Ethics
Ethics
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Table of Contents
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List of Figures
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List of Table
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MODULE 5
Moral Reasoning and Moral Courage
Introduction
In this module, we will tackle the values and approaches to guide us in our ethical decision-
making. Confronting our ethical dilemmas will lead us to think straighter and thus formulate the
right decisions and have a clear and fair judgment of things or situations that worries us. Balancing
the different factors and taking into consideration a lot of things will yield positive results because
we have weighed what is wrong and what is right. These decision-making methods should make
us have the right and informed decisions that will rationalize our thoughts, moves and acts.
Learning Outcomes
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Lesson 1. The 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model
Ethical decisions are determined by the individual and so as the manner that is used to
settle ethical dilemmas. Although organized procedures for resolving ethical dilemmas suggest a
rational style to the decision-making process, it is very unavoidable that the decisions will
determine the final act. We are influenced by experiences, viewpoints, inclinations, reasons,
behaviors, and thoughts. Through reflective thinking, we can understand our preferences and be
aware to the ways in which these principles impact our ethical dilemmas. Having the knowledge
on ethical standards that will be given importance amongst options can inform us about our own
way or pattern of decision making. These lessons will question you, as learners and decision
makers as to the your opinion on current ethical decisions as connected to other decisions you
have made in the previous decisions or you are about to make (Jones, 1991).
It must never be judged an unconnected act that is rational or scientific by nature the
ethical decision making on a daily practice. It is obvious that there are characteristics of decision
making that involve analyzing the academic and professional skill to put into professional
practices. The manner of ethical decision making includes the logical analysis of the dilemma by
the decision maker himself. In this methodology, there are a lot of guides that offers practices to
examine ethical dilemmas. These guide make an effort to make ethical decision making separate
from the natural and toward the intellectual reasoning by giving step-by-step procedures to ethical
decision making. These are efforts to change moral decisions from individual and a biased one,
to remedy these judgments with rational accuracy. The aim is to develop an intellectual moral
means by guaranteeing that judgments are attached to justification and are backed up by an
intellectual foundation (Jones, 1991).
Recording and verification of the processes and methods utilized in producing a decision
will be crucial to supporting an individual’s action especially in front of a judge and jury. All too
often we are unaware with the responsibilities and have not enough or no preparation at all in the
methodical assessment of ethical dilemmas.
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According to Jones (1991), Ethical decision making deals with moral issues: A moral issue
is present where ever individual actions, when freely performed, may harm or benefit others thus,
the action or decision must have consequences for other people and involve choice on the part
of the decision maker. A moral agent is the person who makes a moral decision. The status as a
moral agent is defined by choices and their consequences for other people, but does not
presuppose that a moral agent recognizes that moral issues are at stake. This is important to the
model as the extent to which moral agents recognize moral issues constitute an outcome that the
model seeks to explain (Jones, 1991).
Having a strong and established set of ethical principles that will act as a model for ethical
decision making is the safest way to prevent making the wrong choice. This set of ethics will not
only answer every dilemma, but it be an easier way of life. For example, individuals will understand
what to avoid, and what wrong acts to prevent. The initial phase in ethical decision making is to
examine the fundamental ethical theories and understand the philosophy behind it. A better
interpretation of these essential concepts will empower us to create choices when problems or
anxieties arise.
We may play the part of mediator, as part of the decision making process, but it's probably
not that frequent that they’re thrust in the role of the decision maker himself. Also, there is nothing
like a troubling ethical dilemma to make as anxious and questions every steps and decisions we
make. Obviously, clouded decisions most likely and very often hinder the decision-making
process.
The ethical decision-making framework developed by Dr. Michael Davis of the Illinois
Institute of Technology is valuable in managing debates in case studies and thus, have an idea
in having a right decision.
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Identify
State the
Check the facts relevant
problem
factors
Review steps
1-6
For instance, "there's something wrong about this judgment that gets me uneasy" or
"will there be a conflict of interest on my part?”
The decision maker should collect relevant information which seek out to collect as much
data as possible about which rights are being sacrificed and to what extent. A significant
emphasis would encourage the decision maker to make an effort to measure the extent and
the amount of harm being caused to others.
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3. Identify relevant factors (internal and external).
The decision maker must evaluate the Information. Once the evidence has been
gathered, the decision maker must employ the use of assessment standard to assess the
situation. The decision maker might use one of the prevalent ethics principles such as
utilitarianism, rights, or justice.
The decision maker must consider other alternatives. He needs to generate a set of
probable action alternatives, for instance, questioning another individual's actions, pursuing
a superior or anyone on the top management, and participating in and changing the course
of what is occurring. The decision maker must be creative and innovative and make an
effort to avoid dilemma.
The decision maker must pursue the action that is reinforced by the assessment
standards used in Step 3. A decision maker chooses a way that is backed by all the ethics
principles or other criteria applied in the decision- making process.
The decision maker could use some of the following tests as guide questions in the
decision making process:
o harm test: Does this option do less harm than the alternatives?
o publicity test: Would I want my choice of this option published in the newspaper?
o reversibility test: Would I still think this option was a good choice if I were adversely
affected by it?
o colleague test: What do my colleagues say when I describe my problem and suggest
this option as my solution?
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o professional test: What might my profession's governing body for ethics say about
this option?
o organization test: What does my company's ethics officer or legal counsel say about
this?
The decision maker must act or implement if pursuing to settle the problem being
judged. Once the act have been resolved in Step 4 and the reaction is chosen in Step 5,
the action is undertaken in Step 6.
7. Review steps 1-6. How can you reduce the likelihood that you will need to make a similar
decision again?
The decision maker must review the Action. After the action has been undertaken and
the outcomes are identified, he should evaluate the results of the action taken. If the best
answer to the problem is not attained, the decision maker may require to revise and change
the acts or consider other alternatives available or go back to the start of the decision-
making process
o Are there any cautions you can take as an individual (and announce your policy on
question, job change, etc.)?
o Is there any way to change the organization (for example, suggest policy change at
next departmental meeting)?
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Lesson 2. Developing Moral Courage and Will
Webster dictionary defined courage as a mean mental or moral strength to resist
opposition, danger, or hardship. It implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or
extreme difficulty.
Here are the six types of courage according to Lion Whisker’s blog(n.d.)
Physical courage
Almost the basic definition of courage itself, this is what people come to have first in mind
with regards to the concept because it involves bravery and could result to harm and even death
because of sacrificing. Physical courage requires improving power, resiliency, and awareness.
Social courage
This is also very common and recognizable us because it includes the possibility of what
we all experience in our lives with regards to social interactions such as being humiliated,
discriminated, disliked or rejected. Overcoming all of these is a best example of social courage.
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This type of courage also involves leadership because it is where we stand by what we believed
in in front of those who opposes the idea, and thus, gaining followers.
Intellectual courage
This courage communicates to our commitment to participate with ideas and opinions
that examines our belief. This has the possible danger of making errors and lapses in judgment
if ever the facts and evidences will not be checked. Intellectual courage is a means of going
against the flow of a particular belief or popular opinion for it involves discovering and informing
the truth.
Emotional courage
The atmosphere of encouraging and optimistic emotions are the ones that this courage
nurtures, at the threat of confronting the destructive and pessimistic feelings. Emotional courage
is greatly associated with contentment and bliss.
Spiritual courage
This type of courage strengthens us when we struggle with our faith and religion in
question. Our purpose in life, the faith in the unknown and the unseen and its significance to our
lives is the general emphasis of spiritual courage.
Moral courage
As part of this course which will be given much more emphasis in this lesson, this type of
courage involves doing what is morally upright , honorable, truthful, ethical, and fair in particular
when the threats involve disgrace, disapproval, or the disagreement with others. Through this
we enter into ethics, the judgment to connect the idea and acti with morals and principles.
Moral courage according to Lachman (2007) is the individual’s capacity to overcome fear
and stand up for his or her core values. It is the willingness to speak out and do that which is right
in the face of forces that would lead a person to act in some other way. It puts principles into
action. Physical harm could be a threat in cases of moral courage; however, the more likely risks
are humiliation, rejection, ridicule, unemployment, and loss of social standing. However, this
personal, sacrifice often is accompanied by a sense of peace because the individual stood up for
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a non-negotiable principle. Moral courage enables individuals to admit to wrongdoing and ethical
dilemmas steadfastly and self-confidently.
Lion Whisker’s blog (n.d.) lists examples of what moral courage looks like and the lack of it.
• helping someone push a car out of a • walking away from someone in need
snowbank, even if it means being late • taking more than your fair share
• standing up to a bully on the • laughing at someone’s misfortune or
playground accident
• picking up litter • grabbing the spotlight from someone
• doing homework or chores without who has earned it
being reminded • placing too much reliance on the letter
• refusing to listen to or repeat gossip rather than the spirit of the law
• practicing what you preach, even • remaining silent in the face of wrong-
when no-one is looking or knows doing or injustice
• turning in a toy or a wallet to the Lost • rationalizations or justifications for
and Found action/lack of action
• a teen who calls home for a ride from • being inconsistent or capricious with
a party where alcohol is being served rules and standards for our children
• a teacher who gives all students an • choosing sides after seeing which
equal voice regardless of race, way the wind is blowing
socioeconomic status, religion, • breaking a promise
gender or sexual orientation • lying or cheating
• a company whistle blower risking job
loss, financial cost, and or legal
repercussion
• reporting a crime
• participating in a peaceful protest
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Definition of Will
McCormick (2013) states that for Immanuel Kant, the will is the faculty of acting according
to a conception of law. When we act, whether or not we achieve what we intend with our actions
is often beyond our control, so the morality of our actions does not depend upon their outcome.
