Lesson 1
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ETHICS
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II.
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III.
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IV.
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Origin of Ethics
Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, means character, customs, or
habit.
Ethics, in ancient Greece, was concerned with the development of a virtuous
and moral character.
The great Greek moralist, Socrates, was the First to recognize the value of
questions that affect how a person should alive.
Socratic method (Dialectic) consists of asking people questions about ideas
they presumably know about.
Defined Ethics
Ethics is also often called moral philosophy.
The word of moral from the Latin word mores which also means customs and
habits.
Ethics will be defined as the study of the methods and principles used to
distinguish good from bad, right from wrong actions.
Thus, ethics means the science of customs or habits in society.
The Assumption of Ethics
Like any other discipline, ethics proceeds from some basic assumptions.
Assumptions are the fundamentals beliefs or statements that are accepted to
be true without burden of proving or of proof.
Most books concerning the study of ethics present a long list of assumptions.
The two most important and most common assumption of ethics.
A. FIRST, that man is a rational being. This means that man is rational and
actions with a purpose, unlike brutes who merely act out of instinct and
reflex.
B. SECOND, that man is a free being. Ethics assumes that man is free to act
according to his will and he has the power to act, speak, or think if he
chooses to restraint.
The Objects of Ethics
Studies of human behavior and makes evaluative assessment as moral or
immoral
Makes judgement upon human behavior based on the standards and norms
“The principal cause of actions is usually attributed to the doer. If, for the
instance, Pedro and not any malicious demon or spirit is responsible for his
act or for the crime he committed. Because Pedro did the act, it is expected that
Pedro suffers the moral or legal consequences of his act.”
The doer of an act and the act done by the doer are two different objects of
ethics.
V.
VI.
A. The Physical Object of Ethics - The doer of an act is the physical object of
ethics (moral agent). Physical object of ethics does not only refer to a
person, but to an institution (the business firm, the government etc.), and to
other forms of social organization (nongovernmental organizations, clubs,
fraternity associations, etc.)
B. The Nonphysical Object of Ethics - The action done by a moral agent, such
as the act of telling the truth, helping others in distress, fulfilling a promise,
forgiving other’s trespasses, humility, including malicious deeds, such a
murder, stealing, lying, and others are called the Nonphysical object of
ethics.
Two General Forms of Acts
A. ACTS OF A MAN – are of two types:
1. Involuntary Natural Acts - These include the involuntary, intuitive or
reflex acts exhibited by man, such as the blinking of the eye, the
beating of the heart, sneezing, yawning, breathing, scratching, and
others. (e.g., stop blinking for five to ten minutes, stop breathing for five
to ten minutes, stop your heart from breathing, stop your stomach from
digesting the food you have taken during breakfast.)
2. Voluntary Natural Acts - The second type of normal acts are called
voluntary acts. They include voluntary and natural, but not necessarily
reflexive acts, such as sleeping, eating, drinking. Performs as part
of our daily activities, socially learned activities, example: brushing
our teeth, combing our hair, cutting our nails, taking a bath, etc.
B. HUMAN ACTS - The second general form of acts is called human acts.
Human acts are included actions that are conscious, deliberate, intentional,
voluntary and are within the preview of human value judgement. Human
acts are either moral or immoral.
- Classification of human acts:
a. Moral or Ethical acts - these are human acts that observe or
conform to a standard or norm of morality.
b. Immoral or Unethical acts - these are human acts that violate or
deviate from a standard of morality.
Forms of Ethical Analysis
a. Descriptive Ethics
 It is more suited to empirical sciences like sociology, psychology,
or political science as it aims to discover what moral beliefs are held
by a given society, social group or social organization.
b. Normative Ethics
 Philosophers believe that ethics is for the most part, a normative
study.
 Normative study is not merely a description of what people find
morally good.
Metaethics
Normative Ethics
Definition
Focus
Field
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c.
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f.
g.
