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Module 1: Basic Concepts and

Issues

Lesson 1: Meaning and Scope of Ethics

Morality:
refers to the set of standards an individual person or society uses to judge
whether an act is good or bad, whether someone is virtuous or not, or whether
we ought to do this or that.

Ethics
The word “Ethics” is sometimes used to refer to one’s set of moral beliefs and
practices. Strictly speaking, however, it refers to the discipline that examines
the moral standards of an individual or society. Being a branch of philosophy
that studies the nature of morality, it is sometimes also called moral
philosophy.

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 3 General Areas of Ethics
Methaethics
It looks into the nature, meaning, scope, and foundations of moral values,
beliefs,and judgments. Examples of metaethical questions are: Is morality
objective or relative? Is morality based on reason, emotions, intuition, or facts?
What are moral persons? What does it mean to be morally accountable?

Normative Ethics
It is concerned with the formulation of moral standards, rules, or principles to
determine right from wrong conduct or ways of life worth pursuing.

Normative ethical theories are generally built on 3 considerations about acts:

(a) that they lead to consequences;

(b) that they follow or violate rules; and
(c) that they are done by persons with character traits. Accordingly, these theories
are generally classified into consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics.

Applied Ethics
It examines the particular moral issues occurring in both the personal and
social spheres. It determines the moral permissibility of actions and practices
in specific areas of human concern like business, medicine, nature, law,
sports, and others.

Areas in applied ethics include business ethics, bioethics, environmental

ethics, computer ethics, and social media ethics.

Descriptive Ethics

Metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are areas of

Ethics taken as a philosophical study of morality. A non-

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 philosophical study of morality which seeks to objectively
record and present how people in a certain community make
moral judgments or develop their capacity for such is called
descriptive ethics. Descriptive ethics can be done in the
disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and psychology.

Lesson 2: Normative Nature of Moral Statements

Moral Statements as Normative Statements

Moral statements are normative or prescriptive, not descriptive or factual.

They are concerned with how things should be rather than what things are.

Normative Statements in General

While we appeal to the results of research, experiment, or observation in

validating factual statements, we appeal to certain standards in validating
normative statements.

Normative statements may involve matters concerning morality, aesthetics,

grammar, legality, and etiquette (among others), which are distinguished
according to the standards used for making these statements.

Lesson 3: Characteristics of Moral Standards

Moral Standards and Other Normative Standards

Moral standards are often confused with other normative standards also
concerned with “good” or “proper” behavior, such as:

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 1. Standards of Etiquette: based on culture or conventional practices
2. Legal Standards: based on governmental laws

3. Religious Standards: based on religious laws

What may be acceptable for these other normative standards may not be
acceptable for moral standards due to the characteristics of moral standards.

4 Characteristcs of Moral Standards

1.) Moral standards deal with matters that can seriously harm or benefit

human beings (and other moral persons).

2.) Moral standards have universal validity.

If it is morally wrong for Person A to do act X, then it is wrong to do X for

anyone under circumstances relevantly similar to Person A’s

3.) Moral standards have a particularly overriding importance.

Moral standards are used to evaluate even the correctness of other normative
standards such as legal and cultural ones.

4.) Moral standards are not established by the decisions of authoritarian

bodies, nor are they determined by appealing to consensus or tradition

Lesson 4: The Issue of Ethical Relativism

Defining Ethical Relativism

Ethical Relativism: the view which states that all moral principles are valid
relative to a particular society or individual.

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 Ethical Relativism should be distinguished from:

Ethical Skepticism: the view which states that there are no valid moral
principles at all (or at least we cannot know whether there are any)

Ethical Objectivism: the view which states that there are universally valid moral
principles binding all people

Two Forms of Ethical Relativism

1.) Individual Ethical Relativism /Ethical Subjectivism

The rightness or wrongness of an action lies on the the individual’s own

commitments and interests.

There is no interpersonal basis by which to judge whether an act is morally

good or bad, right or wrong.

2. Cultural Ethical Relativism /Ethical Conventionalism

The rightness or wrongness of an action depends on society’s norms.

Morality is social in nature. While there are no universal moral principles, there
are valid moral principles justified by virtue of their cultural acceptance.

Considered more acceptable or reasonable than individual ethical relativism.

Arguments Relating to Ethical Relativism

Arguments in Support
Diversity Argument: Ethical relativism must be true since moral beliefs and rules
vary from culture to culture (and within the same culture, they vary over time).
Dependency Argument: Our perception of things is inescapably culture-bound:
there is no independent, non-cultural viewpoint. Consequently, moral beliefs can

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 only be true or valid relative to certain groups.
Toleration Argument: Relativism must be the right way to view the nature of
morality since acknowledging the differences among various societies in terms of
their moral beliefs and practices leads to respect, social harmony, and peaceful
co-existence among the different cultural, religious, and social groups.

Arguments in Opposition/Against
Moral diversity or disagreement does not establish moral relativism.

When two people disagree about something, it may be that one of them is
correct while the other is wrong.

Ethical relativism leads to absurd consequences.

First, moral criticism would be impossible or meaningless. It would be

senseless to criticize an action by another individual or group however
abhorrent or inhumane.

Second, morality would simply be a matter of following social norms, which

would undermine our rational nature.

Third, moral progress would be impossible. For how can we change social
practices for the better if we cannot criticize them?

Despite the fact that some moral beliefs and practices vary among cultures, there
are still universal moral standards that exist, such as those that respect life and
promote the pursuit of truth, justice, and peace.

Cultural practices may differ but the fundamental moral principles underlying
them do not.

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