2-Philosophical-background-of-B.E.ppt

Chapter 2
Philosophical
Background of Ethics

Ethics & Philosophy
 What is philosophy?
 Greek word “philos” which means LOVE &
“Sophia” which means WISDOM
 PHILOSOPHY = LOVE OF WISDOM
 PHILOSOPHER = LOVER OF WISDOM
 As a science
 Philosophy is interested with the meaning of
reality including our human experiences.
 It seeks to explain the ultimate cause of
everything by the use of human reason alone.
 Directed towards meaningful activity as a result
of profound reflection & analysis.

 What is ethics?
 It is philosophical science that studies the
morality of human act.
 As a science
 Ethics is concerned with the analysis of the
nature of the human conduct from the point
of view of morality.

Divisions of Philosophy
 Theoretical or speculative – studies
the truth to be known , e.g. God,
immortality of the soul, origin of the
universe.
 Practical Philosophy – studies truths
to be acted upon, e.g., ethics,
axiology, semantics & the like.

PHILOSOPHY
THEORETICAL
 Cosmology
 Ontology
 Metaphysics
 Psychology
 Theodicy
 Epistemology
PRACTICAL
 Semantics
 Axiology
 Aesthetics
 Logic
 Ethics

Theoretical/speculative philo
 Cosmology –
 studies the origin, evolution & fate of the
entire universe (w/c came from the Greek
word “kosmos” - world).
 Cosmologist – philosopher that focuses on
the question of universe’ origin in a
scientific & philosophical manner.

 Ontology –
 deals with the nature of existence of
things & the status of reality.
 Came from the greek word “onta” w/c
means “being”
 a.k.a study of being
 Branch of metaphysics

 Metaphysics
 Greek word “meta” or beyond &
“physikon” or nature
 Studies the nature of the mind, the self
& the consciousness.
 Investigates the nature of religion,
existence of God, concepts of time,
space, cause & chance
 Discover the true nature of things, their
ultimate essence & the reason for being.

 Psychology
 For the Greeks, it is the study of the
nature of the soul of the person & other
entities.
 Aristotle coined the word psychology
 Greek words “psyche” or soul & “logos”
or science or study.
 Today it is known to be the science that
studies human & animal behavior.

 Theodicy
 a.k.a Rational theology
 Greek words “theos” or God & “dike” or
justice.
 Investigates the nature, being &
attributes of God not based on the Bible
& divine revelation but by logical
abstractions & reasoning.

 Epistemology
 “episteme” or knowledge
 Addresses the philosophical problems
surrounding the theory of knowledge.
 Definition, concepts, sources, criteria,
kinds of knowledge, etc.

Practical Philosophy
 Semantics
 “sema” meaning sign or mark
 “semantikos” meaning significant
 Studies the meaning of words & its
linguistics forms, functions & relation to
other words.

 Axiology
 “axios” worthy
 “logos” study
 Study of the philosophy of value
judgments or worthiness.
 Studies values, its origin, types &
characteristics

 Aesthetics
 Aims to establish the general principles
of art & beauty.
 Can be divided into philosophy of art &
philosophy of beauty
 Greek word “aisthetikos” perceptive of
things through sensations, feelings &
intuitions.

 Logic
 Deals with the nature of thinking &
reasoning using empirical support to
establish the truth.
 Logical validity – if the premise is true
then the conclusion must be true.
 Deductive reasoning – from universal to
particular
 Inductive reasoning – from particular to
universal

 Ethics
 Greek word “ethos” means characteristic
way of acting
 Latin word “mos” (or mores)
 Sometimes called Moral Science or Moral
philosophy
 Goal to investigate the nature of the
human conduct.

Ethics & Morality
 Sometimes use interchangeably
 Usually can mean the same thing

 Distinction in terms of philosophy:
 Morality – quality of goodness or
badness in a human act (good – moral;
bad – immoral).
 Conformity to the rules of right conduct
 Judgment that refers to moral standards &
moral conduct
 Ethics – formal study of those standards
 Oftentimes called “moral philosophy”
 Investigates the nature of moral principles,
ethical systems & moral norms that people use
to justify their moral judgment.