The study of the origin The study of ethical
and
meaning
of action typically on
ethical concepts
what is morally right
and wrong
Focuses on what is Focuses on what is
morality
moral
Connected
to More practical as it
philosophy
as
it applies
to
basic
analyses
human behavior
fundamental ethical
concepts
Major Normative Ethics
Consequentialist (Teleological) Ethics - This school of thought maintains
that the morality of an action is determined solely by its consequences.
(e.g., consequences are Utilitarianism)
Nonconsequential (Deontological) Ethics - Deontological theories assert
that the morality of an action depend on its intrinsic nature, its motives,
or its accordance with so rules or principles and not its consequences.
(e.g., Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative)
Ethical situations generally involve a moral agent, an action or series of
actions, consequences, and a recipient of the consequences.
1. Moral Agent: Responsible for action (the doer, or the actor, to
which praise or blame is typically assigned)
2. Action: something that occurs as a result of the moral agent’s
decision-making process
3. Consequences: result from action
4. Recipient: Receives the consequences of the moral agent’s
action.
Authoritarian Ethics - The Authoritarian Theory morality of appeals to
authority and force in determining what constitute right from wrong,
good from bad, moral from immoral
Theological Ethics - This holds that the will of God is what determines
the rightness and wrongness of an act
Legalism of Legalistic Morality - Determines right from wrong, based
on a body of clearly state and well-documented body of laws
Ethical Egoism - Maintains that an action is right only if it is in the interest
of the agent of the doer of the act. Ethical egoism is not a simple theory
of morality but looks into self.
Situational Ethics - Asserts that the morality of an action depends on
the situation and not the application of moral laws to the case.
VII.
Forms of Ethics
A. Practical Ethics - Is primarily concerned with answering matter-of-fact
questions, such as the questions posed by the situations presented
above. It is an essentially normative, that is. It prescribes courses of action
for moral issue where clear answers are lacking.
B. Theoretical Ethics - primarily aims to study the meaning of ethical
concepts such as good, right, fairness, etc. It attempts to study of moral
acts, inquiries into what makes a right, and determines the relation
between facts and values.
C. Personal and Social Ethics
a. Personal Ethics tries to study how a person should act in relation
to himself.
b. Social Ethics concerns how a person should act in relation to
others, such a distinction rest on differentiating between to one’s
self and duties to others.
Quiz 1:
1. Ethics can be defined as the study of methods and principles used to distinguish
good from bad, right from wrong actions. (True)
2. In the Ethical argument, it is best to consider that man was created in the image
and likeness of God because they were acted based on their reflexes and instinct.
(False)
3. In the Philosophical World, a Socratic Method is a form of questioning people about
the things that they know about. (True)
4. In the Physical Object of Ethics, the doer of an act is the moral agent and the moral
actions committed have been limited to the person subject to morality all the time.
(False)
5. Ethics has been called the mother of all science because it is an independent
discipline that has been integrated with every aspect of the discipline. (False)
6. Descriptive Ethics talks about the empirical science that aims to discover the moral
beliefs of the society, groups, or organization. (True)
7. Ethics is oftentimes called moral Philosophy. (True)
8. Which of the following statements considered circumstances face by the doer is
the determiner of the rightness or wrongness of an action? (Situational Ethics)
9. Which of the following Ethical analyses determines right from wrong, based on the
written law of the land? (Legalism of Legalistic Morality)
10. Which of the following choices deviates from the standard of society? (Immoral or
Unethical Acts)
11. Which of the following ethical principles aims to study the meaning of ethical
concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong? (Theoretical Ethics)
12. Which of the following choices is not the meaning of the Greek word ethos?
(Morals)
13. In the Forms of Ethics, Which of the following statements refers to distinguishing
your duty to self and others? (Social Ethics)
14. Which of the following statements refers to the responsibility of the person to do a
certain action? (Freedom)
15. Which of the following choices is the study on how a person should a person act
in society and his/her relation to self? (Personal Ethics)
16. In the Forms of Ethical Analysis, Which of the following statements is that the will
of God is the determiner of the rightness or wrongness of an action? (Theological
Ethics)
17. Which of the following statement is the method of questioning used by the great
Greek Philosopher to know the idea of the people about things in life? (Socratic
Method)
18. Which of the following choices is the best physical object of morality? (All of the
above)
19. Which of the following choices of the act is liable or subject to morality? (Human
Act)
20. Which of the following forms of Ethical Analysis or Morality maintains that an action
is right only if it is in the interest of the doer of the act? (Ethical Egoism)
Lesson 2
Moral Dilemma
A Moral dilemma is a situation in which, whatever choice is made, the agent
is subject to morality.
