WEEK 1: PHILOSOPHY, IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS, ETHICS AND MORAL, MORAL

AND STANDARD

PHILOSOPHY

- Traditionally philosophy is defined as love of wisdom because it came from two Greek
words philos (love) and Sophia (wisdom).
- Greek Philosopher ‘Pythagoras’
- Search for meaning
- Science of all sciences
- Mother of all science
- Search for the ultimate meaning of reality

3 Classifications of Love
● Eros (Erasthai) - Passionate/intense love for something, sexual desire-erotic (erotikos).
● Agape - Love of God for men
● Philia - Love that seeks truth/appreciation of the other, of a person or reality

Philosophy Significance
● Provides students with fundamental views in coping the changing demands and ethical
problems
● Develop students ability to comprehend, systematic learning and enhance critical
thinking skills.

Branches of Philosophy
● Philosophy and Science - Discusses truths about the universe
● Philosophy and History - Serves as the breeding ground of philosophy and it defines
history and interprets.
● Philosophy and Mathematics - Logical bodies of knowledge
● Philosophy and Religion - that one justifies the other

MAJOR DISCIPLINE IN PHILOSOPHY

● Logic - The study of right and sound reasoning
● Epistemology - The study of the validity of knowledge
● Metaphysics - Seeks to explain the fundamental concepts of existence
● Aesthetics - The philosophical study of beauty
● Cosmology - Deals with the study of real things in the universe
● Theodicy - The study of God and his nature
● Social philosophy - The study if human and their relation to society
● Ethics - The science of the morality of human acts
WHERE DOES ETHICS FALL?

Axiology - The study of nature of value and valuation, and valuable things.

ETHICS

- From Greek word “ethos” or “ethikos” meaning (character)

- CHED defines ethics as “deals with principles of ethical behavior in modern society at
the level of the person, society, and in interaction with the environment and other shared
resources “

IMPERATIVE OF ETHICS
● Human freedom - Be responsible for one’s action
● Existence of God - God’s presence is the salient factor that makes sense in the study of
Ethics. God alone can give the final judge
● Immortality of the souls - A corner stone in Ethics

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
● Truthfulness or Honesty - Among the basic principles of natural moral law
● Loyalty - The willing, practical and thoroughgoing devotion of a person to a cause
● Respect - “Respect for person
● Fairness - Equity, respect, justice and stewardship of the shared world
● Integrity - Imposes and obligation on all individuals to be straightforward and honest in
all professional and business relationships.

GOOD VS RIGHT

● GOOD - Has something to do with the achievement of goals; beneficial.

● RIGHT - Has something to do with compliance with laws and rules; duty.

RULES - It is an instruction that tells what we are allowed to do and not to do.

Significance of Rules
● It organizes relationship between individuals
● Rules make it clear on what is right to do or to follow in a society and what are wrong to
refrain from
● Provides a opportunities to achieve personal and societal goals
● Regulates various social institutions to fulfill their integral roles for the common welfare.
MORAL

- From Latin word “mos” meaning custom

- Refers to social, cultural, and religious beliefs or values practiced overtime by individual
or group, to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong

Moral Principles
● Do not cheat
● Be loyal
● Be patient
● Always tell the truth
● Be generous

6 CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARD

● Involves serious or wrong significant benefits (ex. Following or violating rules in a game)
● Ought to be preferred to other values ( ex. White lies, following ones dream but leaving
one's family, unbearable laws)
● Not established by authority figure
● Based on impartial consideration
● Associated with special emotions and vocabulary

MORAL VS ETHICS

MORAL
- Knowns as knowledge theory custom
- Principles of right and wrong
- Right and wrong
- General guidelines framed by the society
- Dictated by society, culture or religion
- Vary from society to society and culture to culture
- Expressed in a form of statement

ETHICS
- Wisdom application character
- It is the right and wrong conduct in a particular situation
- Good or evil
- Response to particular situation
- Chosen by a person under the dictate of right reason
- Remains the same regardless of any culture, religion, or society
- Translated into an explicit action
MORAL STANDARD VS NON-MORAL STANDARD

MORAL STANDARD
- Concerned with or relating to human behavior especially the distinction of good and bad
or right or wrong
- Associated with special emotions and vocabulary

NON-MORAL STANDARD
- Rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations
- Ex. Etiquette, fashion standard, rules in games, house rules, legal statues (laws,
ordinances)

“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do” -
Potter Stewart

WEEK 2: DILEMMA AND FOUNDATION OF MORALITY

DILEMMA
- It is a difficult situation in which an individual is confronted to choose between two or
more alternative actions to resolve the problem.

