BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

GEC 8: ETHICS
COURSE MODULE COURSE UNIT WEEK
GEC8 1 1-3

Course Overview: Ethics

CHECKLIST
 Read course and unit objectives
 Read study guide prior to class attendance
 Read required learning resources; refer to unit
terminologies for jargons
 Proactively participate in classroom discussions
 Participate in weekly discussion board (Canvas)
 Answer and submit course unit tasks

UNIT EXPECTED OUTCOMES

(UEOs)
At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

Cognitive:
1. Identify the fundamentals of Philosophy
2. Categorize ethics and rules.
3. Understand the moral and non-moral developments.

Affective:
1. Actively listens during class discussions
2. Shows sensitivity and respect to other people’s opinion and point of view.
3. Make sound ethical judgment based on principles and facts.
Psychomotor:
1. Actively participate during class discussion and develop sensitivity to common good.
2. Express principles and viewpoint in a respectful manner by internalizing the ethical
behavior.

REQUIRED READINGS
Buenaflor, L.E., Masarap, A.T., Boleche Jr., C.O., Bustamante, J.M. (2018). Unraveling the
Absolute Moral Principle: Ethics for Filipino Students. Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing
Corp.
Leaño Jr., R.D. (2018). Ethics for College Students: CHED Curriculum Compliant. Manila City:
Mindshapers Co., Inc.
Rachels, J. (2004). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill College.

STUDY GUIDE
What is Ethics?

At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and
lead their lives.

Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral
philosophy.

The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or
disposition.

Ethics covers the following dilemmas:

• how to live a good life
• our rights and responsibilities
• the language of right and wrong
• moral decisions - what is good and bad?

Our concept of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies and cultures. They infuse
debates on topics like abortion, human rights and professional conduct.
Branches of Ethics

• Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for
what is right or wrong. Actions are judged by merits, is usually determined by how a person
wants to be treated, and defines what is right or wrong. An example is The Golden Rule.

• Descriptive Ethics does not determine the rightness or wrongness of an action, but studies
how individuals or societies define morals in terms of cultural or personal significance.

Ethics can provide a moral map

Most moral issues get us pretty worked up - think of abortion and euthanasia for starters. Because
these are such emotional issues we often let our hearts do the arguing while our brains just go with
the flow.

But there's another way of tackling these issues, and that's where philosophers can come in - they
offer us ethical rules and principles that enable us to take a cooler view of moral problems.

So ethics provides us with a moral map, a framework that we can use to find our way through
difficult issues.

Ethics can pinpoint a disagreement

Using the framework of ethics, two people who are arguing a moral issue can often find that what
they disagree about is just one particular part of the issue, and that they broadly agree on
everything else.

That can take a lot of heat out of the argument, and sometimes even hint at a way for them to
resolve their problem.

But sometimes ethics doesn't provide people with the sort of help that they really want.

Ethics doesn't give right answers

Ethics doesn't always show the right answer to moral problems.

Indeed more and more people think that for many ethical issues there isn't a single right answer -
just a set of principles that can be applied to particular cases to give those involved some clear
choices.

Some philosophers go further and say that all ethics can do is eliminate confusion and clarify the
issues. After that it's up to each individual to come to their own conclusions.
Ethics can give several answers

Many people want there to be a single right answer to ethical questions. They find moral ambiguity
hard to live with because they genuinely want to do the 'right' thing, and even if they can't work out
what that right thing is, they like the idea that 'somewhere' there is one right answer.

But often there isn't one right answer - there may be several right answers, or just some least bad
answers - and the individual must choose between them.

For others moral ambiguity is difficult because it forces them to take responsibility for their own
choices and actions, rather than falling back on convenient rules and customs.

Moral Standards versus Non-moral Ones

Why the need to distinguish moral standards from non-moral ones?

It is important to note that different societies have different moral beliefs and that our beliefs are
deeply influenced by our own culture and context. For this reason, some values do have moral
implications, while others don’t. Let us consider, for example, the wearing of hijab. For sure, in
traditional Muslim communities, the wearing of hijab is the most appropriate act that women have
to do in terms of dressing up. In fact, for some Muslims, showing parts of the woman’s body, such
as the face and legs, is despicable. However, in many parts of the world, especially in Western
societies, most people don’t mind if women barely cover their bodies. As a matter of fact, the
Hollywood canon of beauty glorifies a sexy and slim body and the wearing of extremely daring
dress. The point here is that people in the West may have pitied the Muslim women who wear
hijab, while some Muslims may find women who dress up daringly despicable.

Again, this clearly shows that different cultures have different moral standards. What is a matter of
moral indifference, that is, a matter of taste (hence, non-moral value) in one culture may be a
matter of moral significance in another.

Moral Standards and their Characteristics

Moral standards are norms that individuals or groups have about the kinds of actions believed to
be morally right or wrong, as well as the values placed on what we believed to be morally good or
morally bad. Moral standards normally promote “the good”, that is, the welfare and well-being of
humans as well as animals and the environment. Moral standards, therefore, prescribe what
humans ought to do in terms of rights and obligations.

1. Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant benefits.

2. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
3. Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
4. Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
5. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
6. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary.

Non-moral Standards

Non-moral standards refer to standards by which we judge what is good or bad and right or wrong
in a non-moral way. Examples of non-moral standards are standards of etiquette by which we
judge manners as good or bad, standards we call the law by which we judge something as legal or
illegal, and standards of aesthetics by which we judge art as good or rubbish. Hence, we should
not confuse morality with etiquette, law, aesthetics, etc.

TERMINOLOGIES
Ethics – the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.
Rules – a guide or principle for conduct or action.
Law – the principles and regulations established in a community.
Moral – principles of right or wrong.
Non-moral – having no relation to morality.

FURTHER READINGS
• Five ethical principles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diKL58HIioQ
• Would your sacrifice one person to save five? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg16u_bzjPE
• Brain pop: Ethics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPsoFhUDLuU

UNIT TASK
• Present one moral or non-moral standard in a 5-slide presentation format focusing on the
ethical standards of Philippine society.
• Provide current personal or social moral topics that can be subjected to the study of Ethics.

REFERENCES
Buenaflor, L.E., Masarap, A.T., Boleche Jr., C.O., Bustamante, J.M. (2018). Unraveling the
Absolute Moral Principle: Ethics for Filipino Students. Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing
Corp.
Leaño Jr., R.D. (2018). Ethics for College Students: CHED Curriculum Compliant. Manila City:
Mindshapers Co., Inc.

Rachels, J. (2004). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill College.

2014. Ethics: a general introduction. BBC. Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml

2018. Moral versus Non-moral Standards. Retrieved from

https://philonotes.com/index.php/2018/06/08/moral-standards/