BSA 2-1

ETHICS

MODULE 1 : WHAT IS ETHICS?

Ethics
-or moral philosophy can be provisionally described as the
empirical study of moral decisions.
-It is a discipline concerned with what is morally good and evil,
right and wrong.
-often refers to any scheme or philosophy of universal ideals or
beliefs.
-concept is derived from the Greek word “ethos” which may
mean tradition, habit, character, or attitude.
-is not only about the nature of specific courses of action, but it
is also about the goodness of people and what it means to
lead a decent life. (Leandro, Jr & Gubia-on, 2018)
-ethics is a systematic analysis of the nature of human actions.
1.1 IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
-is concerned about the correctness and wrongness of the act.
Ethics
 An act is deemed to be right or wrong, based on the
-is a set of rules that allows us to say right from wrong, good
intent, circumstances, or character of the act itself.
from the bad.
-As a philosophy, is a very important discipline because it
-can provide true, specific guidance to our lives.
involves critical thinking, as it explores and describes
 Ethical principles such as fairness, trustworthiness,
fundamental beliefs, standards, ideals, and traditions.
responsibility help direct us to cope more effectively with
-This is thus a higher level of human discipline.
ethical dilemmas by removing actions that do not adhere
to our sense of right and wrong–our own moral interests–
As a branch of philosophy, ethics is divided into normative and
without compromising others.
meta-ethics.
-ethics is all about decisions.
1. Normative ethics
Why should other individuals have a lack of ethics?
-which concerns human behavior in general,
 Bazerman and Ann Trebrunsel (2011) identify the blind
-is to address our questions about the essence of human
spots as the differences between who you want to be and
behavior.
who you are. Hence, most of us want to do the right
-by definition, examine whether or not a particular act should
thing, but internal and external factors are in the way.
or should not be carried out.
 However, ethicists put less emphasis on studying
philosophic principles and, instead, emphasize the
There are two fields of normative ethics
importance of establishing good habits of character –
: moral philosophy and applied ethics or practical ethics.
needs of doing the right thing in the right place and time
in the right way.
Moral philosophy
 The virtues of intelligence, bravery, patience, and justice
-deals with moral ideas such as what human beings "must do
guide ethical decision-making as they provide the basis
or how human beings should be."
for rational decisions when faced with an ethical dilemma.
-also deals with our moral obligation, the meaning of the act, or
 We ought to be ethical, as it determines who we are both
the purpose of the act.
personally and as a society.
 There must be moral principles that should be observed
Applied ethics
-is a philosophy that discusses strong and basic moral issues by all. Some people will lie; many may not do what they
linked to abortion. assume they will do, and others may behave
irresponsibly and participate in harmful conduct.
 In contrast to meta-ethics, normative ethics seeks to  For moralists, following one's interests is not wrong.
examine how human beings respond to a moral question. Nevertheless, an ethical individual must be able – at least
This also aims to clarify and prescribe common occasionally–to place the needs of others ahead of self-
expectations on what human beings should do to interact interest, because of our duty to civil society.
with others in society and in a meaningful way. (Maboloc,
2012) According to Leano Jr. & Gunta-on (2018),
 the study of ethics should consider making it possible for
2. Meta-ethics an individual to fully understand what his conscience is,
-is a discipline that relies on meaning. how he has gained it, how far he is willing and able to
-is a science that is seeking to address non-moral questions respect his outward manifestations with protection, and
about morality. how well he can strengthen it and make it even smarter.
-refer to questions about the nature of moral statements,  Added to it, a person can gain a better insight into his
the purpose and significance of moral facts, and concerns claims to society as well as the obligations he owes to
about the interpretation and justification of moral statements. society.
 He must learn to distinguish between the respects in
which all persons are highly dependent and those who
are responsible for his or her own life and will focus on
freedom of initiative.
 Eventually, it will at least allow certain observations, for
understanding, self-sacrifice, and obligation, which will
enable us to make these decisions.

