Ethics | Final Term-Reviewer
NORM- standard of measurement; like measuring the size, weight, length, duration, intensity,
quantity, and/or depth.
TYPES OF NORM
- Eternal Divine Law(Objective) It is the ultimate and absolute norm of morality;
independent of any standard.
- Human Reason(Subjective) It is related to the person's conscience
LAW AS THE OBJECT NORM
- general notion of law
- moral law defined
- division of law
GENERAL NOTION OF LAW
• law is a norm which governs nature and action of things
• law of nature - principles that governs natural phenomena
• natural law - refers to the free acts of rational being
MORAL LAW DEFINED - law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by a
leader of community moral
DIVISION OF LAW: THE ETERNAL LAW
Attributes of Eternal Law
Eternal law is eternal and unchangeable and is absolutely universal
DIVISION OF LAW:THE NATURAL LAW
Refers to the operational tendencies of the human nature - the chemical, biological,
physiological, and rational properties of man as an organism
Natural law is the tendency of human nature towards growth and self-fulfillment
HUMAN POSITIVE LAW AND THE MORAL LAW
Derived from the natural law and promulgated for the common good by a human agency
which has a charge of a society; a sovereign one; juridical order of the society human.
LAW AS THE SUBJECT NORM OF MORALITY
- conscience -ethics
MEANING OF CONSCIENCE
Derived from the Latin words
Cum – together
Scientia - to know
A choice of a particular good in a given situation
People refer to conscience as the “voice of God” - a whisper of admonition
CONSCIENCE
• as an act of intellect
o an act of practical judgment of reason deciding upon in individual act as good
or bad
o can only be applied to intellect
o only intellect can detect
• as the proximate norm of morality
o allows a person to have a direct and personal access in his conscience
o must conform to a higher norm (eternal divine law)
• as a practical moral judgment
o dictates the person to perform what is
good and what is bad
o extension of the natural law
CONSCIENCE VS CIVIL AUTHORITY
whenever there is a conflict between civil authority and divine law, the person has to
obey GOD rather than men
MORAL PRETENSION- do good without having a good character.
ETHICAL FRAMEWORKS
meta-ethics - the subdiscipline of ethics concerned with the nature of ethical theories and moral
judgments.
normative ethics - what should be considered morally acceptable and unacceptable. It seeks
to define criteria for judging the morality of behaviors, personality attributes, and other aspects
of human conduct. Through normative ethics, people can develop guiding rules and standards
applied ethics - the application of normative ethical theories; the application of ethics to real-
world problems
DEONTOLOGY -IMMANUEL KANT
- From the greek word “deon” which means “duty”
- Bases morality on independent moral rules or duties deontology
GOOD WILL - freely act because of duties or obligations
IMPERATIVES- Kant focuses on maxims that are moral and has imperative force
TWO KINDS OF IMPERATIVES
- categorical (no matter what) - hypothetical (certain end)
FORMULA OF UNIVERSALITY - act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time
will that it should become a universal law
FORMULA OF HUMANITY - act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person
or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time
as an end
STRENGTHS OF DUTY-BASED ETHICS
- real of duty, free from utility - respect for people
- golden rule - Mathew 7:12 - Reason based
WEAKNESSES OF DUTY-BASED ETHICS
- hyper-rationally and lack of emotions - irrelevance of inclination
- overly formal and universal - inflexibility
- supererogation
RIGHT THEORY - it is not merely the outcome of actions that is significant but also the reasoning
behind them, because the intent is evil, then the outcome is all likelihood, is bad as well.
- Legal Rights - Moral Rights
TELEOLOGY
- from the greek word "telos" which means
- most famous form is consequentialism
UTILITARIANISM
- a teleological ethical System focusing on the rightness of the act
- from the latin term "utilis" which means “useful”
- what is useful is good
- cause and effect
BIOETHICS - ethical issues pertaining to life, biomedical research medicines, and medical
profession
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS - moral issues concerning nature, ecosystem, and nonhuman contents
BUSINESS ETHICS - involve issues Concerning corporate practices
SEXUAL ETHICS - moral issues regarding sexuality and human sexual behaviors
SOCIAL ETHICS - tackles what is right for the society as a whole
PLURALISM - several means of approaching truths about the world
MORAL PLURALISM - an idea that there can be conflicting moral views that we have to respect
MORAL ABSOLUTISM - there is only one right answer
MORAL RELATIVISM – there is no wrong answer
