GECETH (Ethics)
REVIEWER - MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Second Semester, A.Y. 2022 – 2023
Ethics - A philosophical science that deals with the morality of human conduct or human acts.
Socrates - According to this Philosopher, the “unexamined life is not worth living for a man.”
Biomedical ethics - It is concerned with the rightness or wrongness of procedures that are performed in the
provision of health care systems.
Virtue - It is character formed and integrated in us when we do good actions repeatedly (habit), as much as
when a bad action is done over and over it gradually becomes a vice.
Ethos - A greek word where the word ethics was derived from.
*In the relationship bet. ethics and logic, logic is the science of right thinking whereas ethics is the science of right living.
Pleasure and pain - Jeremy Bentham idea, our actions are governed by these two “sovereign masters”.
*It is TRUE, that the relationship between religion and ethics is the closest among the phases of human activity.
Utility - It refers to a way of understanding the results of people’s actions.
Aristotle - According to this Philosopher, “The good is attainable by action.”
Rights - John Stuart Mill pointed out that these are a valid claim on society and are justified by utility, which are not
only limited to humans but extended to animals as well.
*Utilitarianism is interested with everyone’s happiness, in fact, the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
Virtuous actions - an action that is done by a person of good character
*In relation to education and ethics as part of the phases in human life, the primary aim of education is the
development of Moral Character.
*What Jeremy Bentham identified our natural moral preferability of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, Mill refers this
as Theory of life.
Plato – He said, the good lies in the other realm and possesses independent existence.
Consequentialism - the rightness of actions is determined solely by their consequences.
Hedonism - Utility is the degree to which an act produces pleasure.
Maximalism - a right action produces the greatest good consequences and the least bad.
Universalism - the consequences to be considered are those of everyone affected, and everyone equally.
*Aesthetics is derived from the Latin word aesthesis which refers to the judgment of personal approval or disapproval
made based on what we hear, see, smell and taste.
*Technical valuation and Aesthetic allow us to have a guide on matters concerning human well-being.
*Normative Ethics – is the study of ethics prescribes what ought to be maintained as standards or basis for
moral valuation.
*Moral Dilemma - happens in a situation where one is torn in choosing between lesser or two evils.
*St. Thomas Aquinas_- considered Law as an ordinance o reason promulgated for the common good.
*Cultural relativism - is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make judgments using
the standards of one’s own culture.
*Psychological egoism - is a theory that describes the underlying dynamics behind all human actions.
*Human positive law - refers to the different rules and regulations that are posited by an authority that
requires compliance.
*The properties of Natural law is the characteristic of being Universal/Unchangeable/Obligatory.
*A situation that calls for moral valuation is otherwise called moral issue.
NOTE: Highlighted are the right answers
Additional Notes:
Utilitarianism
When considering the moral permissibility of wiretapping, we calculate the costs and benefits of wiretapping. If
we calculate the costs and benefits of our actions, then we are considering an ethical theory that gives premium to the
consequences of actions as the basis of morality and as such is utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism -is an ethical theory that argues for the goodness of pleasure and the determination of right behavior
based on the usefulness of the action’s consequences. This means that pleasure is good, and that the goodness of an
action is determined by its usefulness. Its root word is “utility”, which refers to the usefulness of the consequences of
one’s action and behavior.
When we argue that wiretapping is permissible because doing so results in better public safety, then we are
arguing in a utilitarian way. It is utilitarian because we argue that some individual rights can be sacrificed for the sake of
the greater happiness of the many.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are the two foremost utilitarian thinkers. Their
system of ethics emphasizes the consequences of actions. This means that the goodness or the badness of an action is
based on whether it is useful in contributing to a specific purpose for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism is
consequentialist. This means that the moral value of actions and decisions is based solely or greatly on the usefulness of
their consequences; it is the usefulness of results that determines whether the action or behavior is good or bad. While
this is the case, not all consequentialist theories are utilitarian.
For Bentham and Mill, utility refers to a way of understanding the results of people’s actions . Specifically, they
are interested on whether these actions contribute or not to the total amount of resulting happiness in the world. The
utilitarian value pleasure and happiness; this means that the usefulness of actions is based on its promotion of
happiness. Bentham and Mill understand happiness as the experience of pleasure for the greatest number of persons,
even at the expense of some individual’s rights.
The Principle of Utility
In the book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789),
Jeremy Bentham begins by arguing that our actions are governed by two “sovereign masters” -- which he calls
pleasure and pain. These “masters” are given to us by nature to help us determine what is good or bad and what ought
to be done and not; they fasten our choices to their throne.
The principle of utility is about our subjection to these sovereign masters: pleasure and pain. This principle
refers to the motivation of our actions as guided by our avoidance of pain and our desire for pleasure. It is like saying
that in our everyday actions, we do what is pleasurable and we do not do what is painful. On the other hand, the
principles also refer to pleasure as good if, and only if, they produce more happiness than unhappiness. This means that
it is not enough to experience pleasure, but to also inquire whether the things we do make us happier. Having identified
the tendency for pleasure and the avoidance of pain as the principle of utility, Bentham equates happiness with
pleasure.