What we can control, however, is the will behind the action. That is, we can will to act according
to one law rather than another. The morality of an action, therefore, must be assessed in terms
of the motivation behind it. If two people, Smith and Jones, perform the same act, from the same
conception of the law, but events beyond Smith’s control prevent her from achieving her goal,
Smith is not less praiseworthy for not succeeding. We must consider them on equal moral ground
in terms of the will behind their actions.
The only thing that is good without qualification is the good will, Kant says. All other
candidates for an intrinsic good have problems, Kant argues. Courage, health, and wealth can all
be used for ill purposes, Kant argues, and therefore cannot be intrinsically good. Happiness is not
intrinsically good because even being worthy of happiness, Kant says, requires that one possess
a good will. The good will is the only unconditional good despite all encroachments. Misfortune
may render someone incapable of achieving her goals, for instance, but the goodness of her will
remains.
Will is the capacity to act according to the principles provided by reason. Reason assumes
freedom and conceives of principles of action in order to function.
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Developing Will and Moral Courage
Mañebog (2013) cited five tips or suggestions on how to develop will and moral courage:
To cultivate and put into practice self-discipline is one important way to improve moral
courage and will. The idea of self-discipline requires the elimination of pleasure in favor of
something worth much more. If this is applied to Ethics, this may mean to the surrendering the
gratification or happiness for better purpose like having a good sensible and logical moral
decision.
The development and enhancement of will and moral courage requires self-control to be
developed. Cultivating the capability to be firm in decisions, thoughts, and actions are part of it
which in return will take the lead to moral development and achievement. It involves giving your
focusing your energy and strength on a your objectives and to continue until it is achieved.
Under this method of mental strength training covers straying away to meet irrelevant and
pointless desires. Although everyone is challenged by desires and impulses where numerous
are irrelevant, by trying to reject to indulge on it, you become courageous and tougher.
We give high regards to courageous people who have been successful by demonstrating
self-discipline and will power. All people, no matter the status, who manifested will power and
moral courage, overcome challenges, thus, improving their moral life and spiritual path are worthy
to be emulated. Persons who put their security, welfare, and reputation on the line for a cause or
for an ideal that is worth more than personal wellbeing are a living proof of moral courage and will
in action.
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4. Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will.
If one hopes to cultivate the moral courage and will within himself, he should put into
practice and action and try hard doing the actions that demonstrate them every time there is a
chance that allows it to happen.
This involves evading acts that show irresponsibility, cowardice, apathy, rashness, imprudence,
ill will, and wickedness.
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Summary
Ethical decision making deals with moral issues: A moral issue is present where
ever individual actions, when freely performed, may harm or benefit others.
Will is the act, process, or experience of willing or volition, which is mental powers
manifested as wishing, choosing, desiring, or intending or a disposition to act according
to principles or ends and the collective desire of a group the will of the people It is the
power of control over one's own actions or emotions a man of iron will and something
desired
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Assessment Task 5-1
True or False
Instruction: Write True if the statement is correct and False if the statement is incorrect.
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18. Intellectual courage communicates to our commitment to participate with ideas and
opinions that examines our belief.
19. Emotional courage is greatly associated with contentment and bliss.
20. Moral courage strengthens us when we struggle with our faith and religion in question.
21. Moral courage involves doing what is morally upright, honorable etc.
22. Lachman states that moral courage is the individual’s capacity to overcome fear and stand
up for his/her core values.
23. Moral courage enables individuals to admit to wrongdoing and ethical dilemmas
steadfastly and self-confidently.
24. Moral courage looks like doing homework or chores without being reminded.
25. Moral courage looks like taking more than your fair share.
26. Immanuel Kant states that the will is the faculty of acting according to a conception of law.
27. According to Kant the only thing that is good without qualification is the good will.
28. Kant argues that courage, health and wealth can all be used for ill purposes.
29. Will is the capacity to act according to the principles provided by reason.
30. Manebog cited seven tips on how to develop will and moral courage.
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Assessment Task 5-2
Matching Type
Instruction: Match the statement under letter A to letter B. Write only the letter of the correct
answer.
A B
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Assessment Task 5-3
Multiple Choice
Instruction: Select the correct answer under/below each statement. Write only the letter of
the correct answer.
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4. Moral courage is the individuals capacity to overcome fear and stand up for his/her
core values
a. Kant
b. Webster
c. Jones
d. Lachman
e. McCormick
5. Will is the act, process or experience of willing or volition which is mental powers
manifested.
a. Webster
b. Lachman
c. Kant
d. Jones
e. Merriam-Webster
6. The only thing that is good without qualification is the good will.
a. Dictionary
b. Lachman
c. Merriam
d. Bloggers
e. Immanuel Kant
7. According to him Kant states that the will is the faculty of acting according to a
conception of law.
a. Lion Whisker’s Blog
b. Blog
c. Kant
d. McCormick
e. Webster
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c. Manebog
d. Kant
e. Davis
9. A moral issue is present where ever individual actions, when fully performed may
harm or benefits others
a. Davis
b. Jones
c. Rae
d. Manebog
e. Blogger
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Summary
Ethical decision making deals with moral issues: A moral issue is present where
ever individual actions, when freely performed, may harm or benefit others.
Moral courage is the individual’s capacity to overcome fear and stand up for his
or her core values. It is the willingness to speak out and do that which is right in the face
of forces that would lead a person to act in some other way.
Will is the act, process, or experience of willing or volition, which is mental powers
manifested as wishing, choosing, desiring, or intending or a disposition to act according
to principles or ends and the collective desire of a group the will of the people It is the
power of control over one's own actions or emotions a man of iron will and something
desired.
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References
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Manebog, J. D.G. (2013) Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards,
Retrieved August 7, 2020
Manebog, J. D.G. (2018) Developing Will and Moral Courage: 5 Tips Retrieved August 21, 2020,
from https://ourhappyschool.com/node/825
McLeod, A. (2013). Kohlberg, Retrieved August 7, 2020
McCormick, M. (2013) Immanuel Kant: Metaphysics . Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Retrieved August 21, 2020, from https://philpapers.org/rec/MCCIK
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Mores. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 21,
2020,
Minkes, A. L., Small, M. W., & Chatterjee, S. R. (1999). Leadership and business ethics: Does it
matter? Implications for management. Journal of Business Ethics, 200(4), 327-335.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Will. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved August 21, 2020,
from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/will
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Courage. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved August 21,
2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courage
Padilla, R. A., (1999) Ethics: Principles and Analysis of ContemporaryMoral Problems, Rex Book
Store.
Perle, S. M. (2004) Morality and Ethics: An Introduction. (2004). Retrieved 21 September
2020,
Rae, S. B. (2018) Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics. 4 th ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Tabert, M. (2019) Moral Responsibility (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy} Moral
Responsibility (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). (2020). Retrieved 21
September 2020,
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MODULE 6
Virtue Ethics
Introduction
Hursthouse and Pettigrove (2018), states that virtue is an exceptional trait of character. It
is a nature, well rooted in its owner—something that, as we say, goes all the way down, to notice,
expect, value, feel, desire, choose, act, and react in certain characteristic ways. To possess a
virtue is to be a certain sort of person with a certain complex mindset. A significant aspect of this
mindset is the wholehearted acceptance of a distinctive range of considerations as reasons for
action. Once you have become virtuous you will know what the right action is, perform the right
action because it is the right action.
Learning Outcomes
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Lesson 1. Aristotle
Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks. It is the
quest to understand and live a life of moral character. This character-based approach to morality
assumes that we acquire virtue through practice. By practicing being honest, brave, just,
generous, and so on, a person develops an honorable and moral character. According to Aristotle,
by honing virtuous habits, people will likely make the right choice when faced with ethical
challenges. (Ethics Unwrapped, n.d.)
Virtual Ethics is the approach to ethics that takes the notion of virtue (often conceived as
excellence) as fundamental. Virtue ethics is primarily concerned with traits of character that are
essential to human flourishing, not with the enumeration of duties. It falls somewhat outside the
traditional dichotomy between deontological ethics and consequentialism: It agrees with
consequentialism that the criterion of an action’s being morally right or wrong lies in its relation to
an end that has intrinsic value, but more closely resembles deontological ethics in its view that
morally right actions are constitutive of the end itself and not mere instrumental means to the end.
(The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020)
Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially,
be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the
approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of
actions (consequentialism). Suppose it is obvious that someone in need should be helped. A
utilitarian will point to the fact that the costs of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist
to the fact that, in doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule such as “Do
unto others as you would be done by” and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person
would be charitable. (Hursthouse, Rosalind and Glen Pettigrove, 2018)
An honest person’s reasons and choices according to Sreenivasan (2002), with respect
to honest and dishonest actions reflect her views about honesty, truth, and deception—but of
course such views manifest themselves with respect to other actions, and to emotional reactions
as well. Valuing honesty as she does, she chooses, where possible to work with honest people,
to have honest friends, to bring up her children to be honest. She disapproves of, dislikes,
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deplores dishonesty, is not amused by certain tales of chicanery, despises or pities those who
succeed through deception rather than thinking they have been clever, is unsurprised, or pleased
(as appropriate) when honesty triumphs, is shocked or distressed when those near and dear to
her do what is dishonest and so on. Given that a virtue is such a multi-track disposition, it would
obviously be reckless to attribute one to an agent on the basis of a single observed action or even
a series of similar actions, especially if you don’t know the agent’s reasons for doing as she did .
