KEY CONCEPTS IN

ETHICS
by

RESTIE ALLAN A. PUNO, EdD, LPT

Ethics Professor
 LESSON OBJECTIVES

• At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• 1. Define Ethics.
• 2. Distinguish the concept of moral standards from
non-moral and amoral standards.
• 3. Articulate the differences of ordinary rules from
moral rules/standards.
AN ATTEMPT FOR A DEFINITION

• There are various definitions of Ethics such

that anyone would be led to think a
universal one is impossible to formulate.

• Hence, many ethical discussions end in

controversies; some result to even more
divergent views about the subject matter.
AN ATTEMPT FOR A DEFINITION

• Some views relate ethics to other words like

RIGHT, VALUE, MORALS, GOOD, EVIL,
HAPPINESS in their attempt to define the term.

• Some provide practical and common questions

that relate to Acts, Desires and Needs from
which individuals find life’s meanings and
purposes.
AN ATTEMPT FOR A DEFINITION

• There are different definitions of ethics

because there are numerous questions
entailed in our views regarding
rightness and wrongness; as well as the
diverse responses to these questions.
 ETHICS
• From Greek words, “ethos” meaning custom
or particular behavior.
• Popularly, ethics is the branch of philosophy
that studies morality or the rightness or
wrongness of human action.
• Morality relates to a code or system of
behavior with regards to the standards of
right or wrong behavior.
 ETHICS

• Ethics stands to queries about what/there is

a reason to do – dealing with human actions
and the reasons for actions.

• Ethics and Morality necessarily carry the

concept of MORAL STANDARDS or
MORAL RULES with regard behavior.
 MAJOR ETHICAL QUESTIONS

• What is GOOD?
• Who is a MORAL PERSON?
• What are VIRTUES of a human being?
• What makes an act RIGHT?
• What duties do we have to each other?
 ETHICAL QUESTIONS AND
RESPONSES
• What is your idea of RIGHTNESS?
• Is it right to aspire for your dreams?
• Is it right to long for material things?

• What is HAPPINESS for you?

• Good Food? Fame? Comfort? Honor? Love?
Winning? Beauty? Friendship?
 ETHICAL QUESTIONS AND
RESPONSES

• How would you like your life to be?

• Free Spirit? Knowledge-Seeker?

• What do you value?

• Faith? Friendship? Freedom? Existence?
 • RIGHT?
• GOOD?
• HAPPINESS?
• VALUES?

• How am I supposed to live my life?

• Why do I need these things?
 STUDY ON MORALITY

• Moral Standards as opposed to Non-Moral

and Amoral Standards
 QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

• Why are there rules?

• What rules do you find most constricting?

• How do moral standards differ from other

rules in our lives?
 IMPORTANCE OF RULES

• Rules refer to explicit or understood regulations

or principles governing conduct within a
specific activity or sphere.
• Rules tell us what is or is not allowed in a
particular context or situation.
• Rules serve as foundation for any healthy
society. Without rules, society would fall into
anarchy.
 IMPORTANCE OF RULES

• Rules protect social beings by regulating behavior.

• Rules help guarantee each person certain rights and freedom.

• Rules produce a sense of justice among social beings.

• Rules are essential for a healthy economic system.

 THE MORAL STANDARDS

• Not all rules are moral rules, not all standards are moral
standards

• Morality may refer to the standards that a person or a group

has about what is right and wrong. Moral standards are those
concerned with or relating to human behavior, especially the
distinction between good and bad behavior.
 THE NON-MORAL STANDARDS

• Non-moral standards refer to rules that are

unrelated to moral or ethical considerations.
They are not necessarily linked to morality
or by nature lack ethical sense. They are the
usual rules in our lives.

• Look at the following examples:

 THE USUAL RULES IN OUR
LIVES…
• Etiquette: Standards by which manners are
judged to be good or bad normally dictated
by a socio-economic elite.

• Athletic: Standards by which we judge how

good or bad a game is played, usually
formulated by its governing bodies.
 THE USUAL RULES IN OUR
LIVES…
• Legal: Standards by which legal right or wrong is
judged in a democracy; formulated by representatives
of people.

• Language: Standards by which grammatically right or

wrong languages is judged, evolving through its usage.

• Aesthetics: Standards by which good or bad art is

judged dictated by a small circle of arts specialists.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
STANDARDS
• 1. Moral Standards involve serious wrongs or significant
benefits to human beings.
• 2. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values. It has
hegemonic authority – a person has the moral obligation to do
something, then he is supposed to do that even if it conflicts
with other non-moral standards, and even with self-interest.
• 3. Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL
STANDARDS
• 4. Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.

• 5. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations

• 6. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and

vocabulary.
 WHAT IS COMMON TO ALL
THESE CHARACTERISTICS?
• No other than society taken in broadest
sense… Society is interpreted
philosophically as the “other”. Only human
beings can have moral standards.

• Non-compliance with moral standards would

seriously injure us as human beings.
 ETHICS AND MORALS

• When do you say an experience calls for a

Moral Decision?

…..a choice made based on the person’s ethics, manners,

characters…
 TAKE THESE EXAMPLES…

• You went to SM Department Store to buy a pair of rubber shoes.

Brand A costs 2K; Brand B costs 5K…
• Your wife gave you 5K…
• You were jobless at the moment…
• Your son and daughter will enroll this coming August…
• Your mother was rushed to the hospital because of lingering
illness…
• You owe your neighbor 1K and you promise to pay the moment
you have extra money.
ETHICS and MORALS
in FOCUS
 WHAT ARE THEY?

• Ethics refers to the rules of conduct recognized

in respect to a particular class of human actions
or a particular group or culture.

• Morals are the principles or habits with respect

to right or wrong conduct. While morals are also
prescribe do’s and don’t’s, morality is ultimately
a personal compass of right and wrong.
 WHAT IS THEIR ORIGIN?

• Ethics comes from the Greek word “ethos”

meaning character.

• Moral comes from the Latin word, “mores”

meaning custom.
WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?

• Ethics comes from social system (external

source). We do it because society says it is the
right thing to do.

• Morality comes from individual themselves

(internal source). We do it (or we do not do it)
because we believe on something being right or
wrong.
 WHAT IS THE FLEXIBILITY OF
THE CONCEPTS?
• Ethics are dependent on others for
definition. They tend to be consistent within
a certain context, but can vary between
contexts.

• Moral is usually consistent, although can

change if an individual’s beliefs change.
 ACCEPTABILITY OF THE
TERMS…
• Ethics are governed by professional and legal
guidelines within a particular time and place.

• Moral norms transcends cultural norms.

Source:http://www.differen.com/difference/Ethics vs Morals
 IN OTHER WORDS…

• Ethics is a code of conduct that pertain to a community, family,

company or a nation. On the other hand, morality refers to
personal sets of beliefs about what is right or wrong.

• Ethics is accepted by the entity of the community but morals

are not.

• People have their morals that may or may not be in sync with
society’s ethics.
 THUS, THE STUDY OF ETHICS…

• Ethics entails a reflective distance to critically examine

standards.

• Ethics looks at values beneath the moral standards

(answers the questions of WHAT and WHY we do the
act)

• Ethics looks into the agent who makes the moral

decision (level of maturity and moral development)
 THUS, THE STUDY OF ETHICS…

• It is about moral decision process (HOW we

arrive at the moral decision)

• Ethics is not solely about the theoretical

knowledge but the application of that
knowledge… how to transform such
knowledge into action in our everyday life.
THANK YOU!