From the standpoints of the authors mentioned above,

several views on the importance of ethics were profound
and these are the following:
(1) through ethics people can determine the difference  Cheating on examination is an example wherein the
between right from wrong, good and bad; students should not cheat during exams as a rule in an
(2) people can eliminate actions that do not conform to what is educational institution and in doing such an act, cheating,
right; is wrong. It’s not because students are afraid of the
(3) people will be very careful to the actions and decisions to teacher, instructor, or professor but the students know
make; that is a wrongful act.
(4) people will not be disturbed of the internal and external
factors of not doing the right thing; 3. Moral standards should be adopted over other values,
(5) establish good habits of characters of a person; including self-interest.
(6) come up to rational decisions in facing an ethical dilemma; -Moral standards should always be retained even if they are at
(7) it makes a person responsible in the family, school and stake with self-interest.
society;
(7) a person becomes sensitive to the needs of others more 4. Moral standards are focused on objective
than himself or herself; and considerations.
(8) reminds a person to fully need conscience in decision -The basis of considerations and decisions must not be
making and a person can acknowledge the actions made. favorable only to a particular person or group. Anyone who
commits
1.2 THE DIFFERENCES OF MORAL AND NON-MORAL
STANDARDS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL 5. Moral standards are perceived to be universal.
STANDARDS -We want everyone to live up to these norms and feel resentful
 Countries and nations rich or poor, developed and when somebody doesn't live up to them.
underdeveloped have their own set of laws, policies, -Moral standards believed to be universal as it is applicable
cultures, traditions, customs, and beliefs. It may be anywhere and anytime.
acceptable to other countries but not acceptable to  For instance, lying. Telling the truth is a universal
others. standard. Hence, we should not lie.
 Some principles and values have social consequences,
whereas some do not. It is a matter of moral indifference, 6. Moral standards are correlated with different feelings
that is, a matter of taste in one society may be a matter of and vocabulary.
moral meaning in another. For this reason, people need -If anyone doesn't live up to the norm or standards, he will feel
to recognize the difference between moral principles and guilty, bad, and wrong. The same is true when someone else
non-moral ones, to define the basic ethical values that does not live up to the expectations, norms, and standards,
can direct our actions. others may feel disgusted at this person.

Moral standards Non-moral standards

-compel us to behave accordingly, although we have no right -apply to laws which are not related to social or legal
to insist on others on non-moral values based on the considerations.
explanation above -these criteria are not inherently related to morality or, by their
-refer to the guidelines we have on the types of acts that we very definition, lack of ethical sense.
find to be morally permissible and morally unacceptable.
-It primarily deals with issues that can either potentially Examples of non-moral standards are the following:
threaten or greatly benefit human beings. etiquette, statutes, code of professional ethics, etc. (Leandro,
 Some ethicists placed moral ethics on par with Jr & Gubia-on, 2018)
social values and moral principles. (Leandro, Jr &
Gubia-on, 2018)
-normally promote the common good, that is, the welfare and
well-being of human beings, animals, and the environment.
-are a blending of norms and values. ( norms plus values
pertain to moral standards)

Norms
-as standards are basic guidelines regarding human acts.

Values
-though, are universal convictions as to what is acceptable,
desirable, and beneficial or not.

There are several characteristics of morals standards as Etiquette

mentioned by Velasquez (2012) such as and vocabularies -is a decorum; propriety means reverence for the formal
such as: criteria governing conduct in a civilized society.
1. Moral standards entail serious harm or benefit. -refers conventional ways and uses the rules of etiquette.

Examples of this are the following: Decorum

-theft, the murder of innocent people, respect others, a feeding -implies modesty and a sense of what is becoming or is fitting
program for the poor, etc. for a person of good breeding: a fine sense of decorum.
(The first two examples cause harm and the next two examples
produce benefits and the action has done is helpful to human beings. )  In the Philippines, noisily eating meals is unethical but in
other countries like Japan. China and South Korea, in
2. Moral standards are not determined by authority doing that show that a person likes the food especially in
figures. taking soup.