TYPES OF DILEMMA

1. Classic Dilemmas - Different criteria, same behavior

Examples:
a) Order vs Freedom
b) Empowerment vsAlignment

2. Temporal Dilemmas – Same process, different criteria applied at a different time

Examples:
a) Innovation vs Manufacturability
b) Speed (customer satisfaction) vs Accuracy
(process integrity)

3. Orthogonal Dilemmas – Different behaviors, different criteria

Examples: Centralization vs Decentralization, Service orientation vs Product
orientation
 4. Sequential Dilemmas - Different behaviors, different times
Examples: Performance vs Development, Work vsHome

5. Unequal Dilemma – The dilemma is split across unequal status

Examples: High growth vs Organization integrity, Fiscal stability through cost cutting
vs Preserving capability, Product innovation vs Support for existing product lines

MORAL DILEMMA
- It is defined as any situation in which the person making the decision experiences a
conflict between the moral rightness of a decision and the quality of the results it
produces.
- Many times it involves a morally wrong decision that produces a desirable result, or
vice versa.
- Other times it involve a decision in which the person is forced to choose only one of
two good things

TYPES OF MORAL DILEMMA

1. Personal dilemma – These are situations in which an individual has a choice to be made
between two options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable
fashion.

2. Organizational Dilemma – Organizational ethics are the principles and standards by

which businesses operate, according to Reference for Business. They are best
demonstrated through acts of fairness, compassion, integrity, honor and responsibility.

3. Systematic Dilemma – The process of systematic moral analysis is predicated on moral

rule violations, which result in harm to another person or persons.

FOUNDATION OF MORALITY: FREEDOM AS REQUISITE ON MORAL

RESPONSIBILITY

● Freedom as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without
hindrance or restraint; “we do have some freedom of choice.”
● Freedom, in politics, consists of the social, political, and economic freedoms to
which all community members are entitled. In philosophy, freedom involves free will
as contrasted with determinism.
● Kant claims that freedom is the source of all value
 ● Saint Augustine showed that human is free physically, yet bound to obey the law

● For Gorbachev (1988), the principle of freedom is a must - Refusal to recognize this
principle will have serious consequences to the issue of world peace.
● Moral freedom - Involves freedom over the things that matter most.
● Quito (2008) Explains that no ethics is likewise possible without human freedom.
(human being are accountable for their actions)

REASON AND IMPARTIALITY

● Immanuel Kant argued that “morality was based on reason alone, and once we
understood it, we would see that acting morally is the same as acting rationally.”

REASONS
- Enables us to think and reflect over actions that we intend to do and
decide which of them to take.

IMPARTIALITY
- Is a principle of justice holding that decisions or judgment on something or someone
should be objective not on the basis of bias or prejudice to favor someone.

> A mere knowledge of morality will not make human moral (there has to be an application
of it, by obeying the rules) irrationally.

WEEK 3: MORAL AGENT AND CULTURE

MORAL AGENT

● Capable of acting with reference to right and wrong.

● Expected to meet the demands of morality (choosing between good and evil)
● Capable of conforming to at least some of the demands of morality.
● Should have the capacity to rise above their feelings and passions and act for the sake
of the moral law. someone who is capable of doing things rightly or wrongly.
● A Person who has the ability to discern right from wrong and to be held accountable for
his or her own actions.
● Have a moral responsibility not to cause unjustified harm
● Those who can be held responsible for their actions.
CULTURE

● It is an aggregate of beliefs, attitudes etc. which can be viewed as a "blessing" and a

preserver of values, heritage, arts and good behavior.
● It can also be a "baggage" when we consider that it transmits some irrational and
out-of-date attitudes included in it as custom.
● It changes with time.

TYPES OF CULTURE

1. High Culture - Linked with the elite, upper class society, those families and individuals with
an ascribed status position. It is often associated with the arts such as opera, ballet and
classical music, and sports such as polo.

2. Cultural Diversity - A concept relating to culturally embedded differences within society, it's
the fact that different cultures exist alongside each other.

3. Subculture - Culture enjoyed by a small group within society. In this sense it is a minority part
of majority culture. They have distinct norms and values which make them a sub-section of
society.

4. Popular Culture - It borrows the idea from high culture and popularized it, making it available
lot the masses, a product of a media dominated world; it is a positive force for it brings people of
different backgrounds together in a common culture.

5. Multiculturalism - It is depicted to be very similar to cultural diversity, other definitions align

multiculturalism with different ethnic groups living alongside each other.

6. Global Culture - A global culture is a key feature of globalization, they emerged due to
patterns of migration, trends in international travel and the spread of the media, exposing people
to the same images of the same dominant world companies.

Significance of Culture
● Culture affects perceptions.
● Culture influences behavior
● Culture shapes personalities.
● Culture shapes our value and belief systems
MORAL BEHAVIOR
- Moral behaviors are what one believes to be the right things to do.

> For example, following your society's (or other social group's) rules of good behavior where
honesty is highly valued, telling the truth is important

ROLE OF CULTURE IN MORAL BEHAVIOR

● Plays significant pseudo role within in shaping moral behavior and extends even further
to social norms.
● Influences human behavior at any given society's belief system, laws, mores, practices,
language and attitudinal variables which make a people unique from others (Victor,
2017).
● Has a great impact in the development of the human person in varied ways; may it be in
physical, knowledge, thought, relationship, religious or moral development.
● To mold and establish a social identity that brings people as well to provide the
knowledge of common objectives which members would try to achieve
● The principle that surrounds the moral development of the people that may not always
promote what is good and just for all

CULTURAL RELATIVISM
- Principle of regarding the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of
that culture itself. Factors such as diverse geography is the primary shape of one's
culture.
- It is an affirmation that holds that societies are dissimilar in their moral standards, their
laws and culture protocols.