Morals – an individual’s concept of right or wrong – (religious values, social
attitudes and certain behaviors.)
Dilemma – a situation where there is no clear best choice between two or more
alternatives.
Something Morally right --- Bad Outcome
Something Morally wrong --- Good or better outcome
The agent regards him/herself as having moral reasons to do each of two
actions but doing both is not possible.
Moral Dilemma are social issues with 2+ solutions (Robinhood Moral
Dilemma)
Kohlberg’s Theory
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This theory is a stage theory
Everyone goes through the stages sequentially without skipping any stage
However, movement through these stages are not natural, that is people do
not automatically move from one stage to the next as they mature.
In stage development, movement occurs when a person notices inadequacies
in his or her present way of coping with a given moral dilemma.
According to stage theory, people cannot understand moral reasoning more
than one stage ahead of their own. For example, a person in Stage 1 can
understand stage 2 reasoning but nothing beyond that.
Six Stages
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Pre-conventional Moral Development 0 – 9 years
1. Stage 1 – Obedience and Punishment
 Especially common in young children, but adults can express this
type of reasoning.
 At this stage, children see rules as fixed and absolute
 Obeys rules in order to avoid punishment
 Determines a sense of right and wrong by what is punished and
what is not punished
 Obeys superior authority and allows authority to make the rules,
especially if that authority has the power to inflict pain
 Is responsive to rules that will affect his/her physical well-being.
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2. Stage 2 – Naively Egotistical
 At this stage of moral development, children account for individual
points of view and judge actions based on how they serve
individual needs.
 Reciprocity is possible, but only if it serves one’s own interests.
 Is motivated by vengeance or “an eye for an eye” philosophy.
 Is self-absorbed while assuming that he/she is generous
 Believes in equal sharing in that everyone gets the same,
regardless of need.
 Believes that the end justifies the means
 Will do a favor only to get a favor
 Expects to be rewarded for every non-selfish deed he/she does
Conventional Moral Development 10 – 15 years
3. Stage 3 – “good boy-good girl” orientation
 This stage of moral development is focused on living up to social
expectations and roles.
 There is an emphasis on conformity, being “nice”, and
consideration of how choices influence relationships.
 Finds peer approval important
 Feels that intentions are as important as deeds and expects
others to accept intentions or promises in place of deeds.
 Begins to put himself/herself in another’s shoes and think form
another perspective.
4. Stage 4 – Law and Social order
 At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider
society as a whole when making judgments.
 The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules,
doing one’s duty and respecting authority.
 Is a duty doer who believes in rigid rules that should not be
changed
 Respects authority and obeys it without question
 Supports the rights of the majority without concern for those in
the minority is part of about 80% of the population that does not
progress past stage 4.
Post-conventional Moral Development – 16+
5. Stage 5 – Legalistic Social Contract
 At this stage, people begin to account for the differing values,
opinions, and beliefs of other people.
 Rules of laws are important for maintain a society, but members
of the society should agree upon these standards
 Is motivated by the belief in the greatest amount of good for the
greatest amount number of people
 Believes in consensus (everyone agrees), rather than in majority
rule
 Respects the rights of minority especially the rights of individual
 Believes that change in the law is possible but only through the
system
6. Stage 6 – Universal ethical Principles
 Kohlberg’s final level of moral reasoning is based upon universal
ethical principles and abstract reasoning
 At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of
justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules
 Believes that there are high moral principles than those
represented by social rules and customs
 Is willing to accept the consequences for disobedience of the
social rule he/she has rejected
 Believes that the dignity of humanity is sacred and that all humans
have value
Heinz Dilemma – Drug for cancer
Moral Dilemma
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Reflection of Jake (11 years old boy) – Heinz should steal the drug as life is
more valuable than money. In addition, if he steals the drug the druggist loses
1000 but if he does not either he will lose his wife.
