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Ethics Key Concepts: Prepared by Christian E. Jordan Ethics MTH / 7:30am To 9:30am / CAS 402

This document discusses key concepts in ethics including rules, moral standards, and dilemmas. It defines morality as pertaining to standards of right and wrong inherited from a community, while ethics studies these standards, moral decision making, and the nature of moral agents. Moral standards are distinguished from other standards by dealing with matters that seriously affect humans, being justified by reasons rather than authorities, and being impartial. Dilemmas occur when there are competing moral values and an agent must choose the higher value based on its long-term effects. To handle dilemmas ethically requires using reason and impartiality to analyze situations and stakeholders' interests critically before acting with conviction.

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65 views4 pages

Ethics Key Concepts: Prepared by Christian E. Jordan Ethics MTH / 7:30am To 9:30am / CAS 402

This document discusses key concepts in ethics including rules, moral standards, and dilemmas. It defines morality as pertaining to standards of right and wrong inherited from a community, while ethics studies these standards, moral decision making, and the nature of moral agents. Moral standards are distinguished from other standards by dealing with matters that seriously affect humans, being justified by reasons rather than authorities, and being impartial. Dilemmas occur when there are competing moral values and an agent must choose the higher value based on its long-term effects. To handle dilemmas ethically requires using reason and impartiality to analyze situations and stakeholders' interests critically before acting with conviction.

Uploaded by

roch
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Ethics Key Concepts

Rules: Imagine and Think


The rules you find most constricting
1. The reasons behind these rules?
2. What your school would be without rules? Your Org? Your home? Your country? Would
be without these rules.
3. The rules you find most constricting?

Why Rules?
 Order
 Get things done
 We are beings with others.

Usual Rules of Our Lives


 Etiquette – standards by which we judge manners to be good or bad; normally dictated
by a socio-economic elite.

 Legal – standards by which we judge legal right and wrong; in a democracy, formulated
by representatives of the people

 Language – standards by which we judge what is grammatically right or wrong; evolve


through use.

 Aesthetics – standards by which judge good and bad art; usually dictated by a small
circle of art connoisseurs.

 Athletics – standards by which we judge how good or bad a game is played; usually
formulated by governing bodies.

Moral Standards
What distinguishes moral standards from Non-moral standards?
1. Moral standards deal with matters that a seriously injure or benefit human beings (e.g.
theft, rape, fraud, slander, murder).

2. The validity of moral standards rests on the adequacy of reasons to support and justify
them, not on decisions of majority or authoritative bodies (e.g. that one ought to tell the
truth does not depend on how many people will vote on it nor on the legislature. One
indication of justification is the consensus of participants in communication (Habermas).

3. Moral standards are to be preferred to other values including self-interest (e.g. honesty
is to be preferred than cheating, although cheating can make me graduate).

Prepared by Christian E. Jordan Ethics MTH / 7:30am to 9:30am / CAS 402


4. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations. Another way of expressing this
is ‘universalizable’ or taking the point of view of an ‘ideal observer.’ Still, this impartiality
must be balanced with partiality towards those we have a special relationship (family,
and friends) and the poor and disabled.

5. Moral standards are associated of special emotions such as guilt, shame, remorse,
praise, indignation.

 Non-compliance with the moral standards, seriously injure us as human beings. –


nababawasan ang pagkatao.

 The challenge of moral standards is that in violating them, effect is not always
immediate and visible.

Morality and Ethics (Manuel Velasquez)

Morality – pertains to standards of right and wrong, usually inherited from a community.

Ethics – studies standards between right and wrong, the act of making a decision, the nature of
the agent who makes the decision.

Moral, Ethics, and Procedural (Habermas) - Questions concerning right and wrong
Procedural - standard is optimality / efficiency.
- purposive rational action
- with purpose
Ethical - standard is ethos, pertaining to the good life.
- consideration of value preferences (good)
- limited in a given society.
Moral - standard is justice, how others are affected by actions
- justice is universal and justice is for everyone.

The Study of Ethics


1. Ethics entails a reflective distance to critically examine standards (experience + reason).

2. Looks values beneath these moral standards (What or Why) e.g. we take for granted
that we should marry in church. But have we asked why? If we do, this will affect our
attitude to divorce etc. The value of commitment.

3. It looks at the agent who makes the moral decision: Mature? Level of moral
development (WHO).

4. It is about the moral decision making process (HOW).

Prepared by Christian E. Jordan Ethics MTH / 7:30am to 9:30am / CAS 402


“Ethics is not about theoretical knowledge
but application of the knowledge,
transforming it to action in everyday life”.
- Manuel Dy

Dilemmas
Signaled by being “bothered” – nababagabag.
“Why am I bothered? When did you last have that “bothered” feeling?

What is a dilemma?
Dilemmas are experiences where an agent is confused about the right decision to make
because there are several competing values that are seemingly equally important and urgent.
The goal is: to choose the higher value. Higher value here must have a long term effect in the
decision on the part of the agent.

Feelings and Dilemmas


1. Strong feelings signal the presence of a dilemma. But many people do not always
“catch” the dilemma behind the feeling.
- when you have feelings that are mixed, it disturbs you.

2. One can be conditioned to be indifferent so that what used to be NAKAKABAGABAG is no


longer a dilemma.
- Moral Blindness starts when an individual doesn’t experience dilemma anymore.

3. Dilemmas are not about competing solutions.


- We normally handle the ‘pagkabagabag” by immediately offering solutions instead of
articulating the competing values or issues (e.g. should cheat or not cheat).

How should we handle a Moral Dilemmas?


 Certainly not through feelings
 Upsurge of feelings cannot be prevented. There is no such thing as right and
wrong feelings. It is a natural response of the body. There is a wrong act not
feeling.
 What we do with them (feelings) separates the mature from the immature moral
agent.
 Immediate value – sometimes becomes the lower value.
 Higher value – long term effect. (LOVE, Max Scheler) Lower Value – egoism /
hatred
 Preferring and realizing higher values is love, and preferring and realizing lower
value is hatred or egoism.

Prepared by Christian E. Jordan Ethics MTH / 7:30am to 9:30am / CAS 402


Using Reason and Impartiality
Reason
 A faculty
 A way of dealing with issues
 Moral judgments are not a matter of personal preferences or tastes.
- “the morally right thing to do, in any circumstances, is determined by what there are
the best reasons for doing.” Rachel’s, “What is Morality?”

Impartiality Defined
 Every stakeholder’s interest is equally important.
 There are no special interests or people, thus in making every moral decision, each
stakeholder interest should be considered.
 One must not be arbitrary (illogical / subjective).
 Every person should be treated the same way unless there is good reason not to do so.

Why Reason? Why Impartiality?


 Because dilemmas are complex experiences; hard to make good decision. Kapag
masama na talaga, hindi na dilemma.
 An agent is confused about the right decision to make because there are several
competing values that different stakeholders protect.

Why are we the only moral agents?


 Because only human beings are free.

Summary: To be ETHICAL requires:


Pause
1. To get hold of emotions before they do damage.
2. Distance from what everyone else is saying.

Critical Thinking
1. To analyze the situation, consider stakeholders interest make the right choices.
2. To see the bigger picture and align the choice with what the values important to me.

Courage
1. To ACT DELIBERTLY AND WITH CONVICTION on what reason says is the right thing to do.

Prepared by Christian E. Jordan Ethics MTH / 7:30am to 9:30am / CAS 402

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