ETHICAL RELATIVISM
- The theory holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. That is, whether
an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is
practiced.
- It denies the existence of one universal moral law.

MORAL RELATIVISM
- The view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular
standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint is
uniquely privileged over all others
- There is no universal or absolute set of moral principles.
MORAL RELATIVISM CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE FF. WAYS:

A. Descriptive moral relativism/cultural relativism - Moral standards are culturally defined,

which is generally true.

B. Meta-ethical moral relativism - There are no objective grounds for preferring the moral
values of one culture over another.

C. Normative moral relativism - The idea that all societies should accept each other's differing
moral values, given that there are no universal moral principles.

“If it is not right to not do it; if it is not true do not say it” - Marcus Aurelius

WEEK 4: ASIAN MORAL CHARACTER

❖ BUDDHISM CHARACTER
❖ CONFUCIUS CHARACTER
❖ FILIPINO MORAL CHARACTER

BUDDHISM CHARACTER

● Buddhism - Shapes character in Southeast Asia as Christianity does in Europe.

● Theravada Buddhism - Encourages its practitioners to keep their emotions and
passions in check and stresses karma over determination, which often means people
are more willing to accept their lot in life and is sometimes viewed by Westerners as a
lack of ambition or unwillingness to work hard to improve their positions in life.

BUDDHISM FIVE BASIC MORAL PROHIBITIONS

1. Refrain for taking life;
2. Don't steal;
3. Avoid illicit sexual activity;
4. Don't speak falsely; and
5. Refrain from consuming inebriating substances
CONFUCIUS CHARACTER

FIVE CARDINAL VIRTUES:

1. Jen - Benevolence in terms of sympathy for others

2. Vi - Reflected in the shame felt after doing something wrong
3. Li - Manners propriety and feelings of deference
4. Chih - Wisdom, in terms of discerning right and wrong
5. Hsin - Loyalty and good faith.

FILIPINO MORAL CHARACTER

● Friendly, outgoing, sensitive, easily offended, nosy, garrulous, direct, hospitable, feisty,
irreverent, good natured, clever, witty, gregarious, happy, generous, easy to laugh,
gracious, easy to befriend, casual, fun loving, sensitive and hospitable.
● Value education, has shame (hiya)
● Filipinos as "the easiest people in Asia to get along with."

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES OF A FILIPINO CHARACTER

STRENGTH

1. Pakikipagkapwa-tao - Basic sense of justice and fairness, concern for others and ability to
empathize with others
2. Strong Family Ties - Possess a genuine and deep love for family - source of personal
identity, emotional and material support. Has honor to elder and care to children
3. Joy and Humor - being cheerful and fun loving
4. Flexibility, Adaptability and Creativity - We can adjust and to adapt to circumstances and
the surrounding environment, both physical and social
5. Hard Work and Industry - We have the capacity for hard work given proper conditions; to
raise one's standard of living and to possess the essentials of a decent life for one's family.
6. Faith and Religiosity

WEAKNESSES

1. Extreme Personalism - We tend to give personal interpretations to actions, i.e., "take things
personally".
2. Extreme Family Centeredness - Results in a lack of concern for the common good and acts
as a block to national consciousness.
3. Lack of Discipline - being impatient and unable to delay gratification or reward
4. Passivity and Lack of Initiative
5. Colonial mentality
6. Kanya-Kanya Syndrome
7. Lack of self-analysis and self-reflection - There is a tendency in the Filipino to be
superficial and even somewhat flighty.

FILIPINO POSITIVE VALUES

● Hospitability
● Helpful to others/Bayanihan
● Respectful (mano, po and opo, halik sa kamay)
● Bravery
● Jolliness and sense of humor
● Discretion and dignity
● Gratefulness
● Honesty and commitment (palabra de honor)
● Helpfulness
● Family-oriented
● Adaptability and resilience
● Resourcefulness and creativity
● Faithfulness
● Thriftiness

FILIPINO NEGATIVE VALUES

1. Fatalism - An attitude of "what goes around, comes around" or "come what may."
2. Crab mentality - People tend to push each other down to clear the way for their own
gain.
3. Ningas-Kugon - Leaving our work either half-baked or unfinished.
4. Filipino Time - Known to be minutes or hours behind the standard time. Thus, we tend
not to observe punctuality at all.
5. Colonial Mentality - Preference for all things foreign over our own
6. General Disregard for Rules - Filipinos are known law abiding individuals but with
stronger inclination to disregard these laws.
7. Procrastination or the "Mañana Habit"
8. Corruption - ‘’Lagay or suhol’’
9. Gossiping - Talking about others' business.
10. Passivity (lack of leadership) - Lack of initiative for change

‘’ Our value is the sum of our values’’ - Joe Batten