Objectives
LESSON 3
• Understand the
philosophical principles of
Immanuel Kant and rights
theorists.
• Analyze Kant's categorical
imperative and its
implications for ethics.
LESSON 4 LESSON 5
• Define justice and fairness
• Define utilitarianism as a as ethical concepts.
consequentialist ethical • Explore theories of justice,
theory. including distributive justice
• Explore the key concepts and procedural justice.
of utility, happiness, and
the greatest good.
Lesson 3:
KANT AND THE
RIGHTS THEORISTS :
Immanuel Kant
Good Will
"I do not understand what I "If you know what is right, you
do. For what to do I do not will do what is right"
do, but what I hate I do" (Counter-argument of
(Letter of St. Paul to the Socrates to St. Paul)
Romans 7:15 of the New
Testament)
Good Will
• We need to look into our
will, as either we possess the
will that is good or will that is
bad. (Immanuel Kant)
• Happiness or the
eudaimonia of Aristotle and
St. Thomas Aquinas is not the
highest good. (Starting point
of Kant's moral theory)
• Kant claims that the only
good without qualification is
the good will. He treats the
good will as the highest good
since it's end will always be
good.
• Fortune or power or
intelligence or other traditional
virtues are not enjoying the
status of highest goods since
they can be used by rational
beings for bad ends.
 • In the Groundwork of the Metaphysics
of Morals, Kant says that the role of
reason, particularly in ethics, is to
produce a will that is good, and this will
become good only when motivated by
HOW DO WE duty. So when we act from duty, we
exhibit the good will.

POSSESS
GOOD WILL? • Having the will is not enough but
the will must be good in order to
correct the undesirable acts or
wrongful acts. But what make the will
good is simply by virtue of volition.
Quote

"To act morally is to act from no other motive

than the motive of doing what is right. This kind
of motive has nothing to do with anything a
subjective as pleasure. To do right out of
principle is to recognize an objective right that
poses an obligation on any rational being."
(Abbot, 88)
 • Person is acting out of duty, it presumes that the person
knows the categorical imperative.
• For Kant, moral commands are always categorical and not
hypothetical.
• Comes from the nature of the law, a sort of imposing obligation.
Two Formulas of Categorical Imperatives (Kant)
• First formula of the Categorical Imperative - "Act only
according to a maxim by which you can at the same time will
that is shall become a universal law."
• Second formula of the Categorical Imperative (Formula of
humanity) - "Act in such a way that you always treat humanity,
whether in your own person or in the person of any other,
never simple as a means, but always at the same time as an
end."
Two Principles or Determiners of Moral Imperative
• Respect for Person - Any act that is good happens only
when we deal with other people not as merely means. It is all
about dealing people just because we want something from
him/her, and we cannot have the wants without them.

Ex.

A man sticks with a certain A man sticks with the

woman out of lust to woman for the sake of the
satisfy his sexual desire. good of the woman
Two Principles or Determiners of Moral Imperative
• Universalizability - An act is morally considered morally good
if a maxim or law can be made universal. Particular maxim or
law becomes morally good when everyone can fulfill them .

Ex.

“Thou shalt not kill”

The sixth commandment

forbids direct and intentional
killing as gravely sinful.
- Contradiction under Universalizability- If people are
confused with the fulfillment of the maxim or law with other
maxims.

Ex.

Keeping the promise and lying about the promise

Contradicting
Different Kinds of Rights: Legal
versus Moral Rights
• Legal Rights - All rights one has by simply
being a citizen of a particular country like the
Philippines.
▪︎ By Birth - born with a certain territory
such as the Philippines.
▪︎ By Choice - Each Filipino has the
option to stay as citizens of the republic
or denounce it and embrace other
citizenship.
▪︎ Dual Citizenship - embracing other
citizenship.
Different Kinds of Rights: Legal
versus Moral Rights
• Moral Rights - Rights that belong to any moral
entities such as human beings and animals.
Moral entities ( freedom, rationality and
sentience.)

For example, if people have a moral right to refuse

medical treatment, then a corresponding moral rule
prohibits treating people against their will. Therefore,
health care providers all have a professional moral
obligation not to perform medical interventions on
people without their permission. (https://web.mit.edu)
LESSON 4:
UTILITARIANISM
Jeremy Bentham
(founder of utilitarianism)
 Origins and Nature of Theory
Are you familiar to them?

