The Study of

Ethics
Chapter 1
What is Ethics?
Ethics
 Greek word “ethos” which means
“characteristics way of acting”
 Latin equivalent “mos” and/or “mores”
meaning “tradition or custom”
 Ethos includes cultural mannerisms, religion,
politics, laws, and social aspirations of a group
of people.
 Ethos also refers to those characteristics
belonging to man as a rational being,
endowed with intellect and free will.
Ethics
 Itis a science of the morality of human
acts.
 The study of human motivation, and
ultimately, of human rational behavior.
Human Acts vs Acts of Man
 Actions performed by man, knowingly
and freely.
 Actions performed by man which are
instinctive and involuntary.
Morality
 The quality of human acts by which they
are constituted as good, bad, or
indifferent.
Moral vs Immoral vs Amoral vs
Vicious
 Human act that is described as good.
 Human act that is described as bad.
 Human act that is described as
indifferent.
 A person who has the habit of doing
wrong.
Ethics as Value Education
 In the classical tradition
 Ethics is moral philosophy and is
distinguished from moral theology.
 In the contemporary curriculum
 Ethics takes the form of value education
which guides the individual in choosing
wisely his values and in acting upon them.
Is ethics an art?
Ethics is an Art
 Itis the breath of life, pulsating with the
desire for growth and development.
 Every man is an artist, creating something
of beauty out of his self.
Do you think ethics is
indispensable?
Importance of Ethics
 Itis an indispensable knowledge.
 Without it, man is considered as an animal
only.
 Ethics as the “only necessary knowledge”
 Morality is the foundation of every human
society.
Two Ethical Systems
 Atheistic approach
 Theistic approach
Atheistic Approach
 Assumes that only matter exists and that man
is responsible only to himself since there is no
God who creates and rules the universe.
 Morality is an invention of man to suit his
requirements and to preserve his society.
 Moral truths are temporary and mutable
depending on the situation.
 The concept of good and evil is always
relative and changeable.
Atheistic Approach
 Atheistictheories propose the following
principles:
 Matter is the only reality.
 Man is matter and does not have spiritual
dimension.
 Man is free and must exercise his freedom
to promote the welfare of society.
 There is no life after death.
 Man is accountable only to the State.
Theistic Approach
 Itbegins with the assumption that God is
the Supreme Lawgiver.
 Man must exercise his freedom in
accordance with God’s will.
 There are absolute principles of morality
which are not changeable.
 Man is accountable for his actions and
deserves either a reward or punishment in
this life or in the next.
Theistic Approach
 Theistic theories postulate the following
truths:
 God is the Supreme Creator and Lawgiver.
 Man is free and must use his freedom to
promote his personal and social interests
along with his fellowmen.
 Man has an immortal soul which cannot
die.
 Man is accountable for his actions, both
good and evil.
Ethics and Religion
 Ethics is a science and depends upon
rational investigation of its truths.
 Religion is a system of beliefs and
practices based on faith or revelation.
Ethics and Law
 Ethics studies human motivation.
 Law requires that we perform the required
actions regardless of our feelings towards
such action.
 The law is concerned with the externality
of the act.
Professional Ethics
 Each profession subscribed to a set of
moral code.
 This code of ethics guides the actuation
of a professional where the law is silent or
inadequate
 A professional is a person who has the
obligation to listen to the “dictates of
reason”
The Human Acts
Do you think man is
creative?
Differentiate Human Acts
from Acts of Man
Human Acts vs Acts of Man
 Human Acts are actions performed by
man, knowingly and freely.
 Acts of Man are actions performed by
man which are instinctive and involuntary
or actions which happen in man.
 Biological and physiological movements in
man – metabolism, respiration, fear, anger,
love, and jealousy.
Essential Attributes of Human
Act
 It must be performed by a conscious
agent who is aware of what he is doing
and of its consequences.
 It must be performed by an agent who is
acting freely, that is, by his own volition
and powers.
 It must be performed by an agent who
decides willfully to perform the act.
Kinds of Human Acts
 Wish
 Is the tendency of will towards something,
whether this be realizable or not.
 Intention
 Is the tendency of the will towards something
attainable but without necessarily committing
oneself to attain it.
 Consent
 Is the acceptance of the will of those needed
to carry out the intention.
Kinds of Human Acts
 Election
 Is the selection of the will of those means
effective enough to carry out the intention.
 Use
 Is the command of the will to make use of those
means elected to carry out the intention.
 Fruition
 Is the enjoyment of the will derived from the
attainment of the thing he had desired earlier.
Moral Distinctions
 Dictates of reasons
 It is the shared consciousness of prudent
people about the propriety of a certain
action or manner of behavior.
 Actions
are classified into moral, immoral,
or amoral.
Imputability of Human Acts
 It is the person performing the act liable
for such act.
 It involves the notion of guilt or innocence.
Voluntariness
 Comes from the latin work “voluntas”
referring to the will.
 Perfect Voluntariness
 Itis present in a person who fully knows and
fully intends an act.
 Imperfect Voluntariness
 Itis present in a person who acts without fully
realizing what he means to do or without fully
intending the act.
Voluntariness
 Conditional voluntariness
 It is present in a person who is forced by
circumstances beyond his control to
perform an act which he would not do
under normal conditions.
 Simple voluntariness
 It is present in a person doing an act
willfully, regardless of whether he likes to do
it or not.
Types of Voluntariness
 Direct Voluntariness
 An act which is primarily intended by the
doer, either as an end in itself or as a means
to achieve something else
 Indirect Voluntariness
 An act or situation which is the mere result
of a directly willed act.
 In the case of indirect
voluntary, do you think the
person is liable for the results
that is not directly intended?
Do you think people act with
perfect voluntariness?
The Modifiers of Human
Acts
The Modifiers of Human Acts
 Ignorance
 Passions
 Fear
 Violence
 Habit
 Other Modifiers
 Hypnotisms, brainwashing, mental
conditioning, and cultural imposition
Do you think man acts
aimlessly?
The End of an Act
 End
 It is the purpose or goal of an act.
 End of an Act
 Is the natural termination of an activity.
 End of the Doer
 Is the personal purpose intended by the
person performing the act.
Principles Concerning Human
Action
 Conceptualized by Alfredo Panizo
 Every agent that performs an action acts for
the sake of an end or purpose to be attained.
 Man is a motivated animal.
 For him to act, he must first find the motive to
act.
 Every agent acts towards an ultimate end.
 It is what confers meaning to an activity.
 It is that on account of which man decides to
act.
Principles Concerning Human
Action
 Everyagent has the power to move
himself towards an end which he finds
suitable for him.
 It is something which the doer perceives to
be “suitable” for him.
 It is synonymous with the concept of
“good”.
What do you mean by
good?
The Meaning of Good
 According to Aristotle
 it is about which fits a function.
 The good of man is that which fits his
function as a rational being.
Kinds of Good
 Essential and Accidental
 Essential Good are natural needs of man.
 Accidental Good are those that fit the
wants of an individual because of his
circumstance.
 Real and Apparent
 Real Good is something which has an
intrinsic value
 Apparent Good is an evil thing but viewed
as “good” under certain aspects.
Kinds of Good
 Perfective and Non-perfective
 Perfective Good is that which contributes to the
integral perfection of a person.
 Non-Perfective Good is that which merely
contributes to the external appearance or
convenience of a person.
 Perfect and Imperfect
 Perfect Good is the fullness of qualities enabling
it to fully satisfy human desire.
 Imperfect Good possesses only certain qualities
so that it does not fully satisfy human desire
except in a relative or limited sense.
The Greatest Good
 For
Aristotle, the greatest good is
happiness.