LESSON 1: INTRO TO ETHICS 2.

Normative Science - sets a basis or a norm for

the direction and regulation of human actions
- sets its rules and guidelines to maintain a
sense of direction to human actions.

Thus, ethics as a science based on REASON:

human being is a rational being capable of moral

decisions, capacity to rationalize on whether a particular
action is to be considered proper or improper.

Ethics studies Human Acts and Acts of Man

1. Human Acts (Actus Humanus)- those acts that

• A set of rules of human behavior which has been
influenced by the standards set by the society or by
himself in relation to his society (Reyes, 1989)
• it is also known as moral philosophy
• It seeks to examine the meaning of moral terms and
the criteria by which we make moral judgments
Different meaning of Ethics according to Triumvirate
Both Plato and Aristotle define it as: “what constitutes
the good life”, associated it with happiness which in turn
comes from living in accordance with virtues such as
temperance, courage, piety, and justice. The reason for
then is the best guide to behavior.
Socrates: the virtue is knowledge, the context of love
and wisdom to do what is good and what is not.
: a virtuous man who believes that “if one knows
what the good is, one will do what is good
Ethics deal with voluntary human conduct
Plato: believed that “the good” was an abstract form,
beyond the everyday world
Aristotle: saw a virtue as natural to human beings
Ethics as Science (Timbreza, 1993) :
 it is based on reason which studies human acts
and provides norms for their goodness and
Morality
badness.
 It is a systematic study about the grounds and
norms of human life.
1. Practical Science – deals with systematized
body of knowledge that can be applicable to
human action.
- application of the human knowledge and its
practicality to human experience
- Considered to be part of life
- a part of man’s daily existence
are done by human being which is based on
knowledge and the full consent of the will.
- An act which proceeds from the deliberate
freewill of man (Glenn 1965)
- Doing a human act if he knows what he is
doing and he is doing it freely and willingly
irrespective of whether the action is good or
bad
- e. g gluttony, crime
2. Acts of Man (actus hominis)-actions are done
in the absence of either knowledge or will
- Comprises all spontaneous biological and
sensual processes like nutrition, breathing,
sensual impressions
- All acts performed unconsciously like people
sleeping
- e.g. thinking, natures call (pee), virtuous act,
yawning, eating, sleeping
 includes all actions as well as non-actions
 includes involuntary activities that are
unlikely performed yet involve a degree of
personal approval
 Thus, it provides norms for the goodness
and badness of a certain act.
 denotes a system of belief as to what is good
and bad
 Conformity to conventional standards of moral
conduct
 Deliberate flouting of those standards is termed
“immorality”
 Shared values (set of values)
 Community holds responsibilities in their actions
The Context of Good
Good- as an adjective: “good person”/ good deed,
good film
- Quality of goodness that is possessed by all
the things that we designate good.
2 ways to determine the concept of Good in
Philosophical Discourse
Good as noun:
1. Intrinsic goods of goods in themselves
- e.g. Aristotle gave an example : Health-
something that is pursued for its own sake
2. Extrinsic Good- pursued for its own
consequences (e.g. money)
What is the greatest good?
 It is the highest of the abstract immaterial
forms according to Plato.
 It is the highest goods for humans as the
exercise of the virtues by means of which
they can achieve the good life or well being.
 In terms of the fulfillment of God’s purpose,
love, happiness, pleasure, living in harmony
with others and with nature.
LESSON 2: ETHICS: FOUNDATION OF MORAL
VALUATION
Chapter I: The Ethical Dimension of Human Existence
 Value
 Sources of Authority
 Senses of Self
VALUE
 Ethics, generally speaking, is about matters
such as the good thing that we should pursue
and the bad thing that we should avoid; the right
ways in which we could or should act and the
wrong ways of acting.
 Ethics as a subject for us to study is about
determining the grounds for the values with
particular and special significance to human life.
KINDS OF VALUATION
- Aesthetics – from the Greek word “aisthesis”
which means “sense” or “feeling” and refers to
the judgments of personal approval or
disapproval that we make about what we see,
hear, smell, or taste
- Etiquette – concerned with right or wrong
actions, but those which might be considered
not quite grave enough to belong to a discussion
on ethics
- Technical – from the Greek word “techne” and
refers to a proper way—(or right way) of doing
things
OTHER CLARIFIC ATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
Ethics and Morals
 “Morals” may be used to refer to specific beliefs
or attitudes that people have or to describe acts
that people perform. We also have terms such
as “moral judgment” or “moral reasoning,” which
suggest a more rational aspect.
 “Ethics” can be spoken of as the discipline of
studying and understanding ideal human
behavior and ideal ways of thinking. Thus, ethics
is acknowledged as an intellectual discipline
belonging to philosophy.
Descriptive and Normative
 A descriptive study of ethics reports how
people, particularly groups, make their moral
valuations without making any judgment either
for or against these valuations.
 A normative study of ethics, as is often done in
philosophy or moral theology, engages the
question: What could or should be considered
as the right way of acting? In other words, a
normative discussion prescribes what we ought
to maintain as our standards or bases for moral
valuation.
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGMENT, AND DILEMMA
 A situation that calls for moral valuation can be
called a moral issue.
 When one is placed in a situation and
confronted by the choice of what act to perform,
s/he is called to make a moral decision.
 When a person is an observer making an
assessment on the actions or behavior of
someone, s/he is making a moral judgment.
 When one is torn between choosing one of two
goods or choosing between the lesser of two
evils, this is referred to as a moral dilemma.
REASONING interests, and all his/her actions are geared toward
satisfying these interests.
 What reasons do we give to decide or to judge
that a certain way of acting is either right or Ethical Egoism
wrong?
 A person’s fear of punishment or desire for It prescribes that we should make our own ends, our
reward can provide him/her a reason for acting own interests, as the single overriding concern. We may
in a certain way. act in a way that is beneficial to others, but we should do
that only if it ultimately benefits us.
 The promise of rewards and the fear of
punishments can certainly motivate us to act,
but are not in themselves a determinant of the
rightness or wrongness of a certain way of
acting or of the good or the bad in a particular
pursuit.
 Beyond rewards and punishments, it is possible
for our moral valuation—our decisions and
judgments—to be based on a principle.

SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

1. Law - It is supposed that law is one’s guide to

ethical behavior. In the Philippines, Filipinos are
constrained to obey the laws of the land as
stated in the country’s criminal and civil codes.
2. The law cannot tell us what to pursue, only what
to avoid.
3. Religion - The divinity called God, Allah, or
Supreme Being commands and one is obliged to
obey his/her Creator (Divine Command Theory).
4. Culture - Our exposure to different societies and
their cultures makes us aware that there are
ways of thinking and valuing that are different
from our own, that there is in fact a wide
diversity in how different people believe it is
proper to act. Therefore, what is ethically
acceptable or unacceptable is relative to, or that
is to say, dependent on one’s culture. This
position is referred to as cultural relativism.

SENSES OF THE SELF

Subjectivism - The starting point of subjectivism is the

recognition that the individual thinking person (the
subject) is at the heart of all moral valuations. From this
point, subjectivism leaps to the more radical claim that
the individual is the sole determinant of what is morally
good or bad, or right or wrong.

Psychological Egoism

“Human beings are naturally self-centered, so all our

actions are always already motivated by self-interest.”

It points out that there is already an underlying basis for

how one acts. The ego or self has its desires and