PHILOSOPHY 200: ETHICS

RATIONALE:

Ethics, in general, is about matters such as the good things that we need to
pursue and the bad things that we need to avoid. It is about what is acceptable and
unacceptable in our human behavior. This will involve our obligation that we need to fulfill,
prohibition that we are required to respect and ideas that we are encourage to meet.
Ethics as a subject provides us grounds or values with value the significance of human
life.

Ethics: Its meaning, Nature and scope

Etymological meaning of Ethics

Ethics and morality are two words which are oftentimes used interchangeably, not
just in ordinary discourse and in popular media but also in academic discussions and fora.
But are these two terms exactly the same, or, is there a shade of difference between
them?
Etymologically, the word “ethics” comes from the Greek word “ethos” which can be
roughly translated in English as custom or a particular way and manner of acting and
behaving. Thus, custom would also mean here as a from of behavior or character. The
Latin equivalent for custom is “mos” or “mores”. It is from this root word that the term
“moral” or “morality” is derived. The two terms, ethics and morality, in this sense,
therefore, have literally the same meaning. That is why ethics is usually taken as
synonymous with morality. Also because of this, ethics is also called morality, or more
precisely the other name of ethics is morality.
Thus, in many instances, we often heard the people say: What he/she did is moral
or ethical; His/her conduct shows a lack of ethics/morals.

Ethics and Morality distinguished

Though Ethics and morality, by virtue of their etymological con struction, and how
they are used in peoples’ daily conversations, shares practically the same meaning, there
is, still, a slight distinction between them.
 Generally, both ethics and morality deal with the goodness or badness, rightness
or wrongness of the human act. “But in ethics, we specifically, study morality. Morality
gives Ethics a particular perspective of what to study about –that is morality provides with
a quality that determines and distinguishes right conduct from wrong conduct.

Ethics: a philosophy of action

While ethics arms the person with a theoretical knowledge of the morality of the
human acts, so he/she may know what to do as well as how to do it, there is a whole
world of difference between doing and knowing, knowledge and action.
Knowledge, however, as anybody can readily attest in everyday experience, is not
always performed. It does not automatically happen that, as a person knows, then he/she
does. It does not necessarily follow that knowledge leads to practical action. This would
only mean that ethics, or the learning of it, does not actually guarantee morality on the
part of the person’s concrete and practical conduct and behavior. It has been said that
the farthest travel for a person to cross is the distance between the head and the heart.
While ethics provides certain principles and guidelines as to what is good and bad,
right and wrong, in human conduct, it is morality which actualizes the theory. So we can
put it this way, that ethics “is the word while morality is the flesh.” Morality is the praxis
(application) of the Ethics (theory). Thus, we can say that both of them ---Ethics and
morality --- truly need and compliment each other.

Ethics: A practical discipline

It may happen that some of those involve in the teaching of ethics may regard it
as a purely academic endeavor. There is always the temptation, a least for some
teachers, to just present the ethical theories and concepts as if they are the end-all and
be all of the subject.
There maybe also others, whose manner of instilling ethics and morality to
students is through fear and intimidation, even though it has been long proven that it just
doesn’t work. Today’s young generation are practically brought up to question and
challenge almost everything, particularly on how one ought to behave morally.
It is a major tragedy, we dare say, to confine ethics to a purely intellectual exercise,
just like mathematics or any other theoretical and abstract disciplines. Ethical theories
and principles may, if taught correctly and truthfully, uplift the students mentally, but may
not transform them concretely into better persons in the truest sense of the term.
Ethics, should be taken not just academic study, but as a way of life. Ethics should
be shown as a discipline which as an intimate connection with the daily lives of man . The
teaching must be something more than just presentation of exacting moral theories. There
should be a proper interaction between knowledge and practice. Knowledge serves
practice for each truth learned is a new reason for a better life.
Knowing what is right without actually changing the way we behave morally in
nothing but useless knowledge. One must be so convicted of the correctness of one’s
thinking that it leads to a real and concrete transformation in one’s daily attitude and
behavior.
While ethics is a subject that can be approached academically, the learner may be
tempted to study it simply for the sake of obtaining a high grade. One may become so
adept at the various theories and principles concerning the morality without one mastery
of ethical principles concerning morality without one becoming very moral. One may have
thorough grasp and mastery of different ethical principles, yet still at a loss as to their
relevance and value to the living of the good life.

