GE 9: Ethics (Chapter 3)
The Act
MARK JOHN Q. PADILLA
General Education Department
College of Arts and Education
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus
COURSE OUTLINE
CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 4
Key Concepts The Moral The Act Reasoning Ethical Issues
in Ethics Agent through Ethical across Borders
Frameworks
• Philosophy and Ethics: • Culture and the moral agent • Feelings and moral • Three areas in the • Moral Challenges of
How ought we to live? • Conscience and the moral decision-making field of ethics Globalization
• The need to study ethics agent • Reason and impartiality as • Deontology • Sexual Morality, Abortion &
• Moral vs. non-moral Minimum requirements for • Teleology Same Sex Marriage
standards Morality • Relativism • Euthanasia & Physician-
• Moral dilemmas • Moral Courage • Virtue Ethics Assisted Suicide
• Three levels of moral • Why can’t I be a good • Moral Theories of • Environmental Ethics &
dilemmas person even if I want to? Justice Animal Rights
• Foundations of morality • Political Violence: War,
• Caveat: Gullibility and Terrorism & Torture
Philosophical Tendencies
2
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus RETHINK
Chapter Objectives
1. Compare responses based on reason and those based on feelings;
2. Identify and analyze their feelings in personal moral experiences;
3. Compare reasonable and emotional responses;
4. Apply the seven-step moral reasoning model to real-life cases;
5. Distinguish between knowing and actually executing a good moral
decision;
6. Assess their own moral behavior in terms of planning and execution
in important moral experiences; and,
7. Reflect on the moral inability of humanity
3
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus RETHINK
RETHINK
1. What makes you smile?
Irritated? Cry?
2. In the past 3 days, which among
the following basic emotions did
you experience: sadness,
happiness, fear, anger, surprise
and disgust? Why? How did it
affect your day?
4
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Definitions from APA
Feelings as obstacles to making the right decisions
Emotion - a complex reaction pattern,
Scenario: Mama’s boy, but… involving experiential, behavioral, and
physiological elements, by which an individual
Ken, 16, is the youngest among the four siblings. He is known to his siblings attempts to deal with a personally significant
and friends as "Mama's boy." He has a very close relationship with his mother, matter or event.
Nanay Lorna. Ken loves his mother very much even to the point that his very Feeling - a self-contained phenomenal
secrets are known to Nanay Lorna. But towards his father, Tatay Bong, Ken experience; feelings are subjective, evaluative,
has much bitterness and hatred. While Ken was on his way home from "Liga," and independent of the sensations, thoughts,
or images evoking them.
he saw Nanay Lorna in a dark alley near Aling Tess' Sari-sari Store. His mother
was with another man, kissing and expressing sensual gestures. This was not Mood - a disposition to respond emotionally in
the only time he saw her mother doing this. He saw this happen for the fifth a particular way that may last for hours, days,
or even weeks, perhaps at a low level and
time. Now, as he went his way home crying, he saw Tatay Bong holding a without the person knowing what prompted
20th-anniversary gift for Nanay Lorna. the state
Feelings may lead to a tendency towards subjective relativism: NOTE:
• Subjective relativism says that action X is right for Ann if she approves of it
yet wrong for Greg if he disapproves of it. Thus action X can be both right Feelings can be obstacles in making
and wrong—right for Ann but wrong for Greg. the right decisions because of (1)
• A person’s approval of an action makes it right for that person. Action X is their non deliberate nature, (2) their
not objectively right (or wrong). It is right (or wrong) relative to individuals. partial nature, and (3) they are
• In this way, moral rightness becomes a matter of personal taste. capricious (Gallinero, 2018). 5
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Feelings as help in making the right decisions
Mood apathy, dejection
Feeling dumb, “bobo ko,”
Emotion sadness / surprise
NOTE:
Three ways that feelings help in making
the right decisions (1) it signals the
need to adjust behavior, (2) it can help
us learn from our mistakes, and (3)
emotional responses can be reshaped
as time pass by (Gallinero, 2018).
*EQ: Recognition and Regulation
6
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Reason and impartiality Deductive Argument
An argument that is supposed to give logically
In every decision and course conclusive support to its conclusion
of action, consider…
Capital punishment is morally permissible | because it helps to deter crime.
Requisites of Morality
If John killed Bill in self-defense, he did not commit murder. A is B.
He did act in self-defense. B is C.
Therefore, he did not commit murder. Then, A is C.
1 & 2 are premises; 3 is conclusion. 1, 2, & 3 are statements. .
Most mothers find it unbearable to lose their children
When you use critical Probably, Bill’s mother is not the killer.
reasoning, your ultimate
aim is usually to figure out Inductive Argument
whether to accept or An argument that is supposed
to offer probable support to its conclusion
reject a statement.
7
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Reason and impartiality Fallacies
PSU administration should oblige
How to
students to pay tuition fees and argue?
miscellaneous fees for every re-
enrolled course.
