1. Davao Oriental State University
Guang Guang Dahican 8200 Mati Dvo Or.
PHILO 10 (Ethics)
by Francisco Jr B Valdespinosa
Kim Valdespinosa
2. PART 1:
The Ethical Dimension of Human Existence
Lesson 1: The Value
Kim Valdespinosa
3. WHAT IS ETHICS?
-Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of
living”
-ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human
conduct, more specifically the behavior of individuals in society.
-Ethics examines the rational justification for our moral
judgments; it studies what is morally right or wrong, just or
unjust.
Kim Valdespinosa
4. CLARIFICATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
• Recognizing the notions of good and bad, and
right and wrong, are the primary
• concern of ethics. In order to start, it would be
useful to clarify the following points.
Kim Valdespinosa
5. A. Kinds of Valuation
1. Value of Judgement
• Our first point of
clarification is to recognize
that there are instances when
we make value judgments that
are not considered to be part
of ethics.
2. Aisthesis (sense of feeling)
• These are valuations that fall
under the domain of aesthetics.
The word "aesthetics" is derived
from the Greek word aisthesis
("sense" or "feeling") and refers
to the judgments of personal
approval or disapproval that we
make about what we see, hear,
smell, or taste.
Kim Valdespinosa
6. A. Kinds of Valuation
3. Sense of approval and disapproval
• Similarly, we have a sense of approval
or disapproval concerning certain
actions which can be considered
relatively more trivial in nature. Thus,
for instance, may think that it is
"right" to knock politely on
someone's door, while it is "wrong"
to barge into one's office.
Kim Valdespinosa
4. Etiquette
• These and other similar
examples belong to the category
of etiquette, which is concerned
with right and wrong actions,
but those which might be
considered not quite grave
enough to belong to a discussion
on ethics.
Kim
Valdespinosa
7. B. Ethics and Morals
Our second point of clarification is
on the use of the words "ethics" and
"morals." This discussion of ethics and
morals would include cognates such as
ethical, unethical, immoral, amoral,
morality, and so on.
8. 1. The use of “not”
As we proceed, we should be careful particularly
on the use of the word "not" when applied to the
words "moral" or "ethical" as this can be
ambiguous.
2. Ethics as discipline
However, we also have terms such as "moral judgment" or
"moral reasoning," which suggest a more rational aspect The term
"ethics" can be spoken of as the discipline of studying and
understanding idea human behavior and ideal ways of thinking.
Thus, ethics is acknowledged as an discipline belonging to
philosophy.
Kim Valdespinosa
9. 3. Use of Term “ethics and moral”
Therefore, various thinkers and writers posit
a distinction between the terms "moral" and
"ethics" and they may have good reasons for
doing so, but there is no consensus as to how
to make that distinction.
10. 4. Root word of Philosophy
Philosophy is commonly thought of today as a particular discipline
in a college curriculum, perhaps a subject that one could take, or a
course in which one could get a degree. The word "philosophy" is
rooted in the Greek words that translate to "love of wisdom"
(philia is the noun often translated into English as some form of
"friendship" or "love," while sophia is the noun often translated
into English as "wisdom"). More specifically, the word
"philosophy" had been first used by thinkers to refer to their
striving to better understand reality in a maintained and
systematic manner.
Kim Valdespinosa
11. C. Descriptive and Normative
• normative ethics actually defines what is right
and wrong,
• descriptive ethics defines morals in terms of
their cultural or personal significance
12. D. Issue, Decision, Judgment and Dilemma
1. Issue
As the final point of clarification, it may be helpful to
distinguish a situation that calls for moral valuation. It can be called a
moral issue. For instance, imagine a situation wherein a person
cannot afford a certain item, but then the possibility presents itself
for her to steal it.
2. Decision
• When one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice of
what act to perform, she is called to make a moral decision.
Kim Valdespinosa
13. D. Issue, Decision, Judgment and Dilemma
3. Judgement
For instance, I choose not to take something I did not pay for. When a person is
an observer who makes an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone,
she is making a moral judgment. For instance, a friend of mine chooses to steal
from a store, and I make an assessment that it is wrong.
4. Dilemma
Finally, going beyond the matter of choosing right over wrong, or good over
bad, and considering instead the more complicated situation wherein one is
torn between choosing one of two goods or choosing between the lesser of two
evils: this is referred to as a moral dilemma.
Kim Valdespinosa
14. 5. Reasoning
Why do we suppose that a certain way of acting is right
and its opposite wrong?
The study of ethics is interested in questions like these:
Why do we decide to consider this way of acting as
acceptable while that way of acting, its opposite, is
unacceptable?
To put it in another way, what reasons do we give to decide
or to judge that a certain way of acting is either right or
wrong?
Kim Valdespinosa
