TEACHER’S EDUCATION PROGRAM

BACHELOR OF ELEMENTRY EDUCATION

THIRD YEAR

ETHICS

STUDENT LEARNING MODULE 1 PRELIM

WEEK1

CHAPTER 1: UNDERSTANDING MORALITY AND

MORAL STANDARDS

POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN

Botolan, Zambales

NOTE:

Do not write anything on this module.

 Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN
(Formerly Botolan Community College)
Botolan, Zambales
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pcb2009.net

LESSON 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF RULES

LEARNING OUTCOME:
At the end of the lesson the students are able to:
• Explain the importance of the rules.
• Differentiate between moral and non – moral standards.
• Identify moral dilemma as a moral experience.
• Distinguish between a moral dilemma and a false dilemma.

ENGAGE

The picture below comprises the things we must do as we are experiencing pandemic. Help
Doctor TEP to identify these things by writing them in a column provided. Check how often you
do these things by putting (☺) on A if Always O if Often and N if Never.

RULES HOW REGULAR YOU

FOLLOW?
A O N
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

GUIDED QUESTIONS:

1. What if we do not have rules to follow during this pandemic? What are possible
consequences?
2. Do you find rules constricting? Why or why not?
3. Are these rules important? Why or why not?
INTRODUCTION

Everywhere you go are rules -- at home, at school, in church, in the barangay.

Do these rules make our life more difficult and so should be eliminated or do
these rules make our life more peaceful and orderly? Imagine your life, your
home, your school, your Church and community without rules. In this Lesson,
we’ll study about the importance of rules.
Rules are important to social beings. Just imagine the chaos that results from the absence of
rules. What happens when students and professors alike come to school in any attire they want?
Imagine what happens when in the classroom everyone wants to talk at the same time. Let’s go out
of the classroom for more examples. What if there were no traffic rules? Rules can be expanded to
include the Philippine Constitution and other laws. What if there were no Constitution and other laws
of the land? ‘
Rules are meant to set order. Rules (the Philippine Constitution and other laws included) are
meant for man. The greatest Teacher, Jesus Christ, preached emphatically, “The Sabbath is made
for man and not man for the Sabbath”. The law of the Sabbath, i.e. to keep it holy and observe rest;
is meant to make man whole by resting and by giving him time to thank and spend time in prayer and
worship for his own good.
For the sake of order in society, everyone is subject to rules. In a democratic country like the
Philippines, we often hear the statement “No one is above the law,” including the highest official of
the country. We are all subject to rules or else court chaos.
Rules are not meant to restrict your freedom. They are meant to help you grow in freedom,
to grow in your ability to choose and do what is good for you and for others. If there are rules or laws
that restrict your ability or strength to do well, they are suffocating laws and they are not good laws.
They ought to be abolished. Any rule or law that prevents human persons from doing and being good
ought to be repealed. They have no reasons to exist.
In fact, if you are a rule or a law-abiding citizen, you don’t even feel the restricting presence
of a rule or law because you do what the law or what the rule states everybody should do. Looking
from a higher point of view, this is the state when one acts not because rules demand it but because
one sees he has to act that way. It is like saying one no longer needs the rule or law because one
has become mature and wise enough to discern what ought to be done. This is an ideal state which
the ancient Chinese sages (Confucius, Lao Tzu) referred to as state of no-more rules, no-more laws,
because people discern what is right or good and do what is right or good without thinking or a rule
or law; people are no longer in need of a government because they can govern themselves. It is a
state where one owns the moral standard not just abide by the moral standard.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Rules are meant to set order in society.

• Rules must consider what is good for the community as well as our own good.
This is common good.
• It is necessary for rules to or law to be communicated to the people involved in
order to enforce them and to better insure compliance. This is referred as
promulgation.
• We have 4 types of law; eternal, natural, human, and divine law.
• Rules are intended for human persons. They are not meant to limit a person’s
freedom which is the ability to choose and do what is good. Rather rules are
meant to help persons choose and do what is good.
• Those who do what is good don’t even feel the presence of a rule that prevents
them from doing what is not good. It is those who intend to do the opposite of
what is good that feel the suffocating and limiting presence of a rule.
• When society is ideal, i.e. when all persons are good and do only what is ideal
then there will be no more need for rules and laws.

ACTIVITIES #1
Answer the following questions:
1. Why are rules important?
2. Reflect on your own attitude towards rules. Do you welcome rules? Or are you allergic to
rules? What if there were no rules?

