Week 1 and 2 Lecture on Ethics Class for Undergraduates

Week 1 and 2 Ethics Class

1. Ethics and
Morals
Lecture 02

2. Ethics and
Morals

3. The Meaning of Ethics and
Morals
•“EthicsisabranchofPhilosophythatusedtostudy
idealhumanbehaviorandidealwaysofbeing.”(Rich,
2020,p.4)
•“Aristotlebelievethatidealbehaviorswerepractices
thatleadtotheendgoalofeudaimonia-synonymous
withahighlevelofhappinessorwell-being.”(Ibid)
•“ImmanuelKant…believedthatidealbehaviorwas
actinginaccordancewithone’sduty.ForKant,well-
beingmeanthavingtoanend,beingtreatedwith
dignity,andhavingthecapabilitytothinkrationally.”
(Ibid)

4. Ethics as a philosophical
discipline of study
•“Ethicsisasystematicapproachtounderstanding,
analyzing,anddistinguishingmattersofrightandwrong,
goodandbad,andadmirableanddeplorableasthey
relatetothewell-beingofandtherelationshipsamong
sentientbeings.”(Ibid)
•“Ethicsisanactiveprocessratherthanastaticcondition,
sosomeethicistsusetheexpressiondoingethics.”(Ibid)

5. Doing Ethics
Justify their
positions
through logical,
theoretically
based
arguments
Beliefs and
assertions with
sound
reasoning

6. Ethics as a philosophical
discipline of study
•“Feelings and emotions are a normal part of
everyday life and can play a legitimate role in
doing ethics.” (Ibid)
•If we allow emotions to overcome us on decision
making, it will not provide “a good foundation for
ethics-related decisions.”

7. Morals

8. Morals
•“Morals are specific beliefs, behaviors, and ways
of being derived from doing ethics.” (Ibid)
•“One’s morals are judged to be good or bad
through systematic ethical analysis.” (Rich, 2020,
pp. 4-5)
•“Immorality…aperson’sbehaviorisinopposition
toacceptedsocietal,religious,cultural,or
professionalethicalstandardsandprinciples.”
(Rich,2020,p.5)

9. Amoral
•“Amoralisatermusedtorefertoactionsthat
cannormallybejudgedasmoralorimmoralbut
aredonewithalackofconcernforgood
behavior.”(Ibid)
•Itistruethatmurderisimmoral.However,ifthe
murderercommittedsuchactwithabsolutelyno
senseofremorseormaybeasenseofpleasure,
thepersonisactinginanamoralway.

10. Nonmoral
•It is considered nonmoral if “moral standards”
essentially do not apply to the acts.
•Choosing between pandesal and cereal for
breakfast is a nonmoral decision.

11. Unethical
•“Thetermunethicalisusedtodescribeethicsin
itsnegativeformwhen,forinstance,aperson’s
characterorbehavioriscontrarytoadmirable
traitsorthecondeofconductthathasbeen
endorsedbyone’ssociety,community,
profession.”(p.5)

12. No one can avoid making moral or
ethical decisions
Private morality does not exist.
Moral decisions matter
There will be no definite conclusions or
resolutions on ethical debates
People cannot exercise moral judgment
without being given a choice

13. Normative ethics (How
humans should behave, what
ought to be done in certain
situations, how one should
be.)
Common morality (normative
beliefs and behaviors
generally accepted by society.
Also known as Universal
morality.)
Meta-ethics (understanding
the language of morality
through an analysis of the
meaning of ethically related
concepts and theories.)
Descriptive Ethics (often
referred to as a scientific
rather than philosophical
ethical inquiry.)
Ethical Inquiry

14. Ethical
Relativism

15. Ethical Relativism
•It is the belief that it is acceptable for ethics and
morality to differ among persons or societies.
•Ethical Subjectivism believe “that individuals
create their own morality [an that] there are no
objective moral truths-only individual opinions.”
(p.7) It is “how people feel about actions rather
than on reason or systematic ethical analysis.”

16. Ethical Relativism
•According to Pence (2000), cultural relativism is
defined as “the ethical theory that moral
evaluation is rooted in and cannot be separated
from the experience, beliefs, and behaviors or a
particular culture, and hence, that what is wrong
in one culture may not be so in another.” (p.7)

17. Ethical Objectivism is the belief that universal or
objective moral principals exist.
Value is something of worth or something that is
highly regarded.
Reasoning is the use of abstract thought processes to think
creatively, to answer questions, to solve problems, and to formulate
strategies for one’s actions and desired ways of being.
Moral Reasoning pertains to reasoning focused
on moral or ethical issues.

18. References
•Rachels, James (1904) “What is Morality?”
Chap. 1 in The Elements of Moral Philosophy.
McGraw Hill Publication.
•Rich, Karen (2020). Introduction to Ethics. Jones
& Bartlett Learning.