01 PRELIMS || Introduction to Ethics and Moral Philosophy

Ethics

• Set of rules or principles that help people decide what is good or bad, right or wrong

• Guide real-life actions, like lying is wrong or helping others is good

• Shaped by values, beliefs, and culture

• EXAMPLE: honesty is an ethical value that encourages truthfulness

• Under it are rules, law, society, moral, and norms

Greek word: ethos (meaning: character or custom)

Ethics root word

Latin word: moralis (meaning: customs or manners)

Morality root word

Moral Philosophy

• The broader field that explores where those ethical rules come from, why they exist, and how they are justified

• Asks deeper questions like:

• “What makes an action morally right.”

• “Is morality universal or relative.”

• Own perspective of individual of what is wrong and right

Ethics

• “What to do”

• Helps us act

Moral Philosophy

• “Why and how we decide what to do”

• Helps us understand the reasoning behind our actions

1. Guiding Personal Behavior

2. Promoting Social Harmony

3. Encouraging Critical Thinking

4. Influenced by Policy and Governance

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN PERSONAL AND SOCIETAL DEVELOPMENT

Guiding Personal Behavior

• Ethics helps individuals cultivate integrity and accountability

• When people adhere ethical standards, they build trust and respect within their relationships

• Results in stronger connections

• Here, we must be responsible

Promoting Social Harmony

• Ethical principles foster cooperation and understanding among people

• Societies that prioritize ethics are more peaceful, as people more likely consider the impact of their actions on others

Encouraging Critical Thinking

• Engaging with ethical questions encourages individuals to consider their values and beliefs

• This lead to personal development and deeper understanding of oneself and others

Influenced by Policy and Governance

• Ethics is essential for developing laws and social norms

• Ethical considerations shape policies that govern society, ensuring they promote justice and equality

Ethics

• Plays crucial role in human interactions and decision-making

• Helps individuals and societies establish moral guidelines and evaluate the impact of their actions

Moral Reasoning

• The process of thinking about what is right and wrong

• Helps us decide the best action based on our values, beliefs, and principles

• EXAMPLE: When deciding whether to help a friend, we might consider fairness, kindness, or honesty

Moral Dilemma

• A situation where we must choose between two actions with both good and bad aspects

• The decision can be difficult, as both choices can feel right and wrong simultaneously

• EXAMPLE: Choosing between telling the truth and protecting someone’s feelings

1. Punishment: to learn by lessons

2. Self Interest: to give prizes to ourselves

3. Good Boy, Good Girl: to receive compliments from others

4. Law and Order: to follow rules

5. Principles: target is adults

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT (by Lawrence Kohlberg)

Rules

• Human needs it to live together, interact, and achieve common goals

• Without it, life would be chaotic, and relationships could be ruined

1. Cooperation

2. Law and Order

3. Equality

4. Accountability

5. Rights Protection

WHY DO RULES MATTER?

Cooperation

• Rules promote working together towards common goals, fostering teamwork and community growth

• EXAMPLE: In a sports team, rules like passing the ball and taking turns allow players to work together to win

Law and Order

• Rules help maintain structure and predictability, reducing confusion, and ensuring society functions smoothly

• Promotes working together towards common goal

• EXAMPLE: The rule requiring people to .wear car seat belts helps reduce injuries and keeps drivers and passengers safe, maintaining order on the road

Equality

• Rules promotes fairness by ensuring everyone follows the same guidelines and prevent unequal treatment

• EXAMPLE: Anti-discrimination laws in hiring practices ensure that all candidates, regardless if gender or ethnicity, have equal employment opportunities

Accountability

• Rules encourage individuals to take responsibility for their actions and their effects on others

• EXAMPLE: In a company, rules for reporting mistakes or errors in a project encourage employees to take responsibility, learn from their actions, and improve performance

Rights Protection

• Rules protect individual rights and freedom, ensuring respect for all members of society

• EXAMPLE: Laws protecting freedom of speech allow individuals to express opinions without fear of government punishment to ensure respect for basic human rights

Legislative: creates law - lawmakers

Executive: enforces law - presidents, vp, cabinets

Judicial: interprets law - judge in Supreme Court

THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT (PROCESS OF LAW MAKING)

1. Ruins trust

2. Interferes with harmony

3. Stalls progress

4. Keeps consequences

IMPACTS OF BREAKING RULES

Ruins trust

• Breaking rules damages relationships and teamwork

• EXAMPLE: A friend breaks a promise to keep a secret, causing the trust to fade and friendship to suffer

Interferes with harmony

• Violating rules creates conflict and disrupts peace within group

• EXAMPLE: In a workplace, if an employee continually violates company policies, it creates tension and frustration among colleagues, leading to a toxic work environment

Stalls progress

• Continued disregard for rules maintains chaos and instability, hindering progress

• EXAMPLE: A driver who repeatedly ignores traffic rules, such as speeding or running red lights, can cause accidents and disrupt traffic flow, creating chaos on road

Keeps consequences

• Breaking rules leads to punishments or negative outcomes, reinforcing accountability

• EXAMPLE: A student cheats in an exam and faces suspension, affecting their academic record and opportunities

1. Normative Ethics

2. Metaethics

3. Applied Ethics

KEY BRANCHES OF ETHICS

Normative Ethics

• Focuses on establishing standards or norms for behavior

• Seeks to answer “What should I do?” or “What is the right thing to do.?”

Metaethics

• Explores nature of ethical statements and judgements

• Addresses “What do we mean when we say something is right or wrong?”

• Asks if moral truths exist on their own (moral realism) or depend on personal feelings (ethical subjectivism)

Applied Ethics

• Involves practical application of ethical principles to specific issues or fields, such as business, medicine, and environmental concerns

• Seeks to address real-world dilemmas by applying normative ethical theories to concrete situations