GESS 5 - Ethics Midsummer Exam

Lesson 1-5

Hazing

the term colloquially used to refer to initiation rites in which neophytes may be subjected to various forms of physical abuse

Ethics

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

a subject for us to study is about determining the grounds for the values with particular and special significance to human life.

3 Kinds of Valuation

Aesthetics, Etiquette, Technical

Aisthesis

Aesthetics

Techne

Technical

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

etiquette

socially accepted behavior on matters that are generally trivial.

Morals

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.

Descriptive

study of ethics reports how people, particularly groups, make their moral valuations without making any judgment either for or against these valuations.

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? It prescribes what we ought to maintain as our standards or bases for moral valuation.

Moral issue

A situation that calls for moral valuation

Moral Decision

When one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice of what act to perform

Moral Judgment

When a person is an observer making an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone

Moral Dilemma

When one is torn between choosing one of two goods or choosing between the lesser of two evils

Principle

Beyond rewards and punishments, it is possible for our moral valuation—our decisions and judgments—to be based on

Law

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).

Divine Command Theory

one is obliged to obey his/her Creator

cultural relativism

what is ethically acceptable or unacceptable is relative to, or that is to say, dependent on one's culture.

The Starting point of Subjectivism

the recognition that the individual thinking person (the subject) is at the heart of all moral valuations.

Psychological Egoism

"Human beings are naturally self-centered, so all our actions are always already motivated by self-interest." It points out that there is already an underlying basis for how one acts. The ego or self has its desires and interests, and all his/her actions are geared toward satisfying these interests.

Subjectivism

From this point, In a more radical claim the individual is the sole determinant of what is morally good or bad, or right or wrong.

Ethical Egoism

It prescribes that we should make our own ends, our own interests, as the 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.