Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards

Module 1

Topic(s):

 Ethics and Laws

 Essential Attributes and Modifiers of Human Acts

 Rights and Duties

 Kinds of Rights and Duties

DEFINITION OF ETHICS

- Science of morality of man

- Study of human motivation and ultimately of human rational behaviour

- Morality

Ethics is a branch of philosophy which studies the principles of right or wrong in

human conduct. It covers from the Latin word “Ethos” means customary, behaviour,

moral. The two words Latin – ethicus and Greek – ethikos have the same meaning

which is customary – commonly practiced, used or observed. The term ethics often

describes the investigation and analysis of moral principles and dilemmas.

Traditionally, philosophers and religious scholars have studied ethics. More recently,

scholars from various disciplines have entered the field, creating new approaches to

the study of ethics such as behavioural ethics and applied ethics.

 The term ethics can also refer to rules or guidelines that establish what conduct is

right and wrong for individuals and for group. For example, code of conduct express

relevant ethical standards for many professionals, such as medicine, law, journalism,

and accounting. Some philosophers make a distinction between ethics and morals. But

many people use the terms ethics and morals interchangeably when talking about

personal beliefs, actions or principles.

For example, it’s common to say, “My ethics/morals prevent me from cheating”. So,

whether we use the term ethics to refer to our personal beliefs, or rules of conduct, or

the study of moral philosophy, ethics provides a framework from understanding and

interpreting right and wrong in society.

Ethics outlines theories of right or wrong, morality translate these theories into

action. Therefore, morality is nothing else but it is a doing of ethics.

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS

- Indispensable knowledge

- Without moral perception, man is only an animal.

- Without morality, man as rational being is a failure.

Moral integrity is the only true measure of what man ought to be. The most

successful professional, is nothing unless he too is morally upright. Thus, the

philosophers speak of Ethics as the only necessary knowledge.

 Morality is the foundation of every human society. Without civic morality,

communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value. Every culture

admits the importance of morality as a standard of behaviour. When the moral

foundations of a nation are threatened, society itself is threatened.

LAW - is commonly understood as a system of rules that are created and enforced

through social or governmental institutions to regulate conduct, although its precise

definition is a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a

science and the art of justice.

Legally, law is defines as a rule of conduct, just and obligatory, promulgated by

competent authority for common observance and benefits.

Ethics Law
Study of human motivation. Concerned with what we do not what we

feel.
Study of external actions. It explores Concerned with the externality of the act.

thoughts and feelings.

Requires that man desires that of which Requires that we perform the required

is good and act in accordance with that action regardless of.

desire.

Ethics provides us with guides on what is the right thing to do in all aspects of

life, while the law generally provides more specific rules so that societies and their

institutions can be maintained. Ethics engages our thinking and also our feelings,

including those of disgust and guilt.

 The law does not tell us what to do in relation to many of the dilemmas and

decisions we have to make in life. While we think obeying the law is an important basis

for role models in our life, we consider other traits such as benevolence and empathy

as more important in characterising someone as a good person.

Morality therefore, has a wider implication than law, because law can either be

moral or immoral. Thus, what is legal is not necessarily moral; but what is moral is

worth legalizing.

Ethics is not simply a body of do’s and don’ts in the manner laws are.

Ethics is a personal commitment to uphold what is true and good. Ethics aims to

develop “right disposition and inner spirit” for accepting what is lawful.

HUMAN ACTS - An act that is performed only by a human being and thus is proper to

man. Not every act that a human being does is a distinctively human act.

ACTS OF MAN - are acts shared in common by man and other animals, whereas

human acts are proper to human beings.

Human Acts Acts of Man

Actions performed by man, knowingly Actions which happen in man

and freely
Deliberate or intentional actions, or Instinctive and are not within the control

voluntary of will
Actions are the result of conscious Biological and physiological movements
knowledge and are subject to the control in man such as metabolism, respiration,

of the will. fear, anger, love and jealousy.

