MODULE 6: KANTIAN ETHICS duty which is the right way to act only

when that duty is towards your own

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) a German internal moral law that you have figured
thinker, wrote two major books entitled out by applying careful thinking and logic.
“The Foundation of Metaphysical of
Morals, and “The Critique of Practical What is an Inclination?
Reason, in which he argued that
Categorical Imperative (CI) is considered - Inclination refers to how an agents
the fundamental principle that underlies thinking and actions are driven by his
moral reasoning. desire.

good action, Kant says, is one where you Categorical Imperative

do it with the intention of doing a good
thing, which he calls it goodwill. An imperative is a command of reason
which can be classified as hypothetical
What is Good Will? and categorical.

- Kant went on to say that possessing Hypothetical Imperative is something of

goodwill is one thing, but the reason to do a command that is designed to attain
a "good" action or "ought to", is the result specific goals.
of a sense of obligation.
- A person of good will is one who acts Ex.
from a sense of duty at all times even in 1) If you want to stay healthy, eat
the face of difficulty. healthy foods, and exercise regularly.
- Kant does not agree with many ethicists 2) If you don't want to go to jail, obey all
that happiness is the highest good laws.
“summum bonum”
hypothetical imperative if it "justifies
Duty and action as a means of achieving
something else that one will”.
For Kant, “duty” is something that is Hypothetical Imperative simply means an
different from what we usually think it action based on desires.
means. He further reiterates that it is
not doing something because it’s your
duty to follow certain external rules or
orders, but it is by doing something from
The categorical imperative is a principle Legal rights
that every rational person must accept, denote all the rights found within
which he also believed and called the existing legal codes. As such, they enjoy
supreme principle of morality. the recognition and protection of the law.
Questions as to their existence can be
1.) “Thou shalt not steal,” resolved by just locating the pertinent
2.) “You shouldn't kill,” legal instrument or piece of legislation.

Universality: Human rights

meant to apply to all human beings
If we think that something is right, we universally, regardless of whether or not
think that everyone should do it (at least they have attained legal recognition by all
if they are in a similar situation, although countries everywhere.
he thought there were principles that
were valid independent of the situation). MODULE 7:UTILITARIANISM

Maxims: Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a consequential theory,
Maxims are rules that guide our actions. which is a subclass of teleological moral
For instance, I can have as a rule “Never theory. A teleological ethical system, as
lie to your friends” or “Always respect we discussed in the previous lessons
your parents” or “Always look out for labels an act to be right or wrong based
yourself first” or “Never break a on the goal or purpose of the act.
promise.”
Rule-Utilitarianism
What is Kant's Rights Theory? the utility to decide whether rules are
valid or not. The consequences of the
In law, Immanuel Kant proposes the implementation of such rules are what is
principle of rights. He said that the measured to say if the following of a rule
government must approach the making of gives the most benefit. Criticisms against
enforcement of laws with the right this view make it possible to implement
intentions in respect to the end goals of unjust rules according to the principle of
the society that it governs. Rule-Utilitarianianism.
 he argues that while a happy life is a life
of pleasure, such pleasure is not limited
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) to only sensual pleasure.
He points out that there are actually
According to Bentham, the principle of lower pleasures such as physical pleasure
utility states that an action is right if it which animals can also experience. This
produces the greatest happiness for the kind of pleasure includes those from
greatest number of beneficiaries. eating food etc.

● For him, nothing is intrinsically higher pleasures, Mill explains these are
good, but pleasure. In its simplest pleasure that only human beings can
terms, act utilitarianism focuses experience, such as the pleasures of
on the effect of individual actions. appreciating good music, seeing works of
arts, and even solving a mathematical
Quantitative Utilitarian Calculation problem.
1. Intensity
2. Duration Secondary Principles
3. Certainty moral agents knowledge and tendencies of
4. Remoteness actions when there has no better
5. Fruitfulness information available. the consequences
6. Purity that are manifested in the past
7. Extent experiences that make them true or valid.
Utilitarianism defines the morality of an
act or decision by calculating the sum of Analyzing Utilitarianism
pleasure it caused or will cause and the
amount of pain to be inflicted. Utilitarianism appears to be attractive,
anchoring the basis of pleasure and pain.
John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism teaches us that there are
allowances for actions that may be
proposed that the "greatest happiness justified by the consequences. However,
principle" that says- the greatest we should also keep in mind that it is not
happiness of the greatest number is the easy to predict, and make sure of the
measure of right or wrong. consequences.

