PART 1: ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. define the major branches of philosophy and ethics;
2. determine the importance of philosophical inquiry; and
3. apply the principles of critical thinking.

This module discusses the branches, methods, and objectives of philosophical inquiry.
Philosophers usually conduct philosophical inquiries for various reasons. One is ascertaining reality or the
existence of things and another is knowing the causes and outcomes of good and bad behaviors.

Ethics as a Branch of Philosophy

Philosophical inquiry involves

questioning beliefs and
Philosophers also raise TRUTH? assumptions of reality and how it
questions about moral works.
behaviors such as:
It questions truth and what it
1. What is good? means to be human outside of
experience and observation.
2. How can good be
distinguished from evil? Philosophical activity is practical
because it challenges what and
3. What is the difference
how humans think and act.
between moral and
immoral? PHILOSOPHY
4. What is justice? Philosophy is the study of general and
Philosophers seek to find fundamental problems concerning
answers to these questions, matters such as existence, knowledge,
which are often the basis of values, and reason. It provides the
human behaviors. principles that develop skills for critical
METAETHICS
thinking to better understand and
They need to learn the evaluate the world.
factors that influence moral
NORMATIVE
or immoral, good or bad
behaviors, and apply this
Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, involves
knowledge to understand the
systematizing, describing, and recommending ETHICS OF RELIGION
nature of humans and
concepts of right and wrong. As such, ethics takes
society.
on the essence of philosophy which is to address
what happens once what is right is distinguished
from what is wrong.

Philosophy and ethics form a more complex relationship which

provides people with different perspectives of reasoning in order
to understand how right differs from wrong.
 1. METAETHICS

Metaethics attempts to determine the meanings of terms such as

right, good, virtue, justice, etc.

COGNITISM INTUITIONISM NATURALISM SUBJECTIVISM

Cognitivism maintains Intuitionism suggests Naturalism suggests Subjectivism holds that

that moral judgment that human knowledge that moral terms are moral judgments are
can be true or false and of what is considered complex matters and subjective and that
can be a subject of good and bad is can be established there are no objective
knowledge or cognition. immediate and self- through scientific moral truths.
evident. investigation.
Subjectivism is a form of
moral skepticism that
doubts absolute moral
truth and asserts that no
one can have absolute
knowledge of it.

2. Normative Ethics
is the study of ethical actions and questions the standards of what is
considered morally good or bad.

It is concerned with questions such as why should one be moral and

how can one tell what is right or wrong.

Consequentialism Deontological ethics Virtue ethics

In consequentialism, the moral worth Deontological ethics is the study of the Virtue ethics is the study of a person's
of an action is determined by its rightness and wrongness of the character and the virtues for
potential consequences. actions themselves regardless of their determining or evaluating ethical
consequences. Simply put, behavior.
Thus, from a consequentialist deontological ethics is the study of
perspective, an act is considered duty.
morally good if it produces a positive
outcome.
 3. Ethics of Religion

Religion is a system of beliefs and practices by which people relate

their lives to a supernatural force or being such as God.

Most religions possess an ethical code. Thus, some philosophers

regard that there can be no morality without religion as it is
necessary to live ethically.

➢ Ethics and religion are best viewed as

complementing systems.
Philosophical Method of Inquiry

➢ The aim of philosophical inquiry is to question truth, reason, reality,

knowledge, ethics, and morality.

➢ employ a methodology, which is a set of systematic procedures that guide the

inquiry.
➢ They are expected to respond to a variety of human issues.
➢ In order to address philosophical questions, a philosopher must be logical.
➢ Philosophical inquiry is guided by theories which are crucial for the prediction
and control of behavior.

LOGIC

Logic is the science and art of correct thinking. It uses methods to achieve accuracy and objectivity in explaining
what is a valid logical argument.

In logic, an argument is composed of premises and a conclusion.

Logic provides a means of analyzing basic concepts to determine if they are true or false, valid or invalid, and
consistent or inconsistent.

A premise is an A conclusion is a claim

assumption that that has been reached
something is true. through the process of
From initial premises, reasoning and is
philosophers try to justified by preceding
work out answers to premises.
basic philosophical
questions.