In his article in Varieties of Virtue Ethics, Oakley (1996) describes six claims that appear
to be vital features of any virtue ethics approach including Aristotelian virtues, as follows:
(a) An action is right if and only if it is what an agent with a virtuous character would do in
the circumstances;
(f) Acting rightly does not require that we maximize the good.
In his book Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle as cited by Sachs (2020) list down a number of
virtues (good habits) and their opposite vices (bad habits) that are critical for living a good life. For
Aristotle, ‘the list of virtues isn’t a miscellaneous collection, but grounded in a general, reasoned
account of what virtues are’. Given their role in human flourishing, Aristotle distinguished two
basic sets of virtues (Figure 6.1), each of which has a number of certain virtues: intellectual virtues
and moral virtues. Intellectual virtues concern the qualities of mind and are acquired by teaching,
experience and time. These include scientific knowledge (episteme), artistic or technical
knowledge (techne), intuitive reason (nous), practical wisdom (phronesis) and philosophic
wisdom (sophia). On the other hand, moral (or ethical) virtues refer to the character traits (virtues
of character) and enable us to become good people and thereby good social workers. These
include: courage, temperance, self-discipline, moderation, modesty, humility, generosity,
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friendliness, truthfulness, honesty, justice. According to Aristotle, moral virtues are acquired by
habit, while keeping them, requires human effort and hard work throughout life. Aristotle
considered intellectual virtues as superior to moral virtues because they employ reason, though
he recognized that both virtues are necessary for our well-being and happiness.
Rachels and Rachels (2007) explained that virtue Ethics is often said to have two selling
points.
1. Moral motivation. Virtue Ethics is appealing because it provides a natural and attractive
account of moral motivation.
2. Doubts about the “ideal” of impartiality. A dominant theme in modern moral philosophy
has been impartiality—the idea that all persons are morally equal, and that we should
treat everyone’s interests as equally important.
The above authors also stated why Are the Virtues important. We said that virtues are
traits of character that are good for people to have. This raises the question of why the virtues are
good. Why should a person be courageous, generous, honest, or loyal? The answer may depend
on the virtue in question. Thus:
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• Honesty is needed because without it relations between people would go wrong
in all sorts of ways.
• Loyalty is essential to friendship; friends stand by one another even when others
would turn away.
• An action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out in the same
circumstances.
• A virtuous person is a person who acts virtuously
• A person acts virtuously if they "possess and live the virtues"
• A virtue is a moral characteristic that a person needs to live well.
Telos
Do you believe that everything has a purpose? Aristotle, the ancient Greek father of
western philosophy, thought so, and he called that purpose, telos (pronounced ‘TELL-os’ or ‘TAY-
los’). The word can mean ‘purpose,’ ‘intent,’ ‘end,’ or ‘goal,’ but as usual, Aristotle used it in a
more specific and subtle sense—the inherent purpose of each thing, the ultimate reason for each
thing being the way it is, whether created that way by human beings or nature.
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Figure 6.2 Aristotle (2020)
Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle#/media/1/34560/76426
Types of Telos
a. The telos of human artifacts: The purposes of human-created artifacts; i.e. books are for
reading, chairs are for sitting, etc.
b. The telos of living things: The purposes of the natural features of living things; i.e. wings are
for flying, ears are for hearing.
c. The telos of historical trends: The idea that historical processes have a telos became popular
in the late 19th century, especially through Hegel’s dialectic and Karl Marx’s theories.
d. The telos of actions: Telos is a central concept in the philosophy of human actions; actions
are only those behaviors which have a telos – those that are intentional; thus we hesitate to
refer to accidental behaviors, such as tripping, as “actions.” (Philosophy Terms: Telos, 2020)
The Internet Enclopedia of Philosophy (n.d.) defines the word telos as something
like purpose, or goal, or final end. According to Aristotle, everything has a purpose or final
end. If we want to understand what something is, it must be understood in terms of that end,
which we can discover through careful study. It is perhaps easiest to understand what a telos
is by looking first at objects created by human beings. Consider a knife. If you wanted to
describe a knife, you would talk about its size, and its shape, and what it is made out of,
among other things. But Aristotle believes that you would also, as part of your description,
have to say that it is made to cut things. And when you did, you would be describing its telos.
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The knife’s purpose, or reason for existing, is to cut things. And Aristotle would say that unless
you included that telos in your description, you wouldn’t really have described – or understood
– the knife. This is true not only of things made by humans, but of plants and animals as well.
The ultimate aim (TELOS) of Human life is Happiness. Happiness, unlike money and
wealth, is an ultimate aim because it is not “for” anything else. Everything we do, we do to be
happy. Happiness has intrinsic value. Money only has instrumental value. We want it for what we
can get with it.
The greatest Happiness (EUDAIMONIA) has three qualities that make it the ultimate aim
or TELOS of all our actions:
Also, according to Aristotle, every living or human-made thing, including its parts, has a
unique characteristic that separates it from all other things. The greatest good of a thing consists
of the good performance of its function, and the virtue of a being contains of whatever qualities
allow it to perform that function well. Aristotle considers that the characteristic function of human
beings, that which separates them from all other things, is their capacity to reason.
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Virtue as Habit
Hsieh (1997) states that Aristotle opens his conversation of virtue with the observation
that, while intellectual virtue begins in teaching, "moral virtue comes about as a result of habit".
The causal connection between good habits and virtue is made in two distinct ways. First, virtues
are states of character, rather than passions or faculties, and states of character are created only
through a process of habituation. Second, virtue requires consistently good choices and a
choosing of the action for its own sake. Because good habits give rise to consistent patterns of
action and mold the passions to feel pleasure and pain rightly, they are instrumental in meeting
these requirements of virtue. Thus the development of habits – particularly good habits -- is
important to the Aristotelian good life at which virtue seeks. As Aristotle commented, "it makes no
small difference, then, whether we form habits of one kind or another from our very youth; it makes
a very great difference, or rather all the difference".
Aristotle considered that virtue as a habit makes an intentional choice when you begin.
The habit of virtue is not yet formed, but over time one becomes used to acting virtuously and
after a while one acts virtuously without needing to use choice. You have become virtuous—it’s
now part of you and how you act.
Habits as defined by Austin (2020) are often acquired by repetition, are more or less
stable, are disposed toward some object or act, are good or bad, and add facility to operation.
Different definitions emphasize different elements. For example, contemporary psychology
defines habits as “learned dispositions to repeat past responses,” showing an emphasis on their
repetitive nature.
Happiness as Virtue
For Aristotle, however, happiness is a final end or goal that encompasses the totality of
one's life. It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like pleasurable sensations.
It is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to this moment, measuring how well you
have lived up to your full potential as a human being. For this reason, one cannot really make any
pronouncements about whether one has lived a happy life until it is over, just as we would not say
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of a football game that it was a "great game" at halftime (indeed we know of many such games
that turn out to be blowouts or duds). For the same reason we cannot say that children are happy,
anymore than we can say that an acorn is a tree, for the potential for a flourishing human life has
not yet been realized. As Aristotle says, "for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a
spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy." (Nichomachean
Ethics,1098a18)
From what has been said, we can highlight the following features of Aristotle's theory of
happiness:
Pojman (2010) states that Aristotle thinks that most people will agree that the good for
humans is happiness. As we’ve noted before, ‘happiness’ translates ‘eudaimonia’ which could
also be translated as ‘flourishing.’ (The word is a compound of ‘eu-’ meaning ‘good or well’ and
‘daimon’ meaning ‘a minor divinity’—or better, ‘guardian spirit.’) Someone is eudaimon when
things are going really well for her. Happiness has several important features that seem to make
it uniquely suited to be the supreme good. It is:
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Eudaimonia, as elaborated by Kraut (1979) is an inhumane conception of happiness: If
someone is permanently handicapped, he cannot achieve eudaimonia. Therefore handicapped
people should not be satisfied with their lives as they do not live up to the eudaimon standard,
and should neither be, nor deemed, happy. Eudaimonia does not take into account one’s
limitations: it represents the ideal standard for any human being. On Kraut’s view, the objectivist
who holds eudaimonia to be the correct conception of happiness will see a large gap between the
life a handicapped person leads and the life of the philosopher, and this objectivist will be
committed to telling the handicapped person, even in the case where he is doing the best he can,
that he should be unhappy with his life given how distant it is from the ideal of eudaimonia.
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Lesson 2. St. Tomas: Natural Law
Merriam Webster dictionary (n.d.) defined courage as a mean mental or moral strength to
resist opposition, danger, or hardship. It implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger
or extreme difficulty.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Italian San Tommaso d’Aquino, also called Aquinas, byname Doctor
Angelicus (Latin: “Angelic Doctor”), (born 1224/25, Roccasecca, near Aquino, Terra di Lavoro,
Kingdom of Sicily [Italy]—died March 7, 1274, Fossanova, near Terracina, Latium, Papal States;
canonized July 18, 1323; feast day January 28, formerly March 7), Italian Dominican theologian,
the foremost medieval Scholastic. He developed his own conclusions from Aristotelian premises,
notably in the metaphysics of personality, creation, and Providence. As a theologian, he was
responsible in his two masterpieces, the Summa theologiae and the Summa contra gentiles, for
the classical systematization of Latin theology, and, as a poet, he wrote some of the most gravely
beautiful Eucharistic hymns in the church’s liturgy. His doctrinal system and the explanations and
developments made by his followers are known as Thomism. Although many modern Roman
Catholic theologians do not find St. Thomas altogether congenial, he is nevertheless recognized
by the Roman Catholic Church as its foremost Western philosopher and theologian (Mark, 2010).
