ETHICS The Question of Morality

 during the antiquity, the question of

Man as Rational Animal goodness was already tackled. And thinks
Aristotle, and ancient Philosopher, categorizes that morality is as important as the truth.
three types of Soul  it is always the problems with the Greeks
 The Vegetative Soul; faculty of growth,  “The Divine Command Theory”
nutrition, and reproduction (Plants)
 The Sentient Soul; adding faculty which are, The Euthyphro Dilemma
internal and external senses (Animals)  Socrates challenges the sources of morality,
 The Rational Soul; adding faculty which is the a dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro
capacity of reason (Man) before his trial at 399 BC.
 Euthyphro was prosecute his father for
Three Kinds Of Knowledge manslaughtering. One of Euthyphro’s
Aristotle on his Politics defined kinds of family’s workers had killed a slave, and
Knowledge: Euthyphro’s father tied the worker up and
threw him in a ditch.
 The Theoretical; much more on speculation,
abstraction Standard
 The Productive; much more on the  It is considered to be evident that there are
“know-how” things that can be considered a standard but
 The Practical; deals on beings as moral don’t have moral implications
agents  One cannot deny that everything in Society
or within Society contains Standard
A Philosophical Discipline  Everything in a given Society is bounded by
And Moral And Non Moral Standard norms, preferences, nor standard
Philosophy and its branches  Whether in a table, a street, School, Hospital,
 its etymology; “Philia-Sophia” means love of Religion, or any other.
Wisdom
 commonly known as having 5 Branches THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE USUAL
RULES OF OUR LIVES:
Each branches can be divided in Two
Categories 1. Etiquette – standards by which we judge
Theoretical Side: manners to be good or bad; normally dictated by
 Metaphysics - the science of Being socio-economic elite.
 Aesthetics - the theory of Art and Beauty 2. Legal – by which we judge legal right and
 Epistemology - the theory of Knowledge wrong; in a democracy, formulated by
Practical Side: representatives of the people.
 Logic - the science of critical thinking 3. Language – by which we judge what is
 Ethics - the science of good actions grammatically right or wrong; evolve inthe course
of time.
On the Difference between Morality and 4. Aesthetics - by which we judge good and bad
Ethics art; usually dictated by a smallcircle of art
 Morality is to be considered as Theoretical connoisseurs.
 Ethics is considered to be Practical 5. Athletic – by which we judge how good or bad
a game is played; usually formulated by
Branches of Ethics governing bodies.
To understand more deeply on Ethics is to
understand its sub-branches What is Moral Standard?
 MetaEthics - deals on the nature of Morality
 Applied Ethics - addressing a specific  those are the rules that are believed as
situation morally right and wrong
 Normative Ethics - deals on action,  Moral standards can also be equated with
“determines what the fundamental principle moral values and moral principles
of morality is.”  But at the same time, there are moral
standards that are different from other
cultures or society
 What is Non-moral Standard? LEVELS OF DILEMMA
 it is judgement where if it is good or bad in a Individual Level
non moral way  In this level, his or her ethical standards are
 Etiquette is one of the example of non moral based on his or her personal interestswhich
standard are results of what is trending in the global,
 Another Examples such as, table-manners, national and regional level. The individual is a
clothing, grammar expectations, standard of victim of what is in vogue in the world of
Art and Beauty, Athletic criteria, and etc.. commerce.

