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Ethics

The practical science of the morality of human actions.

Morality

The quality of human acts as right, wrong, or indifferent.

Human acts

Acts done with knowledge, freedom, and free will or consent.

Science

Systematic study or a system of scientific conclusions derived from established principles.

Morality

The investigation of life and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

Rules

Explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a specific activity or sphere.

Consequences

Negative outcomes or results that occur as a result of violating rules.

Boundaries

Limits on behavior established by rules.

Justice

The sense of fairness and equality in society.

Exploitation

Taking advantage of others for personal gain.

Constitution

The governing principles of a society or nation.

Economic system

The system that regulates business and ensures fairness and competition.

Product safety

Rules that ensure the safety and quality of products.

 Copyright and patents

Rules and regulations that help protect people's intellectual property.

Common good

The overall well-being and benefit of society as a whole.

Moral standards

Norms and values regarding actions believed to be morally right or wrong.

Norms

General rules about actions or behaviors.

Values

Enduring beliefs about what is good and desirable.

Welfare

The well-being and happiness of individuals, animals, and the environment.

Obligations

Duties or responsibilities that individuals have towards others.

Moral standards

Standards of behavior that are based on the adequacy of the reasons that support and justify them, rather than the decisions of authoritative individuals or bodies.

Overriding

Moral standards take precedence over other standards and considerations, especially self-interest.

Impartial considerations

Moral standards are based on fair and just considerations.

Special emotions and vocabulary

Moral standards are associated with emotions such as guilt and shame, and vocabulary such as right, wrong, good, and bad.

Non-moral standards

Standards by which we judge what is good or bad and right or wrong in a non-moral way, such as standards of etiquette, law, and aesthetics.

Dilemma

A situation in which a tough decision has to be made between two or more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones.

Moral dilemma

A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.

Personal dilemma

Dilemmas experienced and resolved on the personal level, such as conflicting promises or choosing between saving a child or its mother.

Organizational dilemma

Dilemmas encountered and resolved by social organizations, such as conflicts in healthcare organizations or business decisions with no totally successful outcome.

Structural dilemma

Dilemmas involving a network of institutions and operative theoretical paradigms, often larger in scope and extent than organizational dilemmas.

Ethical

Only human beings can truly be ethical due to their possession of rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness.

Culture

The practices, beliefs, and perceptions of a given society, including moral values and behaviors.

Cultural knowledge

The cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religions, and material objects acquired by a group of people through generations.

Social learning

The process by which individuals acquire knowledge from others to which they belong, including moral values and behaviors.

Social convention

Moral standards are viewed as social conventions, agreed upon by people or customary ways of doing things within a group.

Social Conventions

Learned at home or school, these are not necessarily social conventions. They include mathematical operations, geographical facts, and scientific laws.

Morality Belongs to the Same Class as Mathematics

C.S. Lewis offers two reasons for this claim:(1) moral ideas may differ between cultures, but the differences are not significant, and (2) the existence of a moral standard or rule by which we measure moralities.

Cultural Relativism

The belief that no act is objectively good or bad and that different moral principles apply to different individuals or groups.

Moral Code of a Society

Determines what is right or wrong within that society according to cultural relativism.

No Moral Truths

Cultural relativism claims that there are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times.

Tolerance of Other Cultures

Cultural relativism argues that it is arrogant to judge other cultures and that we should always be tolerant of them.

Ethical Relativism and Tolerance

Ethical relativism encourages tolerance for people of different cultural origins to coexist peacefully.

Open-Mindedness and Truth

Ethical relativism teaches us to be open-minded and more open to discovering truth.

Discouragement of Analytical Thinking

Ethical relativism discourages analytical thinking and independent decision-making in ethics, requiring compliance with social norms.

Inconsistency in Promoting Tolerance

Ethical relativism promotes tolerance while teaching that no culture is morally superior or more progressive than others.

Practicability

Ethical relativism is practicable only if people belong to one institution.

Self-Defeating

Moral relativism is fundamentally self-defeating.

Cultural Differences Argument

Argues that cultural differences prove that there is no objective truth in morality.

Disagreements among Cultures

Differences in customs do not necessarily indicate disagreements about values and morality.

Eskimos and Callatians

Infanticide is a recognition of drastic measures needed for survival in the harsh environment of Eskimos.

Bad Consequences of Cultural Relativism

If cultural relativism is taken seriously, we cannot say that customs of other societies are morally inferior, decide right or wrong actions based on our society's standards, or believe in moral progress.

Impact of Culture on Morality

Different cultures have different sets of ethics due to the impact of culture on morality.

Difference Between Western and Eastern Ethics

There are apparent differences in ethics between Western and Eastern cultures.

Filipino Moral Character

Centered on maintaining a smooth interpersonal relationship, supported by six basic Filipino values.

Universal Values

The existence of universal values across cultures disproves cultural relativism.

Developing Virtue as a Habit

Moral character involves virtues and excellences of character, which are developed through habitual practice.

Moral Character

The existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, honesty, and loyalty.