After completing his education, Saint Thomas Aquinas devoted himself to a life of
traveling, writing, teaching, public speaking and preaching. Religious institutions and universities
alike yearned to benefit from the wisdom of "The Christian Apostle."
At the forefront of medieval thought was a struggle to reconcile the relationship between
theology (faith) and philosophy (reason). People were at odds as to how to unite the knowledge
they obtained through revelation with the information they observed naturally using their mind and
their senses. Based on Averroes' "theory of the double truth," the two types of knowledge were in
direct opposition to each other. Saint Thomas Aquinas's revolutionary views rejected Averroes'
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theory, asserting that "both kinds of knowledge ultimately come from God" and were therefore
compatible (Mark, 2010).
Not only were they compatible, according to Thomas's ideology, but they could also work
in collaboration: He believed that revelation could guide reason and prevent it from making
mistakes, while reason could clarify and demystify faith. Saint Thomas Aquinas's work goes on to
discuss faith and reason's roles in both perceiving and proving the existence of God.
‘Natural law theory’ is a label that has been applied to theories of ethics, theories of politics,
theories of civil law, and theories of religious morality. We will be concerned only with natural law
theories of ethics: while such views arguably have some interesting implications for law, politics,
and religious morality, these implications will not be our focus here (Mark, 2010).
The term “natural law” is ambiguous. It refers to a type of moral theory, as well as to a type
of legal theory, but the core claims of the two kinds of theory are logically independent. It does
not refer to the laws of nature, the laws that science aims to describe. According to natural law
moral theory, the moral standards that govern human behavior are, in some sense, objectively
derived from the nature of human beings and the nature of the world. While being logically
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independent of natural law legal theory, the two theories intersect. However, the majority of the
article will focus on natural law legal theory.
At the outset, it is important to distinguish two kinds of theory that go by the name of natural
law. The first is a theory of morality that is roughly characterized by the following theses. First,
moral propositions have what is sometimes called objective standing in the sense that such
propositions are the bearers of objective truth-value; that is, moral propositions can be objectively
true or false. Though moral objectivism is sometimes equated with moral realism (see, e.g., Moore
1992, 190: “the truth of any moral proposition lies in its correspondence with a mind- and
convention-independent moral reality”), the relationship between the two theories is controversial.
Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (1988), for example, views moral objectivism as one species of moral
realism, but not the only form; on Sayre-McCord’s view, moral subjectivism and moral
intersubjectivism are also forms of moral realism. Strictly speaking, then, natural law moral theory
is committed only to the objectivity of moral norms.
The second thesis constituting the core of natural law moral theory is the claim that
standards of morality are in some sense derived from, or entailed by, the nature of the world and
the nature of human beings. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, identifies the rational nature of
human beings as that which defines moral law: “the rule and measure of human acts is the reason,
which is the first principle of human acts” (Aquinas, ST I-II, Q.90, A.I). On this common view, since
human beings are by nature rational beings, it is morally appropriate that they should behave in
a way that conforms to their rational nature. Thus, Aquinas derives the moral law from the nature
of human beings (thus, “natural law”).
To say that law must have a certain moral content in order to be valid is to say that we
cannot identify something as genuine law by its history, form or structure alone; we must look also
to its content to determine whether it is law. For most natural law theorists, this requirement takes
the form of providing necessary conditions of law: for something to be a valid law, it is necessary,
though not sufficient, that it be aimed at the common good and that it be just. That is, it is enough
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to make a law invalid that it aims at something contrary to the common good or unjust. Thus, the
view that ‘an unjust law is no law at all’ has come to be one of the defining tenets of the natural
law position. The claim that a directive which is immoral or unjust cannot be a genuine law has
been a source of considerable controversy, both as to its precise meaning and its truth. Both its
meaning and its plausibility can be understood, however, if one takes notice of a different feature
of the natural lawyer’s position. Thinkers in the natural law tradition believe that genuine laws
impose a moral obligation of obedience upon those to whom they apply.
We have a moral obligation to obey the law because of its independent moral rightness.
This moral obligation to obey the law must be distinguished from any prudential reason we have
to obey the law, such as the desire to avoid punishment. While the latter may hold even with
respect to ‘unjust laws’, the former holds only because the law, as genuine law, enjoins what we
morally ought to do. Thus the claim that ‘unjust laws’ are not genuine laws is based upon the
assumption that we are morally obligated to obey genuine laws. If a ‘law’ is seriously immoral or
unjust, not only do we not have a general 3 moral obligation to obey it; to obey it might even be
morally wrong. Thus such ‘laws’ must not be genuine laws after all. We take our example of
traditional natural law theory from St. Thomas Aquinas, whose writings on law provide our first
reading. Modern natural law theorists offer quite different accounts than does Aquinas; some of
these are presented later in the book. St. Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–1275) was a Dominican monk
who wrote extensively on both theological and secular topics, including law, morality, and politics.
Of particular interest forus are his writings on law, which come from his greatest work, Summa
Theologica.
The following excerpt from Summa Theologica is quite challenging for students first
embarking on the study of the philosophy of law. The effort is worthwhile, I believe, because
Aquinas identifies and discusses in the following passages many questions that have dominated
jurisprudence from his time to ours. The difficulty of the readings is due in part to the nature of the
subject, which will be new to most readers, and in part to the differences in expression that
Aquinas used compared to those that we would use today. Aquinas organizes his thought in terms
of a number of central Questions that he will address. Many of these are further divided into
Articles or sub-questions. To assist the reader in understanding Aquinas, I offer introductory
comments before each Question. These comments provide an overview of the topic to be
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addressed in the Question and an indication of how each Question relates to the central themes
identified in the Introduction as the organizing themes of this book. They also identify the central
themes that have come to characterize the traditional natural law theory. My comments are given
in italicized print at the beginning of each Question. Finally, I have taken the liberty of changing
the order of many Questions and Articles so as to present a more linear statement of Aquinas’s
thought.
Human law is the interpretation of natural law in different contexts (ST II.I.95-97). Like
Aristotle, Aquinas believed that just laws relate to the species, so the collective good comes before
the individual good – although in a just society, these are not in conflict. This means that law is
not about individual morality, and individual vices should only be legislated against when they
threaten harm to others. Unlike Aristotle, Aquinas believed that an informed conscience takes
precedence over law. No individual should obey a law that he or she believes to be unjust,
because laws that violate reason are not laws. Moreover, laws must have sufficient flexibility to
be waived when necessary in the interests of the common good.
Natural law supports different cultures and religions, but unjust societies are those whose
laws violate natural law. Modern thinkers who appeal to natural law as a foundation for
morality often lose sight of Aquinas's naturalism, presenting it as a transcendent rational capacity
or divine command that overrides our natural instincts and desires. This manifests itself in the
rationalist quest to conquer nature (now redounding on us in a looming environmental
catastrophe), and in the Catholic church's attempt to use politics and law to impose its views on
sexuality over and against changing social customs.
Aquinas argues that laws should change to reflect customs (although custom cannot
change natural or divine law). I'll focus on two issues relating to this in terms of a widening gulf
between the Catholic hierarchy and modern culture, including many Catholics.
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Kinds of Law (Dimock, 1999)
Aquinas recognizes four main kinds of law: the eternal, the natural, the human, and the
divine. The last three all depend on the first, but in different ways. Were we to arrange them in a
hierarchy, eternal would be at the top, then natural, then human. Divine law is not in conflict with
natural law, but it reaches human beings by a different route, revelation.
Eternal Law
Eternal law is identical to the mind of God as seen by God himself. It can be called law
because God stands to the universe which he creates as a ruler does to a community which he
rules. When God's reason is considered as it is understood by God Himself, i.e. in its unchanging,
eternal nature (q91, a1) , it is eternal law.
Divine Law
Divine law is derived from eternal law as it appears historically to humans, especially
through revelation, i.e., when it appears to human beings as divine commands. Divine law is
divided into the Old Law and the New Law (q91, a5). The Old and New Law roughly corresponding
to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. When he speaks of the Old Law, Thomas is thinking
mainly of the Ten Commandments. When he speaks of the New Law, the teachings of Jesus.
Old Law -- commands conduct externally -- reaches humans through their capacity for
fear -- Law promised earthly rewards (social peace and its benefits)
New Law -- commands internal conduct -- reaches humans by the example of divine love
-- promises heavenly reward
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Human Law
Law is directed to the common good, and human law is no exception. The promotion of
virtue is necessary for the common good, and human laws are instruments in the promotion of
virtue. Aristotle already pointed out that most people are kept from crime by fear of the law.
Thomas accepts this judgment, suggesting (r. Ad 1, p. 57) that by coercion even men who are
evilly disposed may be led in the direction of virtue.
Laws are also important, says Thomas, for other reasons noted by Aristotle.