Reflection of Amy (11 years old girl) - Heinz should not steal the drug
because if he does it, he has to go to jail. Then his wife will face more problem.
Therefore, he has to find another way
Criticism of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
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Does moral reasoning necessarily lead to moral behavior?
Kohlberg's theory is concerned with moral thinking, but there is a big
difference between knowing what we ought to do versus our actual actions.
Is justice the only aspect of moral reasoning we should consider?
Critics have pointed out that Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
overemphasized the concept as justice when making moral choices
Other factors such as compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings
may play an important part in moral reasoning.
Does Kohlberg’s theory overemphasize Western Philosophy?
Individualistic cultures emphasize personal right while collectivist culture
stress the importance of society and community.
Eastern cultures may have different outlook that Kohlberg’s theory does not
account for.
Lesson 3
Morals vs Ethics
Morals are beliefs or values of the individual or group as to what is right or
wrong. Rules and standards made by the society which is to be followed by us. We
are encouraged not to cheat, always to tell the truth, etc. It is what is objectively right.
Ethics are the guiding principles which help the individual or group to decide
what is good or bad. It is a branch of philosophy that serves as a guiding principle
or standard that governs our life.
What is it?
Morals – General principles set by group
Ethics – Response to a specific situation
Ethics are moral values in action.
Root word
Morals – Mos or Mores which means custom
Ethics – Ethikos or Ethos which means character
Governed by…
Morals – Religious, Social and Cultural Norms (Directed by the society, culture, or
religion)
Ethics – Individual or Legal and Professional Norms (Choosing a principle to govern
ones’ life)
Deals with…
Morals – Principles of right and wrong (Emphasizes in communal and social norms)
Ethics – Right and wrong conduct (Leans toward the decision of the individual; it is
more subjective)
Applicability
Morals – No
Ethics – Yes (Business Ethics)
Consistency
Morals – may differ from society to society and culture to culture
Ethics – are generally uniform (requires consistency that moral standards and values
should not be contradictory and examining our lives for inconsistency and modifying
moral standards.)
Expression
Morals – are expressed in the form of general rules and statements
Ethics – are abstract
Freedom to think and Choose
Morals – No
Ethics – No
Conclusion
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Morals may vary from society to society and culture to culture. As opposed to
Ethics, which remains same regardless of any culture, religion, or society.
Morals do not have any applicability to business, whereas Ethics is widely
applicable in the business known as business ethics.
Morals are expressed in the form of statements, but Ethics are not expressed
in the form statements.
Every individual being has some principles which help him or her throughout
his or her life to cope up to any adversity – Ethics
Morals are the rules that many people consider as right; this makes it part of
their life.
Lesson 4
Moral and Non-moral Standard
Philosophy
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Metaphysics – study of existence, what is real?
Epistemology – Study of knowledge, how do we know?
Political Science – study of force, how should societies be governed?
Logic - study of reason, how do we reason?
Aesthetics – study of art, what is beauty?
Ethics – study of action, what should I do?
Philosophy as an activity
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Human beings have a unique facility to reason, it esteems from our conscious
ability to know that we “exist”
Involves thinking abstract ideas
Helps us to ask question that concern our existence in relation to the world and
others
Philosophy as a way of life
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The derivation of the word states that philosophy means love of wisdom
Wisdom is regarded as knowledge for the conduct of life and philosophy is
values as a way of life
Aldous Huxley rightly says, “Man lives in accordance with their philosophies
of life, their conception of the world. This is true even of the most thoughtless.”
Characteristics of Philosophy
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In search for truth and reality.
Universal, although its methods and questions remain
interpretation and applications will differ from place to place
Based on inquiry about life and existence.
A way of life.
