Introduction Moral standards provide a structure on how you are going to live your life and how you

ow you are going to live your life and how you relate with
Ethics- Ethics is the philosophical study of what it means to live a good life, to act correctly, and to
fulfill one's duty and obligation to do good.
Morality on the other hand is about the rules that govern the promotion of human goodness so that
individuals and the society may flourish (Pojman, 2005). Morality then speaks of norms (Pojman,
2005) or rules of human conduct.
Norm - rule or standard of behavior shared by members of a social group.
Boone (2017), explains why it is important for us to act ethically with these points:
others in harmony as it outlines the values that you share with others to promote goodness to
everyone, or the common good.
Moral - It is an adjective describing human act as either ethical right or wrong.
Moral standards - Are norms that serves as the frameworks for determining what ought to be done.
Non-compliance causes guilt.
Teleological- The act is wrong depending on the consequences of the ct.
Deontological- right or wrong depends on the sense of duty.

❑ Acting ethically is a requirement for life. Culture - Total way of life. Ralph Linton.

❑ Acting ethically is a requirement for society. Cultural Relativism - the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be understood
based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judge against the criteria of another.
❑ Acting ethically has a religious purpose.
Moral dilemmas can be defined as situations in which individuals are confronted with a choice
❑ Acting ethically is for the benefit of oneself. between two or more actions, each of which has moral implications, and where choosing one action
means forgoing another.
❑ We act ethically because humans are basically good.
Levels of Moral Dilemmas:
Applied ethics attempts to bring ethical theory into real-life situations and is often used in creating
public policy. ❑ Micro-level Dilemmas (Individual or Personal Dilemmas)
Types of Applied Ethics ❑ Meso-level Dilemmas (Organizational Dilemmas)
❑ Bioethics - It concerns with ethical issues about life, biomedical research, medicines, health care, ❑ Macro-level Dilemmas (Structural Dilemmas)
and the medical profession.

❑ Business Ethics - It examines moral principles concerning the business environment, which
involves issues about corporate practices, policies, business behaviors, and the conducts and
relationships of individuals in the organizations.

❑ Environmental Ethics - It deals with moral issues concerning nature, ecosystem, and its
nonhuman contents.