(1) It is easier to find a few wise persons who can make good laws than to find many who,
in the absence of laws, can judge correctly in each instance.
(2) Lawmakers can deliberate at length before making laws while many particular cases
must be judged quickly, when they arise.
(3) Lawmakers judge in the abstract and are less likely to be swayed by emotions evoked
by concrete circumstances or by the kinds of things that tend to corruption.
(4) There is less danger of perversion of law, which is formulated in general, than there
would be perversion of judgment in particular cases where no law exists to guide
judgment.
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Assessment Task 6-1
A B
1. Customary belief, social forms, religious and A. Critical cultural relativism
materials traits
2. Produced kind and/or fair outcomes B. Loob
outsiders
6. Raise questions about cultural practices F. Culture
Filipino
13. Strong family protection for either good or bad M. Extreme family
condition
14. Always trying to give personal interpretation to N. Extreme personalism
actions
15. Filipino will do anything to survive O. Ability to survive
jealousy
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19. Strong reliance to others fate which is a Filipino S. Colonial mentality
trademark
20. Filipinos re quick to adapt to changes T. Faith and religiosity
Multiple Choice
1. Filipino have a cheery and positive approach to life and its up and down
a. Joy and humor
b. Love and care
c. Happiness and sadness
d. Friendly and lovely
e. Kind and honest
3. Show the capacity for hard work given to raise one’s standard living of decent life for
one’s family
a. Hard work and industry
b. Hard work and timely
c. Initiative
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d. Patience
e. Industrious
137
8. Most hospitable people and will do everything to please visitors
a. Filipinos
b. Japanese
c. Americans
d. Spaniards
e. Malaysians
9. Opening yourself to others and feel one with others with dignity and reflect deal with
them as fellow human beings
a. Pakikipagkapwa-tao
b. Pakikisangkot
c. Pakikibahagi
d. Pakikiramay
e. Pakikibaka
11. Happy-go-lucky people who are often pessimistic about today but always optimistic that
tomorrow will be better
a. Filipinos
b. Japanese
c. Vietnamese
d. Indonesians
e. Americans
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12. Gave us the personal and family honor that we valued, as well as dignity and pride
a. Eastern influence
b. Western influence
c. Southern influence
d. Northern influence
e. South-east influence
14. Articulated and organized through a dialogue with Aristotelism-Thomistic virtue values
a. Filipinos Virtue Ethics
b. American Virtue Ethics
c. Eastern Virtue Ethics
d. Western Virtue Ethics
e. Spaniards Virtue Ethics
15. Refers to not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or
normal
a. Cultural relativism
b. Culture
c. Feelings
d. Emotions
e. Behaviors
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Assessment Task 6-3
True or False
Instruction: Write True if the statement is correct and write False if the statement is not correct.
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14. Laws and rules and standards of attitude and behavior are set promulgated by
the community to promote that relationship that binds them together as a people.
15. Influence of culture in moral development is best seen in terms of relational.
Summary
Culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial,
religious, or social group. It is also the characteristic features of everyday existence shared
by people in a place or time.
Moral development refers to the “process through which a human person gains his
or her beliefs, skills and dispositions that makes him or her morally mature person.”
Cultural relativism refers to not judging a culture to our own standards of what is
right or wrong, strange, or normal. Instead, we should try to understand cultural practices
of other groups in its own cultural context.
Eastern influence gave us the personal and family honor that we valued, as well
as dignity and pride. Western influence gave us a systematic education and form of
government. But aside from that, we highly value families and kinship and make great
sacrifices to educate our children.
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MODULE 7
Deontology
Introduction
Kant stresses that only if the state gives and enhances constitutional rights, laws and
entitlements can a society act politically in relation to the state. As Kant teaches, these "righteous
laws" are based on 3 logical concepts:
➢ The rights, as an
➢ entity, of each member of society
➢ As a matter, the equality of each member of society with one another
➢ The rights of every member of the commonwealth as an individual.
Kant argues that these principles are vital not only for the development of "righteous laws"
but also for the functioning of the state, because without the consent of the people, a state will
not exist, so rights are necessary within states to maintain the state's people's approval. The first
concept upon which "righteous laws" are based is based on the notion of citizens' "freedom." The
independence of individuals is important because it is not appropriate for the state or
commonwealth to govern the lives of individuals. It would take on the role of a 'fatherly
government' if it did so.
Learning Outcomes
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2. Apply the concepts of agency and autonomy to one’s moral experience;
3. Evaluate actions using the university test.
Kant’s Ethics
The development of moral character has been the subject of philosophical and
psychological investigation since Aristotle theorized three levels of moral character development:
an ethics of fear, an ethics of shame, an ethics of wisdom (Kraut, 2001) The Good Will
"The only thing that is "good without qualification," is a "Good Will. Other "goods" may be
listed, such as intelligence and health. Since it is "the will to obey the Moral Rule," good will is
good (McLeod, 2013).
Deontology means ethics based on obligation, not the repercussions of their acts, which
are concerned with what people do. It has the connotations that follow:
An action on this ethical practice cannot be justified by showing that it has had positive
impacts, which is why it is sometimes called 'non-consequentialist.' From the word deon, meaning
'duty' in Greek, comes the word 'deontological.'
Ethics based on duty is typically what people speak about when they refer to the 'the thing'
theory. In addition, duty-based ethics teaches that because of the kinds of things they are, certain
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actions are right or wrong, and people have a duty to behave accordingly, regardless of the good
or bad consequences that may be created.
It is emphasized that "every form of conduct is wrong or right in itself, irrespective of the
consequences." In this case, Deontologists use a universe of moral rules, such as:
Even if it causes a bad outcome, someone driven by duty-based ethics should "do the
right thing," so if they do morally right actions, a person who considers himself a deontologist is
doing something good.
"A distinction exists between "I want" (self-interest) and "I should (ethics). 'Moral actions'
are not 'spontaneous' actions. That is, if I see someone in need of help, I may be willing
to 'look the other way' and attend to my own busy day, but I would recognize that I should
assist in some way.
For example, an elderly woman falls and bleeds badly... I may be on my way to work, but
I agree that I should at least seek help and call 911.
There is a DISTINCTION within Duty itself that can still be made, taking into account only
those actions that seem to be good (as opposed to actions that we usually recognize as
incorrect),: ACTS IN MERE ACCORDANCE (conformity) WITH duty and actions performed
FROM A SENSE OF duty.
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The Nature of Imperatives (McLeod, 2013)
Commands are prerequisites. Of the commands, there are the ones that command
hypothetically and the ones that command categorically.
Hypothetical Imperatives If you want 'a,' then the overall procedure is YOU Need TO DO
'B.': For starters, if you want to be an Olympic swimmer, you should go swimming every day. The
'thinking' is influenced by our prospects & desires-our 'goals' in these hypothetical imperatives.
So, if you do not want to be an Olympic swimmer, you don't need to go swimming every day. Our
urgencies are ultimately based on SELF-INTEREST.
A Categorical Imperative The complete form is: DO 'A' (i.e., it is UNCONDITIONED). For
Kant, there is only one imperative that unconditionally commands us, and that is the Moral Law:
"Act only on that principle by which you can make it a universal law at the same time."
Nevertheless, this single categorical imperative has three designs (the first two of which
are): First Formulation: "Act as if the principle of your conduct is to safeguard a fundamental law
of nature through your will" Second wording: "Act in such a way that you always see humankind
as a target and never as just a means, whether you are yourself or anyone else's"
Kant's examples as a way of validating the use of these inventions in the real state of
affairs follow the classes of duties used at that time. The four types of responsibilities are divided
into: self-responsibility (perfect: self-protection, imperfect: self-cultivation) and tasks towards
others (Perfect: Strict Duty, Imperfect: Charity).
The examples of Kant are (1) Suicide, (2) Promise-breaking, (3) Squandering Talents, (4)
According to these types of tasks, helping others.
The theory of Kant is an example of a moral theory of deontology, and according to these
theories, the correctness or wrongness of actions depends not on their effects, but on whether
our mission is fulfilled. Kant believed there was a supreme morality concept, and he referred to it
as The Categorical Imperative.
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What is right according to Kant? (McLeod, 2013)
Thus, the "simple rule of law" provided by Kant is that "any action is right if it is capable
of coexisting with the freedom of all under universal law, or if the freedom of option of all is capable
of coexisting with the freedom of all under universal law."
The categorical imperative, which works on all persons, regardless of their preferences or
desires, is fundamental to Kant's construction of moral law. The categorical imperative was
formulated by Kant in different ways. His universalizability theory implies that, in order for an
action to be acceptable, it must be possible to extend it to all individuals without the occurrence
of a contradiction.
The second part of the categorical imperative, the formulation of humanity by Kant, notes
that as an end in itself, humans are expected never to regard others merely as a means to an
end, but rather as ends in themselves.
According to what it influences or accomplishes, a good will is not good because of its
fitness to achieve any proposed end: it is good by its willingness alone, that is, good in itself.If it
still accomplishes nothing by its utmost effort, and only good will is left (not, of course, as a mere
desire, but as the straining of all means to the degree that they are under our control); even then
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it will still shine as a diamond for its own sake as something that has its full meaning in itself. Its
use is a good will which choose a certain will, because it is the action dictated by duty. Therefore,
to grasp his view of good will, we need to know what obligation is.