An attempt to answer the ultimate question of life
Search for knowledge and wisdom
Conceptual rather than a practical activity
Explanation of the puzzling features of things
Digging beyond the obvious
Search for principles which underlie phenomena
Theory building from these principles
A living force
the
same,
3 functions of Philosophy
1. Normative – refers to the norms or standards
- Means setting of norms, goals, principles, standards, etc.
- Professor V.R. Taneja writes “When man is faced with the difficulties, strains
and stresses, contradictory situations, unforeseen circumstances and intriguing
problems, philosophy enables him to consider the pros and cons and arrive at
correct solution.”
2. Speculative – strikes a synthesis within the array of facts and bits of
knowledge gathered from various sources
- It leads the man from common sense approach to rational and perspective
approach
3. Critical – it classifies concepts, tests hypothesis, establishes consistency,
presents unity of outlook, and inspires logical reasoning.
Moral Standards pertain to the rules people have about the kinds of actions they
believe are morally right and wrong, as well as the values they place on the kinds of
objects they believe are morally good and morally bad.
Non-moral standards, on the other hand, are the rules that are unrelated to moral or
ethical considerations. Either these standards are not necessarily linked to morality or
by nature lack ethical sense.
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Moral standards are different because they concern behavior that is of serious
consequence to human welfare, that can profoundly injure or benefit people.
The conventional moral norms against lying, stealing, and murdering deals with
actions that can hurt people.
And the moral principle that human beings should be treated with dignity and
respect uplifts the human personality.
Characteristics:
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Concerned of the serious consequence to human welfare.
Moral standards take priority over other standards, including self.
Their soundness depends on the adequacy of reasons that justify them.
Morality and Etiquette
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Decorum, propriety imply observance of the formal requirements governing
behavior in polite society.
Refers to conventional forms and usages: the rules of etiquette. Decorum
suggests dignity and a sense of what is becoming or appropriate for a person
of good breeding: a fine sense of decorum.
Etiquettes refer to any special code of behavior or courtesy
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If we violate the rules of etiquette that we have read in the books then we rightly
considered as ill-mannered, impolite, or even un-civilized but not necessarily
immoral.
Rules of etiquettes are generally non moral in nature: “Push your chair back
into place upon leaving a dinner table.“ But violation of etiquette can have
moral implications. The male boss who refers to female subordinates as “honey”
or “doll” shows bad manners
Morality and Law
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Law is the system of rules that a particular country as regulating the actions of
its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties
Four Kinds of Law
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1. Statutes – law enacted by legislative bodies, make up a large part of the
law and are what many of is mean when we speak laws.
a) Ordinances – laws enacted by local governing bodies such as
city councils
b) Administrative regulations – boards or agencies whose function
is issuing detailed regulations
2. Regulations – a rule or made directives
3. Common Law – laws applied in the English-speaking world, derived from
custom and judicial precedent when there were few statutes
- Courts frequently wrote opinions explaining the bases of their decision
in specific cases, including the legal principles they deemed
appropriate. Each of these opinions became a precedent for later
decision in similar cases.
4. Constitutional Law – the body of law that evolves from a constitution,
setting out the fundamental principles according to which a state, court
rulings on the constitutionality of any law
People sometime confused legality and morality, but they are different things.
On one hand, breaking law is not always or necessarily immoral. On the other
hand, the legality of an action does not guarantee that it is morally right.
An action can be illegal but morally right e.g., Helping a Jewish family to hide
from the Nazis was against German Law 1939, but it would have been a morally
admirable thing to have done
An action that is legal can be morally wrong e.g. It may have been perfectly legal
for the chairman of a profitable company to lay off 125 workers and use threequarters of the money saved to boost his pay and that of the company’s other
top manager, but morality of his doing is so open to debate
Professional Code of Ethics
Code of ethics
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A set of rules about good and bad behavior
A set of rules used by companies, professional org, and individuals to govern
their decision making in choosing between right and wrong.
Professional Codes
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Somewhere between etiquettes and law lies professional codes of ethics.
These are the rules that are supposed to govern the conduct of members of a
given profession
Generally speaking, the members of a profession are understood to have agreed
to abide but those rules as a condition of their engaging in that profession.
Violations of the professional code may result in the disapproval of one’s
professional peers.