A law, therefore, is concerned with the common good. In a way, making of a law belongs either to
the whole people or to a public person who has care for the common good or is tasked with the
concern for the good of the community or of the whole people.

VARITIES OF LAW
ETERNAL LAW

• Eternal law refers to what God wills for creation, how each participant in it Is intended to
return to Him. Given our limitations, we cannot grasp the fullness of the eternal law.
Nevertheless, it is for
It is also necessary notrules
completely
or laws to opaque to us. We
be communicated must
to the recognize
people that
involved in first,
order we arethem
to enforce partand to
of the compliance.
better ensure eternal law, and
This is second,
referred towe
as participate
promulgation. in itIninanaideal
special way.
sense, without considering the reality that
• All things
sometimes rules are not properly
partake in thethought out or
eternal seem
law, to favor select
meaning, personsare
all beings or groups rather
already than the
created bycommon
God ingood,
a we
can speak of law as a form of restriction and direction of human actions in such a way that the common good is promoted.
certain way intended to return to Him. Thus, we can find in them the very imprint of the
rule
Now, and measure
in thinking aboutof athe acts by what
community, which they
if we are more
thought guided. These
grandly, canabe
not just determined
small group, a class,in the
a city, or
even a very
country? What if wethat
inclinations thinkthey
of vast community
possess, which is the
directing entire
their actsuniverse
toward and everything
their properinends.
it, or in other words, all
of being? Is there Someone in charge of this community, guiding all toward their common good and directing all with His
• Therefore, irrational creatures (e.g., plants and animals) are participating in the eternal
wisdom?
law, although we could hardly say that they are 'in any way” conscious” of this law. Aquinas
notes that we cannot speak of them as obeying the law, except by way of similitude which
is to say that they do not think of the law or chose to obey it, but are simply, through the
 instinctual following of their nature, complying with the law tha6t God has for them. More
appropriately, these creatures are moved by divine providence.

NATURAL LAW

• Human being’s participation is different. The human being, as rational, participates more
fully and perfectly in the law given the capacity for reason. The unique imprint upon us,
upon our human nature by God, is the capacity to ‘think about what is good and what is
evil, and to choose and direct ourselves appropriately. Wherefore it has a share of the
Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this
participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law. By looking
at our human nature, at the natural inclinations given to us by God, we can determine the
rule and measure that should be directing our acts.
HUMAN LAW

• Human law refers to all instances wherein human beings construct and enforce laws in
their communities. Given the larger picture of Aquinas’s view, one would have a basis for
assessing the validity or invalidity of a human law: whether or not it conforms to the natural
law. Insofar as a human law goes against what nature inclines us toward, it is not properly
speaking a law-in the ideal sense of directing us to the common good-but instead is unjust
and can be called a matter of violence.
DIVINE LAW

• Aquinas asks us to recall that there is a certain form of happiness that is proportionate to
our human nature, which we can obtain by means of our natural principles. However, there
also is another, more complete, happiness that surpasses human’s nature, a supernatural
happiness that can be obtained through the power of God alone. To direct us toward our
supernatural end, we had been given further instructions in the form of divine law.
• This term, often confused with eternal law, refers specifically to the instances where we
have precepts or instructions that come from divine revelation. For example, we have what
is handed down to us in the sacred Scriptures (e.g., the Ten Commandments in the book
Exodus in the Old Testament or Jesus's injunction to love one’s neighbor in the Gospels).

EVALUATION
A. Read the following statement and provide what is being asked.
l. The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath. What does this mean? Illustrate
with an example.
2. Rules/laws are made for the good of man. State the good that is derived from the following
school rules;
a. No ID, No Entry
b. Student/Teacher Tardiness beyond 15 minutes means absence
c. Any form of cheating is punishable with suspension.
 d. Use of illegal drug is punishable with dismissal.
3. Give an example of a constricting rule or law. What should be done with it? 4. The ancient
Chinese sage named Lao Tzu taught: “Leave the people to themselves, no laws and inner
goodness will flourish.” “The more laws and commands there are, the more thieves and robbers
will be.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

B. Identify the following rules/laws according to its variety. Write whether it is Natural Law, Eternal
Law, Divine Law or Human Law on the space provided.

_____________1. Ephesians 1:4-5

_____________2. People should do no harm to others
_____________3. Parents should care for their children
_____________4. Do shall not have any other God except from me
_____________5. Bill of Rights

REFLECTION
Answer the question:
1. Why rules are important?