❑ Social Ethics - It deals with what is right for a society to do and how it should act. Its focus is on
what may be deemed as proper behavior for people.
 CHAPTER 1: THE ETHICAL DIMENSION OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
In August 2007, Cris Anthony Mendez, a student at the University of the
Philippines, died as a result of suspected fraternity hazing.
VALUE
 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.
 Ethics as a subject for us to study is about determining the grounds for the values with
particular and special significance to human life.
CLARIFICATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
Recognizing the notions of good and bad, and right and wrong, are the primary
concern of ethics. In order to start, it would be useful to clarify the following points:
1. KINDS OF VALUATION
1.1 Aesthetic: derived from the Greek word aisthesis ("sense" or "feeling") -this
refers to the judgments of personal approval or disapproval that we make about what we
see, hear, smell, or taste.
1.2 Etiquette: is concerned with right and wrong actions, but those which might
be considered not quite grave enough to belong to a discussion on ethics. - we have a
sense of approval or disapproval concerning certain actions which can be considered
relatively more trivial in nature.
1.3 Technique/Technical: derived from the Greek word "techne" - often used to
refer to a proper way (or right way) of doing things, but a technical valuation (or right and
wrong technique of doing things) may not necessarily be an ethical one as these
examples show.
2. ETHICS AND MORALS
"MORALS"
May be used to refer to specific beliefs or attitudes that people have or to
describe acts that people perform. We also have terms such as "moral judgment or
"moral reasoning, " which suggest a more rational aspect.
"ETHICS"
Can be spoken of as the discipline of studying and understanding ideal
human behavior and ideal ways of thinking. Thus, ethics is acknowledged as an
intellectual discipline belonging to "philosophy”. Example: Professional Ethics
"PHILOSOPHY"
It is rooted in the Greek words that translate to "love of wisdom" (philia is
the noun often translated into English as some form of "friendship" or "love", while
sophia is the noun often translated into English as "wisdom").
The different branches or areas of philosophy correspond to some of these
questions, generally stated as follows:
A. Metaphysics: wonders as to what constitutes the whole of reality.
B. Epistemology: asks what is our basis for determining what we know.
C. Oxiology: refers broadly to the study of value and is often divided into
aesthetics, which concerns itself with the value of beauty, and ethics, which
concerns itself with the value of human actions.
3. DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE
3.1 Descriptive Study of Ethics:
Reports how people, particularly groups, make their moral valuations without
making any judgment either for or against these valuations.
3.2 Normative Study of Ethics:
It is often done in philosophy or moral theology, engages the question like
"What could or should be considered as the right way of acting?"
4. ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA
4.1 Moral Issue: a situation that calls for moral valuation.
Example: Imagine a situation wherein a person cannot afford a certain item,
but then the possibility presents itself for her to steal it. This is a matter of ethics (and
not just law) in so far as it involves the question of respect for one's property.
4.2 Moral Decision: when one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice
of what act to perform.
Example: I choose not to take something I did not pay for.
 4.3 Moral Judgment: when a person is an observer who makes an assessment on
the actions or behavior of someone.
Example: A friend of mine chooses to steal from a store, and I make an
assessment that it is wrong.
4.4 Moral Dilemma: choosing right over wrong, or good over bad, and considering
instead the more complicated situation wherein one is torn between choosing one of
two goods or choosing between the lesser of two evil.
Example: A mother may be conflicted between wanting to feed her hungry
child, but then recognizing that it would be wrong for her to steal.
REASONING
Ethical reasoning is the ability to identify, assess, and develop ethical
arguments from a variety of ethical positions. Ethical reasoning helps determine and
differentiate between right thinking, decisions, and actions and those that are wrong,
or harmful to others and to ourselves.
Plato (427-347 BCE), "The Greek Thinker"
 was credited as one of the pioneers of philosophy.
 started a school in Athens, known as the Academy and is believed to be the
first institution of higher learning in the Western world.
 "The Apology of Socrates" was written by Plato where Socrates makes the
claim that it is the greatest good for a person to spend time thinking about and
discussing with others these questions on goodness and virtue.
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY
1. Law
- is supposed as one's guide to ethical behavior. This cannot tell us what to
pursue, only what to avoid. Example: In the Philippines, Filipinos are
constrained to obey the laws of the land as stated in the country's criminal
and civil codes.
2. Religion
- the divinity called God, Allah, or Supreme Being commands and one is
obliged to obey his/her Creator (Divine Command Theory)
- taking religion as a basis of ethics has the advantage of providing us with
not only a set of commands but also a supreme authority that can inspire
and compel our obedience in a way that nothing else can
 This problem was first elucidated in the history of thought by Plato
in his dialogue titled "Euthyphro”.
3. 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.
Therefore, what is ethically acceptable or unacceptable is relative to, or that
is to say, dependent on one's culture. This position is referred to as "cultural
relativism".
SENSES OF THE SELF
1. Subjectivism:
- the idea that our moral opinions are based on our feelings and nothing
more. On this view, there is no such thing as "objective" right or wrong.
A number of clichés familiar to us would echo this idea:
 "No one can tell me what is right or wrong"
 "No one knows my situation better than myself"
2. Egoism?
- Egoism: A doctrine that individual self-interest is the valid end of all actions
and all forms of egoism require explication of "self-interest”.
2 types of Egoism:
2.1 Psychological Egoism
A theory that describes the underlying dynamic behind all human
actions. It does not direct one to act in any particular way, instead, it points
out that there is already an underlying basis for how one acts.
Example: An act of generosity, someone makes use of her free
Saturday helping build houses for Gawad Kalinga? The psychological egoist
would maintain that underlying such apparently other-directed behavior is a
self-serving desire, even if one does not acknowledge it or is even conscious
of it.
 This theory has a couple of strong points:
 Simplicity: When an idea is marked by this, it has a
unique appeal to it a theory that conveniently identifies
a single basis that will somehow account for all actions
is a good example of this.
 Plausibility: It is plausible that self-interest is behind a
person's actions. It is clearly the motivation behind
many of the actions one performs which are obviously
self-serving. It is not only plausible, but also irrefutable.
2.2 Ethical Egoism
Differs from psychological egoism in that it does not suppose all our
actions are already inevitably self-serving. Instead, it prescribes that we
should make our own ends, our own interests, as the single overriding
condemn. We may act in a way that is beneficial to others, but we should do
that only if it ultimately benefits us.
This theory acknowledges that one should consider herself as the
prionty and not allow any other condemn, such as the welfare of other
people, to detract from this pursuit.