What Could be the difference between the Organizational Level

two?  The ethical standards are embedded in the
The principle of “Benefit” and “Harm” policies and procedures of the
 one distinction that can made in relation organization.Hence the ethical standards
between moral and non moral standard is involved here is more of a vast coverage.
that moral standard always in relation to These policies are derived from the
“benefits and harms” influences felt at the systemic level and
 the concept of “Universality”; applicable to all therefore help the individual to respond to the
context in a given culture pressures.
 the concept of “Dignity”; affecting one’s
dignity and holding responsibility Systemic Level
 Ethics [here] is defined and influenced by the
Moral Issues and Moral Dilemmas wider operating environment in which the
1.Moral Issues individual exist.
 Moral issues are experiences or situations  Factors such as political pressures,
which a person considers to involve certain economic conditions, societal attitudes,
ethical perspectives. commercial/educational/cultural regulations
 It could be any situation which involves can influence the individual’s value system.
ethical standards.
 For example, murder, stealing, are moral Freedom And Responsibility
issues and will become moral dilemmas
given a particular situation that one subject 1.Autonomy
from the event is forced to do an act.  A German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant,
thinks that what makes Human being
2.What is Moral Dilemma? different from the beasts is the faculty or the
 They are situations in which a difficult choice ability of Autonomy
has to be made between two or more  Philosophers defined autonomy as
alternatives” (Oxford English Dictionary 11th “Self-Governance”
edition). “wherein one is torn between  Autonomy is also the basis of his Morality;
choosing one of two goods or choosing the Practical Reason
lesser of two evils...we have a moral dilemma
when an individual can choose only one from  Moral autonomy, usually traced back to
a number of possible actions, and there are Kant, is the capacity to deliberate and to give
compelling ethical reasons for the various oneself the moral law, rather than merely
choices” (Bulaong Jr. And Calano et.al, heeding the injunctions of others. Personal
2018). autonomy is the capacity to decide for
The crucial features of a moral dilemma are oneself and pursue a course of action in
these: one’s life, often regardless of any particular
a)the agent is required to do each of two (or more) moral content. Political autonomy is the
actions; property of having one’s decisions respected,
b)the agent can do each of the actions; but the honored, and heeded within a political
agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions. context. (IEP, Autonomy)
c)The agent thus seems condemned to moral  For Aristotle, self-sufficiency, or autarkeia, is
failure; no matter what she does, she will do an essential ingredient of happiness, and
something wrong (or fail to do something that she involves a lack of dependence upon external
ought to do). conditions for happiness. The best human
(Plato Standford, Moral Dilemma) will be one who is ruled by reason, and is not
dependent upon others for his or her
happiness. (IEP, Autonomy)
 Martin Heidegger posits an inner call of
conscience summoning us away from ‘das  Culture is gradually inculcated in their system
Man’: in order to be authentic, we need to making them think,say and do things
heed this inner call and break away from inpatterned and distinctive ways.
inauthentically following the crowd. This  This activity of inculcating is primarily and
conception of authenticity became typically done by the core family; and
intertwined with the idea of autonomy: both secondarily by other environmental systems
involve a call to think for oneself and contain like the church, school, peer group, mass
a streak of individualism (see Hinchman media and the like.
1996). (IEP, Autonomy)  Personality is one product of culture. It is the
combination of characteristics or qualities
2.What is Freedom? that form an individual’s distinctive character
 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel on his book (Oxford English Dictionary 11th Edition).
“Philosophy of Right” thinks that there is no  It is a system of enduring, inner
such thing as an absolute freedom, for by characteristics of individuals that contributes
acknowledging the freedom of oneself is an to consistency in their thoughts, feelings and
implication of acknowledging the freedom of behavior (Leary, 2005).
the others
 St. Augustine’s notion of Freedom is by doing ON CULTURAL RELATIVISM
good you will be free, but by doing evil you
are not free  “Cultural Relativism says...that there is no
 St. Augustine’s Notion of Freedom such thing as universal truth in ethics; there
- To be Free is to what is Good are only the various cultural codes, and
- To what is contrary to the Good is not free nothing more....The following claims have all
been made by cultural relativists:
3. The Connection of “Will” to Freedom 1. Different societies have different moral codes;
 St. Thomas Aquinas -thinks that to ability to 2. . The moral code of a society determines what
choose what is contrary is not the totality of is right within that society; that is, if
freedom. the moral code of a society says that a certain
 in order to make his point, he first define what action is right, then that action is
is will and its object right, at least within that society;
 Aquinas thinks that Will is an “Intellectual 3. There is no objective standard that can be
Appetite”, is that which the one desires. used to judge
While Intellect is that which the one to know one society’s code as better than another’s.
things. There are no
 Aquinas thinks that the “Object” of the Will is moral truths that hold for all people at all times;
the “Good”. Which means that when the will 4. The moral code of our own society has no
perceives good, it tend to desires it, and special status;
when its bad, it tends to flee or evades. it is but one among many;
 Aquinas thinks that even “evil” acts are also 5. It is arrogant for us to judge other cultures. We
the product of the will on desiring good. Not should
because it is good, but because it thinks its always be tolerant of them” (Rachels, The
good. Elements of
Moral Philosophy, 2003).
Relativism and Culture

CULTURE AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM

CULTURE

 Culture causes a huge impact in the molding

of our behavior.
 Tracing its origin plays an important role in
understanding ourselves and others.
 Human beings have become what they are
now because of culture.