ETHICS UNDERSTANDING

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Understand the meanings/importance of Ethics
2. Differentiate Ethics from Morality
3. Cultivate a sound moral judgment
4. Uphold good moral practices (Virtue)
 INTRODUCTION

 A man without ethics is a wild beast

loosed upon this world. (Albert Camus)
 Man must learn to identify what is right
from what is wrong. Man should be wise
enough to know what he is ought to do
when confronted with some ethical
problems in life. If not, then he is no
different with a robot who follows only
what he is asked to do.
INTRODUCTION
 Man as a rational being. Man should behave as
a human being and not otherwise. Man should
reflect on the values that are most important to
him. It will help him develop his skills in
articulating his own values and how to morally
justify or provide ethical reasons for his actions.
This will give him the means in questioning and
assessing the values of others in a more critical
way.
 INTRODUCTION
 No man is an island. Therefore, man should learn to live with
others. How do we co-exist with other people? We should learn to
be moral.
 Why do we need to be moral?
 Sociologists would say, human should care about being moral
because without morality, social life is nearly impossible.
 Psychologists would opine that we need to be moral because we
care about what others think of us. It is a matter of preserving our
reputation and social censure.
 Theologically speaking, we need to be moral because there is a life
in the hereafter that rewards or punish the deeds of a person.
Whatever our reason is, we can agree on the idea that man should
learn to be moral.
UNDERSTANDING ETHICS

 The word "ethics" is derived from the Greek word

"ethos" (meaning "custom" or "habit"). Ethics is
not limited to specific acts and defined moral
codes, but encompasses the whole of moral ideals
and behaviors,
 a person's philosophy of life
 Morality + Values = Moral Values
 Ethics – Morality
 Axiology -values
 UNDERSTANDING ETHICS
 Ethics (Moral Philosophy) is concerned
with questions of how people ought to act,
and the search for a definition of right
conduct (identified as the one causing the
Greatest Good = HAPPINES) and the good
life (in the sense of a life worth living or a
life that is satisfying or happy). It deals with
the basic principles that serve as the bases
for moral rules.
 WHY STUDY ETHICS/
IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS
Christopher Panza and Adam Potthast

1. Ethics allows you to live an authentic life.

 An authentic life and meaningful life requires you to live with a
sense of integrity.
 Integrity is making commitments and sticking through thick and
thin – no matter how much violating them may benefit you.
Having a firm character or set of principles to guide your life and
the choices you make is what ethics is all about.

 AUTHENTICITY = INTEGRITY=HONESTY
 WHY STUDY ETHICS/
IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS
Christopher Panza and Adam Potthast

2. Ethics makes you more successful.

 You may think that ethics can hold you back in all kinds of
ways, but the truth is the opposite. Ethical people
embody traits that unethical people have to work at to
fake – they’re honest, trustworthy, loyal, and caring. As a
result, ethical people are perfectly suited not only for
interpersonal relationships generally, but also more
specifically for the kinds of interactions that make for
thriving business. Unethical people generally don’t do so
well at these things.
 WHY STUDY ETHICS/
IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS
Christopher Panza and Adam Potthast

3. Ethics allows you to cultivate inner peace.

 Lives that are lived ethically tend to be
calmer, more focused, and more
productive than those that are lived
unethically.
 WHY STUDY ETHICS/
IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS
Christopher Panza and Adam Potthast

4. Ethics provides for a stable society.

 When people live ethical lives, they tell the truth, avoid harming
others, and are generous. Working with such people is easy. On
the other hand, callous and insensitive people are distrusted, so
it’s difficult for them to be integrated well into social
arrangements.
 A stable society requires a lot of ethical people working
together in highly coordinated ways. If society were mostly
composed of unethical people, the society would quickly
crumble.
 WHY STUDY ETHICS/
IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS
Christopher Panza and Adam Potthast

5. Ethics
may help out in the afterlife.
 Some religious traditions believe ethics is the
key to something even greater than personal
success and social stability : ETERNAL LIFE. No
one can be sure about an eternal life, but
people of faith from many different religions
believe that good behavior in this life leads to
rewards in the next life.
 UNDERSTANDING ETHICS
 THREE DIVISIONS OF ETHICS
 1. META-ETHICS. It studies the origin and meaning of various ethical
principles/theories; branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of
ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and judgments.
 NORMATIVE ETHICS. It takes on the question “how to know the
principles that will make us conform to right behavior to avoid wrong conduct. A
normative ethical theories try to deliver a guideline for people to do the
right/moral thing. An example of normative ethics are asking; ”what I ought to
do” – It is also called prescriptive ethics

 APPLIED ETHICS. It involves the evaluation of particular ethical issues. A

branch of ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations
in the areas of private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law,
and leadership. It includes for instance social and political ethics, computer
ethics, medical ethics, bioethics, environmental ethics, business ethics, and it
also relates to different forms of professional ethics.
 ETHICS VS MORALITY

 MORALITY is the practice of conduct in living; found and

grounded in CULTURES, in NORMS, in TRADITIONS over
time
 MORALITY does not have a reason or justification
 MORALITY is the way of life of a people
 MORALITY is that which we inherit from our parents, from
family, from communities which tell us “dos” that are right, and
“don’ts” that are wrong.
 MORALITY contains “mores” what we call “Morris”, they
transmit values quite well but most often does not have a
justification for its being.
 ETHICS VS MORALITY

 ETHICS is the discipline in Philosophy , in scientific thought,

that grounds the reason for activity especially of going the right
and avoiding the odd on rational principles.
 ETHICS goes into such questions as what I ought to, Why
should I do it, what is the alternative if I do not do it and what
is the common benefit for global/universal audience or
presence or participant in an action that a human being
performs that might impact on the lives of others, but grounded
on rationality.
 ETHICS VS MORALITY

 ETHICS IS DOING THE “OUGHT” RIGHTLY TO DO

 MORALITY is doing not just the odd but that which has to be
done because we have been taught to do so
 ETHICS grounds its arguments on REASON
 MORALITY grounds its argument on TRADITION
 Morality is subjective
 Ethical vs Moral
 When a person says “It is right to do this and wrong to do that” and he
practices what he preached, we call him a MORALIST, but when a person
says “It is right to do this and wrong to do that” but he himself does not
practice the same we call him an ETHICIST. We sometimes differentiate
the two in this way.
 What is the distinction between being ethical and being a moral? Ethics
and morality are not the same thing! If a person follows moral rules he is
considered moral person and he if he does not, he is therefore, immoral
but not unethical.
 If a person is aware of the basic principles governing moral conduct and
acts in a manner consistent with those principles, he is therefore
considered ethical.
 So, ethics and morality are not the same. A person is moral if that
person follows the moral rules. ... A person is ethical if that person
is aware of the basic principles governing moral conduct and acts
in a manner consistent with those principles. If the person does
not do so they are unethical.
A professional code of ethics outlines teachers'
primary responsibilities to their students and
defines their role in a student's life

 Educators must demonstrate impartiality, integrity, and

ethical behavior in the classroom, whether virtual or in-
person and in their conduct with parents and coworkers.

Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable

on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the
sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the
social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept exists
in many cultures and is similar in Christianity, Judaism and
Islam.