Dr. Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio

Their deaths is for the sake of the Jesus Christ

people’s liberty, independence and
forgiveness of the sins of the world.
They have their end or telos in offering
their lives.
 Origins and Nature of
Theory
• The theory of Utilitarianism,
Three Points of Classic Version
sometimes called of Utilitarianism
consequentialism, focuses on
the effect of a particular end or
telos called happiness. • , the basis for an act
to be treated as morally right or
• David Hume (A philosopher wrong is in its consequence they
during the modern period) is the produced. Consequence makes it
first person who proposed the morally right only when there is
idea of utilitarianism. the presence of happiness. In
short, happiness is the key in
• Jeremy Bentham (founder of determining the morality of the act.
utilitarianism) and John Stuart
Mill is the one who made the idea
more depth and made it more
profound.
 Origins and Nature of Theory

Three Points of Classic Version of Utilitarianism

• , what matters in • , the happiness

very act that we do would be the
amount of pleasure produced. If
there is no pleasure yielded, then
the act is morally wrong.
Happiness is comparative, that is,
there will be great happiness,
greater happiness and greatest
happiness. Likewise, there also
will be great pain, greater pain, and
greatest pain.
experienced by every person is
counted the same. It means every
person's happiness is taken into
account and no one is left behind.
Bentham is a hedonist and he
understand happiness as pleasure.
Pain is the partner of pleasure.
Amount of pleasure - Amount of
pain = moral or immoral act. (Give
an example)
 Origins and Nature of Theory

Factors to Consider in Assessing an Act

1. Happiness/pleasure should be 2. Happiness/pleasure should last

more intense.
3. Happiness/pleasure should be
more certain to occur.
5. Happiness/pleasure will
produce in turn many happiness
and few pains.
longer.
4. Happiness/pleasure should be
opening sooner rather than later.
6. Happiness/pleasure , one has to
consider hoe many people will ne
affected.

Note: When there are more people affected positively, that is

greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, and fewer
affected negatively.
 Origins and Nature of Theory

Business Fascination and with Utilitarianism

• Generates the greatest good for the greatest number of

persons

• By the decision must be given their just consideration

.
•Produces more good than bad consequences.

• Hope to maximize profit, return on investment and share

price.
Lesson 5 :
JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS :
PROMOTING THE COMMON
GOOD
What is your stand?
In the light of free tuition law, the RA 10931,
also known as the “Universal Access to
Quality Tertiary Education”, signed by
President Duterte in 2016, all college students
have the privilege to enroll any state college
and state universities without paying the
tuition and other fees. Are you in favor that no
matter what the financial status – upper class,
middle class and lower class – of the students
will be given the same privilege?
John Rawls
 THE TWO PRINCIPLES ARE AS FOLLOWED:

1st: Each person is to have equal right to the most extensive scheme
of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme of liberties
for others.

2nd: Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they

are both (a) reasonably expected to be everyone’s advantage, and (b)
attached to positions and offices open to all.

THE NATURE OF THE THEORY

• A common view about just society is that every member treats each
other in a just way. We want to treat others justly and we want others
to treat us exactly the same way too.
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
• Everyone in the society has to share both the burden and the
benefits of what ever the society offers.

EGALITARIAN DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

• As a egalitarian, one is concerned with a just contribution in
terms of receiving an equal share.
TWO TYPES KINDS OF DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE UNDER
EGALITARIANISM ON THE LEVEL STATE OR GOVERNMENTAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
1. Political Egalitarianism - where legal rights of every citizen are
equally observed.

2. Economic Egalitarianism - where the distribution of

socioeconomic goods is equally observed.
CAPITALIST DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
• Concerned with a just contribution in terms of receiving one’s share
according to how much one contributes to the over-all success of the
goals of the institution where one is employed.

SOCIALIST DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

• One is concerned with a just distribution in terms of one’s needs. We
have various needs in life, if we want to achieve those needs, we need
to work hard according to the amount of needs we have.
THE STATE AND CITIZENS: RESPONSIBILITIES
TO EACH OTHER: THE PRINCIPLES OF
TAXATION AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH
• We all under a particular state like the Philippines, and the state
has the power to collect taxes from its citizens. As citizens, we
have the obligation to support its existence through monetary
contribution.
* State possesses inherent power wherein the government can
issue command for survival and at the same time maintain order
and peace in the land.
* State possesses such as power to let people contribute
monetarily in order to support the cost of government, its
existence, and its other projects for the betterment of whole
populace.
 * Government should collect some amount of money from its
populace for its existence and expenses.
* States and citizens have responsibilities towards each other.
* Taxes collected from the people are considered public money
used for public needs.

THE CONTROVERSY ON THE BENEFITS-

RECEIVED PRINCIPLE
* All of us are paying to the government both direct and indirect.

* The point of raising this matter is for us to understand that all of

us are paying taxes, in return we expect better service from them.

* We have the mentality that we pay the same amount but in reality
it is not happening.
THE ROLE OF ECONOMICS AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH
* Economics is focused on the scarce resources that every member
of the society if facing.

* The goal of economists is to come up with a plan on how to produce

them abundantly so that we can enjoy and benefit from it.

* The goal of every economic growth is to increase the production pf

scarce resources so that every people well being shall be sustained.

* Economic growth under inclusive growth must create opportunities

to all people in different levels of the societies and resources
distributed to them accordingly.