- beg. the quest; appeal to authority
1. Identify a
An instructor and a student were claim to be
found out to be in an intimate proved.
relationship. Should the instructor be
fired? Should the student be expelled? 2. Establish an
- slip. slope; hasty gen.; appeal to ign. argument for or
against the
Your friend was absent in your claim.
Ethics class. You lied to your
instructor that your friend had 3. Consider
lost internet connection so that Alternative
he could be marked excused. Views
Was it good to lie this time?
- faulty ana.; ad hominem;
8
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
The seven-step moral reasoning model (Scott Rae)
X is a student; X is a student-leader; The event happened at school; X has high grade in
1. Gather the facts. ethics; Y is an instructor of X; Y loves X & Z; Y kissed X; Z saw it; X is a friend of Z.
conflict between friendship vs. studentship; or, obedience vs. mercy (i.e., the issue is a
2. Determine the ethical issues. conflict between M & N)
obligation to be compassionate to a friend, obligation to be an honest student, role as a
3. Determine what virtues or professional employee (i.e., X, Y and Z were involved in the issue. Y has an obligation to
principles have bearing on fulfill M. Likewise, X and Z’s role is N. Fulfilling M or N is important because…)
the case. the options to address the ethical issue are A and B. If X will choose A, the courses of
actions to do is P. If X chose option B, then it must be action Q.
4. List the alternatives.
if X chose option A, then X value M more than N. X must value M more than N
because…
5. Compare the alternatives
if X chose option A along with action P, then the consequence will be R. If X chose
with the virtues or principles. option B, then it would be consequence S.
6. Consider the consequences. X must decide to choose option A along with action P regardless of consequence R
because of value M. It is important to desire and fulfill M because…If I am X, I would
rather…
7. Decide. 9
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Moral courage: will and reason
STORY:
The will is as important as the reason. Ernest
Reason = Identifying the moral action. Shackleton
Will = Applying the moral action. and the
Endurance
Expedition
(1914-
1916)
1. What do you think was the ethical dilemma of Shackleton as the leader of the expedition?
2. What do you think will happen to the team if there were no careful reasoning and courage?
3. When working in group with your classmates, what do you usually observe when crises arise?
4. Why do you think people sometimes fail to have moral courage? Or, putting moral knowledge into action? 10
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Moral courage: developing the will
Moral courage bridges moral knowledge and moral action.
How do you strengthen your bridge?
De Guzman (2018):
1. Develop and practice self-discipline.
2. Do mental strength training.
3. Draw inspiration from people with great courage.
4. Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will
You may begin with…
Introspection vs Self-examination
-descriptive -comparative
-inward look on personal
conscious experience
-there are desirable character
traits to compare the “self” HOW DO I DO IT? 11
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Moral courage: developing the will
HOW DO I DO IT?
1. I remind myself of what I value the most.
2. I align my decisions and actions to my values/belief system.
3. I write/journal my decisions and actions. Talk to self. Talk to God.
4. I tell my decisions and actions to my accountability partners.
Biehl, B. (2001). Dream Energy: Make a more significant difference by fulfilling your life dream. Quick Wisdom Publishing: _______________. 12
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REMEMBER
Moral myopia…moral inability
SUMMARY
Moral Myopia - the inability
even to see clearly ethical
issues when they arise
(Drumwright and Murphy,
2004)
Moral Inability - in Philosophy,
it is the blindness to ethical or
moral dilemma; in Theology,
the ability of man to do what
is good was corrupted; man
is inclined to sin.
13
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REFLECT
REFLECT
1. DO: Write the question that you long to be
answered. Begin with the word “Why…”
2. At the moment or in the near future, what 2 big
personal decisions do you think you need to
resolve? What’s your final decision? What did
you consider to make a “good” decision?
Share your answer to your group.
Knowledge is a requisite of confidence; confidence less knowledge is foolishness.
14
PADILLA, Mark John Q.
General Education Department GE 9: Ethics
PSU-Urdaneta City Campus REFLECT
READING ASSIGNMENT
1. Module 3 from the University Learning Material folder (see website)
2. pp. 41-63 of "Doing Ethics..." by Vaughn (2016) (access .pdf at [Link]/GE9-MP-V1)
3. pp. 7-17 of “An Introduction to Moral Philosophy” by Wolff (2018)
4. pp. 109-125 of “Moral Choices…” by Rae (2018)
KEYWORDS
1. Feelings, Reason, Impartiality, Argument, Premise, Conclusion, Logical Fallacies, 7-Step Moral
Reasoning Model, Will / Moral Courage, Moral Myopia, Moral Inability, Decision-Making
STUDENT ACTIVITY
1. I001M – My Personal Credo
2. P001M – Responding to Moral Dilemma
3. G003M – Learning Huddle (Chapter 3, Reflect Question #2)
15