The importance of studying ethics

Ethics is an are of knowledge which is indispensable in the living of a life which is

truly human. It can be said that without moral perception man is only an animal. Without
morality man as a rational being is a failure.
The living of the good life has always been one of mankind’s most noble and
enduring pursuits since time immemorial. The question of what kind of life a person ought
to live as a free and rational being, has pre occupied some of the greatest minds in history.
The idea of right and wrong, though viewed and applied differently at different
times by different groups of people all throughout the ages, has been a major and
dominant theme of the various religions, cultures, and societies in the entire history of
human civilization. Every era, regardless whether it is aware or not has its own ethos that
defines its character and soul. For ethics serves as the very foundation of every human
society.
Without the sense of morality, good or bad, right and wrong, people and society in
general would naturally and expectedly deteriorate. When the moral foundation of a
nation is shaken, and the brink of collapse, society itself, as its very core, is also
threatened so as its very existence.
 Since ethics, as a practical science, is the stu dy of the choices people make
regarding right and wrong, good and bad, studying ethics is of prime importance. Any
choices and decisions that we make in our individual and collective lives affects also the
kind of life we live. We become good or bad person through the choices we make.
Another reason why there is a need to study ethics is the fact that making moral
decisions is oftentimes difficult. This is very true when we are confronted with moral
dilemmas. Here we need to pause and study to what particular course of action to take.
Studying ethics can provide us with certain paradigms that will guide us in determining
that is right and what is wrong under such conditions.
Studying ethics will also enables us to reason out our moral beliefs and why we
hold them. It is not enough to have certain beliefs. We also have to know the reason why
we accept them in the first place. Our moral reasons must be backed by good and sound
arguments. Ethics will enable us to critically examine the ground and foundation of our
moral beliefs and claims, whether they are valid or not.
Still another important reason of studying ethics is that it will aid us to widen our
horizon as to what is good and bad. An appreciation of the complexity of ethics is valuable
in counteracting our natural tendency toward inflexibility and tribalism where we
stubbornly adhere to the values of our specific peer group.
Ethics can also deepen our reflection on the ultimate questions of life. The meaning
of life and what it means to be truly human? Question on what kind of life is worth living?
As Socrates puts it “An unexamined life is not worth living”.

The difference between Ethics and law

Ethical rules are necessary even if we have the laws that are implemented by civil
authorities (local to national level). This is because legality is not identical with morality.
We can be good in terms of what the law requires but may still fall short of becoming
moral or Ethical. In other times, what is moral is not always legal. For example, to adopt
a child is a moral action but it can become illegal if no necessary papers are present. In
particular, It is legal that a school can prescribe uniform, hair color or haircut but is it
moral? (some students would give reason that hair cut or color has nothing to do with
their learnings).

Let us also be reminded that our laws are usually the product of a collective
agreement, a kind of social contract where people come together and decide among
themselves what is good and what is bad. More than often laws are decided by majority
vote. Morality is not all about how many people say that something is good or bad “what
is right is right even if nobody is doing it and what is wrong is wrong even if everybody is
doing it.”
We still need ethics even we have laws because ethics is the foundation of our
laws. Laws are not sensible without ethics. In short morality precedes legality.

Distinction between Ethics and Religion

Another important distinction that has to be made regarding ethics as a normative
discipline is its intimate relation with that of religion or theology. Religion and morality are
both concerned with right and wrong but they are not synonymous.
Ethics as a philosophical discipline solely relies on natural reason, logic and
experience specially in the justification and validation of certain theories concerning good
or bad. While religion, relies primarily on supernatural reason, that is divine revelation or
divine authority.
The practice of morality need not be motivated by religious consideration and
moral principles need not be ground in revelation. Other authors believe that ethics does
not necessarily require a religious grounding.

