EDCS 411 (Competency Skills Appraisal 1) ETHICS Prepared by: Mr. Lorenzo Jr. T. Gulle INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY Philosophy – comes from the Greek words philo (love) and sophia (wisdom), and so, is literally defined as “love of wisdom.” Branches of Philosophy: 1. Metaphysics – study of questions concerning the nature of reality or existence 2. Epistemology – study of the nature of knowledge and how these are attained and evaluated 3. Axiology – study of the questions of values 3.1. Ethics – concerned with questions on moral principles and attempts to establish rationales for values in human conducts/actions 3.2. Aesthetics – concerned with questions on the nature and value of beauty, of works of art, of literature, and of experiences that are worthy and valuable 4. Logic – study of reasoning TYPES OF FALLACIES Fallacies – bad arguments 1. Ad hominem (Against the Man / Personal Attack) – committed when one is encouraged to reject a proposition because it is the stated opinion of someone regarded as disreputable in some way. Example: Romel challenged their teacher in Ethics saying,“Why should we believe you when you have not even passed your Licensure Examination?” 2. Ad ignorantiam (Appeal to Ignorance) – committed when the truth of a claim is established only on the basis of lack of evidence against it. Example: Leny is being investigated for cheating. She is confident, however, that the investigation will not push through because she said that the investigators have no evidence against her. 3. Ad misericordiam (Appeal to Pity) – committed when in offering an argument, pity is appealed to Example: Eulogio pleaded to his instructor in Ethics to give him a passing grade because his whole family is depending on him to lift them out of poverty once he graduates. 4. Ad populum (Appeal to Popularity) – committed when the truth of a claim is established only on the basis of its popularity and familiarity Example: Grace’s classmates could not believe her report. When their instructor asked her to verify her report, she said she got her information from a popular website. 5. Ad baculum (Appeal to Force) – committed when someone in a position of power threatens to bring down unfortunate consequences upon anyone who dares to disagree with a proffered proposition Example: Carl pointed out an instructor’s error during a discussion. The instructor, however, snapped at him and threatened him that he’ll be sent out of class if he does not stop arguing with him. 6. Ad verecundiam (Appeal to Authority) – committed when the opinion of someone famous or accomplished in another area of expertise is supposed to guarantee the truth of a conclusion Example: Gerard, a photography expert said that the ghost captured on photo is just reflection of light. 7. Ad antiquitatem (Appeal to Tradition) – committed when an argument is deemed correct on the basis that it is correlated with some past or present tradition Example: Marriage should be between a man and a woman. It has been so for a long time in this country; it should remain so today and in the future. INTRODUCTION TO CULTURE Culture – defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, art. Types of Culture 1. Nonmaterial culture – this includes values, beliefs, symbols, and language that define a society, a religion, an art, an ideas, a customs, a value system, an attitudes, a knowledge and etc. It is very important in determining human behavior and has a strong hold on an individual. 2. Material culture – includes all the society’s physical objects, such as its tools and technology, clothing, eating utensils and means of transportation. Product of human effort to control his environment and make life conformable and safe. 3. Real culture – it can be observed in our social life. Example: if a person says that he\she is Muslim. Will be, when followed all the principles of Islam is the real and doesn’t follow, is not a real one. 4. Ideal culture – is presented as a pattern to the people. It is a goal of a society and never achieved fully because some parts remain out of practice. Characteristics of Culture 1. Culture is learned. It is acquired through education, training, and experiences. Most of the behavior is learned in society. Example, wearing clothes or dancing. 2. Culture is shared. This pertains to all the traits, attitudes, ideas, knowledge, and material objects like radio, television and automobiles that are actually shared by members of society. 3. Culture is transmitted. It refers to all the culture traits and objects that are transmitted among the members of the society continually. We learn new fashion, how to move in society and how to move in a particular social situation. 4. Culture is changing. Culture never remains static but changing in every society, but with different speed and causes. It constantly undergoes change and adapts itself to the environments. Components of Culture: 1. Norms – they are commonly defined as rules or expectations that are socially enforced. Norms may be prescriptive (encouraging positive behavior; for example, “be honest”) or proscriptive (discouraging negative behavior; for example, “do not cheat”). Social norms have three (3) types: a. Folkways – these are the customs or conventions of daily life. They are a type of social norm -- expectations for how we act. Folkways mildly enforced social expectations. It distinguishes between proper and rude behavior. b. Mores – refers to the norms set by society, largely for behavior and appearance. Individuals who DO NOT follow social mores are often considered social deviants. This also dictates right and wrong. “In Sociology, Mores is generally discussed in contrast with Folkways because both types of social norms, though they vary in the degree to which they are enforced.” c. Laws – these are formalized norms enacted by people vested with legitimate authority. 2. Ideas – a non-material aspect of culture and embody man’s conception of his physical, social, and cultural world. 