Where do moral standards come from?
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Moral comes from issues taught and passed down from person to person
However, the original is based on the religious beliefs of the person sharing
the moral.
In short, all moral come from religion.
Without religion, all things are possible and no morals are required.
Morality and Religion
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Morality need not rest on religion
Many people believe that morality must be based on religion, either in the sense
that without religion people would have no incentive to be moral or in the
sense that only religion can provide moral guidance.
Other contend that morality is based on the commands of God
None of these claims is very “plausible”.
Lesson 5
Science and Religion
“Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is
power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts;
religion deals mainly with values. Two are not rivals. They are complementary.” –
Martin Luther King
Religion
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Latin word – “religare” – “to bind fast” (see rely), via notion of “place an
obligation on” or “bond between humans and gods” (tie).
A belief in something
The belief is not necessarily substantiated by physical or material evidence
Religious knowledge obtained through holy writings, authority, revelation, and
religious experiences
Religious knowledge is qualitative not quantitative
Religious knowledge is not gotten through measurement
Religious knowledge is taken as true or false
Religious knowledge is neither progressive, nor tentative.
Science
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Latin word – “scientia” – knowledge, a knowing, expertness, or experience for
knowledge
Scientific knowledge is a relationship between observations
The observations are subject to refinement
Scientific knowledge is progressive and tentative
Scientific knowledge is neither true or false, but rather consistent with the
observations and consistent with prior knowledge.
Science formulates quantifiable questions.
Science uses units, numbers, direction along with mathematics to express
knowledge.
Numbers are quantitative.
Units are not a quality.
Units are dimensions representing time, energy, weight, volume, length, brighten.
Dimensions are independent variables.
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind” – Albert Einstein
Is Science and Religion related?
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Science speaking concerns itself with the natural; religion concerns with the
supernatural.
Science focuses on testable claim and hypotheses, whereas religion focuses
on individual beliefs
Both, though, place an emphasis on a way to know or understand the world,
even as these ways vary dramatically
Assumptions of Science
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The World is real
The real world is knowable and comprehensible
There are laws that govern the real world
Those laws are knowable and comprehensible
Those laws don’t radically change according to place or time, since the early
stage of the big bang.
Nature is understandable
The rules of logic are valid
Language is adequate to describe the natural realm
Human senses are reliable.
Mathematical rules are descriptive for the physical world
Assumptions are accepted without proof
Form the basis of all scientific thinking
In other words, the basic assumptions of science are accepted on faith.
Limitations of Science
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Science can’t answer questions about value.
Science can’t answer questions of morality.
Science can’t help us with questions about the supernatural.
A statement a scientist should not make
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Evolution is true
Big Bang Happened
Science seeks consistency, not “truth”. What is the simplest and most
consistent explanation of the observation.
Religion and Science ask different kinds of questions and define words
differently
Religion and Science appear as if they were two incommensurate paradigms
addressing the identical information arena.
Science asks and attempts to answer:
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When, where, how many, why (by what means) How does a living thing
function?
What are the fundamental forces?
Religion asks and attempts to answer:
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Why am I here?
Is that the right thing to do? How valuable am I?
Does God Exist?
Does God act (theism)?
Will that God respond if I pray?
Question both ask but by different means
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How and when did life originate?
How and when did the universe originate?
Unanswered questions which seem to relate to science
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Consciousness
Origins of Life
Origin of the Universe
Scientism
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The acceptance of scientific theory and scientific methods as applicable in all
fields of inquiry about the world, including morality, ethics, art, and religion.
Materialism
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“We exist as material being in a material world, all of whose phenomena are the
consequences of material relations among material entities.” In a word, the
public needs to accept materialism, which means that they must put God in the
trash can of history where such myths belong. – Carl Sagan
Scientific Materialism
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Accepts only one reality; the physical universe, composed as it is of matter and
energy.
Everything that is not physical, measurable, or deducible from scientific
observations, is considered unreal.
