manners such as the good thing that we should pursue and the bad thing that we should avoid. Aesthetics ◦ Derived from the Greek word aisthesis (“sense” or “feeling”) and refers to the personal approval or disapproval we make about what we see, hear, smell, or taste. Etiquette ◦ Concerned with what is right and wrong actions. Technique and Technical ◦ From Greek word “Techne” ◦ Are used to refer to a proper way (or right way) of doing things. Ethics ◦ May be spoken of as the discipline of studying and understanding ideal human behavior and ideal ways of thinking. Morals ◦ Used to refer to specific beliefs or attitudes that people have or to describe acts that people perform. A descriptive study of ethics reports how people, particularly groups, make their moral valuation without making any judgment either for or against these valuations. A normative study of ethics, as is often done in philosophy or moral theory. Issue ◦ Is also often used to refer to those particular situations that are often the source of considerable and inconclusive debate. Moral decision ◦ When one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice of what act to perform. Moral Judgment ◦ When a person is an observer who makes an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone. A person’s fear of punishment or desire for reward can provide him a reason for acting in a certain way. Principles ◦ Rationally established grounds by which one justifies and maintains her moral decisions and judgments. Several common ways of thinking about ethics are based on the idea that the standards of valuation are imposed by a higher authority that commands our obedience. It is supposed that law is one’s guide to ethical behavior. Taking the law to be the basis of ethics has the benefit of providing us with an objective that is obligatory and applicable to all. “Ethics? It is simple. Just follow whatever the law says” “Love the Lord your God, therefore, and always heed his charge: his statues, decrees, and commandments.” This verse is the first line of Chapter 11 of the book of Deuteronomy.
As a foundation of ethical values, this is
referred to as the divine command theory. “Ethics? It is simple. Just follow whatever your religion says” 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.
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. “Ethics? It is simple. Just follow whatever your culture says” It is sometimes thought that one should not rely on any external authority to tell oneself what the standards of moral valuations are, but should instead turn inwards. The starting point of subjectivism is the recognition that the individual thinking person (the subject) is at the heart of all moral valuations.
Subjectivism leaps to the more radical
claim that the individual is the sole determinant of what is morally good or bad, right or wrong. “Human beings are naturally self- centered, so all our actions are always already motivated by self-interest.”
The ego or self has its desires and
interests, and all our actions are geared toward satisfying these interests. Ethical egoism differs from psychological egoism in that it does not suppose all our actions are already inevitably self-serving. Instead, ethical egoism prescribes that we should make our own ends, our interests, as the single overriding concern. UTILITARIANISM An ethical theory that argues for the goodness of pleasure and the determination of right behavior based on the usefulness of the action’s consequences. Our actions are governed by two “sovereign masters” these are pleasure and pain. -J.Bentham
These “masters” are given to us by
nature to help us determine what is good or bad and what ought to be done and not; they fasten our choices to their throne. The principle of utility is about our subjection to these sovereign masters: pleasure and pain. On one hand, the principle refers to the motivation of our actions as guided by our avoidance of pain and our desire for pleasure. Equating happiness with pleasure does not aim to describe the utilitarian moral agent alone and independently from others. This is not only about our individual pleasures, regardless of how high, intellectual, or in other ways noble it is, but it is also about the pleasure of the greatest number affected by the consequences of our actions. Justice ◦ A respect for rights directed toward society’s pursuit for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.