Lesson 2: MORAL AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS

ENGAGE

MORAL STANDARDS NON-MORAL STANDARDS

 Classify the following into
groups; moral standards and
non-moral standard. List your
answer on the table provided.

• No talking while your mouth is full

• Do not lie
• Wear black or white for mourning: not red.
• The males should be the one to propose marriage not females
• Don’t steal.
• Observe correct grammar when writing and speaking English
• Submit school requirements on time
• If you are a male, stay by the danger side (roadside) when walking with female.
• Go with the fashion or you are not “in”.
• Don’t cheat others.
• Don’t kill.
• When you speak pronounce words correctly.
• Focus the microscope properly.
• Maintain a 36-24-36 body figure.

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. Why do you classify one group as moral standard and another as non-moral standard?
2. What is common to those listed under moral standard?
3. What is common to the list of moral standard?

INTRODUCTION

We often hear the terms “moral standards” and “non-moral standards.” What do
these refer to? What about the word “immoral?” Is there such a thing as immoral standards?
Is immoral synonymous with non-moral? Let’s find this out in this Lesson.

ABSTRACTION

Etymology and Meaning of Ethics

❖ “Ethics” comes from the Greek word “ethos” meaning “custom” used in the works
of Aristotle, while the term “moral” is the Latin equivalent. Based on the Greek and
 Latin etymology of the word “ethics”, ethics deals with morality. When the Roman
orator Cicero exclaimed, “0 o mores” (Cicero, 1856) (Oh, what time and what morals),
he may have been trying to express dismay of the morality of his time.

❖ Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy which deals with moral

standards, inquires about the rightness or wrongness of human behavior or the
goodness or badness of personality, trait or character. It deals with ideas, with topics
such as moral standards or norms of morality, conscience, moral values and virtues.
Ethics is a study of the morality of human acts and moral agents, what makes an act
obligatory and what makes a person accountable.

❖ “Moral” is the adjective describing a human act as either ethically right or wrong, or
qualifying a person, personality, character, as either ethically good or bad.

Moral Standards or Moral Frameworks and Non-Moral Standards

Since ethics is a study of moral standards, then the first question for the course is, what
moral standards are. The following are supposed to be examples of moral standards: “Stealing is
wrong.” “Killing is wrong.” “Telling lies is wrong.” “Adultery is wrong.” “Environment preservation
is the right thing to do”; “Freedom with responsibility is the right way.” “Giving what is due to others
is justice”. Hence, moral standards are norms or prescriptions that serve as the frameworks
for determining what ought to be done or what is right or wrong action, what is good or
bad character.
Moral standards are either consequences standards (like Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism) 0r
non-consequence standards (like Aristotle’s virtue, St. Thomas’ natural law, or Immanuel Kant’
good will or sense of duty).
The consequence standards depend on results, outcome. An act that results in the
general welfare, in the greatest good of the greatest number, is moral. To take part in a project
that results in the improvement of the majority of people is, therefore, moral.
The non-consequence standards are based on the natural law. Natural law is the
law of God revealed through human reason. It is the “law of God written in the hearts of
men.” To preserve human life is in accordance with the natural law, therefore it is moral. Likewise,
the non-consequence standard may also be based on good will or intention, and on a sense of
duty. Respect for humanity, treatment of the other as a human person, an act that is moral, springs
from a sense of duty, a sense of duty that you wish will apply to all human persons.
On the other hand, non-moral standards are social rules, demands of etiquette and good
manners. They are guides of action which should be followed as expected by society. Sometimes
they may not be followed or some people may not follow them. From time to time, changes are
made regarding good manners or etiquette. In sociology, non-moral standards or rules are called
folkways. In short, non-moral actions are those where moral categories cannot be applied.
Examples of non-moral standards are rules of good manners and right conduct, etiquette,
rules of behavior set by parents, teachers, and standards of grammar or language, standards of
art, standards of sports set by other authorities. Examples are “do not eat with your mouth open;”
“observe rules of grammar,” and “do not wear socks that don’t match.”
 An indicator whether or not a standard is moral or non-moral lies in it compliance as
distinguished from its non-compliance. Non-compliance with moral standards causes a sense of
guilt, while non-compliance with a non-moral standard may only cause shame or embarrassment.