-Moral values should always be upheld, even though they are Statute
at odds with self-interest. -is a written law passed by a legislative body as defined by
Oxford English and Spanish Dictionary
-As mentioned by the University of Melbourne Library Guide,
statutes shall contain Acts of the Congress, Local Charters,
Municipal Codes, Districts, Administrative Rules and
Regulations, Statutory Rules, and Presidential Issues.
 REPUBLIC ACT No. 11463, An Act Establishing
Malasakit Centers in all Department of Health (DOH)
Hospitals in the Country and in the Philippine General
Hospital (PGH), Providing Funds Therefor and for Other BSA 2-1
Purposes is an example of one of the statutes in the ETHICS
Philippines.
 The powers conferred by the laws on the Medical MODULE 2 WHAT ARE MORAL DILEMMAS
Director, the Chief of the Hospital, or the Chief of the
Medical Center, the Director of the Malasakit Centers, 2.0 DEFINITION OF MORAL DILEMMAS:
shall oversee the proper management and effective
operation of the Malasakit Center. If its powers do not Kvalnes (2019),
conflict with any other form of law, it is legally binding. -a moral dilemma is a situation in which a decisionmaker must
 Legality and morality are distinct, but often people are give preference to one moral principle over another.
confused about these terms. We believe that what is -Dilemmas occur when, confronted with a challenging situation
moral is also legal and that what is immoral is not good. (e.g., equal treatment for some versus job protection for
Not all that is lawful is moral. others), two or more of that kind of values disagree with the
 The Professional Code of Ethics, consequently, is a set understanding of the decision-maker, or when one assesses
of guidelines intended to help practitioners differentiate the moral option of another.
between right and wrong to guide their decision-making. -A person experienced with a dilemma must decide whether
 Such rules, also referred to as the Code of Ethics, define the moral duty will be given priority; "whatever action is taken
the purpose and ideals of the organization, how staff will offend an important moral value."
within the organization are to handle the issues, and the -a moral dilemma may arise as a result of a prior personal
expectations to which workers are bound. mistake.
 The members of the profession to which he or she -It's called a self-inflicted dilemma.
belongs have learned, approved, and complied with the
laws, regulations, and conditions set down by the In a strict sense, a moral dilemma is a situation in which moral
profession. values are of equal importance.
 Violations of the Code can result in the disapproval of the
Members. In extreme cases, a lawyer may be excluded In a broader sense, there may be moral dilemmas in which a
from a legal career and may prohibit him or her from person has strong moral reasons for acting which are
practicing law. described to be as remarkable, nonetheless, not equally strong
 The essence of the Professional Code of Ethics is not a moral reasons for acting in another way.
more comprehensive or fully accurate guide to one's
moral obligations. Kurie & Albin (2007)
 Almost all professional codes are strictly moral in nature, -a moral dilemma is a situation in which people assume that
and even so, the fact that a law is legally embodied as they should morally do one thing and that they should morally
part of a professional code does not guarantee that it is a do another thing, and occasionally a third thing or even a
sound moral concept. fourth thing, but they're not doing any of these mutually
 A practitioner must take the sanctions of his or her contradictory choices together.
profession seriously, however, he or she also has the
right to evaluate certain laws objectively for himself or Figar & Dordevic, (2016)
herself. -is a situation whereby a person has to make a decision.
-Among competing alternatives, which is the right (ethical)
1.3 HOW MORAL STANDARDS ARE FORMED alternative and which is the best?
Morals
-are shaped by the beliefs of an individual. The above definitions characterized moral dilemma or
-Morals build on this to form concrete, contextdriven rules that ethical dilemma as:
regulate the actions of an individual. (1) Making an option to one moral value over the other;
-They are formed from the experience of a person's life and (2) A situation where moral values are equally significant;
are subject to opinion. (3) A scenario where a person has a strong moral reason in
action, but not equally strong moral reason in acting in another
Values way;
-are the basis of the capacity of an individual to distinguish (4) A state where a person should morally do one, two, or
between right and wrong. more and have difficulty in deciding any of those conflicting
choices.
There are certain moral standards that all of us hold in our
actions in society. There are various factors on how moral A moral dilemma or ethical dilemma
standards are influenced: -applies to our personal life, in a job, in a profession,
(1) the moral values or principles that we conform with, in our education, and some others.
rearing;  In any decision, an individual must analyze every aspect,
(2) the character and manners that imbibed with us by means scrutinize the pros and cons, and after several
of birthright; evaluations then finally decide. That is the most
(3) the religious values that our forefathers taught us; challenging part, nonetheless, makes an individual more
(4) the values we learned from school; mature in handling obstinate situations.
(5) the moral conduct, ways and habits of those people around
us; 2.1 THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS
(6) the direct and implied cultural norms; 1. ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICAL OR MORAL DILEMMA
(7) our life experiences; and -As discussed by Lamberto et. al (2013), an organizational
(8) our critical thinking in these experiences. ethical dilemma refers to a situation that uses an organization
to respond negatively or positively to an ethical issue that
affects staff, shareholders, and society, as well as corporate pressures. It is alright to enjoy life as long as a person
ethics and customers. knows his boundaries and limitations and others will not
-It includes also the leaders' ethical actions in preserving be affected by what he or she does specifically the
financial reporting integrity. unwanted acts.
Based on the article of Michigan State University online.com  Human beings must not be confused nor ambiguous and
(2020) and Small Business Chron.com (2019), there are put himself or herself in a dilemma where he doesn't
common ethical issues in the organization such as : know what to do and decide to what is good and what is
right.
(1) Unethical leadership/bad leadership behavior.
-A leader of the organization must act with candor, be an 3. STRUCTURAL MORAL DILEMMA
example to his subordinates, with upright moral values. -The structural moral dilemma is that selecting a proper
-he or she doesn’t engage in abuse of leadership authority, system of responsibilities and relationships, which is a
accepting inappropriate gifts and other related unethical continuing universal challenge.
leadership.
There are five concepts in the structural moral dilemma to
(2) Toxic workplace culture. consider namely:
-A leader of the organization must focus on the development of 1. Differentiation vs. Integration
work culture. -The conflict between the distribution of jobs and the
-He makes sure that his subordinates have work-life balance, organization of numerous activities generates a classic
motivated and happy working in the organization, if not then dilemma.
the performance and productivity of the employees will be -The more complicated a task structure, the more difficult it is
affected. to sustain a centered, tightly coupled organization.
-When complexity grows, the company needs more
(3) Discrimination and harassment/ Peril of employee complicated and expensive management techniques.
favoritism. -Laws, regulations, and directives need to be balanced by
-A leader must treat fairly his or her subordinates and avoid lateral approaches.
any form of discrimination and harassment.
2. Gap vs Overlap
(4) Unrealistic and conflicting goals. -When the main tasks are not explicitly defined, the critical job
-A leader must have realistic and very clear goals so that his or will slip through gaps.
her subordinates understand what the organization is going -In a similar manner, functions and activities can overlap,
through, hence, they can work together thoroughly until they causing conflict, wasting time, and unintended duplication of
reach the goals of the organization. responsibilities.