Ethics: A definition
Ethics is a branch of Philosophy that deals with the rightness and wrongness of
our action. As a branch of Philosophy Ethics is also known as Moral Philosophy. As a
philosophical discipline, ethics deals with ultimate principles and truth concerning the
morality of human conduct through the use of human reason and experience alone,
without the aid of supernatural reason or divine revelation.

The Material object and Formal object of Ethics

The Material object of Ethics is the Human conduct or action. And its formal object
is the morality of Human action. Thus, ethics differs from other fields of discipline such as
Psychology, Anthropology Sociology and the like. These sciences deal on how human
behave while Ethics studies how one ought to behave. It tries to assess and determine
whether the actions are moral and worth doing, or immoral, and have to be avoided.

Kinds of valuation and types of Norms

One important element by which human conduct is determined and assessed in

terms of its morality is in reference to a norm. A norm is a is understood as rule, standard,
or measure. According to Richard Gula, norm is “the criteria of judgement about the sorts
of person we ought to be and the sorts of actions we ought to perform”.(cited in Agapay
2008:77). Thus, by Norm of morality, we mean the standard of right and wrong in human
actions. It is “the standard that indicates the rightfulness or wrongfulness, the value or
disvalue of human action” (Agapay 1991:53)

According to Ramon Reyes (1989), there are four types of norms within the ethos or
mores of a community.

a. Technical norm- refers to the man’s needs which comes from bodily space-
time limitations. This norm has to do with survival, health and well-being. For
example, there are right way of preparing the field for planting rice, the correct
way of cooking rice, etc. This kind of norm is also evident in these following
statements, “that is not the proper way of washing dishes” or there is a proper
way of doing handwashing etc.

b. Societal Norm- Tis type of Norm has something to do with the need for group
acceptance and for strengthening the bonds of family or community. For
example, certain manners or attire, rituals, ways of speaking, certain ways what
the community deemed as proper and fitting. Some specific examples are,
“knock before you enter”, “do not talk when your mouth is full” etc. These and
other similar examples belong to the category of etiquette o what is known as
GMRC. (Bulaong Jr. et.al 2018:2)

c. Aesthetic Norm- This refers to typical perceptual forms regarding color, shape,
space, movement et. This norm is more dependent on person. For example,
“the best color is blue,” Batman is better than Superman”, “my teacher’s
manner of speaking is disgusting”, etc.

d. Ethical or Moral Norms- refers to some ideal vison of human person an ideal
stage of perfection of his/her being which serves as the ultimate goal or norm.
In relation to this kind of norm, human action, are to be judged as right or wrong,
good or bad. Because of this ideal vision, a community has what s something
called the “non-negotiable”, those things which the community cherishes and
considers of ultimate worth and which give ultimate sense and direction to
human existence. For example, be honest, be kind, etc.

The discussion above, shows us that it is important to be able to identify and differentiate
the various types of norms from one another. By knowing this, we can pin point to as what
particular kind of valuation we are making in the given context. So that, we would be able
to render critical assessment of certain moral issues and actions we encounter. For
example, the matter of wearing clothes, Is this a question of taste? Or are there really
certain manner of wearing them. Is the manner our president talk is showing his bad
manners or cultural thing (ing ana manulti ang mga Bisaya) does his verbal behavior
deserves moral outrage? One problem is how to make distinction what problem belong
to the domains of Ethics and what is not.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PRINCIPLES

A Central feature of morality is the moral principle. We have already noted that
moral principles are practical guides to action that differ from legal statutes, rules of
etiquette, and even religious rules. We must say a word about the features of moral
principles. Although there is no universal agreement on which traits a moral principle must
process, the following traits have received widespread attention: (1) prescriptivity, (2)
universalizability, (3) overridingness, (4) publicity, (5) practicability.

