LA PATRIA COLLEGE

Santiago City

Instructional Module in GEC 007

ETHICS

TOPIC/S CHAPTER 1: THE MORAL AGENT

A. Orientation of the Course
⚫Rules and its importance
⚫Why Do We have Rules?
⚫The Subject: Ethics
⚫Branches of Ethics
⚫Why Study Ethics?

WEEK 1.
Time Allotment: 2 Hours Consultation Time:
9:30-10:30 MWF (BSA/BSBA-MM/BSHM)
11:30-12:30 MWF (BSCRIM/BSIT)
2:30 -3:30 MWF (BSEE/BSED)
OBJECTIVES/ LEARNING OUTCOME:
By the end of this module, the students shall be able to recall all the rules they have to
follow and explain judiciously.

LEARNING CONTENT:

Orientation of the Course

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will facilitate understanding of the importance of rules in our community.
We need rules to help us get along together and show respect to each other. All rules and
laws have the same purpose. They organized the relations between individuals and the society
to make it clear what is right and wrong and what happens if someone breaks the rules. They
are designed to ensure fairness, safety and respect for others.

DISCUSSION

RULES AND ITS IMPORTANCE

RULES- define ways of thinking about oneself and the world. Rules are guidelines for
actions and for the evaluation of actions in terms of good and bad, or right and wrong. Rules
refer to set of guidelines which have been put in place in different countries and communities
and have been accepted by all. Rules are specific sets of norms of behavior regulations, and
laws established on purpose to regulate the life in the community. The set of rules are
available nowadays have undergone a long formation process. There were many variations
and transformations applied. Due to that, nowadays we have a well-established social,
governmental and educational mechanisms that work as a clock accurately, simultaneously
and in an organized way. Rules are useful tools in guiding and monitoring the interactions of
humans in the society. A rule is prescribed guide for conduct or action. Rules help guide
actions toward desired results. Ethics is concerned with other people’s interests, with the
interests of society, with God's interests, with “ultimate goods", and so on. So when a person
‘thinks ethically’ they are giving at least some thought to something beyond themselves.

Importance of Rules

Rules are important because they tend to protect the weaker class in the society as
they might be in a disadvantageous position if rules are broken. When rules are used in the
right way. Rules tend to protect human rights and freedom especially the “ weaker members”
in the society as they might be exploited if no rules to shield them.

The following are concrete importance of rules:

1. Rules organize relations between individuals;
2. Rules make it clear what is right to do/follow in a society and what are wrong to
refrain them;
3. Rules provide opportunity to achieve personal and societal goals;
4. Rules regulate various social institutions to fulfill their integral roles for the common
welfare
Rules provide a stable environment and human co-existence in a society which leads
to peace and development. The process of setting rules aims to craft rules in line with some
desired results. For example, rules in schools and other institutions promote trust, fairness
and disciple in a bid to established desirable relationship among students and people.
 Rules are vital in one’s life because peace and order are maintained, an important
ingredient for society’s development. As a way of maintaining these rules, many societies
have adopted and changed them into law. These assure that no rules will be broken. If one
violates the rule, a corresponding punishment is imposed. Most of us are basically honest,
and knowing the rules means that we usually try to follow them. One reason we do is to avoid
punishment, but the strongest argument for following the rules is to make the world peaceful
and fair.

THE SUBJECT: ETHICS

ETHICS-etymologically comes from the Greek word “ethos”. It means custom, usage,
character, disposition, habit. The Latin equivalent of ethos is mores which in turn is the
etymological word of “moral”, “morality”, “morals”. Many people tried to make distinctions on
the words ethics and morality. It may be defined in a provisional way, as scientific study of
moral judgements. It is concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong. The
term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles. Ethics consists of
the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include the nature
of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.
At the 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.
According to Bulaong, et al. (2017), the word morals may be used to refer to specific
beliefs or attitudes that people have to describe acts that people perform. An Individual’s
conduct is referred to as his morals, and if he falls short behaving properly, it is immoral.
Example: When a man returned a lost wallet to the owner, his action is considered
moral. But when a man kept the lost wallet and has no intention to return
it to the owner, his action is considered as immoral.
On the other hand, Ethics can be spoken of as the discipline of studying and
understanding the ideal of human behavior and ideal ways of thinking. It could be acceptable
or unacceptable behavior or describe as ethical or unethical. This term is mostly used on ways
of behaving in a given field, this is popularly known as “professional ethics” (Bulaong, et al,
2017).
Example: A policeman arresting a man bribing him, the action is considered as ethical.
But if the policeman accepts the bribe and sets the man free, his action is
considered as unethical.
The distinction between ethics and morals could clarify different dimensions of our
lives. According to Reyes (2009), “ethics and morals are ordinarily used as equivalent terms
in Western language that refers to traditional manners, customs, habits, systems of values or
character of the community.”