Ethics as a Normative Science
 Ethics are called Normative Science
because in ethics we determine
norms ideals, standard or values, to
justify our moral judgment

GENERAL ETHICS
Descriptive
ethics
Normative
ethics
Methaethics
3 CATEGORIES OF GENERAL ETHICS

Descriptive Ethics
 Studying & describing the morality of people,
culture, or society.
 Compare & contrast the different values,
principles, code of ethics, beliefs & practices of
people.
 Serves as foundation of normative ethics &
provides a standard of morality of people,
culture or society
 Does not assess moral soundness of an ethical
system but describe objectively the values &
beliefs of people.
 Does not prescribe how people should act but
describe how people act.

Examples of descriptive ethics
 Psychological egoism
 The study of human motivation.
 Does not say what is good or bad, right
or wrong;
 Declares result based on scientific
studies.

 Cultural relativism
 Does not prescribed how a person should
act
 Describe how people when grouped &
observed in their own cultural realities
actually differ in the behavior.
 The concept of good or bad, moral or
immoral is relative to culture.

Normative ethics
 Involves moral judgment based on
ethical norm or theory.
 Consist of moral rules that governs
people’s behavior.

3 task of normative ethics
 To form into a related whole the
various norms, rules, & values of a
society’s morality;
 To find the basic principle from which
the particular norm can be derived;
 To justify an ethical norm or moral
principle.

Methaethics
 Branch of normative ethics;
 Concerned with analysis & meaning of
terms like “good”, “bad”, “moral”,
“immoral”, “moral obligation” &
others.
 Does not evaluate belief nor evaluate
the process of moral reasoning but
simply analyze the usage & meaning
of words.

The synderesis of man according to
St. Thomas Aquinas
 St. Thomas Aquinas
 Italian philosopher, theologian & priest
 A.k.a Prince of Scholastics
 Wrote 25 books (including Summa
Theologica & Summa Contra Gentiles)

Moral sense in man in 3 different
ways (St. T. Aquinas)
1. Of all the creatures only man is able to
distinguished or has the capacity to know
the difference between what is good &
bad.
2. Man is always obligated to do good and
avoid evil.
3. Man knows that he is accountable for his
actions – good or bad. Man realizes that
the performance of an action entails
rewards & punishment.

Sigmund Freud
 Father of Psychoanalysis Theory
 Theory of sexuality
 Individual development
 Theory of the Psyche (understand
human behavior)
 Man must learn to control inborn desires
 Man must achieve fulfillment in ways
that are harmonious with others

Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego &
Superego
 Superego
 Will part in Plato’s theory
 Reflects social rules & values of the
society that govern our behavior.
 Includes codes & rules that we have
been taught
 Reason & will power

 Ego
 Rational self or the conscious self
 Part reason (intellect) & part will power
 Under constant pressure to fight-off the
pleasure-seeking desires of the Id.
 Pressured by reality forces of the environment &
the moral dictates of one’s up bringing
(superego).
 Id.
 Irrational part in us or unconscious instincts,
such as sex & aggression.

Freud Plato
 Superego
 Ego
 Id
 Will
 Reason
 Desire for pleasure

Business Application
 A businessman may be tempted to
cheat his customer in the process of
selling (Id). He realizes however, that
to give in to this enticement would be
a violation of the Code of Ethics for
Businessmen & other positive laws,
like the Consumer Act (superego). He
therefore discerns & begins to
rationalize that it is better not to fool
or cheat the customer (ego).

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
 Lawrence Kohlberg
 An American psychologist famous for his work
in moral education, reasoning, and
development.
 A close follower of Jean Piaget’s theory of
cognitive development, his work reflects and
extends his predecessor’s work.

2-Philosophical-background-of-B.E.ppt

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