Different kinds of imperatives exist. Some of these are hypothetical imperatives: they claim
that if we are interested in achieving some end, which Kant calls a 'condition', we should do such-
and-such. A good example of a hypothetical necessity might be that you should go to the dining
hall tonight because you are involved in eating dinner at the end of the day.
“There is an imperative that instantly enjoins this action without being based on, and
influenced by, any other goal to be accomplished by a certain line of behavior. This is a categorical
imperative.”
Explicitly, the categorical imperative specifies what you should do, period, not what you
should do, given any other interest. Kant notes that there is only one categorical imperative: there
is also only one categorical imperative, and it is this: "Act only on the principle by which you can
simultaneously make it a universal law."
Your principle is your justification for taking an action. What Kant is saying here is that
morality's sole order is to act only on maxims that are such that one can act from that maxim
while still having to act from that maxim that everyone else can act as well. This is what it
means to "become a universal law" with a principle. In the jurisprudential reflection of our time,
according to George P. Fletcher, the relationship between law and morality has emerged as the
central issue.
It is probable that valid laws are unethical or unfair. "Occasionally we hear the riposte
when courts respond to crucial demands for moral reform, as they have in desegregation
decisions: "You do not legislate morality. Innovative lawyers see this point as clearly misleading.
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The law can also inform conceptions of "absolute" moral truth: insofar as "moral"
understandings are traditionally based; the law is one element influencing individuals in their
declarations of fundamental morality. The argument that morality cannot be legislated must be
expressed in a separate view of laws, values, and their associations. In the context of Kant's work
this other way of thinking about law and morality is to be found. An elaboration of Kantian thinking
allows one to understand why stating that the obligation is moral is an argument not for, but
against a legal duty.
The teaching of Kant also helps one to fathom the argument that morality cannot be
legislated. Although law and morality are today viewed as intersecting sets of rules and rights by
the dominant view, the Kantian view considers the two as distinct and non-intersecting. The moral
does not ask for legal participation, and the moral should not be decided by the legal one.
We have to explain, in turn, Kant's concepts of law and morality to understand how the
Kantan understanding of law and morality can be so different from traditional views. A conceptual
relation between the two will be the final concern of our inquiry. We will illustrate the probability of
conflicting, converging or, at least, intersecting sets of law and morality.
Extreme problems are present. Legal academics seeking alternatives to utilitarianism are
moving vaguely to Kant's categorical imperative of inspiration. Yet Kant's precise views on the
law and the relationship between law and morality have gained far less coverage than they
deserve.
Of course, in the twentieth century legal debate, Kant can't have the last word about how
to use his thinking, but at least he should have the first word. In this article, my intention is simply
to address Kant's writing and implicit thinking on these topics.
The presentation proceeds first by analyzing the principle of law by Kant, then turns to the
theory of morality, then to the points of distinction between law and morality, and finally to the
question if Kant's law and morality constitute elements of a single theory of freedom.
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Kant’s Theory of Law (McLeod, 2013)
The key word in Kant's thought about law and morality is equality. For the purposes of aw,
external independence is the relevant type of freedom, freedom to act on one's own choices. The
dictates of reason should not be reflected by these choices.These do not need to be morally
sound decisions. They are subjectively contingent judgments, representing concrete people's
divergent intentions. They are embodied in transactions forming private legal relationships, such
as the purchase and transfer of land, contracts and wills, marriage and household formation. The
role of law is to reconcile these decisions in such a way that a maximum domain of external
freedom is guaranteed to each person. If the aim of the lawful structure is to protect the exercise
of external freedom, then the law can be described as the "collection of circumstances under
which the choices of each person can be united under a common law of freedom with the choices
of others."
The legal system's adopted laws are those conditions that guarantee maximum choice.
The choices that are at stake here represent more than needs, hopes or desires. They are the
manifestations of freedom in the external world's acquisition of property or having control over
another's power of choice in a contractual relationship. There are declarations of liberty that may
conflict with the choices of others. The role of the law is to ensure that the choices of each person
can be reconciled with the choices of others.
The negative effect of this theory of law is that in legal transactions, private motives are
negligible. Instead of the purpose of the transaction, the emphasis is on the form. As an
expression of their equality, only if their private contractual reasons are insignificant will two
persons agree to the same contract.
The goal of private law is to ensure that, within the context of rules protecting our external
freedom to participate in transactions of the same ostensible form, I can follow my purposes and
others, all of them. This legal theory is actually an ideal. At no point in a jurisdiction is it an account
of the law in practice. Significantly, Kant analyzes private law before public law; and within private
law, the argument proceeds from property to family relations. The role of property as the primary
legal relationship awaits an adequate explanation.
152
KANT’S MORAL THEORY (McLeod, 2013)
In Kant's moral philosophy, equality is also the core principle. However, liberty in moral
behavior is internal rather than external. While external freedom emerges from the absence of
physical constraint, the absence of sensual interference with the dictates of reason derives from
internal freedom, at least negatively defined.
This second set of words invokes the reality as we comprehend it by our senses; the
former, a reality beyond the senses. In the first part of the Foundations of the Existentialism of
Morality, Kant attempts to develop the statement that moral behavior must be an expression of
the theoretical domain. Later, it will clarified why Kant emphasizes the relationship between
morality and the noumenal, but first, I will briefly trace the transition from these assumptions to
his famous theory of moral conduct, the categorical imperative-the principle that one should not
act on a maxim unless one can be a universal rule of that maxim.
Kant claims that good will is the only thing that is really good. Correct conduct is merely
adherence to an action to the law or principle that is justified. There is free will for all human
beings, and we act morally, and we have to be free in this case. Under the scope of synthetic a
priori, we do not adhere to predetermined rules. Nevertheless, we must act according to those
laws, otherwise our actions are unintentional and without intent. Rational beings must determine
for themselves a set of rules by which they should act.
153
Those rules are determined by practice. The synthetic a priori must be determined by the
human being, the substantive rules that can be applied before experience. Moral value involves
the behavior of an individual deciding their moral value, considering the following factors, such as
context, fundamental concept, motivation, implications and perception.
Moral importance implies that only if one is motivated by morality will one have moral
value. If he violates the rights of others, a person is guilty by law; if he just thinks about doing so,
he is guilty of ethics.
For the first time, Kant introduced to the heart of moral philosophy the notion of reverence.
A will is the requisite object of reverence. It takes problems related to will, intellect, and freedom
to value an individual. He recognizes that individuals give themselves to their own regulations as
autonomous earning. An individual has his own rules; in their code, it is not acceptable to
disrespect their laws.
154
Lesson 2. Differentiate Kinds of Right (McLeod, 2013)
In general, Kant's theory of rights is defined in precisely those terms: the concept of justice
is a strict logical inference from moral law, and since moral law is essentially universal and eternal,
the principle of justice is as necessary and fixed as any empirical collection of human rights.
Liberty captures virtue (first-personal ethics) in internal uses of choice, meaning acting on
universalizable maxims from the motivation of duty (virtuous internal freedom), while liberty
captures right (justice) in external uses of choice, meaning contact in the world that is compatible
with upholding the intrinsic right of each other to freedom (rightful external freedom).
Therefore, the primary distinction between the theory and the ideal is that the more
complete legal-political ideal incorporates the moral psychological and anthropological truth
represented by us, social human beings living in particular communities in various backgrounds
and cultures.
The related concepts of innate, private and public law are correspondingly included in the
Kant-based proposal for the legal idea of the right to privacy, while the more complete, legal-
political ideal would incorporate the contingent moral, psychological and anthropological concerns
of human nature.
This helps one to see how the general legal definition of the right to privacy can be seen
as a cluster of legal rights that constitute the minimally just state (innate, private, and public law),
whereas the full legal-political ideal of the right to privacy demonstrates ways of doing well.
155
Not only do just communities treat breaches of privacy show ways in which respectable,
just societies not only treat breaches of privacy show ways in which nice, just societies not only
treat breaches of privacy as particularly egregious, but often strive to better themselves through
becoming more and more willing to preserve the right to privacy of — individuals consistently.
The judicial theory of Kant's philosophy of the right to privacy has been defined in its purest
form in the "Doctrine of law" in the metaphysics of morality, which is "the inherent right to freedom"
and its corresponding "duty of legitimate honor. “Our inherent right to citizenship is our right to
"freedom from being limited by another's choice." As long as we exercise our liberty, it can coexist
with someone else's freedom in accordance with a universal law.Our obligation of rightful honor"
consists in claiming in relation to others one's worth as a person."
In order to create a situation in which our inherent right to freedom is realized and
protected, there are three (3) kinds of rights required.
1. Analytically connected to our fundamental right to liberty [rights to our bodies, to think and
expression, and to honor], human rights
2. Individual rights are synthetically connected to our universal right to liberty, i.e. to private
rights gained through acts of appropriation and security [private property rights, contract
rights or, in other terms, status rights] between private individuals.
3. People have public privileges that are structural legal declarations about or by their public
authorities (rather than against one another as private persons).
4. Finally, Kant claims that it is difficult to interact correctly in a pre-state state ('the state of
nature'); having a public agency that has a monopoly of law-governed coercion is
constitutive of legitimate relationships because it is the means by which we can correctly
address (systemic) relationship issues that we as private individuals cannot solve.
The object of this section is to outline the judicial concept of a right to privacy,
which, in order to produce this (cluster) right, is interpreted as a variation of the above
principles of law.
▪ Private Property
▪ Contract Right
156
▪ Status Right protects marriage, parent-child relationships and family-
servant relationships.
