General Education Course: ETHICS
General Education Course: ETHICS
Ethics deals with principles of ethical behavior in modern society at the level of the person,
society, and in interaction with the environment and other shared resources. (CM 20 s
2013)
Morality pertains to the standards of right and wrong that an individual originally picks up
from the community. The course discusses the context and principles of ethical behavior in
modern society at the level of individual, society, and in interaction with the environment and
other shared resources. The course also teaches students to make moral decisions by using
dominant moral frameworks and by applying a seven-step moral reasoning model to analyze
and solve moral dilemmas.
General Objective
To introduce the students to the General Education Course: Ethics as one of the new curriculum
subject in the tertiary level. The course is organized according to the three (3) main elements of
the moral experience: (a) agent, including context — cultural, communal, and environmental;
(b) the act; and (c) reason or framework (for the act).
Learning Outcomes:
What are moral standards, and how do they differ from other rules of lives?
What is a moral dilemma?
Why is freedom crucial in our ability to make moral decisions?
What is the advantage of owning moral standards (morality and ethics) over merely
abiding by moral standards?
ETHICS DEFINED
ETHICS DEFINED
Because of the development of science and technology, man concept of goodness has
changed. Before, his concept of goodness is related so much to the norm of morality, rules and
regulation that needs to be followed. But when the human person began to taste a more
pleasurable life brought about by technological advancements, man concept of goodness is now
related to the physical pleasure. For this reason, the greatest issue in the modern times now
lies on the problem of morality. With the human person’s inclination to pleasure, he began
looking at the things as moral if it provides pleasure for the human person and if it presents him
from suffering pain.
For the modern people, the basis of morality does not anymore lie on the value of
judgment but rather, on the measurement of pleasure and pain. This is the reason why, in this
modern time, there arose the need to redefined Ethics. This is because the human being’s
desire for happiness has led him to do activities that are contrary to what ought to do and to be
done. Due to the rise of major dilemmas concerning life, health, and death, since the human
values were greatly affected, man present life created a situation where Ethics has to be look at
and has to be defined and re-echoed at every individual.
The human person has always been the basis of the existence of the word. It is only
through human person that everything will come to perfection in one’s individual existence.
Man’s capacity to think has brought him to inquire about the good life and the means to attain
such life in order to fulfill the meaning of his existence. It is for this reason that man must focus
on ethics as the ground for good and beautiful life. But in order to do this, it is necessary first to
provide a definition of ethics.
Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, which means customs, usage, or character.
Generally speaking, it is the traditional manners, customs, habits, character or attitude of a
community or a group, which pertains to the group’s standards or norms. In other words, ethics
is a set of rules of human behavior, which has been influenced by the standards set by the
society or by himself in relation to his society (Reyes 1989,1). Ethics is more clearly defined as
The Bible states that man is by nature good. This is because he is created as an imago
Dei, an image of God. Because God is considered as the Summum Bonum or the Highest Good,
man is also naturally good( cf. Genesis 1, 26-27). In this case, it is the nature of the human
person to incline himself towards the good. The human person naturally finds beauty in doing
good deeds. He will eventually obtain meaning in his existence if he will be in constant search
of goodness. However, since the human person is endowed with a faculty of reason, which is
sometimes inclined towards his passion, there is always the possibility that he may choose to
turn away from goodness. Man will always have the tendency to cling instead to the goods of
this earth even if it will mean the loss of his supreme end and purpose. When this happens,
man will lead himself to perform morally evil acts.
Man’s inclination towards the earthly goods will oftentimes lead him to envy and despair.
For this reason, man needs to study ethics to be guided so that he may be able to fully
understand what real happiness is. Through, ethics, the human person will be able to
Ethics particularly concerned with the study of man and the human conduct. In this
sense, it is very much related to the disciplines that deal with the study of human nature and
human living. These disciplines include the following:
1. Ethic and logic. Ethics is understood as the science of right living. Consequently, Logic
is defined as the science and art which helps the human mind to distinguish between
the correct from the incorrect arguments (Buenaflor2014, 21). In other words, Logic
deals with the method of acquiring right thinking. For the reason, Ethics and Logic are
Ethics focuses its concern on determining what good is and finding ways on how to
know whether one’s action is leading to his goodness or not. But in order to know what the
good is, one has to have a principle that will set as the basis for the determining the morality of
one’s act. The modern philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) held that there are three
moral bases that will help one uphold an ethical principle : Human freedom, immortality of the
soul and the existence of God. Philosopher had indeed been questioning as to whether there is
really human freedom. No one can really prove whether the soul is really immortal and whether
there is really God. Indeed, one can say that there is freedom because man is capable of
deliberation as to whether to do or not a particular ac and his doing the action suggest that it
was his personal choice. This could not be done unless one is free. However, others would say
that there is no freedom because man’s action is determined by socio-cultural factors, such as
religion, customs, education and family upbringing (Timbreza 1993, 6,). One’s decision,
From the aforementioned ethical bases, it can be said that a human person needs to do
what is ethical in order to obtain freedom and in order to prepare himself for an immortal life
with God. In this regard, the human person must be able to determine what is the right thing to
do as this will also determine what kind of person he will be. However, determining what one
wants to do can be contradictory to what is the right thing to do and the right thing to do may
not be the practical thing to do. Because of this determining what the proper thing to do
becomes difficult. One would become moral and yet impractical while the others are becoming
practical while doing what others would consider immoral. For this reason, it becomes quite
difficult to determine the morality of one’s action. It becomes difficult for a person to know
whether he is acting morally or not. This is the reason why there is a need to have a guide to
moral action so that it will becomes easier for him to decide in certain situations. There is a
need to have an ethical principle that will make deciding a lot easier. In order to develop one’s
character, there is a need to become ethical.
Course:_________________________________________ Date:_____________________
Module 1
Ethics Defined
Direction: Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if the statement is incorrect.
Write your answer on the space provided before each number.
1. It is the human person who gives meaning in all the things that are
existing in this word
5. Ethics sets the guidelines for which a human person can know if he is
still leading his life to the goal which he sets for himself.
6. A-5 year old kid was caught stealing money from the pocket of his
father. His action is considered as a human act.
10. In order to become a moral person, there is a need for one to develop
his own character.
Name:_________________________________________
Course:_________________________________________ Date:_____________________
Direction: Identify the following, Write your answer in the space provided before each
number.