UNIT TEST 1 IN ETHICS REVIEWER Importance of Rules to Social Beings

1. Rules protect social beings by regulating

behavior
Morality & Ethics 2. Rules help to guarantee each person
MORALITY – are concerned with the principles of certain rights and freedom
right and wrong behavior and the goodness or 3. Rules produce a sense of justice among
badness of human character. social beings
4. Rules are essential for healthy economic
➢ Its principles derived from a code of system
conduct from a particular philosophy,
religion, or culture.
Moral vs Non-moral Standards
ETHICS – a branch of philosophy that studies MORAL STANDARDS – involve the rules people
morality or the rightness or wrongness of human have about the kinds of actions they believe are
conduct. morally right and wrong, as well as the values
➢ involves systematizing, defending, and they place on the kinds of objects they believe
recommending concepts of right and are morally right and wrong and they believe are
wrong behavior. morally good and morally bad.
➢ is the moral principles that govern a ➢ Normally promote “the good”, that is, the
person's behavior or the conducting of an welfare and well-being of humans as well
activity. as animals and the environment. Moral
standards, therefore, prescribe what
Ethics vs Morality Comparison human sought to do in terms of rights and
obligations.
Ethics – rules of conduct recognized in respect
to a particular group.
Characteristics of Moral Standard
Morals – principles with respect to right or wrong
conduct; a personal compass of right and wrong ✓ Moral standards deal with matters we
think can seriously injure or benefit
Ethics – Social system humans, animals, and the environment,
such as child abuse, rape, and murder
Morals – Individual – Internal
✓ Moral standards are not established by
Ethics – because society says it is the right thing authority figures
to do. ✓ Moral standards are based on impartial
considerations and associated with
Morals – because we believe in something special emotions (such as guilt and
being right or wrong. shame)
Ethics – tend to be consistent within certain
context but can vary between contexts.
NON-MORALSTANDARDS – refer to rules that
Morals – usually consistent but can change if an are unrelated to moral or ethical
individual’s beliefs change. considerations. Either these standards are
Ethics – governed by professional and legal not necessarily linked to morality or by
guidelines within a particular time and place nature lack ethical sense. Basic examples
of non-moral standards include rules of
Morals – Morality transcends cultural norms
 etiquette, fashion standards, rules in STRUCTURAL DILEMMAS – it refers to cases
games, and various house rules. involving network of institutions and operative
theoretical paradigms.
➢ 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
Only human beings can be ethical
standards are standards of etiquette by
which we judge manners as good or bad, 1. Only human beings are rational,
standards we call the law by which we autonomous, and self-conscious
judge something as legal or illegal, and 2. Only human beings can act morally or
standards of aesthetics by which we immorally
judge art as good or rubbish. Hence, we 3. Only human beings are part of the moral
should not confuse morality with community
etiquette, law, aesthetics or even with
religion.
Freedom as a Foundation of Morality

Dilemma and Moral Dilemma FREEDOM – is discussed in the context of free

will and self-determination, balanced by moral
DILEMMA – refers to a situation in which a tough responsibility.
choice has to be made between two or more
options, especially more or less equally Basically, morality requires and allows choice.
undesirable ones. Not all dilemmas are moral Morality is choosing ethical codes, values and
dilemmas. standards to guide us in our decisions.

➢ More on personal or not that deep

decision making, mostly only you are
involved.
MORAL DILEMMAS – are situation in which a
difficult choice has to be made between two
courses of action, either of which entails
transgressing a moral principle.
➢ A moral dilemma can also be a conflict
between what you want to do and what
you think you should do.

Three levels of Moral Dilemmas

PERSONAL DILEMMAS – are those experienced
and resolved on the personal levels.
ORGANIZATIONAL DILEMMAS – it refers to ethical
cases encountered and resolved by social
organizations. This category includes moral
dilemmas in business, medical fields, and public
sector.
 Culture in Moral Behavior Many aspects of morality are taught. Person
learns moral and aspects of right or wrong from
CULTURE – is a cumulative deposit of transmitters of culture.
knowledge, experience, belies, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, The process by which infants and children
notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts socially learn the culture, including morality, of
of the universe and material objects and those around them called enculturation or
possessions acquired by a group of people in socialization.
the course of generations through individual and Individuals are a product of their culture and
group striving. learning culture is an essential part of human
Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit. development.
The essential core of culture consists of
traditional ideas and especially their attached
values; cultural systems. Culture is the total of Moral Standards as Social Convention and
the learned behavior of a group of people that the Social Conditioning Theory
are generally considered to be the tradition of SOCIAL CONVENTION – they mean things agreed
that people and are transmitted from generation upon by people, like trough their authorities.
to generation.
SOCIAL CONDITIONING – theory of learning and
Culture in its broader sense is cultivated social behavior which proposes that new
behavior; that is the totality of a person's
behaviors can be acquired by observing and
learned, accumulated experience which is imitating others.
socially transmitted or more briefly, behavior
through social learning.
Cultural Relativism

Culture includes all the things individuals Fundamentally believes that no act is good or
learn while growing up among particular bad, and there is no single objective universal
group: standard through which we can evaluate the
truth of moral judgment.
✓ Perceptions
✓ Attitude Culture relativism is the most dominant form
✓ Morality relativism, defines “moral” as what is “socially
✓ Etiquette approved” by the majority in a particular culture.
✓ Language
✓ Ideas
Cultural Relativism
✓ It teaches us to open minded, there by
Culture's Role in Moral Behavior
being more open to discovering truth.
Culture is a "way of life" of a group of people, ✓ It positively warns against being
and this so called 'way of life' actually includes judgmental as it reminds us that some of
moral values and behaviors. our beliefs and practices are mere
conventional, and thus not absolutely
Culture is learned as children grow up in society and exclusively correct.
and discover how their parents and others ✓ Although cultural relativism seems
around them interpret the world in our society. positive it discourages analytical thinking
and independent decision making.