ETHICS

Queenie Grace A. Dangan, RPM

 INTRODUCTION
KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

Ethics Morality
• Studies morality or the rightness of • Speaks of a code or system of
wrongness of a human conduct. behavior in regards to standard of
• Greek word “ethos” the right and wrong behavior.
• Character
• Manners
• A.k.a “moral philosophy”
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

I. The Importance of Rules to Social Beings

• Rules refer to explicit or understood regulations or principles governing

conduct within a specific activity or sphere. Rules tell us what is or is
not allowed in a particular context or situation. In many ways, rules
serve as a foundation for any healthy society. Without rules, society
would likely fall into anarchy.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

Rules benefit social beings in various manner:

a) Rules protect human beings by regulating behavior.

b) Rules help to guarantee each person certain rights and freedom.
c) Rules produce a sense of justice among social beings.
d) Rules are essential for a healthy economic system.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

II. Moral vs. Non-moral Standards

1. Moral standards - the norms which we have about the types of

actions which we believe to be morally acceptable and morally
unacceptable.

2. Non-moral standards - the rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical

considerations.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

Characteristics of moral standards

a) Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant benefits.

b) Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
c) Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
d) Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
e) Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
f) Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

Moral Dilemma
• is a conflict in which you have to choose between two (2) or more
actions and have moral reasons for choosing each action
The key features of a moral dilemma are these:
(a) the agent is required to do each of two (2) (or more) actions;
(b) the agent can do each of the actions, but the agent cannot do both (or
all) of the actions
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS
THREE (3) LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS

Organizational
Personal Dilemmas Dilemmas Structural Dilemmas
• dilemmas are • refer to ethical cases • refer to cases
experienced and encountered and involving network
resolved on the resolved by social of institutions and
personal level organizations operative theoretical
paradigms
 KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

Only Human Beings Can Be Ethical

1. Only human beings are rational, autonomous, and self-conscious

2. Only human beings can act morally or immorally
3. Only human beings are part of the moral community