KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

differentiate between ethics and morality;

In this lesson, you classify the basic ethical principles that
are expected to: may help determine the rightness or
wrongness of a human action;
compare & contrast human act/s from
act/s of man;
distinguish moral standards from non-
moral ones; and
describe and give examples of the different
types of moral dilemmas
 Knowing the nature of ethics is the first basic
INTRODUCTION step to strengthen the foundation of a
personal and a lifelong commitment. To be
ethical does not only require knowledge of
ethics but also the willingness to live
ethically. The willingness and moral
conviction to live the virtuous life, we alone
cultivate our moral sense as we alone make
the decision to do what is good or we alone
make the decision to refuse to do the right
thing (Brady, 2015).
ETHICS Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos,
& while morality from the Latin word mos, both
MORALITY words refer to customary behavior.
This is the reason why we say that a “moral
person” or “ethical person” is one who is good
and does the right thing, and an “immoral
person” or “unethical person” is one who is
bad and does what is wrong.
ETHICS
The first idea that came to our mind when
& we ask the difference between morality
MORALITY and ethics is that the former generally
refers to the systematic study of the
rightness and wrongness of a human
action, while the latter is generally
understood as the rightness or
wrongness of a human action.
ETHICS
In this way, we can say that ethics is the
& specific branch of philosophy that
MORALITY studies the morality (that is, the
rightness or wrongness) of a human
act. With this, we may initially conclude
that ethics is the science of “morals”,
while morality is the practice of ethics.
 1. Respect for persons
Basic 2. Truthfulness and Confidentiality
3. Autonomy and Informed Consent
Ethical
4. Beneficence
Principles 5. Non-maleficence, and
6. Justice.
Basic
Ethical
Principles
 Respect for persons
-incorporates two ethical convictions:
Basic 1. that individuals should be treated as
autonomous agents; and,
Ethical 2. that persons with diminished
Principles autonomy are entitled to protection.
-in some respect controlled by others or incapable of deliberating or
acting on the basis of his or her desires and plans.
 Truthfulness and Confidentiality
 Truthfulness is about telling the truth to someone who has
the right to know the truth.
-For example, if you have been informed about the result of
Basic an HIV test taken by someone in your community who then
asks to know his/her result, you should tell the person the
truth even though this might be very upsetting to that
Ethical person. The concept of truthfulness urges the professional
not to lie.

Principles  The concept of confidentiality urges you to keep a secret –

by which we mean knowledge or information that a person
has the right or obligation to conceal.
- For example, if the family of a person who has had an HIV
test demands that you give them the result, you must not
tell them. You must keep the result confidential unless your
client gives you permission to tell their family.
 Autonomy and Informed Consent
 The right or condition of self-government.
 Kantian moral philosophy: the capacity of an
Basic agent to act in accordance with
objective morality rather than under the influence
of desires.
Ethical  Its intent is that human participants can enter
research freely (voluntarily) with full information
Principles about what it means for them to take part, and
that they give consent before they enter the
research.
 Beneficence
The term beneficence connotes acts or personal
Basic qualities of mercy, kindness, generosity, and
charity. It is suggestive of altruism, love, humanity,
and promoting the good of others. In ordinary
Ethical language, the notion is broad, but it is understood
even more broadly in ethical theory to include
Principles effectively all norms, dispositions, and actions with
the goal of benefiting or promoting the good of
other persons.
Basic
Ethical
Principles
Basic Non-maleficence
Ought not to do any harm to others. This
Ethical principle supports several moral rules − do
not kill, do not cause pain or suffering, do not
Principles incapacitate, do not cause offense, and do
not deprive others of the goods of life.
Basic
Ethical
Principles
Basic Justice
Ethical Justice means giving each person what he or
she deserves or, in more traditional terms,
Principles giving each person his or her due.
Basic
Ethical
Principles
Human Actus Humanus
"makataong kilos"
Acts
&
Acts of Actus Hominis
Man "kilos ng tao"
 The term human act has a fixed technical
Human meaning. It means an act (thought, deed,
desire) performed by a human being when
Acts he is responsible; when he knows what he
is doing; and when he wills to do it.
3
Knowledge
Essential A human act is an act done with knowledge
doing an act with knowledge makes the act
Elements deliberate.
of Human Understands what he is doing and able to
explain why it is done.
Acts
3
Freedom:
Essential An act done with freedom means that an
Elements agent acts under the control of his will.
One acts because he is not under the
of Human influence of external forces
Acts
3
 Actual choice or voluntariness:
Essential  It is the voluntariness that requires the presence of
the two other constituents. Voluntariness requires
Elements the presence of knowledge and freedom.
of Human  One acts because he wanted to, and so he
voluntarily decided to
Acts
Acts Acts performed by an individual which are not
subject to his will and reason are not called strictly
of human acts but rather natural acts .
An act done by a human being but without
Man knowledge and consent is called an act of a
man/person but not a human act
Acts Acts performed by an individual which are not
subject to his will and reason are not called strictly
of human acts but rather natural acts .
An act done by a human being but without
Man knowledge and consent is called an act of a
man/person but not a human act
Acts
Acts of man, therefore, are acts shared in
of common by man and other animals,
whereas human acts are proper
Man to human beings.
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Acts
of Why the need to distinguish moral
standards from non-moral ones?
Man
Acts
It is important to note that
of different societies have
different moral beliefs and our
Man beliefs are deeply influenced by
our own culture and context.
Acts
of
Man
 Let us consider, for example, the wearing of
hijab. For sure, in traditional Muslim communities,
Acts the wearing of hijab is the most appropriate act that
women have to do in terms of dressing up. In fact,
for some Muslims, showing parts of the woman’s
of body such as the face and legs is disgraceful.
However, in many parts of the world,
especially in Western societies, most people don’t
Man mind if women barely cover their bodies. As a matter
of fact, the Hollywood canon of beauty glorifies a
sexy and slim body and the wearing of extremely
daring dress. The point here is that people in the
West may have pitied the Muslim women who wear
hijab, while some Muslims may find women who
dress up daringly disgraceful (Gallinero, 2018).
  Again, this clearly shows that different cultures
Acts have different moral standards. What is a matter
of moral indifference, that is, a matter of taste
(hence, non-moral value) in one culture may be a
of matter of moral significance in another.
 Now, the danger here is that one culture may
impose its own cultural standard on others,
Man which may result in a clash in cultural values
and beliefs. When this happens, violence and crime
may arise, such as religious violence and ethnic
cleansing.
Acts
of HOW CAN WE ADDRESS THIS CULTURAL
CONUNDRUM?
Man
 Indeed, once we know that particular values
Acts and beliefs are non-moral, we will be able to
avoid running the risk of falling into the pit of
of cultural reductionism (that is, taking
complex cultural issues as simple and
homogenous ones) and the unnecessary
Man imposition of one’s own cultural standard on
others.
 The point here is that if such standards are
non-moral (that is, a matter of taste), then we
don’t have the right to impose them on
Acts others but if such standards are moral ones,
such as not killing or harming people,
of then we may have the right to force
others to act accordingly. In this way, we
Man may be able to find a common moral ground,
such as agreeing not to steal, lie, cheat, kill,
harm, and deceive our fellow human beings
(Gallinero, 2018).
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of Moral standards have the
following characteristics:
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