ETHICS

• Ethics


  Philosophical science that deals with the morality of human conduct or human acts
• Morality


  Comes from the Latin word mos or moris, which means “custom”
• Ethics


  Also called moral philosophy
• Disciplines in philosophy

  • Descriptive/Speculative
  • Normative
  • Practical
  • Critical
• Descriptive/Speculative


  Discipline that posits the question: What is the nature (essence, substance) of reality?
• Descriptive/Speculative


  • Metaphysics
• Normative


  Discipline that posits the question: What is good and what is bad? What is the right action or wrong action?
• Normative


  • Unintentionally selling alcohol to a minor
• Practical


  Discipline which reflects upon truth in relation to action
• Practical


  • Existentialism in choosing a profession
• Critical


  Discipline that posits the question: What is Truth?
• Critical


  • Feminist Ethics in Workplace Practices (gender equality)
• Morality of human acts


  Refers to the goodness and badness, the rightness or the wrongness of human acts
• Postulates in Ethics

  • The existence of God
  • The existence of intellect and free will
  • The spirituality and the immorality of the soul
• The Great Greek Triumvirate Philosophers

  • Plato
  • Aristotle
  • Socrates
• Socratic Ethics


  • A person can act correctly and well if he knows what is good life
  • A wise man does what is right
  • Correct action does not necessarily mean good action
• Happiness (Socrates)


  A man’s supreme goal is happiness, which man can attain by doing what is right
• Plato's Ethical Teaching


  • Happiness lies in reason
  • Self-realization is attainable by nurturing reason properly
  • Knowledge makes a well-balanced man
• Aristotle's Ethical Teaching


  • Happiness is dependent on one’s self-actualization
  • Happiness is not innate but developed by man
• Critical Thinking


  Mode of thinking that improves the quality of thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking
• Egocentrism


  Tendency to regard one's own opinion as the sole basis for asserting the truth of a claim
• Sociocentrism


  When an entire community imposes its worldview on others
• Critical Thinking and Ethics


  • Overcoming egocentric and sociocentric thinking
  • Raising vital questions relevant to the issue
  • Paying attention to the theory or concept underlying an action or situation
• Understanding the Self

  “Know Thyself” – Plato
• Freud's Concept of the Self

  Self is but a tip of an iceberg; the rest is unchartered territory
• Piaget's Focus


  Human ability to know evolves in stages
• Ethics


  Branch of philosophy that studies morality or the rightness or wrongness of human conduct
• Morality


  Speaks of a code or a system of behavior in regard to the standards of right or wrong behavior
• The Importance of Rules to Social Beings

  • Protect social beings
  • Guarantee rights and freedom
  • Produce a sense of justice
  • Essential for a healthy economic system
• Moral Standards


  • Involves rules about morally right and wrong actions
  • Not established by authority figures
  • Have traits of Universalizability
• Dilemma and Moral Dilemma

  • Dilemma involves tough choices
  • Moral dilemmas involve transgressing a moral principle
• Non-Moral Standards


  Rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations
• Moral standards


  1. Involve serious wrongs or significant benefits
  2. Ought to be preferred by other values
  3. Not established by authority figures
  4. Have the traits of Universalizability
  5. Associated with special emotions and vocabulary
• Not all dilemmas are moral dilemmas
• Dilemma


  A situation which a tough choice has to be made between two or more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones
• Moral dilemma


  Situations in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle
• Three levels of Moral Dilemma

  • Personal
  • Organizational
  • Structural
• Only human beings can be ethical


  1. Only human beings are rational, autonomous, and self-conscious
  2. Only humans can act morally or immorally
  3. Only human beings are part of the moral community
• Morality is a question of choice
• Everyone who wishes to function morally and rationally in a society has to make choices virtually every minute of the day