Life is explained in purely mechanical terms, and phenomena such as Mind
and Consciousness are considered nothing but epiphenomena – curious by –
products, of certain complex physical processes (such as brain metabolism)
No God, angels, devil, good, evil, survival of physical death, non-physical realities,
ultimate meaning or purpose to life, heaven, afterlife
Only that which can be observed and through the technique of Scientific Method
is real and everything else is unreal.
History of Science and Religion
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Chaos vs Cosmos
God vs the gods
Can Science and Religion peacefully coexist?
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Francis Collins (The language of God)
Reasons Collins believes in God
There is something instead of nothing
The unreasonable effectiveness of Mathematics
The Big Bang
Nature does not solve the problem of why
The existence of time
Fine tuning of the universe “The goldilocks paradox”
“Ockham’s Razor”
The existence of Moral Law
Lesson 6
Understanding the Diversity of Moral Beliefs
Cultural Relativism
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“Different cultures have different moral codes” often is used as a key to
understanding morality
Proponents argue that there is not as universal truth in ethics; there are only the
various cultural codes and nothing more.
The customs of different societies is all that exist.
Proponents would argue that customs can not be judged as correct or incorrect
Our own code of ethics has no special status; it is merely one among many
The focus here is on whether or not one culture can judge another; the focus is not
on whether or not one individual can judge another.
Some Conflicting Approaches
 Moral Realism (aka Moral Objectivism): There are objective moral facts.
Therefore, ethics is somewhat like science: its task is to discover (not decide)
what these moral facts are.
 Ethical Absolutists: There is a single ethical standard; that standard is usually
their own
 Ethical (cultural or moral) Relativists: Each culture is an island unto itself, right
in its own world, and they deny any overarching standard with which conflicting
cultures (not individuals) can be judged.
 Ethical Pluralists: Cultures can legitimately pass judgments on one another, but
encourages us to listen to what other cultures say about us as well
 Moral Realist – Try to examine the situation and context to discover the moral
“facts”
 Ethical Relativist – each culture is right unto itself, so such practices would be
morally permissible in some countries and morally wrong
 Ethical absolutists – there is a single moral truth in and individuals are to be
judged
 Pluralists – try to find some middle (in some situations this practice may make
sense, less judgmental)
Different moral codes
 Different Cultures have different moral codes
 What is right within one group maybe abhorrent to another
 Treatment of the dead
 Polygamy
 Sharing wives among Eskimos
What is our reaction to “strange or different” customs?
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Label them as backward, uneducated, or primitive.
Label them heathens
Discriminate or harass them
Convert them to “Our” custom or thought
Correlates with imperialist approaches
“If we assume that our ethical ideas will be shared by all people at all times, we are merely
naïve.”
Consider ethical ideas in our society may have changed over years…
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Divorce, Living together, sex outside of marriage, interracial marriage, same sex
marriage, sex education
Gambling, casinos, internet poker
Internet dating
Women in the workforce, women in the army, women working in “masculine” jobs
Spanking/punishment of children
Acceptance of cremation for the dead
Animal welfare, recognizing animals have certain rights
Natural resource protection
Taming “mother nature” vs. “living with nature”
Claims of Cultural Relativists
1. Different societies have different moral codes
2. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society
3. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societies code as
better than another
4. The moral code of our society offers nothing special
5. There is no universal truth in ethics
6. It is arrogant to judge the conduct of other societies; we should adopt an attitude
of
Cultural differences argument
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A theory about the nature of morality – at the heart of cultural relativism is the form
of their argument
Premises: Different culture have different moral codes
 Therefore, there are no objective truth in morality. Right and wrong are only
matters of opinion and opinions vary from culture to culture
 This is cultural differences argument – they argue from facts about differences
between cultural outlooks to making conclusions about the status of morality
How is this a logical fallacy?