(5) Use of the organization’s technology, social media use, 3. Lack of Clarity vs. Lack of Creativity
technology, and privacy concerns. -When employees are not clear about what they are expected
-It is ethical that the technology of the organization must only to do, they often adapt their tasks to personal interests instead
use for the organization’s transactions of system-wide goals that often lead to problems.
-Social media use while in the office must be avoided as much -Yet when people 's duties are over defined, they comply with
as possible so that important dealings with the clients must be their positions and procedures in a bureaucratic manner.
prioritized. -They specifically follow job requirements as to how much the
service or product fails.
(6) Business travel ethics.
-There are times that a leader and an employee are in official 4. Excessive Autonomy vs. Excessive Interdependence
business and in doing that, they have per diem every meal and -When individuals or groups are too independent, they are
must use the fund of the organization appropriately. always isolated.
-On the other hand, if the units and responsibilities are too
2. INDIVIDUAL MORAL DILEMMA closely connected, people are absentminded from work and
-As mentioned by Smith (2018), individual ethical or moral waste time or excessive coordination.
dilemma pertains to a situation where individuals confront with
a number of factors such as peer pressure, personal financial
position, an economic and social status which may influence Based on the discussion above, to avoid structural moral
all individual ethical standards. dilemma then following characteristics must be
maintained:
 Socialization is part of every individual's life. It is just a (1) Must have well-distributed jobs and the laws, policies,
query as to whether an individual remains aware of doing rules, and regulations must be balanced through lateral
what is good and what is right. There are times that due approaches.
to peer pressure, an individual engages in a certain
scenario in which may change their behavior and attitude (2) Must have an implicitly defined job description, roles, and
 For instance, before that young people, A is a duties to evade from gaps and overlaps.
responsible and obedient child to his parents. When he
met young people B and young people C, young people (3) Must have a clear-cut expectation of the tasks in a wide
A tremendously transform as a human being, his range of goals
character shifted to an irresponsible, hard-headed, and a
trouble-maker. The reason is that his friend young people (4) Must have a well-balanced interdependence and
B and young people C taught him to take illegal drugs. co0rdination.
 Others, however, are affected by the financial standing
position, the social and economic status of others that
even he is not capable, forcing him or her that he or she
is at the same level as them, portrays that he or she
belongs to the group, and called to be as social climbers.
 A human being should bear in mind that living in this
world is not easy. He must be strong enough to stand still
independently and not be influenced by undesirable