AN OVERVIEW
MORAL SITUATIONS
IS IT RIGHT?
WHAT AM I TO DO?
WHAT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE?
IS IT WRONG?
Contemporary Moral Trends
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Might is right
Morals are mores
The individual is the measure
The human Race is the basis of right
Right is moderation
Right is what brings pleasure
Right is the greatest good for the greater number
Right is what is desirable for it's own sake
Right is indefinable
Right is what God wills
What is Ethics/Morality?
 Etymology
 Ethics from the greek “Ethos”
 Morals from the latin “Mos”
 Which means: customs or practices
 Morality refers to the rightness or wrongness of
an action.
 Ethics refers to the study concerned with what is
morally good and bad, right and wrong
Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994-2002
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
 Relativism
 Right or wrong, good or bad is variable and relative,
depending on the person, circumstance or social situation.
 Cultural Relativism – Moral standards are a product of
culture. What is right in one culture may be wrong in
another.
 Morality changes through time.
 Secular Humanism
 Emphasis on the human.
 “A search for viable individual, social and political principles
of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance
human well-being and individual responsibility” (Council for
Secular Humanism)
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
 Virtue Ethics
 Happiness is achieved through the development of “good
habits:” intellectual (for example knowledge) and practical
action and emotion (for example courage).
 “Golden Mean” – neither excess nor deficiency.
 Seeks to develop individual character. A good person will
make a good decision.
 Hedonism
 What brings pleasure to an individual is good.
 Ethical Egoism
 Focuses on the pursuit of self-interest in human
conduct.
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
 Teleological Ethics
 From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.”
 Concerned with the end-point or results of an action
 Consequentialism
 Utilitarianism (Universal Hedonism)
 The greatest good or happiness for the greatest number of
people.
 Deontology
 The good is found in the action itself and not based on its
consequences or results.
 Thus it is our duty to do the right action
 Kantian Ethics
 “Act as if the principle on which your action is based were
to become a universal law of nature.”
Ethical Systems
 Determinism
 Everything is caused and determined (even human actions
and choices) by previously existing causes that preclude
free will and the possibility that humans could have acted
otherwise.
 Fatalism
 Stoicism
 Theonomous Ethics: Morality and religion go
together
 Divine Command
 Being good is doing whatever a sacred text tells you.
 Christian Ethics
 Looking at the person of Christ as the norm of all thought and
action.
Ethical Systems
 Absolutism
 It is not limited by exceptions or restrictions.
 It is not to be doubted or questioned – positive,
certain and unconditional.
 Cultural absolutism
 There exists moral absolutes that do not vary from
culture to culture.
Contemporary Moral Trends
 Might is right
 Relativism
 Hedonism / Egoism
 Absolutism
 Morals are mores
 Cultural Relativism
 The individual is the measure
 Relativism / Subjectivism
 Egoism
 The human Race is the basis of right
 Secular Humanism
 Right is moderation
 Aristotle’s “Golden Mean”
Contemporary Moral Trends
 Right is what brings pleasure
 Hedonism / Egoism
 Right is the greatest good for the greater number
 Utilitarianism
 Right is what is desirable for it's own sake
 Deontological Ethics
 Right is indefinable
 Ethical Relativism
 Determinism
 Right is what God wills
 Theonomous Ethics
 Absolutism
References
 Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St. Pauls, 1998.
 Karl Peschke. Christian Ethics.
 Professor Dean R. Bork. Fundamentals of Ethical Systems. Lecture
Notes. http://www.lar.arch.vt.edu/Resources/courses/LAR3034/Notes/Ethics.html
 Louis D. Whitworth. Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical
Systems. Probe Ministries, 1995.
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/measmor.html
 “Ethics” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004.
 “What is Secular Humanism?” Council for Secular Humanism. Last
updated 8/11/2004.
http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html