GEC 8 ETHICS

HANDOUT # 1
Introduction to Ethics

• PHILOSOPHY
• DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY as to Etymology
Love of wisdom or “love of truth rather than love of knowledge
Philein – love of or friendship for
Sophia – wisdom

Scientific Definition: is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters of existence,
knowledge, values and reason. It provides the principles that develop skills for critical thinking to better
understand and evaluate the world

Related Concepts:
• WISDOM – it is your ability to decide which aspects of knowledge are true and right
• KNOWLEDGE – these are simple ideas that comes from the outside that pass through our senses. It is the
accumulation of facts and data based on your experiences.

THE PROCESS OF PHILOSOPHY

1. QUESTION – philosophy started with a question or wonder.
2. ANALYSIS – breaking down ideas into simpler forms.
3. CRITICISM – giving comments to every ideas or information.
4. SYNTHESIS – combining similar ideas or information
5. EVALUATION – giving weights on these different ideas
6. JUDGEMENT – decision making

DIVISION/BRANCHES of PHILOSOPHY
• THEORETICAL FIELDS
1. METAPHYSICS – it studies the existence of man, God, and everything.
- it encompasses everything that exists, as well as the nature of existence itself.
- it also says whether the world is real, or merely an illusion.
- it is the foundation of philosophy for it explains and interpret the world around us.
2. ONTOLOGY – regarded as belonging to metaphysics which concerns on knowing the nature of man and
his existence with respect to time and place
3. COSMOLOGY – deeper study of the universe as an orderly system, and which include the understanding
of its origin, structure, constituting elements, principles and laws underlying its existence and operation
4. TELEOLOGY – is a field that examines and elucidates the presence or absence of the purpose and
meaning of the existence of the universe.
5. PSYCHOLOGY - deals with the mind of consciousness
6. EPISTEMOLOGY – it studies the nature, scope, and limitations of human knowledge.
- it investigates knowledge and truth.
- it is also concerned with how the minds are related to reality.
7. THEODICY – focuses on investigating the nature, being, goodness and justice of God, His relationship to
man and the things in the universe and his divinity. This covers the theology which examines the reasons
of attaining the goals man and his being with his Creator.

• b. PRACTICAL FIELDS
1. Semantics – field that investigates the meaning and linguistics forms of words, and their symbolic
functions and their influence to human thoughts and behaviour.
2. Axiology – investigates the origin, nature and meaning of values and critically examines the bases of
identifying what is valuable or not.
3. Ethics – field that investigates the right and wrong or propriety of the behaviour of man, as well as the
pursuit of a good life in the context of the moral good and evil conduct, and the bases of their influence to
 man’s life. It deals with what is the proper course of action for man. it answers the question ‘What do I
do.’
4. Aesthetics – field that concerns on the study of beauty and the value of works of art, and the analysis of
the criteria in making judgment of what is beautiful and what is not
5. Logic – field of science and art that deals with the principles or laws or accurate thinking and a
systematic and orderly method of reasoning

Influences: Greek Philosophers

• SOCRATES
- Greatest moral philosopher
- Maxim is “virtue is knowledge”
- Man is to know how to distinguish good things from bad.
- “ person who knows what is right knows self control, is just courageous and happy
- “happiness is gauged not by material wealth but by being moral
- He was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy.
- He believed that wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance

THE DOCTRINE OF SOCRATES

1. KNOWLEDGE IS VIRTUE – ignorance can lead man to commit sins or could cause them harm towards
themselves or to others.
2. THE SOCRATIC IRONY – on the road to knowledge, Socrates felt that we have to recognize our ignorance
to continue to search for the truth.
3. THE ART OF GOOD LIVING – if we are to live a good life, one must learn to obey and apply the laws or
limitations of being human.

PLATO
- Student of Socrates
- Reason as the basis of happiness
- Wisdom is a superior virtue as it keeps the balance of the functions of other parts of the soul, and
which brings the goodness of human actions and in harmony with the phenomenal or material world

Two domains of reality

a. Ideal - person having ideas that there are things that exist beyond truth and essence.
b. Phenomenal – concerned with material, mutable and destructible world. A person is a metaphysical
combination of body and soul and that human action is of the soul using a body. Soul has spiritual, appetitive and
rational bases in producing the virtuous human actions.
Basic virtues:
• a. Wisdom – product of reasons, the supreme of all virtues
• b. Courage – arises from spiritual soul
• c. Temperance – drawn from appetitive soul in moderation
• d. Justice – results from the observance of duty and righteousness

ARISTOTLE
• A student of Plato everything stimulates human actions and emotions of fear, anger, pain, happiness etc.
• Ethics is a function of planning a purpose and acting based on critical thinking and reasoning.
Emphasis is laid on moral and intellectual virtues

Virtue is a habit (moral virtue) or trained faculty (intellectual virtue)

a. Intellectual virtue – developed through education both formal and informal. this is acquired by teaching
and requires foresight and sophisticated intelligence such as philosophical wisdom. Therefore it is not constant, it
is a choice and is developed by nature and people.
b. Moral virtues – caused by the demand of nature and arises from habit or ethos in responding to these
demands. Goodness of character is formed by habit. One becomes good by doing good. Repeated acts of
justice and self-control result in a just, self controlled person who not only performs just and self-
controlled actions, but does so from a fixed character.
- Knowledge comes from the senses (EMPIRICISM)
- The goal of human life is happiness and to attain this is moderation or the avoidance of extremes.
ETHICS
• From greek word ethicos referring to ethos indicating the custom or character of an individual in the
group.
• A philosophical science of the morality of human conducts or acts within the realm of acceptability of or
rejection from the established social norm and culture
• Described as a critical reflection on various life situations
• It is an inquiry into some standard to guide one’s action
• A tool to understand a given condition
• Ethics is philosophical because it emerges from our basic desire to make sense o f the complexities of
human condition
• Ethics is a philosophical reflection on the realities of life for a fuller and more meaningful lfie experiences
• Seeks to impart the need to be reflective, discerning, decisive in circumstances when existing rules or
standards can no longer help individuals act adequately in their daily struggles
• Points the diginity of the human person comes from their ability to responds to situations which can help
them see better who they are, what they can do, and who they can be.
• Makes Life worth living and meaningful

Morality and Ethics Distinguished:

• Morality – rules or standards that precede actions (commandments, rules, or traditions commonly
considered as authoritative or unchangeable) sole determinants of what ought to be ; conformity and
obedience
• Ethics – proceeds from understanding and inquiry, attempts to confront, as a starting point, the situation
at hand witout making any premature judgment that might obscure the main issue in question

MAJOR AREAS OF ETHICS

• 1. Metaethics – examines the question of whether or not ethics is possible, study that deals with the
question of whether or not ethics or ethical theory exists; does not focus on ethical quality or specific
case but taking the rightness or wrongness; hence examines the validity of the standards that make such
judgment of right or wrong possible
• 2. Normative Ethics – identifies what theory is applicable in the light of a given situation; supplies the
question that fuel critical examinations. Studies ethical actions and questions standards of what is morally
good or bad.
• 3. Ethics of Religion – System of beliefs and practices. No morality can exist without religion.

IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS

1. The Existence of God or a Supreme Being

2. The Existence of Human Freedom
3. The Existence of an Afterlife

References:
• Buenaflor, Roberto C. Outcome Based Learning Manual on the Introduction to PHILOSOPHY and the
Verbal and Non-Verbal Logic. Great Books Trading 2016.
• Go-Monilla, Peter R. et al. Ethics: A Modular Approach. C & E Publishing 2019
• Quito, Emerita S. Fundamentals of Ethics. C & E Publishing 2008