LC GEC 18 COURSE MANUAL UNIT1.

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ETHICS AND THE MORAL AGENT

Module 1

Key Concepts in Ethics

INTRODUCTION

In this first module, we will review the meaning of Ethics as a branch of

philosophy. We will also work on the significant concepts that are often used in the
study of Ethics.

Actually, Ethics is not something new to you. Every day, you spend your time
doing different actions. Some of these actions are good and some of these actions are
bad. The question is, how do we know that these actions are good or bad? This is the
reason why we need to study Ethics.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Discuss Ethics as a science, a practical science, human conduct, morality of
human conduct, and its etymology as ethos;
2. Explain why Ethics is so concerned with human acts rather than acts of man; and
3. Apply the basic concepts in the study of Ethics.

DISCUSSION

THE MEANING AND NATURE OF ETHICS

What is Ethics? Perhaps, you already asked yourself about this question before
taking this course. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reminds us about the
importance of Ethics especially that it is one of the eight core courses in general
education that is offered in higher education.

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Ethics is one of the major branches of philosophy. It means that Ethics by

nature comes from a big umbrella called philosophy. Since it is a kind of philosophical
discipline, we need to understand it following the thoughts of the philosophers. One
way to understand Ethics is to know its meaning. Again, we go back to the question:
What is Ethics? In this module, I choose to dwell on the meaning given by the Right
Reverend Monsignor Paul J. Glenn. In his book Ethics: A Class Manual in Moral
Philosophy, Glenn (1968) defined Ethics as the “practical science of the morality of
human conduct”.
This definition brings us to the four dimensions that constitute the term and these
are: science, practical science, science of human conduct, and morality of human
conduct. Glenn described Ethics as:
1. Science- it has a complete and systematically arranged body of data and
which presents reasons as to the truthfulness of these data;
2. Practical Science- it presents data which directly imply and indicate directions
for human conduct;
3. Science of Human Conduct- Human conduct refers to the activity that is
deliberate and free. A deliberate and free activity is a human act. A human
act is an act that is determined by the free will. Human acts make human
conduct;
4. Science of Morality of the Human Conduct- Human conduct stems from a
free, deliberate, and knowledgeable activity of the human person. It either
agrees or disagrees with the dictates of reason. Dictates of reason refers to the
shared consciousness of prudent people about the propriety of a certain action or
manner of behavior. It also stands for the norm of morality which is the standard
by which actions are judged as to their merit or demerits (Agapay, 1991). This
relationship, the agreement and disagreement, of the human activity with the
dictates of reason is referred to as morality. Ethics studies human activity to
determine what it must be to stand in harmony with the dictates of reason.

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LC GEC 18 COURSE MANUAL UNIT1. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ETHICS AND THE MORAL AGENT

Ethics according to Glenn comes from the Greek word “ethos” or “a characteristic
way of acting.” The Latin “mos” is similar to the Greek word ethos. This etymology of
Ethics brings us back to what Glenn told us that ethics is a practical science of human
conduct. It is a study of human conduct. It is a study of human actions.

To summarize, the discussion points us to what ethics is all about, that is human
conduct. Anything that we do as long as it is deliberate, free, and we do it with
knowledge is considered as human conduct.

Many times, even if you agree or disagree with me, we rush on acting to certain
situations. Because of this, people often judge us based on our conducts. The Bible
reminds us to: Put on, rather, the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not be led by the will of the
flesh nor follow its desires (Romans 13: 14, CCB-CPE). As Christians, our conducts
can only be in agreement with that of Jesus Christ if we invite Jesus Christ to live in us
and if we beg the grace that Christ can live in us. Then, our conducts cannot just only
be in agreement with the dictates of reason but above all our conducts are in agreement
with Christ who gave us this gift of reason.

TASK 1-1 (?)

Using your own words, write in one sentence each, the main point of the following
arguments. Then give a brief example:
1.Ethics must be a practical science –
1.

2. Ethics must be a science of human conduct-

3. Ethics must be a science of morality of human conduct-

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MY ANSWERS 1-1 (/)

Answers may vary. Here is an example of how you may answer the questions:

1. Ethics must be a practical science –

• Ethics provides us with rules and definite directions to guide our actions or activities.

Example:

• Julie Santos is a college freshman. She was not able to study her lessons last night
because she forgot that Mr. Si will give them a quiz in GEC 18 the following day. She
came to the class almost late and the Mr. Si had already started the quiz. Julie saw
the answers of her classmate who always tops the quizzes in the subject. It was a real
temptation for Julie. However, she did not entertain it as she remembered the
Decalogue that states: Do not steal.

