Introduction to Ethical Inquiry: Metaethics, Normative Ethics, and Applied Ethics

The Evolution of Ethical Understanding

  • Ethical knowledge undergoes a significant transition as an individual moves from childhood through high school and senior high school into college.

  • The way right and wrong are perceived in early education is characterized as being "very different" from the perspectives required at a collegiate level.

  • There is a pressing need for students to update and "recalibrate" their knowledge of morality. This recalibration must be in accordance with:

    • How the individual thinks now as an adult.

    • How the individual deals with current realities.

    • The specific context the individual is currently in.

  • This process represents a maturation of the human person and their actions, often referred to as "human action" or "acts of man."

The Function and Purpose of Ethics in Society

  • Ethics serves as a tool for society to achieve several goals:

    • To systematize practices and norms.

    • To provide a framework to defend what is right.

    • To suggest or recommend specific concepts of right behavior and courses of action.

  • In the medical field, ethics is used to recommend ethical steps or ethical decision-making processes to address complex issues.

  • A specific example mentioned involves a chairperson of the United Nations bioethical society, illustrating how high-level ethical expertise is applied to global standards of behavior and action.

Case Study: Ethical Decision-Making in Life and Death Situations

  • Ethics provides a guide during moments of extreme moral dilemma, such as life and death situations.

  • An anecdotal scenario was shared regarding the speaker's personal experience with their father (referred to as "my tie"):

    • The situation involved a conflict between siblings: the brother and sister wanted to revive the father as much as possible.

    • The speaker felt the need to "let go" to avoid prolonging the person's pain.

    • The speaker consulted an ethics teacher to help navigate the decision.

    • The speaker found comfort in ethics because it allowed them to distinguish between the best time to let go and the best time to avoid unnecessary suffering.

  • This highlights the capacity of the human mind to question status quo situations when moral standards are applied.

The Three Branches of Ethical Inquiry

  • Whenever a person asks "What is right and what is wrong?" or "What makes it right/wrong?", they are engaging in three distinct areas of ethical study:

    • Metaethics: This occurs when one scrutinizes the nature or essence of morality. It involves questioning the source and nature of what is right and wrong. It is the act of looking "beyond" the surface level, much like the relationship between physics and metaphysics. If you are questioning a father, pastor, teacher, or elder's moral standards, you are doing meta ethics.

    • Normative Ethics: This involves the theories and principles used to justify whether an action is right or wrong. It establishes the rules or norms for behavior.

    • Applied Ethics: This is the application of ethical theories and principles to a particular situation or a specific area of specialization.

Metaethics and the Metaphysical Analogy

  • The term "meta" means to see "beyond."

  • Analogy with Physics:

    • Physics: Studies physical properties of objects.

    • Metaphysics: Studies what is beyond the physical, such as the purpose or essence of an object.

  • The Principle of Essence (The "Chair" Example):

    • If you picture a chair, it could be white, brown, plastic, or wood.

    • Regardless of its material or color, the mind grasps the "chairness" of the chair.

    • Our minds have the ability to grasp the essence of things beyond their physical appearance.

  • The concept of "Saloon": The speaker notes that Filipinos encapsulate this through the term "saloon poet" (or "saloon"), suggesting that the essence of things is often seen through their purpose, which is grasped even if it is beyond the physical.

Fundamental Questions in Metaethics

  • Metaethics asks questions such as:

    • What makes right, right?

    • What makes wrong, wrong?

    • What makes good, good, and what makes evil, evil?

    • Is something good simply because it follows a particular rule, or because it is beneficial?

    • Is rightness and wrongness objective (separate from human thought), or subjective (dependent on feelings and intuition)?

    • Is morality universal or relative?

Questions & Discussion

  • Speaker's Question: "Is morality subjective and relative?"

  • Audience Interaction: The speaker asked for a "thumbs up" from those who believe morality and ethics are subjective/relative.

  • Outcome: A consensus was reached by the group that morality is indeed subjective and relative. The speaker noted this consensus and mentioned that "objective morality" would be a topic for a future discussion.

  • Administrative Note: A screenshot of the session was taken for the time block of four to 05:30.