Republic of the Philippines POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES College of Engineering and Architecture Building Department of Mechanical Engineering ETHICS ASSIGNMENT 1 Submitted to: Ms. GERLIE C. OGATIS, MA Submitted by: Adoptante, Ervin M. BSME 3-2 S.Y. 2021-2022 FIRST SEMESTER Module 2: Ethics CHECKPOINT Activity Write 350-word essay on Does Anything Matter? In my own way of understanding Derek Parfit’s ethics, I found it fascinating that some of his arguments are same with my perception. If I’m not wrong he made a stand that if he is wrong about his objective morality then nothing really matters. If we move to a nihilistic approach, anything we think and do would neither be right or wrong. However, I’m still unsure if there would be such thing to be considered as universal. Is there really an absolute or objective morality? Every individual has a different way of thinking. We don’t just answer Yes or No in making decisions in reality. It’s not that simple specially if we are passing a verdict where a life of a human being is at stake. For example, if we passed death penalty to heinous crimes would that really decrease the rate of misdeed among the society? It also argues that there is no such thing as a perfect justice system, so there are possibilities of innocent people to become a victim of this law. Morality is undeniably a characteristic of humans. If morality were objective, however, everyone in our species would have the same moral standards. However, we clearly do not have the same moral ideals. But the sad thing is that there are a lot of criminals that are living their own lives as if they didn’t killed, rape or hurt someone. The question is still being raised, is it worth to kill 100 criminals but in exchange of 1 innocent individual to be a victim of extrajudicial killings. Is it okay to approach this in Utilitarian? Then who would be accountable on these victims? There are numerous aspects that must be considered in each given moral situation. So, before we can determine whether an act is right or bad, we must consider various factors, including the personalities of those involved their emotions, intents, and intuitions as well as the act's repercussions. These elements can make an action's morality ambiguous. To end with, even in physics scientists are struggling to find connection between relativity and quantum mechanics. They could not create a single equation that is universal and explains everything. I wonder if there is really an objective truth just as Derek Parfit says. What role do ethics and morality have in a world that is socially stratified? To begin with, Ethics refers to a variety of topics where it could be related to philosophical ethics or moral philosophy. It tries to use logic to answer various moral concerns. Reflective generality and the kind of discussion that takes to be rationally persuasive are what distinguishes the investigation as philosophical. Ethics can also refer to a basic human ability to think about moral dilemmas that isn't limited to religious beliefs. It can also be defined as the ability to think critically about ethical views and to conduct our lives in accordance with such beliefs. It can also be used to determine an individual's own set of rules or behaviors. It’s more like that ethics is a moral code that encompasses what is considered to be right and wrong for a community or society as a whole, as well as what is determined to be right and wrong for an individual. Rights, duties, language use, what it means to live an ethical life, and how people make moral decisions are all topics covered by ethics. Moralizing is sometimes thought of as a cerebral exercise, but it's more often an attempt to make sense of our gut feelings and reactions. It's a subjective idea, and many people have strong and adamant beliefs about what's right and bad, which can conflict with others' moral convictions. Despite the fact that morals differ from one individual to the next, religion to religion, and culture to culture, many have been discovered to be universal, deriving from basic human feelings. The way people are classified and ordered in society is referred to as social stratification. The top classes typically have the most access to these resources, whilst the lower classes may have limited or no access to them, putting them at a considerable disadvantage. In society ethics and morality has a role for the public to be in equilibrium. Because if we take away ethics then corruption and unethical morality will become unrestrained to the community. In case of Social Stratification, is where a hierarchy dictates which groups are most likely to have access to financial resources and kinds of privilege. Nature's laws are diametrically opposed to human nature, which is characterized by a drive to pleasure at the expense of others and is always evolving. As the human psychology evolves, our morals and ethics shift, allowing us to get along with one another more easily during different stages of our development. However, no matter how far we progress in our morals and ethics, we always feel like we're missing something, and our relationships are becoming increasingly fraught with problems and crises. REFERENCES: • • Ethics and Morality. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/ethics-and-morality (2018). Ethics. Britannica. Retrieved from www.britannica.com/topic/ethicsphilosophy
