THE TERM “FRAMEWORK” CAN BE DEFINED AS A BASIC

STRUCTURE UNDERLYING A SYSTEM OR CONCEPT.

CONTEXTUALLY IN ETHICS, IT REFERS TO “A SET OF
ASSUMPTIONS, CONCEPTS, VALUES AND PRACTICES
THAT CONSTITUTES WAY OF VIEWING REALITY”.
 ETHICS

META-ETHICS NORMATIVE APPLIED

ETHICS ETHICS
 Meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that studies the nature of
morality. At such, it talks about the meaning, reference, and truth
values of moral judgments. It also explains what goodness and
wickedness mean and how we know about them. Studying the
methods for choosing ethical principles and doing normative
ethics can be said to be part of this more basic branch of moral
philosophy.
 Moral Realism
COGNITIVISM
Cognitivism Ethical Subjectivism
vs. Non-
cognitivism NON-
Emotivism
COGNITIVISM
MORAL
Universalism
META-ETHICS vs. Relativism
UNIVERSALISM
MORAL
RELATIVISM
MORAL
Empiricism vs.
EMPIRICISM
Rationalism vs.
Intuitionism MORAL
RATIONALISM
MORAL
INTUITIONISM
1.1 COGNITIVISM VS NON-COGNITIVISM
a. COGNITIVISM states that moral judgments convey
propositions, that is, they are ‘truth bearers’ or they are
either true or false.

Moral realism claims that the existence of moral facts and

the truth (or falsity) of moral judgments are independent of
people’s thoughts and perceptions. It maintains that morality
is about objective facts, that is, not facts about any person or
group’s subjective judgment.
Ethical subjectivism, on the other hand, holds that the truth (or
falsity) of ethical propositions are dependent on the attitudes or
standards of a person or group of persons. Subjectivism is
obviously contrary to moral realism.
b. NON-COGNITIVISM denies that moral judgments are
either true or false. It claims that ethical sentences do not
convey authentic propositions, hence are neither true nor
false.

Emotivism is the most popular form of non-cognitivist

theory. It submits that moral judgments are mere expressions
of our emotions and feelings.
1.2 UNIVERSALISM VS RELATIVISM
a. MORAL UNIVERSALISM theorizes that moral facts and
principles apply to everybody in all places.
-Also called ‘moral objectivism’.
-Believing that some behaviors are simply wrong, it also
submits that if something is right for one, then it is right for
another. Moral universalism is very much compatible with
‘moral realism’.
b. MORAL RELATIVISM on the other hand, submits that
different moral facts and principles apply to different persons
or group of individuals.

Believing that various cultures have distinct standards of right

and wrong, it also maintains that ethical standards also change
over time even in the same culture. Denying a single, objective
standard for morality, it holds that moral norms are equally
true and morals are mere preferences. Noticeably, it is very
much compatible with ‘ethical subjectivism’.
1.3 EMPIRICISM VS RATIONALISM VS
INTUITIONISM
a. MORAL EMPIRICISM is a meta-ethical stance which
states that moral facts are known through observation and
experience.
The theory is an extension of ‘empiricism’ in epistemology
which states that all knowledge of matters of fact is derived
from experience and that our mind is not equipped with
pre-experience concepts.
b. MORAL RATIONALISM contends that moral facts and
principles are knowable a priori (using logic and reason to form
conclusion before experience), that is, by reason alone and
without reference to experience.
The theory relies on reason rather than intuition in justifying a
belief or action.
c. MORAL INTUITIONISM submits that moral truths are
knowable by intuition that is by immediate instinctive
knowledge without reference to any evidence.
Normative Ethics is the branch of ethics that studies how man ought to act,
morally speaking. As the name suggests, it examines ethical norms, that is,
those guidelines about what is right, worthwhile, virtuous, or just.

This branch evaluates standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions
and determines a moral course of action. Prescriptive in nature, it addresses
specific moral questions about what we should do or believe. We do
normative ethics if we justify norms like “Discrimination is wrong” or “We
must always act in accordance with our duty”. Just for easy distinction,
whereas meta-ethics tackles questions such as “What is goodness?”
normative ethics deals with issues like “What ought one to do?”
 2.1 DEONTOLOGY
Deontology is an ethical system that bases morality on independent
moral rules or duties.

The term came from the Greek word deon which means ‘duty’,
implying the foundational nature of man’s duties or obligations. This
system equates behaving morally with adherence to duties or moral
rules, and acting immorally with failure to obey them. Also called
nonconsequentialism, the system’s principles are submitted as
obligatory, regardless of the consequences that actions might produce.
 2.2 TELEOLOGY
-Refers to moral system that determines the moral value of actions
by their outcomes or results.
From the Greek word ‘telos’, which means ‘end,’ teleology takes into
account the end result of the action as the exclusive consideration of
its morality. (Aristotle’s ‘telos’ however has a related but somewhat
different meaning.)
Teleology deems an action as morally right if its favourable
consequences are greater than its adverse outcomes. Its most
famous form is consequentialism which proposes that morality is
determined solely by a cost-benefit evaluation of the action’s
consequences.
 2.3 VIRTUE ETHICS
Virtue ethics as a moral system, places emphasis on developing
good habits of character, like kindness and generosity, and avoiding
bad character traits, or vices, such as greed or hatred.
Virtue-based theories give importance to moral education which
molds individuals to habitually act in a virtuous manner. Focusing on
the character of the agent, virtue ethics describes right actions as
those chosen and performed by a suitably virtuous person.
Applied Ethics philosophically examines specific,
controversial moral issues. Using philosophical methods, this
area of concern in Ethics attempts to determine the ethically
correct course of action in specific realms of human action.
For a subject to be considered as an applied ethical issue, not
only must it be a matter of moral judgment, but also it has to
be controversial. That is, there must be considerable groups
of people both for and against the issue.
Applied ethical issues nowadays are classified into various
subfields.
 3.1 BIOETHICS
This concerns ethical issues pertaining to life, biomedical, researches,
medicines, health care, and medical profession. As such, it deals with
controversies like those about surrogate mothering, genetic
manipulation of fetuses, stem cell research, using human embryos in
research, in-vitro fertilization, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, patient
rights, confidentiality of patient’s records, physician’s responsibilities
and mandatory medical screening.
3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
It deals with moral issues concerning nature, ecosystem and its
nonhuman contents. This includes issues such as animal rights,
animal experimentation, endangered species preservation,
pollution control, and sustainable development.
3.3 BUSINESS ETHICS
It examines moral principles concerning business environment
which involves issues about corporate practices, policies,
business behaviors, and the conducts and relationships of
individuals in the organizations. It investigates ethical
controversies such as those about the social responsibility of
business, employee rights, harassment, labor unions, misleading
advertising, job discrimination, and whistle blowing.
3.4 SEXUAL ETHICS
It studies moral issues about sexuality and human sexual
behavior. It examines topics like homosexuality, lesbianism,
polygamy, pre-marital sex, marital fidelity, extra-marital sex,
non-marital procreation, loveless sexual relations, safe sex, and
contraceptive use.
3.5 SOCIAL ETHICS
It deals with what is right for a society to do and how it should
act as a whole. Its focus is on what may be deemed as proper
behavior for people as a whole. Some of the issues under this
are those about racial discrimination, death penalty, nuclear
weapon production, gun control, drug use for fun, and welfare
rights.