CLASSIFICATON OF THE
THEORIES OF MORAL
STANDARDS

Consequence Standard
(teleological, from tele which means end,
result, or consequence)
It states that an act is right or wrong
depending on the consequences of the Not - only - consequence standard
act, that is, the good that is produced in (deontological)
the world. Will it do you good if you go to It holds that the rightness or
school? If the answer is right, because you wrongness of an action or rule
learn how to read and write, then going to depends on sense of duty, natural
school is right. The consequence standard law, virtue and the demand of the
can also be a basis for determining situation or circumstances. The
whether or not a rule is a right rule. So the rightness or wrongness of an action
consequence standard states that the does not only depend or rely on the
rightness or wrongness of a rule depends consequence of that action or
on the consequences or the good that is following that rule.
produced in following the rule. For
instance, if everyone follows the rule of a
game, everyone will enjoy playing the
game. This good consequence proves the
rule must be a correct rule.

Natural law and virtue ethics are deontological moral standards because their basis for
determining what is right or wrong does not depend on consequences but on the natural law and
virtue. Situation ethics, too, is deontological because the rightness or wrongness of an act
depends on situation and circumstances requiring or demanding exception to rule.
Rosen and Gamer are inclined to consider deontology, be it rule or act deontology, as the
better moral standard because it synthesizes or includes all the other theory of norms. Under this
theory, the rightness or wrongness of an action depends on (or is a function of) all the following:
a) consequences of an action or rule, what promotes one’s greatest good, or the greatest good
of the greatest number; b) consideration other than consequences, like the obligatoriness or the
act based on natural law, or its being one’s duty, or its promoting an ideal virtue. Deontology also
considers the object, purpose, and circumstances or situation of the moral issue or dilemma.

What Makes Standards Moral?

 The question means what obliges us to follow a moral standard?
➢ For theists, believers in God’s existence, moral standards are commandments of
God revealed to man through prophets. According to the Old Testament, the Ten
Commandments were revealed by God to Moses. One who believes in God vows
to Him and obliges himself/herself to follow His Ten Commandments. For theists,
God is the ultimate source of what is moral revealed to human persons.
➢ For non-theists, God is not the source of morality Moral standards are based on
the wisdom of sages like Confucius or philosophers like Immanuel Kant.
In China, B. C., Confucius taught the moral standard, “Do unto others what you like
others to do unto you” and persuaded people to follow this rule because it is the right way, the
gentleman’s way. Later, Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, formulated a criterion for
determining what makes a moral standard moral. It is stated as follows: “Act only according
to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal
law.” (1993) In other words, if a maxim or standard cannot pass this test, it cannot be a moral
standard. For instance, does the maxim “Stealing is wrong” pass this test? Can one will that this
maxim be a universal maxim? The answer is in the affirmative. The opposite of the maxim would
not be acceptable. Moral standards are standards that we want to be followed by all, otherwise,
one would be wishing one’s own ill fortune. Can you wish “do not kill” to be a universal maxim?
The answer has to be yes because if you say “no” then you are not objecting to someone killing
you. Thus, the universal necessity of the maxim, what makes it a categorical imperative is
what makes it obligatory. “Stealing is wrong” means “one ought not to steal” and “Do not kill”
means “one ought not to kill.” It is one’s obligation not to steal or kill. Ultimately, the obligation
arises from the need of self-reservation

APPLICATION

After reading and understand the information given, let’s try to figure out the following situations
below by sharing your answer to the following.
1. Here are two questions:
a) Can one eat while praying?
b) Can one pray while eating?
Which is a moral question? Which is a non-moral question? Why?
2. I did not dress appropriately formally for a formal party. Which did I fail to observe? Moral or
non-moral standard?
3. Lady B dressed indecently to expose her body. Which did she violate ~ moral or non-moral
standard? Why?
4. It is more difficult to do only that which is moral than to do anything you want to do. But
you keep on striving to do only that which is moral, anyway. What makes you strive to do only
that which is moral even if difficult? Write your reflections.
 5. Using vein diagram, compare and contrast moral standard and non-moral standard.