What makes an act performed by a human being distinctively a human act is that

it is voluntary in character, that is, an act in some way under the control or direction of

the will, which is proper to man. One can therefore identify the human act with the

voluntary act. A voluntary act proceeds either from the will itself—for example, an act of

love or of choice—or from some other human power that can in some way be moved

by the will, whether an act of the intellect, of sense cognition, or of emotion; even an

act of some bodily member as commanded by the will can be a voluntary act.

Morality is the quality of human acts by which they are constituted as good, bad

or indifferent.

ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN ACTS

1. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is aware of what he is doing and

of its consequences.

2. It must be performed by an agent who is acting freely, that is, by his own volition

and powers. An action done under duress and against one’s will is not entirely a

free action.

3. It must be performed by an agent who decides wilfully to perform the act. This

wilfulness is the result to perform an act here and now, or in some future time.
KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS

1. ELICITED ACTS – are those performed by the will and bodily externalized.

a. Wish is the tendency of will toward something, whether this is realized or

not.

b. Intention is the tendency of the will towards something attainable but

without necessarily committing oneself to attain it.

c. Consent is the acceptance of the will to those needed to carry out the

intention.

d. Election is the selection of the will of those effective enough to carry out

the intention.

e. Use is the command of the will to make use of those means elected to

carry out the intention.

f. Fruition is the enjoyment of the will derived from the attainment of the thing

he had desired earlier.

2. COMMANDED ACTS – are those done either by man’s mental or bodily powers

under the command of the will.

a. Internal Actions

b. External Actions

c. Combinations of Internal and External Actions

Moral Distinctions

“Dictates of Reasons” stands for the norm of morality which is the standard by which

actions are judged as to their merits or demerits.

Classification of Actions According to the Norms of Morality

1. Moral (Good) actions are those actions which are in conformity with the norm of

morality.

2. Immoral (Bad) actions are those actions which are not in conformity with the

norms of morality.

3. Amoral (Indifferent) actions are those actions which stand neutral in relation to

the norm of morality. They are neither good nor bad in themselves. But certain

amoral actions may become good or bad because of the circumstances

attendant to them.

Voluntariness

Voluntariness comes from the Latin word “voluntas” referring to the Will.

Voluntariness is essential to an act. Without it, an act is a mere act of man.

Classification of Voluntariness

1. Perfect Voluntariness is present in a person who fully knows and fully intends

an act.
 2. Imperfect Voluntariness is present in a person who acts without fully realizing

what he means to do, or without fully intending an act.

3. Conditional Voluntariness is present in a person who is forced by

circumstances beyond his control to perform an act which he would not do under

normal conditions.

4. Simple voluntariness is present in a person doing an act wilfully, regardless of

whether he likes to do it or not. It is either positive or negative.

Types of Voluntariness

1. Direct Voluntariness accompanies an act which is primarily intended by the

doer, wither as an end in itself or as a means to achieve something.

2. Indirect Voluntariness accompanies an act or situation which is the mere result

of a directly willed act.

THE MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

1. Ignorance – absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess.

Classification of Ignorance

a. Vincible Ignorance can easily be reminded through ordinary diligence and

reasonable efforts.

b. Invincible Ignorance is the type which a person possesses without being

aware of it, or, having awareness of it, lacks the means to rectify it.
“Ignorance of the law excuses no one” – implies that no one should not act in the

state of ignorance and that no one who has done wrong may not claim ignorance as a

defense.

2. Passions – either tendencies towards desirable objects, or tendencies away

from undesirable or harmful things.

Classification of Passions

a. Positive Emotions

b. Negative Emotions

Passions are psychic responses. As such, they are neither moral or immoral, however,

man is bound to regulate his emotions and submit them to the control of reason.

3. Fear – disturbance of the mind of person who is confronted by an impending

danger or harm to himself or loved ones.

Fear is an instinct for self-preservation. We even fear new experiences or situations

such as, embarking on a long journey, being left alone in a strange place, or being

asked to speak before a group of people.

4. Violence – refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free

agent for the purpose of compelling said person to act against his will.

Bodily torture, maltreatment, isolation, and mutilation are examples of violence against

person.
 5. Habits – is a lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for

acting in a certain manner. They are acquired inclinations towards something to

be done. They assume the role of a second nature, moving one who has them to

perform certain acts within relative ease.

