Week One INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS Site Real Life Situations That Caught Us On

WEEK ONE

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS Site real life situations that caught us on

the spot where we need to as ourselves:
• What are my
principles?
• What are my
values?
• What do I stand for?
These Questions poses questions which challenges our obligations to ourselves and
towards others. These situations brings us to various decisions and actions that forms
who we really are as a person—our character.
• How do we really know how or when to intervene in
situations?
• When is the right time to tell or hide the truth from people we really care
about?
• How do we really define a good
life?

We need to be able to understand these real life questions and be able to respond to
them well.
Ethicists
Various
kinds:
• Business Ethicists
• Bio-Ethicists
• Research
Ethicists
They are the ones who care and think deeply about matters of RIGHT or WRONG. In a
way they guide us to understand our own set of INDIVIDUAL VALUES and help us to
decide or choose between what is ethically acceptable versus what will be ethically
disastrous decisions in life.
Ethicists are not just those licensed by universities or group of certified
individuals who magically tells you what to do or not in order to arrive into a meaningful
and productive results. Normally we also have this so-called EVERYDAY ETHICIST
according to Michael D. Burroughs who is a modern day Philosopher and ethicist.
These types of ethicist could be our friend, or an ordinary person we bump on the
street one day who actually made us realize something about our actions or thoughts if
they are morally upright or not.
Everyday ethicists are those that respond to the everyday ethical issues in our daily
lives. We are always challenged by situations wherein we can either choose to act
ethically and prevent bad things to happen or we can act unethically and may result to
disaster but hopefully we can learn after the experience.
GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 1

WHAT WE NEED TO DO:
➢ We need to cultivate our own ethical awareness ➢ Develop the skills needed to act ethically in
unfavourable situations SCHOOLS for example where we spent most of our young and
adulthood stage in life socializing.
They prepare us in academics, social, and personal, and allow us to understand the
world and ourselves.
We get training in a variety of subjects, and allow us to become part of extra-curricular activities
like sports and others to be socially aware of our surroundings and to help us have that
connection to others. ➢ But what we normally don’t receive is training in ethics education. ➢
We actually find it hard to talk about real life issue which are actually ethical in nature. Research
Shows in the US that young people whose age ranges between 13-23 years old actually raises
significant amount of ethical questions in their everyday journey. But often these questions are
often avoided in the classroom in order to avoid controversy.
Thus the result of the research showed that there is an actual alarming rate of
young people who actually learned how to deal with ethical issues in three
different ways namely:
1. AVOID 2.
IGNORE 3.
PRETEND
- Thinking that all these issues will just go
away.
But to avoid these issues and questions is actually to avoid from engaging into a
useful and meaningful ethical understanding and education.
We have to be reminded that just as we train students to develop various skills in
math and other sciences or courses or subjects, we can also educate young people to
develop ETHICAL PERSONS.
The second issue is that young people nowadays may not have the proper
knowledge on how to address ethical issues that surface along their journey in this life.
So the issues like cheating, helping, proper manners, volunteerism, initiative, etc. are
really prevalent. Is Ethics Relative?
• This might be a chaos because what is right for one might be wrong
for another Examples:
➢ Sexual Assault
➢ Terrorism ➢
Bullying ➢
Racism ➢ Etc.
When talking about Ethics it is important to also tap and acknowledge and respect
our individualities, our differences.
But it is also important to think deeply about ethical standards or ethical

foundations.
• Those which are based on human
rights
• Like care and compassion for
others
These and other examples allow us to decide and choose ethically and not based on
our self- righteousness of a single individual or a community, but based on the desire to
understand and evaluate ethical beliefs.
HARDWORK IS REQUIRED TO MAKE ETHICAL DECISIONS!
Our endeavour in this ETHICAL Discourse in our subject is not to offer an ethical
map sort of thing or a magical formula that will automatically solve all our ethical
dilemma.
My advocacy in this subject is to encourage you to allow each of us to educate

each one to respect the many ethical values around the world and to be humbled by the
fact that we are actually entitled to rise up and recognize our role as promoters of
ethical convictions that forms an ethical society. Children and young adults like you are
not new to the issues of ethics. We’re not trying to actually introduce you to a whole new
concept.
Young people possess ethical convictions, about fairness, exclusion and

inclusion, about what’s right and wrong, honesty, etc.
Ethics is something that affects you in your everyday life especially when you
interact with people around you. ETHICS Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch
ofphilosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of

right and wrong conduct. ... Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by
defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and
crime. https://www.google.com/search?
safe=strict&ei=QYEIXfwyzNeHA9aDuOgM&q=ethics+philos
ophy&oq=ETHICS&gs_l=psy-ab.3.1.0i71l8.0.0..15251...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-
wiz.HiOASb2FpUQ

The term ethics is derived from the Greek word ethikos which itself is derived
fromthe Greek word ethos, meaning custom or character. In philosophy, ethical
behavior is that which is “good.” The field of ethics or moral philosophy involves
developing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior
https://www.google.com/search?
safe=strict&ei=joEIXaLtCdH2hwOq1qf4Aw&q=origin+of+ethi cs&oq=origin+o&gs_l=psy-
ab.3.1.35i39j0i67j0i131i20i263j0i131l7.8205.9669..11099...0.0..0.377.1300.3j3j1j1......0.
...1..gw s-wiz.......0i71j0.7Cfpva3pe7A
- MORAL PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN A PERSON’S