Prescriptivity

Prescriptivity refers to the practical or action -guiding nature of morality. Moral principles
are generally put forth as injunction or imperatives (for example, ‘Do not kill,’ ‘Do no
unnecessary harm,’ and ‘Love your neighbor’). They are intended for use, to advise and
to influence to action. Prescriptivity shares this trait with all normative discourse.
Retroactively, this feature is used to appraise behavior, to assign praise and blame, and
to produce feelings of satisfaction of guilt.

Universalizability

Moral principles must apply to all who are in the relevantly similar situation. If one judges
that act X is right for a certain person P, then it is right for anyone relevantly similar to P.
This trait is exemplified in the Gold Rule, “Do unto others what you would them do unto
you (if you were in their shoes)” and in the formal Principle of Justice, “It cannot be right
for A to treat B in a manner in which it would be wrong for B to treat A, merely on the
ground that they are two different individuals, and without there being any
difference between the natures or circumstances of the two which can be stated as a
reasonable ground for difference of treatment.” Universalizability applies to all evaluative
judgments. If I say that X is a good Y, then I am logically committed to judge that anything
relevantly similar to X is a good Y. This feature is an extension of the principle of
consistency: One ought to be consistent about one’s value judgements, including one’s
moral judgements.

Overridingness
Moral principles have hegemonic authority. They are not the only principles, but they take
precedence over other considerations, including aesthetic, prudential, and legal ones.
Paul Gauguin may have been aesthetically justified in abandoning his family in order to
devote his life to painting beautiful Pacific island pictures, but morally, or all things
considered, he probably was not justified. It may be prudent to lie to save my reputation,
but it probably is morally wrong to do so, in which case I should tell the truth. When the
law becomes egregiously immoral, it may be my moral duty to exercise civil disobedience.
There is a general moral duty to obey the law, because the law serves an overall moral
purpose, and this overall purpose may give us moral reason to obey laws that may not
be moral or ideal; however, there may come a time when the injustice of a bad law is
intolerable and hence calls for illegal but moral defiance (such as the antebellum laws in
the South requiring citizens to return slaves to their owners). Religion is a special case,
and the religious person may be morally justified in following a perceived command from
God to break a normal moral life. The Quakers’ pacifist religious beliefs may cause them
to renege on an obligation to fight for their country. Religious morality is morality, and
ethics recognizes its legitimacy.

Publicity

Moral principles must be made public in order to ply an action -guiding role in our lives.
Because we use principles to prescribe behavior, to give advice, and to assign praise and
blame, it would be self-defeating to keep them a secret. Occasionally, a utilitarian will
argue that it would be better if some people did not know or try to follow the correct
principles, but even they would have a higher-order principle – or some reason for this
exception – subsuming this special case.

Practicability

A moral system must be workable; its rules must not lay a heavy burden on agents. The
philosopher John Rawls speaks of the “strains of commitment” that overly idealistic
principles may cause in average moral agents. It might be desirable to have a morality
enjoining more altruism, but the result of such principles could be moral despair, too much
guilt, and ineffective action. Practicability may be the cause of the differences between
ethical standards over time and place. For instance, there is discrepancy in the Bible
between Old Testament ethics and New Testament ethics on such topics as divorce and
the treatment of one’s enemy. Jesus explained the difference in the first case by saying
that it was because of society’s hardness of heart that god permitted divorce in pre-
Christian times. In the second case he pointed toward a time when it would be a valid
principle that people would love their enemies and pray for those who despitefully use
them, and he enjoined his disciples to begin living this ideal morality. Most ethical stems
take human limitations into consideration.

As said at the outset, these traits are generally held by moral philosophers as
necessary to valid moral principles, but here is disagreement over them, and a full
discussion would lead to a great deal of qualification. These traits should give you an idea
of the general features of moral principles.