2. Ethics must be a science of human conduct-

• Human conduct comes from actions that are performed out of a certain motive or of
knowledge, freedom, and intention.

Example:

• Out of anger, Mario slapped his co-office worker.

3. Ethics must be a science of morality of the human conduct-

• Human conducts agree or disagree with the dictates of reason which in turn
determines its morality.

Example:

• Before Lily will resort to abortion because she was pregnant out of wedlock, she must
think first about the result of this action. Yes, she will save the name of her family
from shame but she will kill a human being. Will this be a good reason for Lily to
commit abortion? Remember that both civil and ecclesiastical laws prohibit abortion.

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ETHICS AND THE HUMAN ACTS

What is a human act? What is an act of man? Human acts are those actions which
man performs knowingly, freely, and voluntarily. These actions are the result of
conscious knowledge and are subject to the control of the will. We refer to these
actions as deliberate, intentional, and voluntary. The acts of man are those actions
which happen in man. They are instinctive and are not within the control of the will.
Such actions are biological and physiological movements in man such as
metabolism, respiration, fear, anger, love, and jealousy (Agapay, 1991).
For an act to be considered a human act, Agapay (1991) said that it must possess
these characteristics:
a. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is aware of what he is
doing and its consequences.
b. It must be performed by an agent who is acting freely, that is, by his own
volition and powers.
c. It must be performed by an agent who decides willfully to perform the act.
This willfulness is the resolve to perform an act here and now, or in some
future time.
Human acts must, therefore, be knowing, free, and willful. The lack of any of these
attributes renders an act defective and less voluntary.
On the other hand, Glenn (1968) explained that acts of man may sometimes become
human acts by the advertence and consent of the human agent (and by agent is meant
the one who does or performs the act). In his example, if I hear words of blasphemy as
I walk along the street, my act of hearing is an act of man; but the act becomes a
human act if I deliberately pay attention and listen. The act of seeing and even reading
and understanding the words, is an act of man; but it becomes a human act the moment
I deliberately consent to look or read.
Ethics is not concerned with acts of man, but only with human acts. Human acts are
moral acts, as we shall see later on. For human acts man is responsible, and they are
imputed to him as worthy of praise of blame, of reward or punishment. Human acts
tend to repeat themselves and to form habits. Habits coalesce into what we call a
man’s character.

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VOLUNTARINESS OF THE HUMAN ACT

Voluntariness comes from the Latin voluntas which means will. Without it, an act is a
mere act of man. We distinguish between perfect and imperfect, and conditional and
simple voluntariness.
Agapay describes these in the following manner:
a. Perfect voluntariness - present in a person who full knows and fully intends an
act.
b. Imperfect voluntariness - present in a person who acts without fully realizing what
he means to do, or without fully intending the act.
c. Conditional voluntariness- present in a person who is forced by circumstances
beyond his control to perform an act which he would not do under normal
conditions.
d. Simple voluntariness- present in a person doing an act willfully, regardless of
whether he likes to do it or not. It is either positive or negative.
a. Positive voluntariness- the act requires the performance of an activity,
such as polishing the floor, paying rent, or playing tennis.
b. Negative voluntariness- an act requires the omission of activity, such as
not taking prohibited drugs, remaining quiet, or not listening to the radio.

TYPES OF VOLUNTARINESS
The voluntariness of an act can either be direct or indirect. Paul Glenn (pp 14-15)
explains the type of voluntariness in this manner:
a. Direct voluntariness- present in human act willed in itself. For example, a man
kills a chicken for dinner. He directly wills the act of killing as a means to an end
to be achieved such as the dinner.
b. Indirect voluntariness- present in that human act which is the foreseen result (or
a result that could and should have been foreseen) of another act directly willed.
For example, suppose the chicken was a tame animal that had played about the
man’s grounds and had given his children pleasure. The man knows that by

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killing the chicken he will deprive his children of pleasure and cause them sorrow.
This, indeed, he does not directly will, but, inasmuch as this is the foreseen
consequence of his directly willed act, he wills it indirectly, or in its cause. In
other words, he directly wills the cause of his children’s sorrow, and thus
indirectly wills the sorrow itself. A human act that is directly willed is called
voluntary in itself while human act that is indirectly willed is called voluntary in
cause.

So, we have explored the importance of human acts in the study of Ethics. The topic on
human acts is very much significant to all disciplines such as Nursing, Social Work,
Psychology, Communication, and Hotel Management to mention a few because their
work always involves human beings.