The word “habit forming” that we use to refer to certain experience shows how

easy it is for one to acquire a habit. It also implies that a habit is not easy to overcome

or alter. It requires a strong-willed person to correct a habit successfully within a limited

period of time.

Actions and Emotion

Man does not act within emotion and feeling not like a robot. In doing this act,

man does not only evoke certain sentiments, but his decision or intention to perform is

swayed by his emotions.

Emotions – are generally instinctive in origin. Neither the degree of their

intensity, clarity or awareness makes them human acts to be judged as good or evil. It

means simply that man’s thoughts and actions are colored by his emotions.

Moral perfection comes from within. We, Filipinos, refer to it as “Kagandahan ng

Loob”. It is “Loob” because from within the human personality.

Kagandahan ng Loob – refers to attitude and it stands for all that is good, we call

kaibigan, in a human being. It is the multiplicity of sterling qualities, both natural and
acquired, which, because they proceed from the hearts and minds and it also greatly

influenced one’s behaviour towards him and others.

Kagandahan ng loob includes such moral values as mapagmahal, may pakiramdam,

may pakikiramay, matulungin, masayahin, and hindi mapagkunwari.

Rights and Duties

Man is born with rights and duties and having rights is an attribute of a person.

That is why we have Commission on Human Rights that addresses violations of such

rights.

We insist on our rights but ignore our duties. Duties however are more

fundamental than rights.

The duty to do good and to avoid evil is above all rights.

Definition of Right

Objectively – it is anything which is owed or due.

Subjectively – that is, as residing in a person, right is a moral power, bound to be

respected by others, of doing, possessing, or requiring something.

Kinds of Rights

1. Natural Rights – are those based on the natural laws, that is, on human nature.

2. Human Rights - are those based on human positive laws, either those enacted

by the State or a religious sect.

a. Civil Rights – are those dependent upon the laws of the state.

b. Ecclesiastical/Religious Rights – are those dependent upon the laws of a

church or a religious sect.

3. Alienable and Inalienable Rights – Alienable Rights are those civil or religious

rights, which can be surrendered, renounced, or removed, such as the right to

decent livelihood.

4. Rights of Jurisdiction – is the power of lawful authority to govern his subjects

and to make laws for them.

5. Rights of Property – is the power to own, to sell, to barter, to lend, to change, or

give away one’s personal possessions.

6. Juridical Rights – refers to all rights insofar as they are based on laws. These

rights must be respected, allowed, fulfilled, as a matter of strict justice. Non-

Juridical rights are those which are founded on laws, either natural or human,

but on virtue. This, these are also called moral rights.

Definition of Duty

Objectively – is anything we are obliged to do or to omit.

Subjectively – it is a moral obligation incumbent upon a person of doing, omitting, or

avoiding something.

Duty – is a moral obligation because it depends upon freewill. As such it resides on a

person. Duty is defined by law, any wilful neglect of duty makes the person

accountable for such act.

Kinds of Duties

1. Natural Duties – are those imposed by natural law such as, the duty to care for

our health.

2. Positive Duties – are those imposed by a human positive law such as the duty

to pay taxes and to observe traffic rules.

3. Affirmative Duties – are those which require the performance of a certain act,

such as casting a ballot during election; applying for a business license.

4. Negative Duties – are those which require the omission of a certain act such as

not carrying illegal firearms, or not destroying the property of other.

Generally, a duty is an obligation and a right is an entitlement. They may exist as a

moral or legal matter. For example, morally, a person may have a duty not to hurt

other’s feelings. However, case law and statutes provide legal framework or

parameters defining when harmful communications constitute defamation and the

procedures governing obtaining redress. Rights may also exist on a moral or legal

matter. For example, an employee has a moral right to be treated with appreciation and

respect by an employer. Employment and discrimination laws provide the legal

framework defining an employee’s rights to freedom from being disadvantaged by an

employer’s discriminatory intent based on certain grounds, such as age, sex, handicap,

or religion. A moral right cannot be the basis for seeking relief through the legal

system. There must be a law creating a right before that right can be enforced through

the legal system.