MORAL NON – MORAL

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Non-moral standards originate from social rules, demands of etiquette and good manners.
They are guides of action which should be followed as expected by society.
• Moral standards are based on the natural law, the consequence of one’s actions and
sense of duty. Moral standards are based on natural law, the law' of God revealed through
human reason or the “law of God written in the hearts of men.”
• Moral standards are based on consequences standards. That which leads to a good
consequence or result like the greatest good of the greatest number is what is moral.
• Moral standards are based also on non-consequence standards or sense of duty that you
wish would be followed by all. Respect for humanity, treatment of the other as a human
person, an act that is moral, springs from a sense of duty, a sense of duty that you wish
is wished by all and applies to all human persons.
• For theists, the origin of moral standards is God who “wrote his law in the heart of every
person”, the natural law.
• For non-theists, the origin of moral standards is the moral frameworks formulated by
philosophers like Confucius, Immanuel Kant, Stuart MIII, et al.
• The evolutionist claims that the sense of moral standards must have evolved with man not
something that was implanted in every human person instantly at the moment of creation.
Creation as a process may have taken place not only in 6 days as the creationist claims
but in billions of years as the evolutionist asserts.
• For the theists, belief in God strengthens them to be moral.

LESSON 3: MORAL DILEMMAS

APPLICATION

After learning moral and non-moral standards, you must now have an idea of what
a moral experience is. When you find yourself in a moral dilemma, you are in for
a moral experience. What is moral dilemma?

ACTIVITY
Read the “Pregnant Baby and the Dynamite”, then answer the questions given:

A pregnant woman leading a group of five people out of a cave on a coast is stuck in the
mouth of the cave. In a short time, high tide will be upon them and unless she is unstuck, they will
be all be drowned except the woman whose head is out of the cave. Fortunately, (or
unfortunately), someone has with him a stick of dynamite. There seems no way to get the
pregnant woman loose without using the dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if they do not
use it everyone else will drown.

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

1. What would you do if you were one of the men? Explain why you decided to act that way?

2. The situation or the experience you went through is a moral dilemma. What then is a moral
dilemma?

3. Is finding yourself in a moral dilemma, a moral experience? Why or why not?

INTRODUCTION

Meaning of Moral Dilemma

A moral dilemma - a problem in the decision-making between two possible options,
neither of which is absolutely acceptable from an ethical perspective.
- It is also referred to as ethical dilemma. The Oxford Dictionary defines
ethical dilemma as a “decision-making problem between two possible moral
imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable.
- It is sometimes called an ethical paradox in moral philosophy. (Oxford
Dictionary) '

Based on these definitions, moral dilemmas have the following in common:

1) “The agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions which are morally unacceptable;
2) The agent can do each of the actions;
3) But the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions. The agent thus seems condemned to
moral failure; no matter what she does, she will do something wrong (or fail to do something that
she ought to do).

This means that moral dilemmas are situations where two or more moral values or
duties make demands on the decision-maker, who can only honor one of them, and thus will
violate at least one important moral concern, no matter what he or she decides to do. Moral
dilemmas present situations where there is tension between moral values and duties that
are more or less on equal footing. The decision-maker has to choose between a wrong and
another wrong. The decision-maker is a deadlock.
 To have a genuine dilemma, one of the conflicting solutions should not override the other.
For instance, “... the requirement to protect others from serious harm overrides the requirement
to repay one’s debts by returning a borrowed item when its owner so demands.” Hence, “in
addition to the features mentioned above, in order to have a genuine moral dilemma it must also
be true that neither of the conflicting requirements is overridden” (McConnell, T. 2019). This
means that none of the conflicting requirements is solved by the other. The persons involved in
the dilemma are in a deadlock. They find themselves in a “damn-if~you-do and damn’if-you-don’t”
situation.

• Meaning of a False Dilemma

On the other hand, a false dilemma is a situation where the decision maker has a moral
duty to do one thing, but is tempted or under pressure to do something else. A false
dilemma is a choice between a right and a wrong. For example, a lawyer or an accountant can
face an opportunity to prioritize self-interest over the client’s interest.

• What to Do When Faced with a Moral Dilemma

Ultimately, dilemmas are conflicts in the application of moral standards. The question is which
moral standards must be followed? In a state of emergency, necessity demands no moral law.
You have to decide based on your best judgment or choose based on the principle of lesser evil
or greater good or urgency.