The principles of private law set the abstract limits of my rightful choices in all cases,
and the underlying legal framework of private property, contract, and status law defines how
laws are then enforced in individual cases by the courts, and upholds these laws by the state's
executive powers. Only states, by retaining the rule of private law in the region, allow their
people's right to make external use of choice in respect of things that are distinct from them.
By facilitating interaction with a legal-political structure of enforceable limits based on our
fundamental rights to each other as individuals capable of external freedom, they enable
individuals to live their own lives. The development of private legal spheres, spheres that allow
privacy, is thus constitutive of the laws of private property, contracts, and status.
Lastly, according to Kant, there are public rights, which are legal claims that people
hold against or consider private institutions to be public bodies, but not directly against each
other. This is used by Kantians to analyze systematic rights issues, such as whether the state
can and should be responsible for the problems of poverty, housing, the environment, and the
financial system. In addition, in order to enable systems based on our exercise of
independence, such as interaction with means of access in an economy, these systems must
also be controlled by public authorities in order to ensure that such (coercive) dependence
does not depend on the arbitrary choices of other private individuals, but on public law.
The general principle is that those entrusted with public authority must strive to ensure
that legal-political institutions operate in such a way that no person finds himself in a situation
where another private citizen is subject to a decision as to the possibility of exercising his or
her liberty; his or her sole (coercive) public dependence is at least equal or legitimate.
157
The account that describes the fundamental ways in which laws of public liberty enable
finite beings (in space and time) to participate lawfully in the universe, that is, by defining the
legal-political boundaries around each one that are guaranteed by state coercion. When
interacting, this cluster of rights helps them to understand legitimate freedom in their external
uses of option and ensures that each of us always has legal access to our own areas. In
addition, it is evident that this judicial definition of privacy, a collection of values maintained by
every state that is minimally just, implies considerable legal security of privacy by how laws
establish innate, private, and public law.
Therefore, if this minimal legal-political structure is not in effect, then in these respects,
we are still not in a civil situation. In this regard, it is important to remember that much of
history and contemporary life is characterized to a limited extent by the inability of states to
preserve such a basic legal structure for some of their people. We have some concerns about
the actual (de facto, present) failure of states to operate as public authorities by protecting the
inherent rights of all individuals to physical integrity and speech; the rights to privacy, contract
rights, and standing rights gained; and statutory (public) rights.
And for all its people, no modern or historical state has or does genuinely protect these
rights equally. The backgrounds of different religious, cultural, sexual, gendered, or racialized
minorities, women, or people with disabilities are characterized by a denial of the judicial right
to privacy, either formally or as a matter of legitimate political procedure, by denying them any
or all these rights.For much of history, for example, women have been denied the right to
obtain private property, sign contracts, physical dignity, or work in a place where they can
acquire a home of their own (they only have access to shared homes through their own
choices) (they only have access to shared homes through the choices of others).
To the degree that these are the lives that some individuals are forced to live, the
extent to which these individuals determine whether or not to put up with it for prudential
purposes is a decision that each individual must own. he choice in either direction is not one
that can be considered to be morally justifiable (let alone emotionally healthy) under
circumstances where a path to challenge injustices is de jure or practically impossible, and
the fact that they are in this impossible role is because the state apparatus does not work as
a fully public authority (yet).
158
Assessment Task 7-1
True or False
Instruction: Write true if the statement is correct and write false if not.
159
22. A hypothetical imperative states that a certain thing must be done, if something
else which is willed is to be attained.
23. Ten Commandments of the Judio-Christian is a clear example of a substantive
moral theory.
24. Act only according to such a maxim by which you can at once will that it become
a universal law.
25. The mother makes decision on behalf of and in the interest of the children.
26. Will is based on one reason when he became matured.
27. Deontology is based on the light of one’s own reason when maturity and rational
capacity take hold of a person’s decision-making.
28. Kant states that we should act according to a maximum by which we can at once
will that it become a universal law.
29. Kant stresses that only if the state gives and in chances constitutional rights,
loves and entitlements can a society act politically in relation to the state.
30. Any member of the society has always the greater power to grant right.
160
Assessment Task 7-2
Multiple Choice. Instruction: Select the correct answer on each statement below.
161
e. Will
5. Necessary for a common basis for the life of everyone which in the state
a. Righteousness
b. Freedom
c. Moral
d. Will
e. Equality
162
9. Influencing individuals in their declarations of fundamental morality
a. Will
b. Law
c. Success
d. Freedom
e. Right
163
Assessment Task 7-3
Matching Type. Instruction:Match the statement under letter A to letter B. Write only the letter of
the correct answer.
A B
1. Autonomy a. Deon
2. Heteronomy b. Deontology
3. Opposite of heteronomy c. Autonomy
4. Ethics based on obligation d. Other law
5. Meaning duty e. Self-law
6. Not spontaneous actions f. Moral action
7. Ability of people to act independently g. Agency
8. Works on all persons regardless of h. Categorical imperative
their preferences i. Good will
9. Intention to create good states of j. Freedom
affairs. k. Emotional actions
10. Act on one’s own choices
164
Summary
Therefore, Kant argues that the protection of individuals can take place only within a
patriotic government and there would be space for individual rights that are also sufficient for the
government's reach.
The dignity of every member of society against one another is the second logical concept
by which rights are created. Under the leadership of the state ruler, equality within society is
necessary for a common basis for the life of everyone within the state.
The ruler (president/king) is exempted from this equality as the founder of the
commonwealth or state, since he alone has the responsibility to ensure that the concept of
equality is achieved by legislation.
In the state, everybody needs to have the same rights so that laws can be evaluated and
166
References
Bulaong, O. G., Calano, M. J. T., Lagliva, A.M., Mariano, M. N. E., Principe, J. D. (2017). Ethics
Foundaion of Moral Valuation Manila Philippines, Rex Book Store Inc.
Cottingham, John, (1983) Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the
Analytic Tradition Vol. 43, No. 1 Cambridge English Dictionary, (2020) Dilemma 21 September
2020. From Cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/dilemma
Figar, Nadica and Dordevic, (2016) Biljana Managing an Ethical Dilemma, Economic Themes.
167
Kohlberg’s Moral Stages.(2020). Retrieved 21 September 2020, hdeblois285L/Kohlberg’s Moral
Stages.htm
Maboloc, C. R. B. (2010) Ethics and Human Dignity. Manila Philippines: Rex Book Sore, 2012
Manebog, J. D.G. (2013) Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards, Retrieved August 7, 2020
Minkes, A. L., Small, M. W., & Chatterjee, S. R. (1999). Leadership and business ethics: Does it
matter? Implications for management. Journal of Business Ethics, 200(4), 327-335.
Padilla, R. A., (1999) Ethics: Principles and Analysis of Contemporary Moral Problems, Rex Book
Store.
Tabotabo, C. V. Corpuz, R. M. & Dela Cruz, R. (2007) Ethics Standards of Human Conduct,
168
MODULE 8
Utilitarianism
Introduction
In the previous module, the Kant and rights theory were discussed. This module will focus
on another theory which is the utilitarianism theory. It is an ethical philosophy that argues for the
goodness of enjoyment, based on the utility of the effects of the action, and the determination of
correct actions.
The topics to be discussed in this module are the theory’s origins and nature and the
business's fascination with utilitarianism.
Learning Outcomes
1. Define utilitarianism;
2. Recall its origin, nature, and criticisms;
3. Compare rule utilitarian ethics and act utilitarian ethics; and
4. Explain the limitations of utilitarianism.
169
Lesson 1. Origins and Nature of Theory
He also added that utilitarianism begins with the fact that joy and happiness are inherently
important, that pain and misery are intrinsically priceless, and that everything else just has
meaning in inducing happiness or avoiding suffering. As the ultimate end of moral choices, this
emphasis on happiness or enjoyment makes it a form of hedonism.
Via fair consideration of interests, utilitarianism encourages equality and condemn any
arbitrary distinctions as to who is worthy of care and who is not, and any discrimination between
citizens. It does, however, embrace the notion of diminishing marginal utility, which acknowledges
that the same thing promotes the interests of a well-off person to a lesser degree than the interests
of a less well-off person (Mastin, 2009).
Utilitarianism's origins are also traced back to the Epicureanism of the Greek philosopher
Epicurus' followers. It can be argued that the proto-Utilitarians were David Hume and Edmund
Burke.
But as a particular school of thought, the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham is usually
credited with it. Bentham discovered pain and joy to be the world's only fundamental values, and
he derived the law of utility from this: that whatever gives the greatest satisfaction to the greatest
number of people is healthy. However, Bentham himself traced the origins of the theory to the
English scholar, theologian and founder of Unitarianism in England, Joseph Priestley (1733 -
1804).
170
The key supporter of Bentham was James Mill (1773 - 1836) and his uncle, John Stuart
Mill, who, according to the ideals of Bentham, was taught from a young age. "John Stuart Mill
both called the movement and refined the original ideals of Bentham in his popular 1861 short
novel, "Utilitarianism. Mill concluded that, as measured by a professional judge, cultural,
intellectual and spiritual pleasures are of greater importance than mere physical pleasure (which,
according to Mill, is anyone who has experienced both the lower pleasures and the higher).
