Lecture 1 and 2

„We are not given a good life or a bad life. We are given a life. It is up to us to make it good or bad“

/Everday life/Good life/Bad life/

Unethical behavior is one that violates generally accepted values and norms in a society or in
a particular organization/organizations.

Introduction
A person's life is filled with activity from morning to evening. There are times when we
evaluate our actions. What have we done? How did we do it? Have we done anything good?
Or have we done something wrong? There are other questions associated with this: How is it
possible that after one activity we feel good and after another we feel uncomfortable? How
is it possible that we can evaluate what we do? According to what criteria? Where do these
criteria come from? One question carries with it several others.
In everyday life, we regularly use the words: good, evil, duty/obligation, command,
prohibition, conscience, guilt, regret, etc. Both the existence of these words and their use in
life testify that each of us lives by some moral norms, although we may not realize that it is
precisely moral norms that are at stake. Morally, one can evaluate every act that a person
has done in full awareness of his intellectual abilities, and our daily experience testifies to
this. Thus, morally or immorally, every person lives.
Thus, ethical investigation assumes/expects certain starting points that everyday life
provides. In it we are faced with a moral evaluation of our activity or that of the people
around us. We rate this activity as morally good or bad. We also morally evaluate the people
themselves, that is, we evaluate whether they are good or bad. Similarly, we evaluate social
formations or institutions.
In morally evaluating the other person or his activity, we assume that the other person
knows what he is doing. It means that he can use reason and discern good from evil. In doing
so, we assume that everyone knows that good must be done and evil avoided. The ability to
discern between good and evil is commonly referred to as conscience. Further, when we
evaluate our actions or those of someone else, we assume that they were a voluntary act.
Moral evaluation is possible only if the action was voluntary. At the same time, we assume
that we or the other can give an answer to the question of why he acted in this way and not
otherwise. That is, he takes responsibility for his act. Although there are some regulations,
commands, policies or laws from the government need to be followed, generally I am free in
my decisions and responsible for my decisions/actions/acts/activities/conducts.
Question: ?Did God gave us a free will?
Answer: !Yes, God gave us a free will!
The origins of morality are bound to the initial ability to recognize the good or evil, to realize
what a person has to do and what does not. Moral assessment concerns the value and
dignity of man as a human being. From here comes the respect of each other and respect for
others. I have to respect others. Every person, as it is human, has a value and dignity.
ETHICS is both a theoretical and a practical discipline. The language of ethics refers to many
important elements in our life/lives. For example: rights, duties, or values. Values are generally
understood as 'what one finds important in life', for example, privacy, wealth or fairness (Poel
& Royakkers 2011). Norms generally refer to what is standard, acceptable or permissible
behaviour in a group or society (Fishbein & Azjen 2011).

History/Ancient Greece
„The Greek philosopher Socrates is considered the father of ethics and inquiry“
Ethics had a place in philosophy a long time ago. Socrates (470-399 before Christ) as the first
philosopher drew attention to the human action: he dealt with what is good and what is
wrong, what is beautiful and what is not beautiful (nice), what is true and what is false. The
term ethics does not come from Socrates, but from Plato's disciple (student) Xenocrates,
who divided the philosophy into three units: logic (dialectics), physics and ethics. Aristotle
(384-322 before Christ), a student of Plato, distinguished ethics as a separate philosophical
discipline within "practical philosophy". Ethics, as one of the main philosophical disciplines,
belong to the educational process from the antiques. Ethics was lectured already in the Plato
´s Academy and Aristotle´s Lyceum. Plato´s Academy (Plato was ancient greek philosopher
and a student of Socrates) is considered the world´s first university and was a famous school
in Ancient Greece/Atens founded by Plato 387 BC.
The term ethics comes from gr. ethos and means habit, the usual way of action, nature. In
Greek language, Ethics marked the behavior and way of life of animals (ethology) in the first
place, only secondarily was transferred to man, and described the way of action, attitude
and his thinking. The term morale is derived from the Latin word mos (singular mos/plural
mores = means manner custom, usage or habit) and originally meant the will. This term also
referred to the will of the gods or of the rulers, that is to say the laws and regulations that
the rulers gave to the people. Both the term ethics and the term ethos marked the personal
way of life, mindset, character and moral behaviour of the individual. Also in the Middle
Ages, Ethics was lectured at all universities and became an important subject until now.
 Introduction to Philosophy

Etymological definition:

The word philosophy comes from to two Greek words philo and sophia which literally means
love of wisdom. The Greek word philo is ordinarily translated into English as “love” and the
term sophia is "wisdom”. The term philosopher was introduced by Pythagoras ( was an
ancient Ionian Greek philosopher).