Mill supports Bentham’s principle of utility. He reiterates moral good as happiness and, consequently, happiness
as pleasure. Mill clarifies that what makes people happy is intended pleasure and what makes us happy is the privation
of pleasure. The things that produce happiness and pleasure are good; whereas, those that produce unhappiness and
pain are bad.
Mill argues that we act and do things because we find them pleasurable, and we avoid doing things because
they are painful. If we find our actions pleasurable, Mill explains, it is because they are inherently pleasurable in
themselves, or they eventually lead to the promotion of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Bentham and Mill
characterized moral value as utility and understood it as whatever produced happiness or pleasure and the avoidance of
pain. The next step is to understand the nature of pleasure and pain to identify a criterion for distinguishing pleasures
and to calculate the resultant pleasure or pain.
What Bentham identified as the natural moral preferability of pleasure, Mill refers to as a theory of life. If we
consider, for example, what moral agents do and how they assess their actions, then it is hard to deny the pursuit for
happiness and the avoidance of pain. For Bentham and Mill, the pursuit for pleasure and the avoidance of pain are not
only important principles--- but they are also in fact the only principle in assessing an action’s morality. Why is it
justifiable to wiretap private conversations in instances of treason, rebellion, espionage, and sedition? Why is it noble to
build schools and hospitals? Why is it good to improve the quality of life and the like? There is no answer than the
principle of utility, that is, to increase happiness and decrease pain.
Four Theses of Utilitarianism
1. Consequentialism: The rightness of actions is determined solely by their consequences.
2. Hedonism: Utility is the degree to which an act produces pleasure. Hedonism is the thesis that pleasure or
happiness is the good that we seek and that we should seek.
3. Maximalism: A right action produces the greatest good consequences and the least bad.
4. Universalism: The consequences to be considered are those of everyone affected, and everyone equally.
Different Applied Fields in Ethics
There are different ethical fields wherein the provision of general ethics can be applied. It is not enough to be
acquainted with different ethical theories without gaining knowledge about their application in actual situations that we
confront in our daily lives. We can come up with the realization of the significance of the different moral principles into
their application in the setting of the different ethical fields. We can also come up with the realization of how valuable it
is that an individual or groups have knowledge about moral principles and apply them in performing an action.
1. Bioethics/Biomedical Ethics - concerned with the rightness or wrongness of procedures that are performed in the
practice of medicine and the provision of health care systems. Let us try to understand this description of bioethics in
the light of this situation.
“Theresa Ann Campo Pearson, an infant known to the public as “Baby Theresa” was born in Florida in 1992. Baby
Theresa had anencephaly, one of the worst genetic disorders. Anencephalic infants are sometimes referred to as “babies
without brains”, but that is not accurate. Important parts of the brain --the cerebrum and cerebellum are missing, as is
the top of the skull. The brain stem, is still there, and so the baby can still breathe and possess a heartbeat. In the United
States, most cases of anencephaly are detected during pregnancy, and the fetus are usually aborted. Of those aborted,
half are still born. About 350 are born alive each year, and then they usually die within days. Baby Theresa’s story is
remarkable only because her parents made an unusual request. Knowing that their baby would die soon and could never
be conscious, Theresa’s parents volunteered her organs for immediate transplant. They thought her kidneys, liver, heart,
lungs, and eyes should go to other children who could benefit from them. Her physicians agreed. Thousands of infants
need transplants each year, and there are never enough organs available. But Theresa’s organs were not taken, because
Florida law forbids the removal of organs until the donor is dead. By the time Baby Theresa died, nine days later, it was
too late-her organs deteriorated too much to be harvested and transplanted. Baby Theresa’s case was widely debated.
Should she have been killed so that her organs could have been used to save other children? (Rachels & Racchels, 2012).
2. Environmental Ethics - it covers acceptable or unacceptable actions affecting the environment (De Castro & De Villa,
2012). As what one of the green movements’ slogans is saying, “harm to the environment will bring harm to the
people.” So, this particular ethical field promotes the welfare of human beings by promoting the well-being of the
environment since we are part of it. Here is a simple example of an environmental ethical concern.
There was a news that the mayor in one of the municipalities was trying to catch the endangered species
Butanding in their seas because Butandings were eating small fishes in their bodies of water which was causing loss of
income to the townspeople. Are you in favor of the mayor’s initiative? What is your moral valuation about the practice of
catching sharks and to get their spin and returning the shark to the sea after?
3. Business Ethics - concerned with what is acceptable and unacceptable business code of conducts are affecting the
business enterprises. And when speaking of the business enterprise, it includes both the owner or investor and or the
consumer. This field measures and establishes guidelines for the economic dynamics, including the moral aspect of the
supply and demand, the benefits-cost-profit ratio, rule of competition and fair opportunity for the consumers. Let’s also
take a look at the example below.
It is wrongful for a celebrity to endorse a product that may be harmful to consumers? Is it wrongful if a celebrity
endorses a product that he or she does not use? What about the companies that set up these deals? Do they have any
responsibilities to the celebrities who sign on with them? (Bredeson, 2012)
4. Legal Ethics - norms of conduct or standards that law practitioners, such as judges, lawyers, notary public, law makers,
must follow in the practice of the profession.
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