ETHICS

 What is Ethics
 The need to study Ethics and the importance of rules to social
beings
 Moral vs. non-moral standards
 What are dilemmas
 What are moral dilemmas?
 Three levels of moral dilemmas
o Individual
o Organizational
o Structural
 Foundations of morality
o Freedom: responsibility for one’s act and to others
o Minimum requirement for morality: Reason and impartiality
ETHICS

 Ethics – a practical philosophy that consists of the fundamental issues of practical

decision making, and its major concerns on the nature of ultimate value and the
standards by which human actions can be judged as right or wrong.

- study of moral conduct and moral judgment.

- a theory or knowing what is right

The need to study Ethics and the Importance of Rules to Social
Beings

The end goal of studying ethics is for the students to become a person who makes sound
judgments, sensitive to the common good.

Importance of Rules to Social Beings

In a broad view, societies use rules to regulate unwanted or harmful behavior and to encourage
wanted or beneficial behavior of individual society members. Rules are dictated by the values of the
culture regarding what is viewed as acceptable or unacceptable for individuals in a society.
Rules are specific sets of norms of behaviour and a prescribed guide for conduct or action useful in
guiding and monitoring the interactions of humans in a society.
In any organization, rules are established to prevent chaos and encourage uniformity. Rules also
tend to make things more fair and it help humanity to avoid chaos that may be caused by lack of
regulation. They provide a stable environment and humans co-exist in a society which leads to peace
and development.
Rules are also valuable because without them people feel insecure. While chaos makes people feel
unsafe and unsure of their place and roles, rules encourage order, which makes goals and expectations
more clear and allows both children and adults to feel confident, competent and safe.
Morality, Moral and Non-moral standards

 Morality refers to the extent to which an action is right or wrong.“It concerns the
recognition of the inherent value of people, both ourselves and others, a value that
is not reducible to how others benefit us” (Martin, 2001). “It is the application of the
theories of ethics” (Babor, 2010).
 is an application or doing what is good.
 Moral standard refers to norms we have about the types of actions which we believe
to be morally acceptable or morally unacceptable. It deals with matters that can
seriously injure or benefit human beings. e.g., theft, rape, fraud, slander, murder,
protect life, no cheating, etc.
 Non-moral standards refers to norms that are unrelated to moral or ethical
considerations such as etiquettes, fashion standards, rules in the game, house rules
and legal statutes. These rules are not necessarily linked to morality, though they
can be ethically relevant depending on circumstances.
Morality

 Moral Experience is an experience of moral value such that one’s moral consciousness comes to work as
one is called “to make a moral response”
 First, our moral experience puts our moral consciousness to work. Whether it’s the arousal of moral
consciousness that results in the occurrence of moral experience or the reverse, is hardly the point at
issue here.
 Second, moral experience is an experience of moral value. Moral value refers to the quality of something
being good or bad, right or wrong, and just or unjust. It differs from other types of values because it
demands for a response, it involves moral responsibility, and it defines both the action and the human
agent
 Third, as mentioned, moral experience which is an experience of moral value, defines us. Either we are
drawn towards an action because of the good that we sense in it or we sense the good because of our
own value or that “goodness” that is in us.
 Fourth, moral experience is not a one-time but is an ongoing, continuous process. It can be said that by
choosing the good, we become good. By choosing to tell the truth, one becomes honest in so far as that
particular instance is concerned. Every experience demands thinking and decision-making and there can
be no universal formula to solve every moral dilemma. Hence, every moral situation calls for our rational
deliberation and affirmation of our humanity.
Morality
 Fifth, moral experience touches on and brings in one’s moral ideals. Our moral ideals pertain
to what are believed to constitute a life that is worthy of humans which are products of
generations of shaping via our tradition and which come to the fore as summoned by
experience. Van Tongeren (1994, p. 204) states:
Moral experience [happens when we are] being addressed by something or someone in such a way
that, by inherent authority, we are summoned or obliged to commit ourselves to, or continue in a
certain way of acting or relating, or praxis, which is at the same time understood as being part of real
or good human life.
 Finally, moral experience is action-oriented. In the face of a moral situation, we feel
compelled to respond and to respond personally and right away. We cannot therefore delay
choosing what is good neither can we ask another to make a moral choice for us. If we
realize the need to be good, the duty to be good begins right here and right now and not
tomorrow and not elsewhere. More importantly, we become good not because we believe in
being good or because our parents are but because we choose what is good and to be good
in thought and in action. In other words, as one is summoned to meaning in moral
experience such sense of meaning has to take shape more concretely in the form of human
action .
What are dilemmas?
Dilemmas are experiences where an agent is confused about the right decision to make
because there are several competing values that are seemingly equally important and urgent.
They are situations in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more
alternatives (Oxford English Dictionary 11th edition). They are situations “wherein one is torn
between choosing one of two goods or choosing the lesser of two evils.
Moral dilemma when an individual can choose only one from a number of possible actions, and
there are compelling ethical reasons for the various choices” (Bulaong Jr. and Calano et.al,
2018).
Crucial features of a Moral dilemma :
a. The agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions;
b. The agent can do each of the actions; but the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions.
c. The agent thus seems condemned to moral failure; no matter what he does, he will do
something wrong (or fail to do something that he ought to do).
What are dilemmas?
Personal dilemmas is an extremely difficult situation for someone to handle. It can be moral or non-moral
issue.
Examples:
non-moral issue
a. If your parents are separated, you have to decide either you live with your father or mother, or live
away from them.
moral issue
b. Someone deciding whether to let his/her family starve or steal bread from someone else.
Organizational dilemmas are those “encountered and resolved by social organizations.
This include moral dilemmas in business, medical field and public sector” (De Guzman, 2018).