BEHAVIOUR It is synonymous to:
• Morals
• Rights and wrongs
• Creed
• Rules of Conduct
• Virtues
• Conscience
• Credo
• Standards
Why Ethics
Matter? The Moral
Act
- Human Beings are complex beings. - Humans are not simply driven by
instincts. - Humans experience the world in a variety of ways through a variety
of perceptive
capacities. - Humans have feelings/emotions - Humans uses reason to put
emotions in their proper places seeking not to discredit their validity but
calibrating them in such a way that they do not become the primary motive in
making moral decisions. - But, reason is not a sufficient instrument in assessing
moral situations as it is
sometimes
blinded.
Seven-Step Moral Reasoning

Model
- These steps can help you ensure that you do not take moral
decisions lightly.
1. Stop and Think

2. Clarify Goals 3.
Determine Facts
4. Develop
Options

5. Consider
Consequences 6.
Choose 7. Monitor and
Modify
• The important element is your will to commit to an action based on moral

principles.
• The Will implements our decisions and projects our motives in
reality.
• Wanting to do good is totally different from actually doing that which is
good.
At the end of the

day:
“NO MATTER HOW MUCH A HUMAN PERSON IS CONDITIONED BY CULTURE

AND ENVIRONMENT, THERE IS WITHIN THAT PERSON A SOURCE FOR CHANGE
AND A TURNING TOWARDS THE GOOD.”
Chapter I: Virtue Ethics:

Aristotle
• People are often most remembered by their most significant character traits. These
traits are the product of a consistent display of a particular behaviour.
• We build our characters through how we make choices in different situations we
face in our lives.
• Character is not merely a theoretical construct but a product of action in the world
—a constant doing or a way of being that is made apparent by the possession and
actualization of particular virtues or vices.
• In one’s journey towards self-realization and self-flourishing, there is an implied
necessity to understand what he/she is actually aiming for in his/her life.
• Self-actualization is not attained through theory but by practice: character is a
product of practice.
Ultimate Real Life

Questions:
1. What does it actually mean for a human person to
flourish? 2. What does it mean for one to achieve his/her
goal? 3. What is the goal of our existence as human
beings? 4. What does character have to do with our
existence?
Aristotl
e
• A Greek Philosopher and one of Plato’s most prolific
students

• He believes that REASON is what radically distinguishes the human person from
other forms of being.
• He considers that morality is not merely a matter of knowing the good but actually
doing or practicing the good habitually. (We become what we really are by what we
do and not merely by what we know).
• His ethics is grounded in the formation of one’s character—a way of being and
living in harmony with the human person’s proper end.
• He wanted to find out what our ultimate end or goal is, rather than just finding out
the different purposes or end of human life.
Eudaimoni
a
• It is the self-sufficient, final, and attainable goal of human
life.
• It is self-sufficient because to have it makes human life
complete.
• It is final because it is desired for itself and not for the sake of
something else
• It is attainable because it is not just a theoretical construct but something that one
actually does practically
• It is sought for its own
sake.
• It is an activity of the soul in accordance with
virtue.
• It is not a mere self-indulgence or pleasure-seeking for Aristotle. It denotes an activity
that essentially corresponds to the proper nature of the human being. THE SOUL
• Happiness is an activity of the
soul
• The soul for Aristotle is the part of a human being that animates the
body.
• Body and Soul are
inseparable
• It is composed of:
o Rational
elements
▪ Speculative (responsible for
knowledge)
• Concerned with pure thought and essentially the base of
contemplation
▪ Practical (responsible for choice and
action)
• Is in charge of action and the practical determination of the proper means to
attain a specific end o Irrational elements
▪ Vegetative
• In charge of the nutrition and growth of the human
being
• Takes care of all the involuntary functions of the body, from
breathing, digestion and the like
• Aristotle believes that this part is not relevant in discussions
regarding happiness or virtue

▪ Appetitive
• Shares in the rational element in the
soul.
• It cannot reason but it does share in the rational element in that it can be influenced by
it. *** It is therefore important to remember that there is a part of the soul that calls for
reason’s governance. Giving in to raw and unchecked appetites is oftentimes the
reason a person commits immoral acts. *** Giving in to passions keeps a person from
flourishing and derails him/her from his/her true end as a person. *** Having desires is
not bad. However, people who aim to be happy must be responsible for such desires
and keep them in check. *** For Aristotle, moral virtue is necessary in making sure that
desires do not control the behaviour.
Arete – Greek word for virtue which means
excellence

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WEEK ONE

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS Site real life situations that caught us on

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 1

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 2

But it is also important to think deeply about ethical standards or ethical

HARDWORK IS REQUIRED TO MAKE ETHICAL DECISIONS!

My advocacy in this subject is to encourage you to allow each of us to educate

Young people possess ethical convictions, about fairness, exclusion and

ofphilosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 3

- MORAL PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN A PERSON’S

Seven-Step Moral Reasoning

1. Stop and Think

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 4

• The important element is your will to commit to an action based on moral

At the end of the

“NO MATTER HOW MUCH A HUMAN PERSON IS CONDITIONED BY CULTURE

Chapter I: Virtue Ethics:

Ultimate Real Life

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 5

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 6

GeD107 – ETHICS – MIDTERM CLASS 2019-2020 Page 7

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