PHILO031: 1ST SEM_W2

through the operation of forces in the individual’s environment

How is an individual’s ethics formulated

• Family Influence

• Peer Influence

• Experiences

• Values and Morals

• Situation Facator

• Religion

• The Legal System

key aspects in the formation of ethical orientation of the person

Family Influence

• the formation of ethics begins when the individual is a child.

• when he/she attains consciousness, he or she becomes curious of his surroundings and the actions of people around him.

• thus, the environment has a significant influence in determining what the child learns about good and bad, right and wrong

Peer Influence

As the child develops contacts outside the home through school, play and work, this could shape the individual’s ethical beliefs.

Experiences

As a person grows and matures, he or she will be exposed to many critical experiences that will affect his or her choice of ethical standards and values.

Values and Morals

• One’s ethical standards are also greatly influenced by these.

  • People who place high value on money and material possessions may not have strong ethical standards regarding behaviors that facilitate the accumulation of that wealth.

Situation Factor

• People often change their ethics in response to this.

  • An employee, who is threatened with losing a job that has been held for years, may commit unethical acts in order to save the job.

Religion

• One of the oldest sources of ethical inspiration

• More than 1,000,000 of this exist across the globe.

• Despite doctrinal differences, the major religion coverage on the belief that ethics is an expression of divine will that reveals the nature of right and wrong in business and others walks of life

The Legal System

• Laws are rules of conduct, approved by legislatures, which guide human behavior in any society.

• They are created in order to meet a necessity in society.

• But law cannot cover all ethical expectation of society.

• Obeying the law is presumed to be ethical behavior

Laws

rules of conduct, approved by legislatures, which guide human behavior in any society

Laws

created in order to meet a necessity in society but cannot cover all ethical expectation of society

General Ethics, Special Ethics

Two Major parts of Ethics

General Ethics

presents the human acts and the truths and principles governing them; and from these truths and principles, the principles of morality are determined and established.

Special Ethics

the application of the principles of General Ethics in different departments of human activity, individual and social

Applied Ethics

Special Ethics is also called

Special Ethics

Under this, various professional ethics are treated – legal ethics, medical ethics, biological ethics, business ethics, and environmental ethic

Human act

refers to any sort of activity, internal or external, bodily or spiritual, performed by a human being

Human act

an act which is done through conscious knowledge and is, therefore, deliberate, intentional, or voluntary

Act of man

instinctive and are not within the control of the will

Act of man

these are actions which happen in man such as act of sensation (i.e. use of senses) and appetition (i.e. bodily tendencies), as well as acts that man performs indeliberately or without advertence and the exercise of free choice

Act of man

these affected in sleep, delirium, in the state of unconsciousness; acts one abstractedly or with complete inadvertence; acts performed in infancy; acts due to infirmity of mind or the weakness of senility

advertence and consent of the human agent

The act of man becomes human act by??

agent

the one who does or perform an act

when done knowingly, freely, and willfully

It is considered a human act when?

knowingly

• An act is done ___ when the doer is aware of what he is doing, the reason of why he/she is doing it, and of its consequences.

• Children below the age of reason, the insane, and the senile – are considered incapable of acting so

freely

• An act is done ___ when the doer is taking his choice and initiative without being forced to do so by another person or situation.

• In other words, it is an act done by his/her own volition and powers.

• An action is not entirely a free action if it is done under duress or against one’s Will.

willfully

An act is done ____ when the doer decides, with consent, to accept the act as his own and assumes the accountability of its consequences.

imputability, responsibility or accountability

It is important to establish the difference between human acts and acts of man for purpose of these three

Human acts

• always moral acts and they are always imputable to the person performing the act

• the agent will always be responsible for the act, either he is praised, rewarded, or punished.

acts of man

These are not responsible acts, not imputable to the agent

• elicited

• commanded acts

Two kinds of Human Acts

Elicit acts

those performed by the Will but are not bodily externalized

• wish

• intention

• consent

• election

• use

• fruition

What are some elicit acts

wish

• the tendency of the Will towards a thing without considering whether it is realizable or not

• the object includes the impossible, or that which is remotely possible, such as winning the lotto

intention

• the tendency of the Will towards a thing regarded as realizable but without necessarily committing oneself to attain it

  • a student, for instance, may intend to help an old woman crossing busy street without applying himself to the task.

consent

• the acceptance of the Will to carry out the intention

  • a student shows consent to the act of helping an old woman crossing a busy street when he accepts the reason and accountability for undertaking

election

• the selection of the Will of the precise means to be employed in carrying out the intention.

  • The student, for instance, may elect to help an old woman crossing a busy street by himself, or seek for a traffic enforcer for assistance.

use

the command of the Will to make use of the means elected to carry out the intention, such as when the student make up his mind to help an old woman crossing the busy street by himself

Fruition

• the enjoyment of the Will derived from the attainment of the thing he had desired earlier

  • The joy of the student’s experience on how it feels to help to an old woman – is fruition.

Commanded Acts

those done either mental or bodily powers under the command

of the Will

Internal actions or External actions

Commanded acts are either

Internal actions

those that are done by mental powers, such as remembering, imagining, reflecting, conscious reasoning, controlling anger, etc.

External actions

those performed bodily, such as walking, dancing, talking, writing, etc.

being first in intention, but last in execution

Some philosophers speak of human acts as