3. Beliefs – refer to a person’s conviction about a certain idea. 4. Values – an abstract concept of what is important and worthwhile. They are general ideas that individuals share about what is good or bad. 5. Symbols – refers to an object, gesture, sound, color or design that represents something. a. Language – is considered as most important set of symbols. Example: In English, the word chair means something we sit on. In French, the word chaise means the same thing. As long as we agree how to interpret these words, a shared language and thus society are possible. By the same token, differences in languages can make it quite difficult to communicate. Language can be spoken or written. One of the most important developments in the evolution of society was the creation of written language. Some of the preindustrial societies that anthropologists have studied written language, while others do not, and in remaining societies the “written” language consists mainly of pictures, not words. 6. Rituals – refer to as established procedures and ceremonies that often mark transitions in the life course. Example: a. Girls around the world undergo various types of initiation ceremonies to mark their transition to adulthood. Special ceremonies also mark a girl’s first menstrual period. b. Boys also have their own initiation ceremonies, some of them involving circumcision. That said, the ways in which circumcisions are done and the ceremonies accompanying them differ widely. If their parents are observant Jews circumcision will be part of a religious ceremony, and a religious figure called a moyel will perform the circumcision. CULTURAL ETHICS As the name suggests, it deals with the morality, integrity, principles, and values of a culture. It usually differs from culture to culture. In spite of that, certain values remain the same simple because they are ethically and morally justifiable. Culture is an integral part of ethics and vice versa. The culture of a community impacts it progress, development, laws, principles and to some extent its policies. ETHNOCENTRISM (William Graham Sumner) - it refers to the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of your own ethnic culture and the belief that that is in fact the “right” way to look at the world. - this leads to making incorrect assumptions about others’ behavior based on your own norms, values, and beliefs. CULTURAL RELATIVISM - refers to the principle that an individual person’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture. LAWRENCE KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development was developed through his doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago. He completed his doctoral degree in 1958. Kohlberg established his theory through a series of questions asked of 10 to 16-year-old subjects. ➢ He presented them a moral dilemma by utilizing The Heinz Dilemma. ➢ He asked them questions to draw out their emotions regarding the situation. ➢ He asked them what course of action the character should take, and why. ➢ Through this process, he established the Stages of Moral Development. Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Reasoning is a stage theory. ➢ everyone goes through the stages sequentially without skipping any stage. ➢ movement is effected when a person notices inadequacies in his or her present way of coping with a given moral dilemma. ➢ movement through these stages are not natural; people do not automatically move from one stage to the next as they mature. Kohlberg’s theory posits that moral reasoning, an essential requisite for ethical behavior, has 3 levels, with two stages at each level. Kohlberg hypothesized that every stage is more sufficient at reacting to moral dilemmas than the stages prior to it. LEVEL 1: PRE-CONVENTIONAL Morality Stage 1 Punishment-Obedience Orientation This is the stage that all young children start at (and a few adults remain in). Rules are seen as being fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it means avoiding punishment. A good or bad action is determined by its physical consequences. Stage 2 Instrumental-Relativist Orientation (Individualism, Self-Interest, and Exchange) Decisions are made based on the principle of "What's in it for me?”, meaning, personal needs determine right or wrong. Choosing to do what is right is a matter of satisfying one’s own needs. For example, a child might reason: "If I do what mom or dad wants me to do, they will reward me. Therefore, I will do it." LEVEL 2: CONVENTIONAL Morality Stage 3 Interpersonal Concordance Orientation (Social Conformity, "Good Boy/Nice Girl") There is a sense of what "good boys" and "nice girls" do. Being “good” and “nice” is important. An individual wants to win the approval of others and maintain the expectations of others. The emphasis is on living up to social expectations and norms because of how they impact day-to-day relationships. Stage 4 Society-Maintaining Orientation (Law and Order) An individual is oriented toward authority, fixed rules, and the maintenance of the social order. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one's duty and respecting authority. LEVEL 3: POST-CONVENTIONAL Morality Stage 5 Social Contract Legalistic Orientation Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society. Laws are really just a social contract based on majority decision and inevitable compromise. There is a clear awareness of the relativism of personal values and opinions and a corresponding emphasis upon procedural rules for reaching consensus. People at this stage sometimes disobey rules if they find them to be inconsistent with their personal values. People will also argue for certain laws to be changed if they are no longer "working". Stage 6 Universal Ethics Orientation (Principled Conscience) At this stage, rights are defined by the decision of people’s conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles that appeal to logical comprehensiveness, universality, and consistency. At heart, these are universal principles of justice, equality of the human rights, and respect for the dignity of human beings as individual persons. PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE 1. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. 2. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. 3. If the prisoners are released from this bondage of untruth, and look towards the light, the glare will distress them. Having been in the dark of untruth for a long time, the glare of the truth will be at first painful. Eventually, a clearer vision of the truth will come to them. 4. Plato’s aim in The Republic is to describe what is necessary for us to achieve reflective understanding. It also reflected Plato’s basic tenet in not completely trusting our senses. For what our senses perceive may simply be “shadows” of what is true. 5. Reflective understanding of what we perceive around us, according to Plato, will lead us to truth and wisdom.
