Lesson 1 – Ethics

• Ethics = philosophical study of morality (right vs wrong, good vs bad).

• Morality = beliefs, rules, values, and judgments.

• “Ethos” (Greek) = habits/character → ethics relates to behavior.

• Filipino context:

  • Gawa = actions toward goals

  • Gawi = habitual actions → “kagawian” (habit/ethics)

• Ethics helps:

  • deepen thinking

  • guide actions

  • understand “the good”

• Types of judgments:

  • Moral (right/wrong)

  • Legal (law-based)

  • Aesthetic (beauty/art)

  • Prudential (self-interest)

• Branches of ethics:

  • Metaethics → meaning of moral terms

  • Normative ethics → principles of right/wrong

  • Applied ethics → real-life issues

• 7-step moral reasoning:

  1. Stop & think

  1. Clarify goals

  1. Determine facts

  1. Develop options

  1. Consider consequences

  1. Choose

  1. Monitor/adjust

Lesson 2 – Ethics (Contextualized Ethics)

• Ethics = not just happiness, but fulfilling human duty.

• “The good” is shaped by culture and society.

• Who defines the good?

  • dominant groups

  • what helps people flourish

  • cooperation for survival

• Ethics = basis for evaluating moral systems.

• Encourages moving from:

  • “kung saan ka masaya” → to → “kung ano ang tama”

Lesson 3 – Emotivism

• Moral statements = expressions of feelings, not facts.

  • “X is good” = “Hurrah for X!”

  • “X is bad” = “Boo on X!”

• Based on Logical Positivism:

  • Only meaningful statements:

    • Empirical (testable)

    • Analytic (true by definition)

• Moral judgments = neither → so not true/false.

• Morality = emotion, not knowledge.

• Moral reasoning = persuasion of feelings.

• Problems:

  • Cannot have moral truth/knowledge

  • Self-refuting theory

  • Ignores rational discussion

  • Can manipulate emotions

  • Weakens morality

Week 4 – Cultural Relativism

• “Good” = what society approves.

• Morality varies by culture (no universal truth).

• Key ideas:

  • No objective morality

  • Right/wrong depends on culture

  • Promotes tolerance

• Example: social norms/laws differ (e.g., harassment laws).

• Strength:

  • reduces “we are right” attitude

• Objections:

  • Forces conformity

  • Cannot criticize society

  • Majority always “right”

  • Ignores minority views

  • Makes people uncritical (e.g., racism)

  • Problem of multiple subgroups

  • Denies objective moral standards

Week 5 – Subjectivism (+ Ideal Observer)

Subjectivism:

• “X is good” = “I like X”

• Morality = individual feelings (not society)

• Emphasizes personal freedom

• Truth = relative to each person

• Problems:

  • Anything you like becomes “good”

  • Confuses liking with morality

  • Can justify harmful actions

  • No guidance for responsible choices

Ideal Observer Theory (IO):

• “Good” = what we would approve if:

  • fully informed

  • impartial

• Combines reason + emotion

• Moral development:

  • Be informed

  • Be unbiased

• Problems:

  • “Impartiality” unclear

  • “Fully informed” unrealistic

  • May need more conditions