The consequence of accepting cultural relativism
1. We could no longer say that custom of other societies is morally inferior to
others
 We would have to stop condemning other societies merely because they
are different
 Tolerance towards slavery, antisemitism, hatred towards ethnic groups, or
minorities, child porn, sex slave trade
 If we took the cultural relativism seriously, we would have to regard these
behaviors as immune from criticism if they are considered morally
acceptable within the practicing culture
2. We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the
standards of our society
 In Colonial America, slavery was Ok, women were not allowed to vote or
own property, primogeniture was practices, etc.; therefore, these things
were right
 Deciding what is right or wrong in a situation is easier
 This position requires that we accept that
3. The idea of progress is called into doubt
 Progress implies doing things better, but cultural relativism rejects making
judgments about past eras
 Reform movements such as rights for woman and minorities that implies
modern society is better, is a judgement that is impossible to make
Problems with Cultural Relativism
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No blame of other culture for wrong or evil deeds.
No criticism of our own culture
No idea of moral progress
In a relativist society, the view of majority rules
Is tolerance a universal value, in which case relativism is paradoxical?
Don’t we all instinctively believe that some things are universally right or wrong
Many rejects cultural relativism arguments
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It makes sense to condemn some practices wherever they occur
It makes sense to acknowledge that our society while imperfect has made moral
progress
Because Cultural relativism implies these judgments make no sense, the argument
goes, it cannot be right
There is less disagreement than it seems (Across Cultures)
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There are differences across societies, but the differences are often over-stated.
In fact, there are some values that can be seen as relatively universal because
they are necessary for societies to function
Need to explore not particular practices or values, but the belief systems or
circumstances that lie behind the practices
The differences are often in the belief
Source of Customs
 Beliefs – religious beliefs
 Physical circumstances of the society
 Even if customs differ, there may be less disagreement on basic values
 Ex. Eskimos infanticide – “Drastic measures are sometimes needed to
ensure the family’s survival… The eskimos values are not all that
different than our own. It is only that life forces upon them choices that
we do not have to make”
Universal Values in Societies
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Value of protecting the young
Truth Telling
Prohibition of Murder
There are some moral rules that all societies must have in common, because those
rules are necessary for society to exist
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Prohibition against incest
Personal responsibility
The proper role of government is to take care of its citizens
Everyone should serve their country
Everyone should obey the law
Ethics Quiz 2
1. Philosophy is a tool of humanity to know what the best solution to the problems is
by searching the truth.
- Great
2. Which of the following choices refers to the rules of the society that needs to be
followed by people?
- Moral Standards
3. Human being has no unique facility to reason, that esteems from their conscious
ability to know that they “exist”.
- Fallacious
4. Which of the following functions of Philosophy did refer to classifying concepts and
inspire individuals to become logical?
- Critical
5. When we did not follow the Non-Moral Standard of society, we are subject to
morality.
- False
6. Complete the quotation “Man lives in accordance with their ______________ of
life, their ________ of the world”.
- Philosophies, Conception
7. Which of the following choices is a set of rules used by companies, professional
organizations, and individuals to govern their decision-making in choosing
between right and wrong?
- Code of Ethics
8. Which of the following choices refers to the special code of behavior of the people
in the society?
- Etiquette
9. Which of the following branch of Philosophy is engaged in studying ways of
knowing things?
- Epistemology
10. As a person If we violate the rules of etiquette, we are considered ill-mannered,
impolite, or immoral.
- Phony
11. Which of the following statements below is referring to the Regulations that have
been commonly violated by students with moral implications?
- Not following parents’ advice and mandate at home
12. The primary concern of the Morals Standard is the serious consequence to
human welfare in all aspects of life.
- Authentic
13. Which of the following choices is in between the etiquette and laws?
- Professional Ethics
14. Non-Moral Standards are the rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical
considerations.
- Excellent
15. Which of the following choices is referring to the system of rules that existed and
applied in the English-speaking society that derived from custom and judicial
precedent?
- Common Law
16. Which of the following functions of Philosophy did refer to the goals and
standards of the society?
- Normative
17. Which of the following choices has an exception to the moral standard in the
society?
- Abortion, Murder
18. The source of morality for the entire humanity is religion.
- Untrue
19. Which of the following choices is not included in the characteristics of
Philosophy?
- Interpreting the events in the world
20. The following statements pertain to etiquette, all the choices are true, which of
the following choices is the least true?
- Rules in the society