BRANCHES OF ETHICS

One way to try and define morality is through ethics, the philosophical study of morality.
In the field of ethics, morality is often defined in two ways.
1. NORMATIVE- in which actions are judged by their merits, allowing societies to develop
codes of conduct for behavior. Your actions to another person align with how you want to be
treated, they are moral. It defines how people should act. It defines what is right and wrong.
Example: THE GOLDEN RULE: Do not do unto others as you would have them do unto
you.
2. DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS- asks what do people think is moral? This branch of ethics does
not actually claim that things are right or wrong, but simply studies how individuals or
societies define their morals. What make something right or wrong in a specific culture? It
defines morals in terms of their cultural or personal significance.

Why Study Ethics?

The study of ethics will enable a person to understand better what his conscience is, how
he acquired it, how far he is likely to be able to trust to its deliverances with safety, and how
he can improve it and make it more intelligent. He will gain a clearer insight into his claims
upon society, and the duties that he owes to society. He will learn to discriminate between
the respects in which all individuals are mutually interdependent and those in which each is
responsible for his own life, and ought to insist upon freedom of initiative.

SUMMARY
In conclusion, rules provide a sense of predictability and consistency for people,
thereby promoting physical, moral, social, and emotional. At the heart of ethics is a concern
about something or someone other than ourselves and other than ourselves and our own
desires and self-interest. Ethics is concerned with other people’s interest of society, with God’s
interests, with “ultimate goods”, So when people a person ‘thinks ethically’ they are giving at
least some thought to something beyond themselves.
REFERENCES:

1. Lejano, R., & Gubia-On, A. (2018). Ethics for College Students. Manila, Philippines:
Mindshapers Co.,
2. Agdalpen R. (2019). Ethics: Ako at ang Kagandahang Asal Bilang Isang Filipino.
Manila, Philippines: Mindshapers Co.,

LEARNING TASK /ACTIVITY

Week 1 ( August 31- September 7, 2021)

Name: __________________ Program and Year: ______________________

GENERAL GUIDELINES:
1. You may write your answers on a clean sheet of bond paper or encode it thru
MS WORD with your name, course, and year level, week number, and course
description.; use black pen in writing your answer or encode your answers on Microsoft
Word and convert it to PDF Format.

Example: FERNANDEZ, SIMON D. BSCRIM 1-GEC OO7-WEEK 1

2. After writing or encoding your answer, use CamScanner application on your smartphone
to capture image/s of your answer sheet/s.
3. Send your answers to MICROSOFT TEAMS GEC 001 “Assignments Tab”.
4. Your answer sheet should be sent in PDF form and name your file with this format:
Surname-Course Number-Week Number- Quiz Number/ Activity Number (all in capitalized
letter).
Example: FERNANDEZ, SIMON D. - GEC OO7 WEEK 1 LEARNING ACTIVITY
5.Deadline of Learning Task 1. September 7, 2021 until 5:00 pm

Learning Task 1. Compose a 400-word ‘reflection paper’ focusing on your role in your family,
community and society. How these roles help you forge a unique image and identity?
(20 points)

SCORING RUBRIC FOR REFECTION PAPER 1

Score
10 points The reflection provides the ‘big picture’
of the student’s experiences and makes
connection to future plans.
5 points The reflection reveals insight into
personal goals and
levels of learning and presents a
thorough self-reflective analysis.
5 points Uses articulate and appropriate
language, sophisticated word choice,
and sentence structure.

Prepared by:

JOJIELYN SALUDES-NAVARRO, MAEd

Instructor

Reviewed/ Approved:

LILY MAE M. KIMAYONG, MBA MICHAEL D. ALMAZAN, LPT, MBM

Program Head, Hospitality Management Program Head, Business Administration

AIZA P. RUMAUAC, CPA ANGELO K. LAHINA, LPT, MAT

Program Head, Accountancy Program Head, Teacher Education

JEAN RUSSEL B. PAULMITAN, RCrim, MSCJ ABRAHAM G. UCOL

Program Head, Criminology Program Head, Industrial Technology

JADE B. BUISEL, REE, RME

Program Head, Engineering, and Computer Studies