criminal and civil codes.
• POSITIVE LAW refers to all the different rules and
regulations that are posited or put forward by an
authority figure which require one’s compliance.
• PROHIBITIVE NATURE OF LAW. The law does not
tell us what we should do; it basically works by
constraining us from performing acts that we are not
supposed to do.
• The law cannot tell us what to pursue, only what to
avoid.
 Sources of AUTHORITY/
GUIDES TO ETHICAL BEHAVIOR:
• RELIGION. The idea that one is obliged to obey
God in all things. As a foundation for ethical values,
this is the DIVINE COMMAND THEORY.
• DIVINE COMMAND THEORY The divinity or God
commands us, and each one of us is obliged to obey
our Creator.
• However, each faith demands differently from its
adherents.
 Sources of AUTHORITY/
GUIDES TO ETHICAL BEHAVIOR:
• CULTURE. Our exposure to different societies and
their cultures makes us aware that there are ways of
thinking and valuing that are different from our own,
that there is in fact a wide diversity in how different
people believe it is proper to act.
 Senses of the self
1. Subjectivism. The recognition that the individual
thinking person (the subject) is at the eart of all moral
valuations. The individual is the sole determinant of what is
morally good or bad, right or wrong.
2. Psychological Egoism. “Human beings are naturally
self-centered, so all our actions are always already
motivated by self-interest.” A theory that tries to describe
the underlying dynamic behind all human actions as a
matter of a pursuit of self-interest.
3. Ethical Egoism. Actions are right ones insofar as they
would ultimately result in what is best for our own selves.
We may act in a way that is beneficial to others, but we
should do that only if it ultimately benefits us.