1. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Norms of Morality
c Ethics has two fundamental questions that it
seeks to answer:
q What is morality?
q What is the ultimate purpose of man?
c The science of ethics directs us to do which is
right.
c The right and good things are the only way to
happiness.
c Why do you think so?
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2. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Norms of Morality
c Good act befits human nature.
c This is because it gives him happiness and peace
of mind.
c Human nature is a complex concept
q Man is an economic being having basic needs to
survive
q Man is a social being (“no man is an island”)
q Man is a logical being
THESE ARE JUST SOME OF ASPECTS OF HUMAN
NATURE!
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3. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Norms of Morality
c Morality is therefore based on human nature.
c Difference of opinion does occur as to what is the
interpretation of right and wrong.
c There may be a difference but there is a
distinction.
c Theories have been devised to understand what is
the metric of morality – the standard or norm.
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4. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories on the
Norm of Morality
c HEDONISM is an ethical theory based on pleasure.
c Man seeks to act on anything that is pleasurable
to him.
c Morality is grounded on the pleasure or
satisfaction of an act.
c Good actions equates pleasure, bad actions
equates pain.
c Could you name some pleasurable acts?
q Sleeping
q Eating
q Surfing the net
q Sex
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5. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Utilitarianism
c A theory closely linked to hedonism where utility is
the main norm of morality.
c Good brings temporal welfare and happiness to
man where as bad produces the opposite.
c As one would note, the basis on assessing the act
to be good or bad is the consequence or the effect
of the action.
c There are two types of utilitarianism:
q Individual
q Social
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6. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Kinds of Utilitarianism
c Individual utilitarianism is based on the self
q Actions that bring welfare to the self is good
q Actions does not regard the effect on others but on
personal effect that links this theory to hedonism
q Other names include egoistic utilitarianism or
egoism
c Social utilitarianism is based on society
q Actions that bring welfare and temporal happiness
to society is deemed good
q Other names include altruistic utilitarianism or
altruism
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7. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Critical Thoughts on Hedonism
and Utilitarianism
c Both theories have merit in bringing into light that
man is also an emotional being
c Good acts bring pleasure to man but there is a
limit. Do you agree?
c On the negative side, it makes morality relative.
Since all good acts must result in pleasure or
welfare, morality is constantly assessed on the
results.
“The goodness of an act must be based on the act
itself and not the effect.”
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8. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Communism
c Communism is primarily an economic theory.
c Since we have stated that part of man is him
being an economic being there is warrant in
looking at this theory.
c Communism holds that matter is the only reality.
Anything beyond that does not exist. This results in
the denial of the following:
q God
q Freedom of will
q Immortality (spirit)
c Since all of these is not matter to begin with it is
denied!
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9. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Communism
c The classless state is the ultimate goal.
c Any means to achieve this is accepted as good.
c Use of violence resulting in bloodshed, war or
famine is acceptable.
c Primary source of the end justifies the mean
concept.
c The primacy of economic theory is present.
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10. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Thoughts on Communism
c Economic theory is given high importance but man
is more than an economic being.
c What is the difference between Christian ethics
and communism?
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11. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral
Rationalism
c Rationalism is a branch of epistemology which
maintains that all knowledge and truths are based
on reason.
c Human reason is the source of all knowledge,
truths, laws and principles.
c Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher that
advocated this theory.
c Moral rationalism means that all moral laws and
moral obligations is human reason.
c Reason commands and those commands are
absolute and unconditional binding all men.
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12. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral
Rationalism
c Categorical imperative is what the previous
statement is termed by Kant.
c Good must be done because we must and
virtuous acts must be practiced for virtues sake.
c Reason makes the law and that same reason
compels the entity that has reason to obey it.
c Since reason is universal the test of goodness
could be made universally without contradiction.
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13. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Criticism of Moral
Rationalism
c Merit lies in the acceptance of the absoluteness of
morality.
c Negative side is the absence of motive behind
actions.
c Moral rationalism maintains that an act must be
done for the sake of the act. Motivation could also
be a basis to judge whether an act is moral.
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14. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral
Evolutionism
c Under this theory, morality is never constant.
c Morality and ethics are constantly changing.
c It is an application of biological evolution theory to
morality.
c Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher,
believed that in the beginning there is no
distinction between right and wrong.
c According to Nietzsche, the laws we have are laws
of slaves with the aid of priests when they
overcame aristocrats.
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15. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral
Evolutionism
c These are the laws that Christianity seeks to
propagate.
c These laws elevates and glorifies the weak
according Nietzsche.
c Nietzsche stated that we must produce the strong.
c The survival of the fittest is applied to morality as
well. The production of superman.
c The superman is a product of hardship, hatred,
cruelty, war etc.
c This is the end of morality.
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16. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral
Evolutionism
c Good would produce the “superman”
c Bad would produce the weak
c This theory resonates the militaristic theory of the
Germans during the war
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17. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral Positivism
c Theory that states that morality is based on the
laws of the state.
c Good which is in accord with the law; Bad which is
prohibited.
c One famous exponent is Hobbes, English
philosopher.
c He stated that prior to the formation of states and
law that man was in constant war.
c In order to ensure the survival of the race the
state and laws were established.
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18. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Critic on Moral Positivism
c The existence of laws are indeed utilized for
litigations. It is the metric to which actions are
given sentence.
c The problem however arises because under this
theory murder is wrong because it is prohibited by
laws rather than murder is prohibited because it is
wrong.
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19. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Theories: Moral Sensism
c This theory asserts that man is endowed with a
special moral sense separate and distinct from
reason.
c There is however no positive proof that would
substantiate this claim.
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20. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Specific Determinants of
Morality
c An act to be morally good must be good in all
aspects.
c A healthy person is not considered healthy if the
consideration is only to the physical.
c Health comes as a totality so does morality.
c An act must be entirely and wholly good, anything
that lacking would make it bad.
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21. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Specific Determinants of
Morality
c The End of Action
c The End of Agent
c The Circumstance
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22. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
The Circumstance
c The specific determinants
c Affect the goodness and badness of an action
c Aside from that which determine the quality of an
action
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23. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
End of Action
c Natural purpose of an act
c The act in its nature terminates or results
c Learning is the by-product of the end action
c Primary determinant of morality of an action
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24. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
End of Agent
c The intent
c The aim of the entity that initiates and finishes the
action
c Would vary between agents whereas the end of
action would always be the same
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25. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Situation Ethics
c A modern approach to assessing the ethical
weight of an action.
c It does advocate the relativity of moral standards
meaning there is no absolute right or wrong.
c It takes two forms:
q The total denial of moral standards
q Softening the role of morality standards to solve
dilemmas
c The circumstance must be taken into
consideration because this is where ethical
assessment is based.
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26. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Situation Ethics
c There are categories of circumstance:
q Aggravating – adds seriousness to an offense
q Mitigating – lessens the gravity of the crime
q Justifying – makes the action right
q Exempting – exempts the agent from liability
c Take the case of Murder
c When does it become aggravating, mitigating,
justifying, and exempting?
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27. Professional Ethics with Values Formation
Situation Ethics Example
c MURDER
q Aggravating when
• There is planning
• There is real intent
• Use of influence or money to undertake the crime
q Mitigating when
• There was no planning
• No real intent or by accident
q Justifying
• Self-defense
q Exempting
• Mental illness
• Underage
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