DEPARTMENT OF LETTERS AND HUMANITIES

COURSE MATERIAL (Video Transcript)

First Term, AY 2020-2021

Course Code ETH

Course Description Ethics
Prerequisite None
Credits 3 units; 54 hours (Lecture)
Mode of Delivery Online
Week Number 2 lesson 2
Lesson/Topic Debates on Meta-Ethics
Micro-Learning At the end of the lesson, students must be able to:
Outcomes • Classified arguments on Meta-Ethics
Assessment Measures Know-Want-Learn worksheet
Video Transcript Hi, everyone! Good day. I am Cedrix Von Alesna and
welcome to our lecture-video which would be talking about,
The Debates in Meta-Ethics.

In the discipline of ethics, there are certain things that we talk

about and establish as a common ground of agreement. But in
metaethics, there are two major categories that exist, (1)
Metaphysical issues and (2) Psychological issues. The
concerns to metaphysical issues cover issues on can morality
exists outside human thought or is the value dependent on
humans. Can something stay moral even if we humans do not
alter or involve ourselves in the conversation. Psychological
issue on the other hand concerns itself to the underlying
mental basis of our moral judgment and conduct in our
society.

The metaphysical issues highlight the debate between

Objectivism and Relativism. Objectivism is the idea that there
are objective truths in the world. The ideas of morality do not
need human but instead it can have meaning in itself. What is
good will always be consistent and we human have no bearing
to its meaning and value. Relativism on the other hand sees
meaning change dependent on the circumstance and people
that values it. Things are relative, morality can change,
because our collective idea of it is different or our cultural
meaning of it is different. Polygamy may be fine for you but
some may see it differently.

The psychological issues have three major debates in the

discussion of moral judgement and conduct. First, Egoism and
Altruism, second, Emotion and Reason, and lastly, Male and
Female morality. The debate between egoism and altruism

Ethics | Overview of Ethics 1

 revolves on the idea of our intention. Do we pursue things
because of our personal motives or do we care for other that is
why we made such decisions? Philosophers like Hobbes
Video Transcript believe that we do this out of our selfish desires. Our ego take
(contd.) priority when we make a decision, we are willing to help
because we want to praised of such actions, we are willing to
help our friends because they will pay us back the next time,
we need their help. However, Joseph Butler express that we
are not merely selfish animals, we are capable of benevolence
and because of this, it is possible to be altruistic in our actions.
We give to charity because we want to help, we offer a helping
hand because we see that they need it, and we are willing to
put ourselves in the line because we are fighting for a bigger
cause beyond who I am. The second debate revolves on the
conversation between emotion and reason. Is morality base on
emotion or grounded on reason? Is good base of what I feel or
is a product of my thinking? A morality base of emotion
means we feel more, maybe we need to sympathize or we
need to feel what situation they were in. We need to feel more
and not just judge them on what we see. While morality base
of reason sees and thinks through logic, that assessment of
action should be done with brain not with the heart. The last
debate tackles Male and Female morality. Male morality is
grounded on rules and regulation. For an action to be moral it
should follow the rules and justice is attained by following the
condition in our society. These is how male morality is
founded and utilize. School have rule and regulations for
students, and offices have policies and guidelines for their
employees. Female morality on the other hand, does not use
rules as the guide to morality but instead tries to understand
the context and act caringly in their response. Female morality
is a morality of care, like the motherly love provided to the
child. Yes, one may have violated the rule but in the lens of
female morality we have to understand why did they do it or
what circumstance push them to do so. I failed to take the test
early because of an emergency that happened or I could not
come to class because I was sick. In the hand of female
morality these are situations where we need to understand
and go beyond a stiff moral system.

With all of these, the next time we see each talk about cultural
relativism? For now, we have learned about the debate in
meta-ethics, the metaphysical issues, and psychological
issues. I hope you have learned something from this lecture-
discussion video. For enrichment, feel free to study Handouts
via LMS or ask question to your instructors. Likewise, please
be reminded of the due date of your activity worksheet

Ethics | Overview of Ethics 2

available and accessible via LMS. Enjoy learning and keep safe
everyone!
-end of video transcript-

Department of Letters and Humanities

Ethics | Overview of Ethics 3