4 Major Branches of Philosophy:

A:Metaphysics B: Epistemology C: Axiology D: Logic
Cosmology Agnosticism Ethics Deduction
Teleology Skepticism Aesthetics Induction
Ontology A Priori Syllogism
A Posteriori Dialectic

Metaphysics – trace its origin from Aristotle who first introduced it as “meta ta physika or
with the things of nature.” Metaphysics deals with the nature of being and reality. It
attempts to explain man’s most fundamental concepts such as substance, existence,
essence, truth, space, time, causation and the nature of God. Metaphysicians ask what kinds
of things exist, and what they are like.
Another fields of study/scientific disciplines/disciplines/ are:
a. Cosmology – tries to explain the theories of the nature of the cosmos
(universe) as well as its development.
b. Teleology - tries to elucidate subjects pertaining to whether or not there is a
purpose in the universe.
c. Ontology – deals with the meaning of existence, the problem like “to exist, to
have being means what?”

Epistemology – from the Greek words episteme meaning knowledge and logos meaning
word reason or plan. Fundamentally, it concerns with the study of knowledge.
Epistemologists study the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge, epistemic justification, the
rationality of belief, and various related issues.
This subject tries to answer the following questions: What is knowledge? Where knowledge
does comes from? How do we acquire knowledge of right and wrong?
a. Agnosticism – it is a position that knowledge of ultimate reality is an outright impossibility.
It is further claims that it is impossible for man to prove the existence and nonexistence of
God.
b. Skepticism – a philosophical approach based on the idea that everything is often
to doubt.
c. A posteriori – literally means „from what is later“. It is used to determine knowledge that
domes from experience. It describes knowledge based solely on experience or personal
observation. Example: Mangos, once they are ripe, are sweet = it expresses something we
know from experience.
d. A priori – means literally „from what is earlier“. Is a latin term to describe knowledge that
is acquired by pure reason alone. A priori knowledge is a knowledge that comes from the
power of reasoning based on self-evident truths, describes lines of reasoning or arguments
that proceed from general to the particular, from causes to effects. A priori knowledge is
a type of knowledge that a person has, when they know some fact without having any
evidence from experience, their justification for knowing it comes simply from thought.
A priori is a term often used in philosophy, specifically in epistemology, which is the field
that studies knowledge. Examples: A circle is round or every mango is a fruit = it shows
logical reasoning.
!Both terms are used in philosophy, especially in logic and epistemology!

Axiology – philosophy that deals with the problem of value. It seeks to rationalize the
questions like: What is value? What are the important values which are to be desired in
living?
a. Ethics – is also called „moral philosophy“ . Derived from the greek word „ethos“ which
means way of living. It deals with the study of the morality of human acts. Ethics is a branch
of philosophy that is concerned with human conduct, more specifically the behavior of
individuals in society.
b. Aesthetics – derived from the word “aesthetic” which means “the one who perceives”. It
fundamentally concerns with beauty and standards of tests and value especially in art.
Logic – it concerned with the systematic treatment of the relation of ideas. It is a study of
method to distinguish valid thinking from fallacious thinking. It is derived from the Greek
word “logia”. Logicians explore the structure of arguments that preserve truth or allow the
optimal extraction of knowledge from evidence.
a. Induction – is a kind of reasoning with the process of reasoning that is done through the
process of inferring a general law or principle from the observation of particular instances to
a general conclusion.
b. Deduction – a form of reasoning from general principle to particulars.
c. Syllogism – an argumentation in which from two prepositions called premises, a
conclusion is derived.
d. Dialectic – a means of discovering truth by proceeding from an assertion or thesis to a
denial or antithesis. The synthesis then forms a new thesis and the process is repeated until
an ultimate universal synthesis is reached.
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal
logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science
investigating how conclusions follow from premises in a topic-neutral way. A logic is just a
set of rules and techniques for distinguishing good reasoning from bad. A logic must
formulate precise standards for evaluating reasoning and develop methods for applying
those standards to particular instances.
 Ethics and Ethos

. Ethos means "custom" or "character" in Greek.

• Ethics is rooted in ethos, in the personal attitude towards life and thus also towards

dying.

• Ethics means:

• more than just moral issues; it touches, quite in the original sense of the word ethos,

the whole basic attitude of people (and/or organizations), their way of life and value

orientations, their horizons of meaning.

• The key difference between ethics and ethos is that ethics refers to a set of moral

principles while ethos refers to character or customs or a set of attitudes and values.

