AN

INTRODUCTION
Levi Tecson, MAT/RE
Associate Professor
 COURSE OVERVIEW

Course Code GEETHICS

Course Title The Contemporary World

Credit Units 3

Lecture Hours 1.5hrs per session

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COURSE DESCRIPTION
• The course is designed to provide FAITH students the context
and principles of ethical behavior in modern society at the
level of individual, society, and in interaction with the
environment and other shared resources.
• The course also teaches the students to make moral decisions
by using a dominant moral framework and by applying moral
reasoning models to analyze and solve moral dilemmas.
• This course includes a mandatory topic on taxation.
 100%
GRADE COMPONENTS

Individual Work Output 30%

(Quizzes, Recitation, Attendance, etc.)

Group Work Output 30%

(Group Work / Group Topical Projects)

Periodical Exam 40%

TOTAL 100%

PASSING GRADE: 75% | BASE 20 (for 1st Years)

STAGES OF
PHILOSOPHICAL
RENE DESCARTE
STUDY
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
I. KANT, Etc.

ST. AUGUSTINE MODERN

ANTHROPOCENTRIC
THOMAS AQUINAS, • The focus of man’s thought is directed towards
ERA himself, asking “who am I?” “What am I here
etc.
for?” “How should I behave with others?”
THALES
ANAXIMANDE
MEDIEVAL
ERA
THEOCENTRIC
R • The focus of their thought is to know what/who controls
PLATO, etc.
PRE- everything or whether there is God or there is no God.
SOCRRATIC
ERA
COSMOCENTRIC
• The focus of their thought is to study the origin / the
“primordial stuff” of the universe.
BRANCH
ES OF
PHILOSO
PHY
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
A. Ethics is a science.
 Science is a relatively complete and systematically arranged
body of connected data together with the causes or reasons
by which these data are known to be true.
 Ethics squares with this definition, for it is a complete and
systematically arranged body of data which relate to the
morality of human conduct; and it presents the reasons
which show these data to be true.
Ethics is therefore a science.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
B. Ethics is a practical science.
 If the data of a science directly imply rules or directions for
thought or action, the science is called practical.
 If the data of a science enrich the mind without directly
implying rules or directions, the science is called speculative.

WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE?
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
A speculative science presents truths that are to be known; a
practical science presents truths that are to be acted upon.
A speculative science enlarges our knowledge and enhances our
cultural equipment; a practical science gives us knowledge with
definite guidance.
Now the science of Ethics presents data which directly imply and
indicate directions for human conduct. Ethics is therefore a
practical science.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
C. Ethics is a science of human conduct.
 By human conduct we mean only such human activity as is
deliberate and free.
 A deliberate and free act, as act performed with advertence
and motive, an act determined (chosen and given existence)
by the free will is called a human act.
 Acts performed by human beings without advertence, or
without the exercise of free choices, are called acts of man.
WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE?
HUMAN ACTS VERSUS
ACTS OF MAN
Human Acts
Actions done Consciously and freely by the
agent or by man
Essential Qualities of Human Acts:
1. Knowledge of the act
2. Freedom
3. Voluntariness
HUMAN ACTS VS. ACTS OF
MAN
Acts of Man
Actions beyond one’s consciousness; not
dependent on the intellect & the will
Essential Qualities of Acts of Man:
1. Done without knowledge
2. Without consent
3. Involuntary
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
 Ethics treats of HUMAN ACTS; human acts make
man as man and make a human conduct. Ethics
therefore is a science of human conduct.

The constituents of the Human Act are

knowledge, freedom and voluntariness.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
D. Ethics is the science of the morality of human conduct.
 Human conduct is free, knowing, deliberate human
activity. Such activity is either in agreement and
disagreement with the dictates of human reason. Now the
relation (agreement or disagreement) of human activity
with the dictates of reason is called MORALITY.
 Ethics studies human activity to determine what it must be
to stand in harmony with the dictates of reason. Hence,
Ethics deals with the morality of human conduct.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
E. The name ETHICS is derived from the Greek word ethos,
which means “a characteristic way of acting.”
 Now the characteristic mark of human conduct is found in the free
and deliberate use of the will: in a word, this characteristic is found in
human acts. Thus we perceive that the name ETHICS is suitably
employed to designate the science of human acts, of human conduct.
 The name MORALITY is derived from the Latin word mos, moris which
means “character, behavior, morals, custom, or habit.”
 Thus we understand ETHICS as the same as MORAL PHILOSOPHY or
MORAL SCIENCE.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
Morality and Ethics according to Velasquez
Morality pertains to standards of right and wrong,
usually inherited from a community.
But…
Ethics studies standards of right and wrong, the
act of making a decision, the nature of the agent
who makes the decision.
ETHICS & MORAL
PHILOSOPHY
Moral Philosophy

Moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that

contemplates what is right and wrong. It explores the
nature of morality and examines how people should live
their lives in relation to others.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
F. Division of Ethics
a. General Ethics presents truths about human acts,
and from these truths deduces the general
principles of morality.
b. Special Ethics is applied /practical ethics. It
applies the principles of General Ethics in
different departments of human activity,
individual and social.
ETHICS IS THE
PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF
THE MORALITY OF
HUMAN CONDUCT
G. Approaches to ETHICS
Philosophers nowadays tend to divide ethical theories into three
areas: metaethics, normative ethics and applied ethics.
 Meta-ethics deals with the nature of moral judgement. It looks at
the origins and meaning of ethical principles.
 Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral
judgements and the criteria for what is right or wrong.
 Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like war, animal rights
and capital punishment.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
1. It satisfies basic human needs – viz., being fair, honest and ethical.
Every employee desires to be such himself and to work for an
organization that is fair and ethical in its practices.
2. It creates credibility – an organization driven by moral values is
respected in the society. A company known to have a good corporate
governance and social responsibility initiatives will have a good
impression to people.
3. It unites people and leaders – an organization driven by moral values is
revered by its employees as well. This reflects behaviors of people within
the organization.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
4. It improves decision-making – decisions are driven by values. Man’s
destiny is the result of all decisions he takes in life, and it is all founded
on the values he has.
5. It secures the society – ethics often succeeds because there is a law
safeguarding the society. At the times the law is not helping a great deal,
ethics can. Ethics tries to create a sense of right and wrong in the
organizations specially when the law fails, ethics may stop the
organization from harming the society or the environment. For example,
the Code of Ethics is used to determine discipline procedures and the
acceptable behavior for all people in an organization.
WHY SHOULD STUDENTS STUDY
ETHICS?

1.Ethics allows you to live an authentic and meaningful life.

2.Ethics make you more successful.
3.Ethics allows you to cultivate inner peace.
4.Ethics provides for a stable society.
5.Ethics may help out in the afterlife.
POSTULATES IN ETHICS

1.The existence of God;

2.The existence of intellect and free will; and

3.The spirituality and immortality of the soul.

FOUR POSTULATES OF
ACTIONS IN ETHICS
1.That there are actions which are right or wrong and
good or bad;
2.That there are actions which man is obligated and
not obligated to do;
3.That man is responsible for his actions; and that
4.That right actions are rewardable and wrong actions
punishable.