MODULE 1 -- INTRODUCTION
The focus of this module is the brief introduction of the ethical aspects and
scope of man’s life and his moral thinking.
Ethics as a discipline is about determining the grounds for the values with
particular and special significance to human life. In realizing the notions of
good and bad, and of what is right and wrong as the primary concerns of
ethics, some points have to be clarified:
First point:
KINDS of VALUATION - There are instances when an individual makes value
judgments that are not considered ethical.
Example: Appreciating a movie, identifying one’s self with a favorite color or a
tasteful food is not ethics but more referred to as AESTHETICS, a sense of
feeling.
Another example: The act of laughing so loud, whether it is right or wrong is
not ethical but rather, an issue of ETIQUETTE. There is however a complex
and complicated analysis of distinguishing between what is ethical and what is
not. Questions such as what is trivial and what is grave is debatable. Intense
discussions can center on fundamental questions about whether a sphere of
human activity like matters of taste or personal preferences can call for moral
judgement.
Second point:
ETHICS and MORALS – Ethics is the study and understanding of ideal human
behavior and ways of thinking, thus it is an intellectual discipline belonging to
Philosophy. Morals, on the other hand, refer to specific beliefs, attitudes and
acts that people have or perform. An individual’s personal conduct is his
morals and if he falls short of such conduct, he can become immoral and his
attitude unethical. For purposes of our discourse, we can interchangeably use
the terms “ethical” and “moral”.
Third point:
DESCRIPTIVE and NORMATIVE – A descriptive study of Ethics means
people make value judgments without passing upon the issue of whether it is
ethical or unethical while a normative study can be summed up with just a
question of “What could or should be the right way of doing”?
Last point:
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGMENT and DILEMMA.
When the situation calls for the weighing in of moral values, it becomes a
moral issue. When a person is compelled or confronted by choosing what act
to perform, it is called a moral decision. One who is an observer who makes
an assessment on the actions or behavior of another makes a moral judgment.
Finally, there is moral dilemma when a person in a complicated situation is
torn between choosing between the lesser of two evils.
The Wisdom of Reasoning
Ethics is interested in two questions: Why does man decide that one way
of doing is acceptable while its opposite is not? Another is, what reasons must
he give to decide or to judge that a certain way of acting is either right or
wrong?
The fear of punishment or the desire for reward can motivate and provide man
with reasons for acting in a certain way. But beyond punishments and rewards,
it is possible for man’s moral valuation which is his decision and judgment to
be on a higher moral ground and that is to be based on principle. Principles
can be defined as rationally established and fundamental set of core values
that justifies one’s view, concept, act, behavior, attitude and character. While
people do maintain a set of principles, the same can be subjective and even
relative. As such, Ethics can turn to a theory (a system of thoughts) to
establish certain moral principles that will become the framework in evaluating
man’s reasons for making certain decisions.
SOURCES of AUTHORITY
Man’s standard of values as a matter of practice, obedience and influence,
is established by higher authorities and these are:
Law – A system of rules that define and regulate the conduct of man in an
organized society. It is a guide to one’s ethical behavior but not all its
prescriptions are moral. Example (the imposition of death penalty, euthanasia,
etc ).
Religion – The idea that one is obliged to believe in his faith and obey his own
supreme being or God. As a source of authority for ethical values, this is what
we refer to as the divine command theory.
Culture – A way of life in a certain group, community or society with its own
distinct social norms, institutions and standards of valuations. When one
speaks of ethical acceptability or unacceptability depending on his culture, we
call this cultural relativism.
SENSES Of SELF
The opposite of authority in the sense that man’s standard of values is
dictated by his own self and these are:
Subjectivism –The person concerned solely determines what is good or bad to
him and for him. An example is the most common and familiar expression,” I
am entitled to my own opinion.”
Psychological Egoism – Man is self-centered and his ego has its interests and
desires and therefore all that he must do is focus towards satisfying his wants,
needs and his own self-importance.
Ethical Egoism – Man acts in a manner that seems to benefit other people but
in reality, benefits him because his overriding concern is attaining his own end
and purpose.
UTILITARIANISM – An ethical theory that argues for the goodness of pleasure
and the determination of right behavior based on the usefulness of the action’s
consequences (Bulaong,etc).
The distinctive core of this ethical theory is based solely on the human
act. The right or wrong act is determined by the result whether the same is
useful or not and whether it can give the greater good to a lot of people.
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill were among the two foremost
utilitarians who learned that happiness experienced through pleasure by the
greatest number of people is intrinsically good even at the expense of some
individual rights. Utilitarianism is consequentialist.
Principle of Utility
This is a principle (by Jeremy Bentham) that says man’s actions are
determined and governed by two sovereign masters in his life and these
are pain and pleasure. The principle explains that all our actions are motivated
and dictated either and only by two ways and choices: avoid pain or desire
pleasure. Bentham provided a scale for evaluating pain and pleasure known
as felicific calculus. It is a framework that calculates the pleasure that some
actions can produce regardless of moral preferences and values making as
basis the quantity and extent of such actions.
Principle of the Greatest Number
This is a principle (by John Stuart Mill), arguing that utilitarianism is not all
about an individual, no matter how noble, intellectual or mighty he can be
enjoying happiness but more importantly, the happiness and pleasures of the
greatest number of people affected or influenced as a consequence of a
human act. Mill opposes single scale of pleasure for a plurality of actions, and
argued that pleasures must be distinguished qualitatively than quantitatively.
He viewed that an excessive quantity of pleasure might result in pain and
further believe that human pleasures are qualitatively different from animal
pleasures, in as much as higher intellectual pleasures are preferable than
purely sensual appetites.
Justice and Moral Rights
From the viewpoint of utilitarianism, the quality of being just and righteous,
fair and equitable is justice when it respects rights that are directed towards
acts that pursue the greatest happiness to the greatest number. Moral rights
then becomes just within the context of the principle of utilitarianism as
long the actions produce happiness that is greater than the unhappiness as a
consequence of their implementation. According to Mill, issues about what is
just carry strong emotional import because the category of moral rights directly
associated with justice strikes at the very heart of man’s most vital interests
predicated on his right to life but which is also the right of the ‘’ many others.’’
Thus, as citizens, cherished rights like due process of law, free speech
and choice of religion gives general happiness which the society and
government must defend and protect. Mill added further that when legal rights
are not morally justified, they ought not to be respected.