➢ Formulating philosophical arguments is an important part of the philosophical method.

➢ Philosophers usually offer arguments for the different claims they make.
➢ Thus, this indicates that philosophy is a quest for the most logical and valid arguments.
➢ It plays an important role in the history of philosophy. Almost all human knowledge is founded on
logical analysis.
However, logic is not enough to find answers
to philosophical questions. In order to arrive EPISTEMOLOGY
at answers to philosophical questions, it is
important to prioritize relevant facts Epistemology is the study of the theory of
surrounding the question. knowledge particularly its scope, method, and
validity.
Specific criteria are needed for selecting
the facts relevant to the issue. Applying a It deals with how knowledge relates to similar
theory helps to determine what facts notions such as truth, belief, and justification.
should be considered in an explanation Humans can only attain the truth if they are
(Archie & Archie, 2004). certain that their philosophy is based on facts or
Philosophical inquiry provides an pieces of evidence.
explanation that only leads to further
inquiry which reflects the general nature of
philosophy.
METAPHYSICS
This is in connection to the aim of ethics at
systematic knowledge. Ethics is also related to metaphysics.

People are exposed to many problems and Metaphysics is the study of the nature of things,
the challenge is to come up with critical of what is real and apparent.
and practical solutions using their own
It explores the nature of existence, identity,
thinking and reasoning from their ethical
home, space, and others.
perspective.

This means applying ethical theories to

actual life experiences supported by MORAL SKEPTICISM
personal evaluation in terms of importance
In ethics, philosophical inquiry is prompted by
and practicality.
uncertainties or conflicting opinions about duty,
Philosophers follow a process in explaining morality, and justice in certain situations.
the standards of what is considered morally
Uncertainties and conflicts are the main source of
good or bad; knowing the certainty or
moral skepticism.
uncertainty of information; and
determining or evaluating ethical behavior.

The scientific method is an empirical way of

acquiring evidence and knowledge. The 1. Statement of the Problem. This involves identifying a problem that
scientific method has diverse models but it needs a solution. People's daily experiences, moral issues, social
usually follows these basic steps: problems, and philosophical theories help generate topics and
motivation to conduct a scientific investigation or a research study.

2. Formulation of Hypothesis. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation

of the problem.

3. Gathering of Data. This involves the use of scientific methods like

surveys and case studies to prove or disprove the hypothesis.

4. Drawing the Conclusion. A conclusion is established and justified

based on the pieces of evidence and findings.

5. Reporting of the Results. This enables other researchers to verify

the results and ensure that they are accurate. It also prompts other
researchers to conduct further research and to suggest
improvements on the philosophical theories and knowledge.
 CRITICAL THINKING
Philosophers are able to establish scientific answers to philosophical
questions through critical thinking, Critical thinking is the objective
analysis of facts to form a judgment. It involves structured observation
and thoughtful analysis of questions and arguments. In his book,
Psychology, Spence Rathus (2017) provides these guidelines for critical
thinking:

1. Be skeptical. Keep an open mind. Accept nothing as the truth

until you have examined the evidence.
2. Ask for evidence.
3. Examine the definition of terms. Some statements are true
when a term is defined in a certain way.
4. Examine the assumptions or premises of arguments.
5. Be cautious in drawing conclusions from evidence.
6. Consider alternative interpretations of evidence.
7. Do not oversimplify.
8. Do not overgeneralize.
9. Apply critical thinking to all areas of life.

KEY POINTS:

➢ Ethics and philosophical inquiry are used to obtain factual information about the different aspects of life,
particularly the moral.
➢ Philosophy is defined as the study of general and fundamental problems concerning existence, knowledge, values,
and reason.
➢ Philosophical inquiry enables one to understand what is good and bad.
➢ Ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with morality, its fundamentals and standards.
➢ In ethics, uncertainties or conflicting opinions about morality lead to philosophical inquiry.
➢ Uncertainties and conflicts are the main sources of moral skepticism. Thus, there is a need for scientific method
and critical thinking.
➢ Scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring pieces of evidence and knowledge.
➢ Critical thinking is the objective analysis of facts to form a judgment.