TASK 1-2 ( ? )
You write the word Agree if you think the argument is correct or Disagree if you think
that the argument may be insufficient in the box before the number. After your answer,
you write an explanation of your agreement or disagreement to the argument.
1 Anger must be a human act.
2 The action of an insane person at the moment that he is really
out of himself is a human act.
3 Human acts must always be considered in terms of its three
constituents.
4 Ethics must study the morality of the human acts and not the
acts of man.
5 Acts of man must remain as acts of man.

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MY ANSWERS 1-2 ( / )

Congratulations! You did it well. If you didn’t, then try to go back to the lessons. Here is
an example of how you may answer the questions. Explanation may vary.

1. Disagree

• Human acts are those acts that are done with knowledge, freedom, and
voluntariness. Anger cannot be controlled by the will.

2. Disagree

• The person commits the act without him knowing that he is doing. This act lacks
the one of the important constituents of a human act.

3. Agree

• Acts are considered human acts when the three constituents are present in the
act.

4. Agree

• Human acts are intentional and deliberate and therefore they must be studied as
to their agreement or disagreement with the norms of morality.

5. Disagree

• There are instances that acts of man can become human acts based on the
argument of Glenn.

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LC GEC 18 COURSE MANUAL UNIT1. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ETHICS AND THE MORAL AGENT

KEY CONCEPTS

WHY RULES ARE IMPORTANT TO SOCIAL BEINGS?

ACTIVITY 1-1
You pay close attention to your school and community rules that you experienced in
daily life. Evaluate these rules. What rules do you find constricting? Why rules?

Our focus this time is more on the key concepts that we will be using in our study. We
are going to discuss the reason why there rules, differentiate between moral and non-
moral standards and Ethics, and dilemmas.

WHY RULES?
Imagine and think about rules. In our activity, you pinpointed the rules that you find
constricting. You also provided you reasons why do find these rules constricting. But,
what do you think your school or community, your homes; our country would be without
these rules?
There are rules to ensure that there is order. Our school will be chaotic without rules to
follow. Our country can also become chaotic without rules. Our homes can also

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become chaotic. One of the core values of Lourdes College is the value of Excellence.
Remember we cannot attain excellence if there are no rules; if there is no discipline.
There are rules in order to get things done. You cannot finish something in the absence
of rules. Imagine you are writing a novel without observing the conventions of writing. I
don’t know if you can still understand what you are writing. Rules are present to make
our lives easier.
There are rules because we are being with others (esse est co-esse). We are all
connected in the system of life or in the web of life. We live with other beings. We
transact business. We communicate. We interact with people. Rules must be
necessary in a complex kind of interrelationship such as the human beings.

USUAL RULES OF OUR LIVES

There are five usual rules that govern our lives in the society where we live. These
rules are etiquette, legal, language, aesthetics, and athletic. These rules are described
below:
a. Etiquette- standards by which we judge manners to be good or bad; normally
dictated by a socio-economic elite;
b. Legal- standards by which we judge legal right and wrong; in a democracy,
formulated by representative of the people;
c. Language- standards by which we judge what is grammatically right or wrong;
evolve through use;
d. Aesthetics- standards by which we judge good and bad art; usually dictated by a
small circle of art connoisseurs; and
e. Athletic- standards by which we judge how good or bad a game is played; usually
formulated by governing bodies.

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ETHICS AND MORALITY

In ethics, Carino (2018) said, we find a clear illustration that dispels the common
perception of
philosophy as a study of concepts that are either too complicated or detached from
reality. Ethics is philosophical because it emerges from our basic desire to make sense
of the complexities of human condition. The questions “Who am I?”, “What am I to do
with my life?”, or “Who do I want to be?” are all expressions of the human need to
understand oneself and to use such understanding as a guide for action.

We may, therefore, define ethics as a philosophical reflection on the realities of life for
fuller and more meaningful human experience. This definition clearly distinguishes
ethics from morality. While the latter proceeds from commandments, rules, or traditions
commonly considered as authoritative and unchangeable, the former attempts to
confront, as a starting point, the situation at hand without making any premature
judgment that might obscure the main issue in question.

It is much easier for morality to determine what is right or wrong given its deference to
the supremacy of the pre-ordained standards (commandments, rules, or traditions)
which are the sole determinants of what ought to be for their adherents. Any deviation
from such standards is met with punishment. Fidelity to them is properly rewarded.
One can only be fully human if he or she is genuinely free to enjoy the experience-
mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physiologically- of attaining the kind of person he or
she wants for himself or herself.

