ETHICS

FOUNDATION OF MORAL
VALUATION
 LESSON OBJECTIVES

After this lesson, students will be able to:

Identify the ethical aspect of human life

and the scope of ethical thinking;

Define and explain the terms that are

relevant to ethical thinking; and
Evaluate the difficulties that are involved in
maintaining certain commonly-held notions
on ethics.
 INTRODUCTION

In August 2007, newspapers reported what seemed to

Where does our concept of
be yet another sad incident of fraternity violence. Cris
good and bad comes from?
Anthony Mendez, a 20-year-old student of the
Paano natin nasasabi na ito
University of the Philippines (UP), was rushed to the
ang tama at ito ang mali?
hospital in the early morning hours, unconscious, with
large bruises on his chest, back, and legs. He passed
away that morning, and the subsequent autopsy report
strongly suggested that his physical injuries were most
probably the result of “hazing” (the term colloquially
used to refer to initiation rites in which neophytes may
be subjected to various
Should forms
the hazer be of physical
sentence to abuse).
prison
considering that Anthony voluntarily join the
fraternity and knowledgeable enough about it?
 What is VALUATION in ETHICS?

Definition: Ethics, generally speaking, is

about matters such as the good thing
that we should pursue and the bad thing
that we should avoid; the right ways in
which we could or should act and the
wrong ways of acting.
Ethics as a subject for us to study is about
determining the grounds for the values
with particular and special significance
to human life.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF RULES TO SOCIAL BEING

1. Rules protect social being 2. Rules help to guarantee each

by regulating behavior. person certain rights and
freedom.

3. Rules produce a sense of 4. Rules are essential for a

justice among social beings. healthy economic system.
KINDS OF VALUATION

AESTHETICS
from the Greek word “aisthesis” which means
“sense” or “feeling” and refers to the judgments
of personal approval or disapproval that we
make about what we see, hear, smell, or taste .

ETIQUETTE
concerned with right or wrong actions,
but those which might be considered not
quite grave enough to belong to a
discussion on ethics

TECHNICAL
from the Greek word “techne” and
refers to a proper way—(or right
way) of doing things
ETHICS & MORALS

Morals” may be used to refer to specific beliefs or

attitudes that people have or to describe acts that
people perform. We also have terms such as “moral
judgment” or “moral reasoning,” which suggest a more
rational aspect.

“Ethics” can be spoken of as the discipline of

studying and understanding ideal human
behavior and ideal ways of thinking. Thus, ethics
is acknowledged as an intellectual discipline
belonging to philosophy.

“Ethics” is the branch of philosophy that studies

morality or the rightness or wrongness of human
conduct. Morality, speaks of code or system of
behavior in regards to standard of right and
wrong behavior.
 THE NORMATIVE & DESCRIPTIVE

Approaches of Ethics:
NORMATIVE & DESCRIPTIVE

A descriptive study of ethics reports how people,

particularly groups, make their moral valuations
without making any judgment either for or against
these valuations.

A normative study of ethics, as is often done in philosophy

or moral theology, engages the question: What could or
should be considered as the right way of acting? In other
words, a normative discussion prescribes what we ought
to maintain as our standards or bases for moral valuation.
 ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGMENT, & DILEMMA

A situation that calls for moral valuation

can be called a moral issue

When one is placed in a situation and confronted by

the choice of what act to perform, s/he is called to
make a moral decision.

When a person is an observer making an

assessment on the actions or behavior of
someone, s/he is making a moral judgment.

When one is torn between choosing one of two

goods or choosing between the lesser of two
evils, this is referred to as a moral dilemma.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARDS
1. Moral standards involved serious wrongs or
significant benefits.

2. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other

values.

3. Moral standards are not established by authority

figures.

4. Moral standards have the trait of universality.

5. Moral standards are based on impartial

considerations.

6. Moral standards are associated with special

emotions and vocabulary.
 ONLY HUMAN BEINGS CAN BE
ETHICAL
Only human beings are rational,
autonomous, and self – conscious.

Only human beings can act

morally or immorally.

Only human beings are part of the

moral community.
 REASONING

What reasons do we give to A person’s fear of punishment

decide or to judge that a certain or desire for reward can provide
way of acting is either right or him/her a reason for acting in a
wrong? certain way.

The promise of rewards and the fear of Beyond rewards and punishments, it
punishments can certainly motivate us to
act, but are not in themselves a is possible for our moral
determinant of the rightness or wrongness valuation—our decisions and
of a certain way of acting or of the good or judgments—to be based on a
the bad in a particular pursuit.
principle.
SOURCES OF
AUTHORITY
LAW
It is supposed that law is one’s guide to ethical behavior. In
the Philippines, Filipinos are constrained to obey the laws of
the land as stated in the country’s criminal and civil codes.
The law cannot tell us what to pursue, only what to avoid.

RELIGION
The divinity called God, Allah, or Supreme Being
commands and one is obliged to obey his/her Creator
(Divine Command Theory).

CULTURE
Our exposure to different societies and their cultures makes us aware
that there are ways of thinking and valuing that are different from our
own, that there is in fact a wide diversity in how different people believe
it is proper to act. Therefore, what is ethically acceptable or
unacceptable is relative to, or that is to say, dependent on one’s
culture. This position is referred to as cultural relativism.
 SENSES OF THE SELF

SUBJECTIVISM PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM

The recognition that the individual thinking “Human beings are naturally self-centered, so all our
actions are always already motivated by self-interest.”
person is at the heart of all moral valuations. Psychological Egoism is a theory that tries to describe the
The individual is the sole determinant of what underlying dynamic behind all human actions as a matter
is morally good or bad, right or wrong. of pursuit of self-interest.
The ego or self has its desires and interests, and all our
“No one can tell me what is right and wrong.”
“No one knows my situation better than myself.” actions are geared toward satisfying these interests.
“I am entitled to my own opinion.” Whether or not the person admits it, one’s actions are
“It is good if I say it is good.” ultimately always motivated by self-serving desire.

ETHICAL EGOISM
Prescribes that we should make our own ends,
our own interests, as our single overriding
concern.
We may act in a way that is beneficial to others,
but we should do that only if it ultimately benefits
us.
Actions are right insofar as they would ultimately
result in what is best for our own selves.
 Conclusion

In summary, valuation in ethics is a

foundational process for discerning
and disciding what constitutes right
and wrong based on specific moral
criteria or frameworks.

So, the next time you make a

decision; BE ETHICAL.
THANK YOU