Circular Relations of Acts and Character

Acts can build moral character, but moral character itself generates acts that help in developing virtue or vice.

Moral Characters as Dispositions

Moral characters are understood as behavioral and affective dispositions, either virtues or vices.

Six Stages of Moral Development

The stages of moral development, which individuals progress through in their understanding of morality.

Human Act

Acts that are free, voluntary, done with knowledge and consent, proper to humans, under our control, and for which we are responsible.

Acts of Man

Biological or physiological functions or processes in the body that are instinctive and not under the control of humans.

Elicited Acts

Acts performed by the will that are not bodily externalized, including wishing, intention, consent, election, use, and fruition.

Commanded Acts

Acts done by mental or bodily powers under the command of the will, including internal actions (conscious reasoning, recalling something) and external actions (walking, eating, dancing).

Knowledge

The attribute of knowing what one is doing, being aware of the action and its consequences.

Ignorance

The absence of knowledge that a person ought to possess, either vincible (can be easily reminded) or invincible (lacks means to rectify it).

Impartiality

The principle of considering each individual's interests and point of view equally important in making moral judgments.

Ethical Dilemma

A conflict between two or more value-driven or virtue-driven interests, where one must identify the parties, their interests, and the underlying virtues and values.

Model for Making Moral Decisions

Gather the facts, determine the ethical issues, consider the virtues/principles, list the alternatives, compare alternatives with virtues/principles, consider the consequences, and make a decision.

Will

The faculty of the mind that chooses the strongest desire at the moment of decision-making, enabling a person to act deliberately.

Passions

Tendencies towards desirable or undesirable objects, either antecedent (preceding an act) or consequent (intentionally aroused and kept).

Habit

A modifier of the will that affects moral distinction, as actions become habitual and automatic, influencing moral accountability.

Habit

A lasting readiness and faculty, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner. Habits are acquired inclinations towards something to be done.

Habit forming

Refers to the ease with which one can acquire a habit, as well as the difficulty in overcoming or altering a habit.

Good habits

Habits that lead to moral and ethical actions.

Bad habits

Habits that lead to immoral acts.

Voluntary actions

Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination.

Accountability

Actions resulting from a habit may be regarded as acts of man and not accountable when a person decides to fight the habit and the effort towards this purpose continues.

Ethical subjectivism

The meta-ethical theory that holds that the truth or falsity of ethical propositions is dependent on the feelings, attitude, or standards of a person or group of persons.

Moral judgments

Ethical subjectivism argues that moral judgments are not about objective facts, but are simply about personal feelings.

Abortion

A controversial ethical topic with different moral stances, including the belief that it is immoral, the belief that it must be tolerated, and the belief that there is no objective right or wrong.

Homosexuality

A personal opinion expressing feelings towards homosexuality, not stating a fact about it.

Emotivism

A form of non-cognitivism that claims ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions, but are mere expressions of the emotions of the speaker.

Purposes of language

Language is used to convey information, influence conduct through commands, and express the speaker's attitude.

Ethical utterance

Ethical utterances can serve as commands or express the speaker's attitude towards a moral issue.

Subjectivism vs

Subjectivism presents ethical statements as statements of fact about the speaker, while emotivism does not state a fact about the speaker at all.

Evaluating Emotivism

Emotivism can lead to anarchy, discourages deliberate discussions about ethical differences, and fails to distinguish moral judgments from expressions of personal preferences.

Feelings in decision-making

Feelings and emotions can be relevant to the rightness of decisions and actions, but should be anchored on careful deliberations and mesh with rational thinking.

Controlling emotions

Six ways to control emotions and make better decisions include pausing and assessing the situation, not relying solely on gut feelings, putting thoughts in writing, narrowing options, seeking second opinions, and avoiding burnout.

Freedom as a foundation of morality

Morality is based on choice, and morality requires and allows choice, which means the right to choose even differently from others.

Nature of freedom

Freedom proceeds from the intellect and will, and when man makes decisions, he is free and accountable for his actions.

Fear

Fear is the mind of a person confronted by impending danger or harm, and it can modify the freedom of the doer, inducing them to act in a certain predetermined manner.

Involuntary Acts

Acts done out of intense fear or panic, where a person loses control of themselves and does not think rationally.

Violence

Physical force exerted on a person by another to compel them to act against their will.

Moral Courage

The ability to do the right thing even in the face of inconvenience, ridicule, or loss, and to rise above apathy, complacency, and fear.

Will

The innermost essence of every thing and the deliberate conduct of a person, characterized by urging, craving, wanting, desiring, and striving.

Determinants of Morality

The factors that determine the morality of an act, including the object or act itself, the motive or end of the act, and the circumstances surrounding the act.

Object or Act Itself

The nature of an act, its physical tendency towards a result, and whether it is in conformity with reason and the natural and spiritual tendencies of the human soul.

Motive or End of the Act

The purpose or intention behind an act, which determines whether it is intrinsically or extrinsically good or evil.

Circumstances of the Act

The historical elements surrounding the commission of an act, including the person involved, the place, the time, and the intensity of the act.