Mill argued in his essay "On Liberty" and other works that utilitarianism demands that all
political agreements comply with the concept of liberty, according to which the only reason for
which power can be legitimately exercised against his will over any member of a civilized society
is to prevent harm to others, a cornerstone of the principles of liberalism and libertarianism. These
ideas have also been used as arguments for Socialism by some Marxist theorists.
Many other moral philosophers and the growth of many different forms of
consequentialism is inspired by the classic utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill.
It has been argued that it is difficult, not only in reality, but also in theory, to quantify and
compare happiness among different people. Defenders argue that in daily life, the same issue is
effectively resolved, and that approximate estimates are generally adequate.
Another problem in utilitarianism is that a sadist's enjoyment should have the same worth
as an altruist's pleasure, although advocates have countered that sadists are comparatively few
and that their successful power will be marginal, and that any satisfaction documented by the
sadist will be counterbalanced by the hurt felt by others. In addition, the sadist's delight is
superficial and fleeting, so it is counterproductive to the long-term well-being of the sadist.
Another point is that it often takes a long time to weigh all the facts and draw a definitive
conclusion about an action's relative costs and benefits. Utilitarians agree that any interpretation
of outcomes is often difficult, but claim that the best estimates of past-based consequences or
forecasts are generally adequate.
171
On the basis that determinism is either true or false, a very specific argument has been
put forward against utilitarianism: if it is true, then we have no real choice over our actions; if it is
false, then the consequences of our actions are unpredictable, not least because they will depend
on the actions of others that we cannot predict.
Utilitarianism was criticized for only looking at the consequences of behavior, not the
motivations or motives that drive them, which are also considered important by many individuals.
An action intended to cause harm, but which unintentionally produces good results, will therefore
be judged to be equal to the outcome of an action performed with good intentions.
Utilitarians may claim that it would take unrealistically large benefits to justify slavery,
torture or mass murder in order to outweigh the victims' direct and serious suffering, as well as
taking into account the indirect effect of social approval of inhumane policies (e.g. general anxiety
and fear might increase for all if human rights are commonly ignored).
Other critics have objected to the following: the right and wrong dichotomy inherent in
utilitarianism, whereby a "healthy" act (e.g. a charitable donation) may be branded as a wrong
action (e.g. if a more effective charity has an alternative donation); utilitarianism does not take
into account the fact that human existence is complex and evolving, so the idea of a single utility
is one-dimensional and not useful for all humans; utilitarians have no ultimate reason for solely
appreciating enjoyment, other than the tautological "this is the way it should be."
Some Consequentialists argue that other outcomes such as fairness or equality should
also be respected and taken into account, regardless of whether they improve happiness or not,
while happiness is an essential outcome.
172
Balance Emotion and Logic (Mastin, 2009)
Emotions certainly play an important role in the decision making process. Anxiety can keep you
from making a poor choice and boredom can ignite a spark that leads you to follow your
passion. To make balanced choices, acknowledge your emotions. Pay attention to the way your
feelings and recognize how those emotions may distort your thinking and influence your
behavior.
173
Lesson 2. Business's Fascination with Utilitarianism (Tardi, 2020)
Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest
good for the greatest number. As such, it is the only moral framework that can justify military force
or war. Moreover, utilitarianism is the most common approach to business ethics because of the
way that it accounts for costs and benefits.
The theory asserts that there are two types of utilitarian ethics practiced in the business world,
"rule" utilitarianism and "act" utilitarianism.
• Rule utilitarianism helps the largest number of people using the fairest methods possible.
• Act utilitarianism makes the most ethical actions possible for the benefit of the people.
And the airline benefits, too. The more expensive upper-class seats help to ease the financial
burden that the airline created by making room for economy-class seats.
174
In the Corporate Workplace
Most companies have a formal or informal code of ethics, which is shaped by their
corporate culture, values, and regional laws. Today, having a formalized code of business ethics
is more important than ever. For a business to grow, it not only needs to increase its bottom line,
but it also must create a reputation for being socially responsible. Companies also must endeavor
to keep their promises and put ethics at least on par with profits. Consumers are looking for
companies that they can trust, and employees work better when there is a solid model of ethics
in place.
On an individual level, if you make morally correct decisions at work, then everyone's happiness
will increase. However, if you choose to do something morally wrong—even if legal—then your
happiness and that of your colleagues, will decrease.
So, although utilitarianism is surely a reason-based approach to determining right and wrong, it
has obvious limitations.
175
Assessment Task 8-1
Multiple Choice
Instruction:
Select the correct answer under each statement.
a. Mill
b. Mastin
c. Bentham
d. Priestly
e. Epicurus
a. Mill
b. Bentham
c. Mastin
d. Priestly
e. Epicurus
a. Epicurus
b. Priestly
c. Bentham
d. Mastin
e. Mill
176
4. Argued that other outcomes should be respected and taken into account.
a. Utilitarian’s
b. Critics
c. Ethicist
d. Consequentialist
e. Theologian
a. Consequentialist
b. Ethicist
c. Utilitarian’s
d. Theologians
e. Critics
6. The most common approach to business ethics because of the way that it accounts for
cost and benefits.
a. Unified
b. Justification
c. Utility
d. Unism
e. Utilitarianism
a. Farmers
177
b. Workers
c. Consumers
d. Managers
e. Lawyers
a. Officials
b. Employees
c. Employers
d. Owners
e. Financer
10. Helps the largest number of people using the fairest methods possible.
a. Rule utilitarianism
b. Act utilitarianism
c. Theorical utilitarianism
d. Ethical utilitarianism
e. Moral utilitarianism
178
Assessment 8-2
True or False. Instruction: Write True if the statement is correct and False is the
1. John Stuart Mill art about the greatest happiness principle wrote of ethics and
was known for a system of penal management called pen option.
2. Jeremy Bentham was an advocate of economic freedom women’s right and the
operation of church and state.
3. 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
consequence.
4. Utility refers to the usefulness of the consequences of one’s action and behavior.
5. Jeremy Bentham and James Mill are the two foremost utilitarian thinkers.
6. Mill argues that our actions are governed by two sovereign masters which he
calls pleasure and pain.
7. Utilitarianism is consequentialist
8. 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.
9. It is quite compatible which the principle of utility to recognize the fact that some
kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable from others.
179
11. Bentham understands justice as a respect for rights directed toward society’s
pursuit for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
12. Mill understands that rights are a valid claim on society and are justified by
utility.
13. Utilitarianism is interested with the best consequences for the highest number of
people.
14. He who saves a fellow creature from drowning does what is morally right
whether his motive be duty or the hope of being paid for his trouble.
15. Bentham understands that legal rights are neither inviolable nor natural, but
rights are subject to some exceptions.
16. One’s right to privacy can be sacrificed for the sake not of the common good.
17. It is unjust to deprive any one of his personal liberty his property or any other
thing which belongs to him by law.
18. All persons are deemed to have a right to equality of treatment, except when
some, recognized social expediency requires the reverse.
20. Bentham agrees that higher pleasure is those preferred by the majority of
people.
21. Bentham argues that rights are socially protected interests that are justified by
their contribution to the greatest happiness principle.
22. Utilitarianism is a moral theory that grounds the rightness or wrongness of an act
based on its effects rather than on the act per seconds.
23. Based on the principle of utility, human action by its own nature does not
possess any moral qualification.
180
24. Utilitarianism judges the rightness or wrongness of act thoughts a utilitarianism
calculus or the measurement of pleasure or happiness.
26. Rule utilitarianism makes the most ethical actions possible for the benefit of the
people.
28. According to Mill the foundation of utilitarian morality is that an act produces the
greatest amount of pleasure or happiness and minimize and if possible,
eliminate pain or suffering.
29. According to Mill justice can be interpreted in terms of moral rights because
justice promotes the greater social good.
30. Act utilitarianism helps the largest number of people using the fairest methods
possible.
Assessment 8-3
Matching Type. Instruction: Match statements under letter A to letter B.
A B
181
by all individuals
Summary
Utilitarianism can be traced back during the Epicureanism of the Greek philosopher
Epicurus' followers.
There were an argument that it was difficult to quantify and compare happiness with other
individuals. Another problem is that sadist's enjoyment should have the same worth as an altruist's
pleasure.
91
Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest
good for the greatest number. Rule utilitarianism helps the largest number of people using the
fairest methods possible. Act utilitarianism makes the most ethical actions possible for the benefit
of the people. A limitation of utilitarianism is that it tends to create a black-and-white construct of
morality. In utilitarian ethics, there are no shades of gray—either something is wrong or it is right.
Utilitarianism also cannot predict with certainty whether the consequences of our actions will be
good or bad—the results of our actions happen in the future. Utilitarianism also has trouble
accounting for values like justice and individual rights.
References
BBC – Ethics (2020)- Introduction to ethics: Ethics: a general Introduction. Retrieved August 7,
2020.
Bulaong, O. G., Calano, M. J. T., Lagliva, A., Mariano, M.N., Principe, J. D. Z. (2017). Ethics
Foundaion of Moral Valuation Manila Philippines, Rex Book Store Inc. Mindshaper Co.
Inc.
93
Cottingham, J., (1983) Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the
Analytic Tradition Vol. 43, No. 1 Cambridge English Dictionary, (2020) Dilemma 21
September 2020. From: Cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/dilemma
Figar, Nadica and Dordevic, (2016) Biljana Managing an Ethical Dilemma, Economic Themes.
Maboloc, C. R. B. (2010) Ethics and Human Dignity. Manila Philippines: Rex Book Sore, 2012
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