IMPORTANCE OF RULES THEORIES OF MORAL STANDARDS
• Rules are not meant to restrict your freedom. They are
meant to help you grow in freedom, to grow your
ability to choose and do what is good for you and for
others.
• Any rule of law that prevents human persons from
doing and being good ought to be repealed. They have
no reasons to exist.
ETHICS
• Greek word “Ethos” meaning “custom” used in the
works of Aristotle.
• A branch of philosophy which deals with moral
standards, inquires about rightness or wrongness of
human behavior or the goodness or badness of
personality, trait or character.
MORAL – Latin Equivalent
• The adjective describing a human act as either
ethically right or wrong, or qualifying a person,
personality, character as either ethically good or bad.
MORAL EX.
• Do not lie
• Don't steal
• Don’t cheat others.
• Don’t kill
NON-MORAL EX.
• No talking while your mouth is full
• Wear black or white for mourning; never red
• The males should be the one to propose, neither of
which is absolutely acceptable from an ethical
perspective. It is also referred to as marriage, not
females
• Observe correct grammar when writing and speaking
• Submit school requirements on time
• If you are a male, stay by the danger side when
walking with a female.
MORAL AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS
Moral Standards
• Moral Standards are the norms or prescriptions that
serve as the frameworks for determining what ought
to be done or what is right or wrong action, what is
good or bad character.
Non-Moral Standards
• Non-Moral Standards are social rules, demands or
etiquette and good manners. They are guides of
actions which should be followed as expected by
society.
1. Consequence Standard
o States that an act is right or wrong depending
on the consequences of an act, that is, the
good that is produced in the world.
2. Categorical Standard
o Locates morality in certain duties and rights-
regardless of the consequences. T put it
simple, there are certain things that are
categorically wrong even if they bring about
a god result.
WHAT MAKES STANDARDS MORAL?
• For theists, God is the ultimate source of what is
moral revealed to human persons.
• For non-theists, God is not the source of morality.
Moral standards are based on the wisdom od sages
like Confucius or philosophers like Immanuel Kant.
• The theistic line of thought states that moral
standards are of divine origin.
• For the non-theistic line of thought, moral standards
must have evolved as the process of evolution
followed its course.
MORAL DILEMMAS
Moral Dilemma
• Is a problem in the decision-making between two
possible options, neither of which is absolutely
acceptable from an ethical perspective. It is also
referred as “Ethical Dilemma.”
• The Oxford Dictionary defines ethical dilemma as a
“decision-making problem between two possible
moral imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously
acceptable or preferrable. It sometimes called an
ethical paradox in moral philosophy.”
Moral Dilemma have following in common:
1. The agent is required to do each of two (or more)
actions which are morally unacceptable.
2. The agent can do each the actions
3. But the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions
• Moral Dilemmas are situations where two or more
moral values or duties make demands on the decision-
maker, who can only honor one of them, and thus will
violate at least one important moral concern, no
matter what he or she decides to do.
 • Moral Dilemmas present situations where there is
tension between moral values and duties that are more
or less on equal footing. The decision-maker has to
choose between a wrong and another wrong. The
decision-maker is deadlock.
FALSE DILEMMA
False Dilemma
• Is a situation where the decision-maker has a moral
duty to do one thing but is tempted or under pressure
to do something else.
THE THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS
1. Organizational Dilemma
o Scenario A: The mission of Catholic School
A is to serve the poor by giving quality
education. It is torn between the obligation to
charge low tuition to help the poor and to pay
better salaries to keep quality teachers.
o Explain: This shows the dilemma between
the goal of the school to give quality
education for the poor and so must charge the
lowest tuition fee possible and yet to keep
quality faculty the school must raise their
salary and consequently, must raise tuition
2. Individual Dilemma
o Scenario B: Heinz's wife was dying from a
particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new
drug might save her. The drug had been
discovered by a local chemist, and the Heinz
tried desperately to buy some, but the chemist
was charging ten times the money it cost to
make the drug, and this was much more than
the Heinz could afford.
Heinz could only raise half the
money, even after help from family and
friends. He explained to the chemist that his
wife was dying and asked if he could have the
drug cheaper or pay the rest of the money
later.
The chemist refused, saying the he