Higher and Lower Pleasures

MODULE 8: RAWL’S JUSTICE AS 1. wealth and income
FAIRNESS 2. opportunities for advancement
3. rights and liberties
What is "Justice as Fairness"? 4. self-respect
Rawls proposed a conception of justice
which he calls it “justice as fairness”. Distributive Justice
Rawls argued that the reconciliation of
liberty and equality which is shaped his the nature of a socially just allocation of
two principles of justice. goods and services in a society. Rawls
posits that if incidental inequalities in
Liberty principle outcomes do not arise, that is when the
social justice principle that explains equal principle of Distributive justice comes in.
basic liberties — each citizen has a right
to the most extensive system of equal 1. Equity - this explains the member’s
basic personal and political liberties outcomes will be based on their inputs.
compatible with a similar system of This means that if you invested a large
liberties for others. amount of input, that is time, money, and
energy, you will also receive more than
Difference Principle the group that has contributed very
the so-called social contract should little.
guarantee that everyone has an equal 2. Equality - means that regardless of
opportunity to prosper. In other words, if your inputs, all groups should be given an
there are any social or economic equal share of the reward.
differences in the social contract, others 3. Power - refers to those with more
should help those who are the worst off. authority, status should receive more
than those who belong to the lower rank.
The Thought Experiment Principle 4. Need - those in greatest needs should
The "thought experiment" also known as be provided with the resources needed in
the "veil of ignorance" is a component of order to meet those needs.
the "social contract" theory which allows 5. Responsibility - purports that members
agents to test ideas of fairness. of the group who have the most must
share their resources with those who
a veil of ignorance that keeps us from have less.
knowing who we are and identifying with
our personal circumstances.
1. Egalitarian. This is a set of closely Module 9 - Globalization and Pluralism:
related socio-economic-political theories New Challenges to Ethics
that without exemption, proposes that all
members in a society ought to have an PLURALISM
equal amount of resources generally refers to the theory that there
is more than one basic substance or
2. Capitalist/ Laissez-faire capitalist principle, whether it be the constitution
view explains that when people, of the universe, of the mind and body,
businesses, and corporations perform the sources of truth, or the basis of
based on their individuals’ interest for morality. On the other hand, moral
their own benefit. pluralism or otherwise known as ‘ethical
or value pluralism,’ refers to the idea that
3. Socialist - is a system where the there can be conflicting moral views that
government controls the production of are each worthy of respect.
goods and services. A better version of
this is democratic socialism also called The first to popularize this
“welfare democracy” which means that objective-value-pluralism is Isaiah Berlin
the system incorporates free-market (1909-1997), a Russian-British social and
principles in producing goods and services. political theorist, philosopher and
historian.
State and Citizens Responsibility
Although the idea of conflict in certain
Taxation is a means by which states and basic values were prominent in the
governments finance their expenditures thought of German philosopher and
basically for their constituents, thereby sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920).
imposing charges on them. Government
expenditures fundamentally involve social “there is only one right answer” as moral
welfare programs for its citizens. absolutism would say,

Inclusive growth - is an economic growth “there is no wrong answer” as would be

that creates opportunities for all the claim in moral relativism.
segments of societies and distributes the
dividends of increased prosperity both in Charm of pluralism is in the acceptance of
monetary and non-monetary terms fairly complexity and conflict which is part of
in its society (“Inclusive growth, n.d.). our moral experience.
GLOBALIZATION 2013 poll found that Millennials were
more open-minded than their parents on
Globalization has emphasized increased controversial topics.
occurrences in trans-border or
transnational relations. In fact, it has Some authors describe Millennials’
restructured our social space or approach to social change “as pragmatic
geography from one that is mainly idealism” with deep desire to make the
territorial to one that is increasingly world a better place, combined with an
transnational. understanding that doing so requires
building new institutions while working
inside and outside existing institutions”.

Millennials
Generational cohorts are groups of people
who were born about the same time, or
during a specific time period, possess
similar characteristics and behaviors, and Millennials have been painted as the
are different from members of other age self-entitled and selfie-snapping
groups. generation. Considered as a class of
self-centered and self-absorbed
Filennials is a term used to denote the 20-somethings.
Filipino Millennials.
Millennials are seen by Baby Boomers as
seven basic traits attributed to somewhat greedy, self-absorbed, and
Millennials, namely ‘special, sheltered, wasteful. One reason for the cause of
confident, team-oriented, conventional, conflict is the difference in mentality.
pressured, and achieving’. Baby boomer’s life principle are to: attain
a good education, get a well-playing
full-time job, find a stable partner,
purchase a house and a car, and have a
child or children. And millennials who fail
in any of this, reflects on their dignity
and is perceived by boomer’s to in moral
fiber.

Secularism is basically a non-theistic

belief system, or a worldview, which does
not acknowledge supernatural or divine
views of reality. As such, it includes
atheism, agnosticism, naturalism,
materialism, scientism, Darwinism, and
other ideologies that reject all spiritual
explanations of the world.

Humanism is a system of thought which

gives emphasis to the value of human
beings and favors man’s thought over
faith or religious doctrine.

As an ethical perspective, humanism is a

belief centered on human-based morality.
By rejecting any supernatural authority,
it stands to reason that we can live
ethical and fulfilling lives by putting
human well-being interests, and happiness
at the heart of our moral decision making.