This is the focal concern of ethics as a philosophic discipline. It seeks to impart the
need to be reflective, discerning, and decisive in circumstances when existing rules or
standards can no longer help individuals act adequately in their daily struggles. Rules
and standards are important guides for action. They provide stability in the life of a
person or community and are indispensable in the formation of individual or communal
identity.

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However, here is the caveat. It becomes problematic when these rules or standards are
imposed as ends in themselves rather than as means to help individuals attain their
human fulfillment.

The study of ethics is therefore, crucial because it allows people to be more in touch
with their humanity. Ethics points out that the dignity of human persons comes from
their ability to respond to situations which can help them see better who they are, what
they can do, and who they can be. This is the task that requires more than a catalogue
of do’s and dont’s.

It is true that doing ethics may be challenging but, Socrates and Plato put it, ethics is the
very tool that can make life worth living.

TASK 1-3 (?)

Form yourselves into a group of 5 persons. Each group must elect an administrator or
moderator. The moderator will create a social media account in the Messenger. The
moderator will invite the rest of his or her group mates to the account that he or she has
created. The administrator will make a list of trending topic/stories/news in the
Facebook. Share this list to your group mates. Each person in the group will choose
the top three topics that he or she likes. Share with your group mates why you have
chosen those topics. Finally, the administrator will determine the commonalities and
differences in the stories and news you have selected. The administrator will present
the results during our study session.

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MY ANSWERS 1-3 (/)

Here’s an example of how you may perform the given task. Performance of the task
may vary.

Our teacher gave us the name and phone numbers of my classmates. I texted at least
five of them and I got positive answers that they are willing to be in the same group.
The members of our group are Sandra, Ramon, Lucas, Zenaida, and myself. I was
elected as the administrator. I created a Messenger account and invited them to join
the group. I also invited our professor in the subject. Actually, it’s an exclusive account
for our group only. I looked at my FB and I listed down trending topics and stories. I
finally listed at least 20 trending topics and stories. I posted these topics in the
messenger and I invited them to choose the top three in the list. After they have chosen
their topics, I ask them to share it to the group and their reasons why they have chosen
it. Of course, there were comments and questions when we posted the topics. I really
enjoyed it. As administrator, I consolidated the answers and categorized the answers
into what are the common topics and what are the differences. On Friday, our study
session day, we met in the school and presented what we have with our group to our
professor. By the way, our professor assigned us to a specific time for our study
session.

TASK 1-4 (?)

Read the case below and try to answer the questions after the case.

Ramon, a Grade 5 honor student at an all-boys’ Grade School allows Jose, a large,
burly boy seated next to him, to peek at his Math quarterly exam. Unfortunately,
Teacher sees this and immediately gives both boys a failing mark for the quarter exam.
Ramon feels that a great injustice has been committed; that Jose should have been
punished more severely than him.

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LC GEC 18 COURSE MANUAL UNIT1. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ETHICS AND THE MORAL AGENT

Why does Ramon feel this way about Teacher’s punishment? Why did Ramon
allow Jose to copy?

MY ANSWERS 1-4 (/)

Answers may vary. Here’s an example of how you may answer the question.

Ramon feels that it is not fair that both of them will suffer with the same kind of
punishment. He only allowed Jose to copy because he might be afraid of him.

SUMMARY

Before we finally close this module, I would like you to remember some points into the
study of ethics. These are:

a. Ethics entails a reflective distance to critically examine standards. It looks at the

values beneath these moral standards (WHAT and WHY). For example, 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, et. Value: lifelong commitment
b. It looks at the agent who makes the moral decision: Mature?, Level of moral
development (WHO)
c. It is about the moral decision making process (HOW).

Ethics then is not about theoretical knowledge but application of that knowledge,
transforming it into action in everyday life. Our every life contains a lot of dramatic
experiences such as robbery, hunger, overpopulation, brawl, and others. Ethics helps
us approach our everyday life with an amount of certainty that our actions are done in
harmony with other people.

Do you have one or two idea/s that you cannot forget about the discussion? Think
about it.

Congratulations! I do hope to see you in the next module.

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REFERENCES

Agapay, R (1991). Ethics and the Filipino: A Manual on Morals for Students and
Educators.

Mandaluyong City: National Book Store.

Cariňo, J. (2018). Fundamentals of Ethics. Quezon City: C and E Publishing, Inc.

General Education Training (Ethics) Manual for Second Generation. Commission on

Higher
Education.

Glenn, P. (1968). Ethics: A Class Manual in Moral Philosophy. London: B. Herder

Book Co.

Pasco, M.O., Fulente Suarez, V., and Rodriguez, A.M. (2018). Ethics. Quezon City: C
and E
Publishing, Inc.

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