had discovered the drug and was going to
make money from it. The husband was
desperate to save his wife, so later that night
he broke into the chemist's laboratory and
stole the drug.
o Explain: He was torn between stealing drug
and saving his wife. This dilemma is faced
by an individual who is torn between 2
obligations- to save the wife or obey the law
3. Structural Dilemma
o Scenario C: A principal ought to welcome
and encourage parents and community
participation in school affairs. Based on her
experience, parents and community are
passive and so the principal always ends up
deciding and doing things just the same. She
is obliged to serve parents and community
participation which do not give any input at
all at the same time she obliged to accomplish
things on time
o Explain: The case of the principal whether to
be participatory or non-participatory in
school affairs but due to her not so favorable
experience of attempting to be participatory
ended up to one-woman rule is an example of
a structural dilemma
EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURAL DILEMMAS
1. Differentiation vs Integration
o Different divisions have their own different
culture and so coordination between
divisions or bringing them together for
becomes more difficult. As an example, any
attempt to introduce reform in society or
government creates structural dilemma.
o For instance, promoting or introducing
universal health care system, which is
tantamount to socialized health care, gives
rise to a structural dilemma, that is, a conflict
perspective of sectors, groups and institutions
that may be affected by the decision.
2. Gap vs. Overlap
o There may be a gap and overlaps in roles and
responsibilities. If key responsibilities are not
clearly assigned, there may be gaps or
overlaps in important tasks. If there are gaps,
organizations end up with no one doing
responsibility. If there are overlaps, things
become unclear and may lead to more
confusion and even conflict and worse
wasted effort and perhaps even resources
because of the intended overlap.
3. Lack of Clarity vs Lack of Creativity
o When responsibilities are over defined,
people conform to prescribe roles and
protocols in “bureaucratic” ways. They
rigidly follow job descriptions regardless of
how much the service or product suffers and
so end up uncreative.
4. Flexibility vs Strict Adherence to Rules
o You accommodate by bending rules to help
someone or you stick strictly to rules no
matter what and so unable to help someone
who is thrown into a helpless situation. Or
you may become being too accommodating
that all rules are no more.
 o Your jobs are defined so clearly that you will personal conviction and self-affirmation, you
stick to them even if circumstances are such begin to own the moral standard. The moral
that by sticking to your job description the standard begins to be integrated, internalized.
service or product that your organization You follow the norm not because it is
provides suffers. imposed by others, not because others say so
5. Excessive Autonomy vs Excessive or authoritatively impose it on you. On the
Interdependence other hand, merely abiding by moral
o This refers to being too isolated versus too standards means applying them as basis to
much coordination. When individual groups resolve a moral problem without necessarily
are too autonomous, people often feel internalized them.
isolated and disconnected.
o Structural dilemma is the dilemma arising
from conflicting concerns among various
sectors of society. In the first instance of
differentiation versus integration, the
dilemma is how to enforce a decision, policy,
or rule intended for everybody among many
different or unique groups or individuals. In
the second, the dilemma arises because of
either gaps or over in the procedure of
implementation of certain projects or policies
among involved agencies like the FBI and
CIA in U.S.A. or like the NBI and the INP in
the Philippines. GAPS create serious
consequences. Read about the unforgettable
Mamasapano massacre in Mindanao,
Philippines.
6. Centralized vs Decentralized Decision-making
o In decentralized decision making,
organizations can respond to change more
rapidly and effectively because the decision
makers are the people closest to the situation.
However, top managers may lose some
control. This is the dilemma of tight over
centralization or diffusing authority which is
loose.

FREEDOM AS FOUNDATION OF MORAL ACTS

Ethics applies to human persons

o Unlike the lower forms of animals, human
persons have a choice or freedom, hence
morality applies only to human persons.
Freedom and Moral Choice
o Making moral choice is a necessary
consequence of being a human person.
Because a human person has freedom, s/he
has a choice and so is responsible for the
consequences of his/her choice.
To be ethical: Own not merely abide by moral
standards
o Having free will or freedom to choose among
alternatives, which implies prior analysis and
study, is coming to terms with what you
finally affirm or deny. When you arrive at a