Structural dilemmas are dilemmas encountered and resolved by network of organizations.

Structural dilemmas are multi-sectoral and larger in scope than organizational dilemmas (De
Guzman, 2018).
What are dilemmas?
Personal dilemmas is an extremely difficult situation for someone to handle. It can be moral or non-moral issue.

Examples:
non-moral issue
a. If your parents are separated, you have to decide either you live with your father or mother, or live away from them.
moral issue
b. Someone deciding whether to let his/her family starve or steal bread from someone else.
Organizational dilemmas are those “encountered and resolved by social organizations.
This include moral dilemmas in business, medical field and public sector” (De Guzman, 2018).
Examples​
:
a. Having to face with the pressures of meeting with the expectations of employees to increase salaries/wages annually
even though the business may not be profitable or when there is an ongoing exercise to reduce and ‘cut costs’ company-
wide​
b. The need to maintain the sales prices of some goods and services, even though the costs of sourcing and production
have increased significantly​
c. Businesses producing vaccines wanting to make quick profits and take advantage of the Covid19 pandemic even
though people are suffering and dying worldwide​
What are dilemmas?
Structural dilemmas are dilemmas encountered and resolved by network of organizations.
Structural dilemmas are multi-sectoral and larger in scope than organizational dilemmas (De Guzman, 2018).

Examples​
:

-Differentiation versus Integration ​

-Gaps versus Overlaps ​

-Underuse versus Overload​

-Lack of Clarity versus Lack of Creativity ​

-Excessive Autonomy versus Excessive ​

-Interdependence ​

-Too Loose versus Too Tight ​

-Goalless versus Goal bound ​

-Irresponsible versus Unresponsive​

Foundations of Morality
Moral Agent is a person who has the ability to discern right from wrong and to be held accountable
for his or her own actions. Moral agents have a moral responsibility not to cause unjustified harm.

Moral agency is the ability to make ethical decisions based on what is right or wrong.
Traditionally, moral agency is assigned only to those who can be held responsible for their
actions. Children, and adults with certain mental disabilities, may have little or no capacity to be
moral agents. Adults with full mental capacity relinquish their moral agency only in extreme
situations, like being held hostage.

Reasons why only human beings can be ethical

1. only human beings are rational, autonomous (free) and self-conscious
2. only human beings can act morally or immorally
3. only human beings are part of the moral community
Freedom: Responsibility for one’s act and to others
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or
restraint.

Different types of Freedom

•Freedom to be alive
•Freedom of association
•Freedom of belief
•Freedom of speech
•Freedom to express oneself
•Freedom of the press
•Freedom to choose one’s state in life
•Freedom to talking each other
•Freedom of religion
•Freedom from bondage and slavery
Why freedom become the foundation of moral acts?

We people have its own freedom, and there is no limits onto it, and that is the
main reason why freedom is base on the moral act; to give a limit to the people, limit
to know what would be the right or wrong decision to be made.
Reason why moral act established?
 For the people to use their freedom in a way that they won’t harm anyone
 To not abuse their freedom and to give a limitation to it.
Minimum requirement for morality:
Reason and Impartiality

Reason
The right thing to do is what has the best reasons to support it

Impartiality
Everyone must be held to the same moral standards and rules. Just because we
like or dislike someone does not mean they are exceptions to the moral code.