Ethics derives from the word ethos.

• Ethics is categorically normative science about human beings in the light of natural
reason.
Explanation: However, ethics will never provide precise information about what an

individual should do in certain circumstances, how to handle them. This depends on

his wisdom, in a certain way on the orientation of conscience. However, ethics will

provide general principles, formulate principles that guide a person's moral

judgment. Ethics is a speculative science because it directs reason. We cannot

 evaluate a person's activity as right or wrong if there is a lack of prior knowledge on

the spiritual level.

Ethics is not satisfied with the description of customs. Ethics tries to evaluate and

orient them. Ethics submits rules, comments, advice and orders. The rules, comemns,

advices and orders show people how to live well and encourage them to live well.

Ethics is not only a practical science that deals with human actions (deeds) and

guides them, but it is also a normative science. Ethics thus determines what a person

should do in order to live as he should, to realize why and for what he exists.

Ethics is a categorically normative science of human activities.

Explanation: A person can do actions that belong to him as a person - actions of a person

(actus hominis), e.g. instincts, breathing, tics, reflexes, habits performed under psychological

pressure. Ethics as a science deals with human acts.

Ethics is defined as the practical science of the morality of human act. It is

(a) practical because it implies direction;
(b) a science because it deals with a complete and systematically arranged body of data and
presents the reasons which show these data to be true;
(c) moral because it is related to the dictates of reason, how should it be;
(d) of human conduct because it deals with deliberate and free human
activity and how one should act (Alora, 1999: 7-8).
Ethics is the philosophical science dealing with the morality of the human acts.
The method, object and subject of ETHICS:

The method used in the science of ethics is human reason. We will use the analytical and

inductive method, which means that we will discuss human actions (analysis). Human

actions in concrete life are the material, they are the starting point.

The object of ethics: is a man/human person and society/human act/human conduct/human

activity/
The subject of ethics is to examine and evaluate human activity, whether it does moral good

or moral evil.

Philosophical ethics deals with practical life and human actions by noting their moral and

human quality. But ethics does not stop at this point, but continues to search for principles

for life and action. Moral good, good life, various ways of acting are for Ethics important.

Relationship to other philosophical disciplines:

Ethics belongs to the highest philosophical sciences, because it aims not only to instruct a

person, but wants to instruct him in such a way that he becomes good. The goal of

philosophical knowledge is the moral perfection of man. Moral perfection is true wisdom,

and a morally perfect person is a true philosopher. Ethics as a science affecting practical life

differs from metaphysics, natural philosophy, anthropology and other disciplines.

Division of ETHICS:

Ethics is divided into general and special ethics. General ethics is more formal. It deals with

the nature and general conditions of moral activity. It explains what is good, what is moral

value, obligation, conscience, law, etc. and seeks their essence. It studies the structure of a

moral act and the conditions of responsibility. Special ethics applies general principles to

various areas of human action. It points out how a person should behave in the family, in

society, etc. This is how family ethics, social ethics, and religious ethics arise. Professional
ethics deals with the ethical issues of some professions, for example social ethics focuses on

the study of social relations.

General ethics = presents truths of human acts and from these truths deduces the general

principles of morality = examples = conscience, duty or the essence of good.

Special ethics = is applied ethics, it applies the principles of general ethics in different

departments of human activity, individual or social = examples = bioethics, economic ethics,

political ethics.

Personal ethics = example = respect for others

Professional ethics = examples = time management, conficentiality, punctuality.

Ethical systems and ethical theories:

In his actions, a person can get into a relationship with himself, with another person, with

society, with other states, other generations, animals, the environment, or with the

universe, which becomes the starting point for various ethical theories or ethical systems. An

ethical system is a set of ethical starting points, assumptions and opinions about a certain

basic value and opinion orientation, which we think about philosophically. We know for

example, normative, deontological or individualistic ethics.

Summary:

Me = a human being/person = I have a value and dignity= we are all equal before God = I have

a free WILL from God = need to live my life = need to live my life to the fullest = need to live

my life quality/well = need to be an active person = I have to respect others = generelly I am

free in my decisions (although there are some regulations, laws, policies and commands from

the government, institutions or organizations need to be followed) = I am responsible for my

decisions (for me/myself and also for others) = with the help of knowledge, (pure) reason and

experience I am able to discern between A: good😊and B: bad (evil)☹, between A: morally

good😊 and B: morally bad☹, between A: good activities/actions/acts/conducts😊 and B: bad

activities/acts/actions/conducts☹. On the end of the day, month, year or decade don´t forget

to make an evaluation/a moral evaluation of your life😊