APPLICATION

1. Are these cases examples of moral dilemma? Elaborate your answer.

A. The deliberate Infection
Ken is a doctor. One of his patients, whom he has diagnosed as HIV positive, is about to
receive a blood transfusion prior to being released from the hospital. He has told ken, in the
confidence of their doctor-patient relationship, that after he gets his transfusion, and his
medicine from ken, he intends to infect as many people as possible with HIV starting that
evening.
Because ken is bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, there is no legal way to stop this
man from carrying out his plan. Even if ken warned the police, they would not be able to arrest
him, since his medical information is protected.
It occurs to ken that he could contaminate his medication by putting an untraceable poison
in it that will kill him before he gets a chance to infect others.
Should Ken poison this man in order to prevent him from spreading HIV? (Source:
http://psychopixi.com/author/pixil)
 B. The unfaithful Wife
You are an emergency worker that has just been called to the scene of an accident. When
you arrive you see that the car belongs to your wife. Fearing the worst you rush over, only to see
she is trapped in her car with another man. He is obviously her lover with whom she’s been having
an affair.
You reel back in shock, devastated by what you have just found out. As you step back, the
wreck in front of you comes into focus. You see your wife is seriously hurt and see needs attention
straight away. Even if see gets immediate attention there’s a very high chance she’ll die. You look
at the seat next to her and see her lover. He’s bleeding heavily from the wound in the neck and
you need to stem the flow of blood immediately.
If you attend to your wife, her lover will bleed to death, and you may not be able to save her
anyway. If you work on the lover, you can save his life but your wife will definitely die.
Who should you choose to work on? (Source: http://psychopixi.com/author/pixil)

C. You are an English teacher at a high school. One of your pupils is a very bright and gifted girl
whom you have always enjoyed teaching. She has always achieved A grades throughout her
school years, and is now in her final year and getting ready to graduate. Unfortunately, she has
been very ill this term, and missed several weeks of schooling. She has just turned in a report
which is worth 40% of her grade, but you realize that she did not write it herself she has copied a
report found online and tried to pass it off as her own work.
If you report her plagiarisation to the school authorities, it will be entered on her permanent
record and she will no longer be eligible to attend the prestigious university that she has dreamed
of attending all through high school. If you refuse to accept the report, her final mark will be very
poor and may harm her chances of being chosen for this university. If you mark the paper as
though you believed it was her own work, she will do very well, and stand every chance of getting
her desired university place. What should you do? (Source: http://psychopixi.com/author/pixil)

2. Are these moral dilemma? Explain your answer.

• Taking credit for others’ work in order to get promoted

• Manufacturing and distributing fake drugs for profit
• Offering a client, a worse product for bigger profit
• Utilizing inside knowledge for your own profit

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A moral dilemma is a “decision making problem between two possible moral

Imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable.
 • A moral dilemma is a situation where a person has the moral obligation to choose
between two options both based on moral standards, but ho [she cannot choose both,
and choosing one means violating the other.
• In a moral dilemma, one is caught between two options. It is a “damn-lf-you-do and
damn-if-you-don’t situation. One is in a deadlock.
• False dilemmas are situations where the decision-maker has a moral duty to do one
thing, but is tempted or under pressure to do something else. A false dilemma is a
choice between a right and a wrong unlike a moral dilemma where both choices are
wrong.

EVALUATION

A. Write T if the statement is hue and F if is False.

_____1. A person or persons in a moral dilemma can easily choose which course of action to
take.
_____2. In a moral dilemma, one course of action between two Options is obviously immoral
while the other choice is moral.
_____3. A person involved in a moral dilemma can choose both options.
_____4. In a moral dilemma, a person has a choice for the good, only that because he/she is
tempted he/she ends up choosing that which is not good.
______5. In a moral dilemma, a person is torn between two no good options.

B. Divergent Roads
Do the divergent roads tell what a moral dilemma is? Explain your answer.
REFLECTION
1. What is a moral dilemma that you have experienced directly or vicariously (from reading)?
Are you happy with how you addressed the moral dilemma you went through? Or do you
agree with how the moral dilemma that you read was addressed? Write your reflections.

2. For 5 points, write your own moral dilemma.

REFERENCE:

Corpuz, Ruben A (AB English – Philisopy, MA Philo, LIB, PhD)

Corpuz, Brenda B. (BSE, MAEd,PhD)
ETHICS: Life as it ought to be
LORI MAR Publishing Inc. 2020
10 – B Boston Street, Brgy.Kaunlaran, Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. Nos. 721 – 2715, 727 – 3386, 723 – 1560
Cellphone No. 0918 – 5375190
Fax (632) 727 - 338

Prepared by:

ARIANNE JOY M. LIMBAG, LPT

Instructor
Reviewed by:

NILO C. BALANGON Ed. D.

Program Coordinator