Fundamental Concepts in Ethics

Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur 4418
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph
Email Address: op@cbsua.edu.ph
Trunkline: (054) 871-5531-33 Local 101
ETHICS
AQUILINO P. MATEO, JR.

INSTRUCTOR
CBSUA MAIN CAMPUS
STUDENT’S NAME: _______________________________________

YEAR AND SECTION: ________________________
____________ SEMESTER SCHOOL YEAR: ______________
I. Fundamental Concepts in Ethics
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II. Overview
What for you is RIGHT?
How about WRONG?
Which one do you always PRACTICE? Why?
A Doctor’s Dilemma
You are a doctor at a top hospital. You have six gravely ill patients, five of whom are in urgent need of
organ transplants. You can't help them, though, because there are no available organs that can be used
to save their lives. The sixth patient, however, will die without a particular medicine. If s/he dies, you will
be able to save the other five patients by using the organs of patient 6, who is an organ donor. What do
you do? (Source: Listverse)
Keep patient 6 comfortable, but do not give him the medical care that could save his life in order to
save the other five patients.
Save patient 6 and let the other five die; it's unfortunate, but that's not your call to make.
The situation presents a moral dilemma in which one will have to choose whether which is right and
which is wrong. Situations such as this in real life needs careful evaluation that relies on the being ethical
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of the conduct one is about to do. This particular module will provide us insights about moral standards
and how do they differ with rules of lives. Moreover, it also focuses on the nature of moral dilemmas
and foundation of morality.
III. Learning Outcomes

In this module, you will be able to:
 Differentiate between ethics and morality;
 Cite instances of the different levels of moral dilemmas; and
 Justify the nature of your own responses to a particular moral dilemma
IV. Learning Experiences and Self-Assessment Activities (SAA)
Fundamental Concepts in Ethics
The term ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which originally means custom or character.
Broadly construed, ethics is a branch of philosophy that studies the rightness or wrongness of a human
action. In particular, this branch of philosophy is concerned with questions of how human persons ought
to act, and the search for a definition of a right conduct and the good life. It is for this reason that the
attempt to seek the “good” through the aid of reason is the traditional goal of ethicists (Albert, Denise &
Peterfreund 1984, p. 1-2).
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It must be noted, however, that there is no single, absolute definition of ethics. This is because ethics as
a discipline is constantly evolving as a result of a change in socio-cultural and political context. For
example, in the Greek tradition, ethics was conceived as relating to the concept of the “good life”. Thus,
the ethical inquiry during this time was directed toward discovering the nature of happiness. In fact,
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics does not only present a theory of happiness but also provides ways in
which happiness is attained. Now, centuries later, a quite different orientation was introduced by the
Judeo-Christian tradition. In this ethical tradition, the ideals of righteousness before God and the love of
God and neighbor, not the happy or pleasant life, constitute the substance of ethics. Indeed, if we make
an effort to reconcile these views, we are faced with the difficult task of defining the relationship
between “doing what is right” and “being happy”. Again, it is for this reason that we cannot have an
absolute definition of ethics. The least that we can do is to describe the nature and dynamics of ethics
based on a specific time and context.
It is also important to note that ethics is not the same with morality, although many philosophers
believe that the two terms can be used interchangeably. This is because the former denotes the theory
of right action and the greater good, while the latter indicates practice, that is, the rightness or
wrongness of a human action. In other words, ethics undertakes the systematic study (that is,
questioning and critical examination) of the underlying principles of morality. Hence, it is interested
primarily in the illustration of a more general problem and the examination of underlying assumptions
and the critical evaluation of moral principles.
Morality, on the other hand, is more prescriptive in nature. It tells us what we ought to do and exhorts
us to follow the right way. According to Terrance McConnell (1994), “morality is characterized as an
‘end-governed rational enterprise’ whose object is to equip people with a body of norms (rules and
values) that make for peaceful and collectively satisfying coexistence by facilitating their living together
and interacting in a way that is productive for the realization of the general benefit”. For example, a
religious leader may ask her followers to be good at all times. In this way, a moralist may want to keep
alive the values she considers to be worthwhile and to improve the moral quality of the community
where she belongs. Hence, morality, at the very least, aims to guide one’s action by reason and gives
equal weight to the interests of each individual affected by one’s decision. Indeed, this gives us a picture
of what it really means to be a morally upright person.
Based on the brief discussion above, we may conclude that ethics is the science of morals, while
morality is the practice of ethics.
What are Moral Dilemmas?

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First of all, let us define the term dilemma before we discuss the nature and dynamics of moral
dilemmas.
A dilemma is a situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting options,
neither of which is acceptable. As we can see, the key here is that the person has choices to make that
will all have results she does not want. For example, a town mayor faces a dilemma about how to
protect and preserve a virgin forest and at the same time allow miners and loggers for economic
development in the town.
It must be noted, however, that if a person is in a difficult situation but is not forced to choose between
two or more options, then that person is not in a dilemma. The least that we can say is that that person
is just experiencing a problematic or distressful situation. Thus, the most logical thing to do for that
person is to look for alternatives or solutions to address the problem.
When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral implications, they are called ethical or moral
dilemmas.
Moral dilemmas, therefore, are situations where persons, who are called “moral agents” in ethics, are
forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the situation in a
morally acceptable manner. Consider the following example:
Lindsay is a deeply religious person; hence, she considers killing humans absolutely wrong.
Unfortunately, it is found out that Lindsay is having an ectopic pregnancy. As is well known, an ectopic
pregnancy is a type of pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus, most commonly in the fallopian tubes.
In other words, in ectopic pregnancy, the fetus does not develop in the uterus. Now, if this happens, the
development of the fetus will definitely endanger the mother. Thus, if Lindsay continues with her
pregnancy, then there is a big possibility that she will die. According to experts, the best way to save
Lindsay’s life is to abort the fetus, which necessarily implies killing the fetus. If we do not abort the fetus,
then Lindsay, as well as the fetus, will die.
In the above example of a moral dilemma, Lindsay is faced with two conflicting options, namely, either
she resorts to abortion, which will save her life but at the same time jeopardizes her moral integrity or
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does not resort to abortion but endangers her life as well as the fetus. Indeed, Lindsay is faced with a
huge moral dilemma.
According to Karen Allen, there are three conditions that must be present for situations to be
considered moral dilemmas. First, the person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a
decision about which course of action is best. Here, the moral agent must choose the best option and
act accordingly. In the case of the example of above, Lindsay may opt to abort the fetus as the best
course of action. Second, there must be different courses of action to choose from. Hence, as already
pointed out above, there must be two or more conflicting options to choose from for moral dilemmas to
occur. And third, no matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always
compromised. This means that, according to Allen, there is no perfect solution to the problem. And for
this reason, according to Benjiemen Labastin, in moral dilemmas, the moral agent “seems fated to
commit something wrong which implies that she is bound to morally fail because in one way or another
she will fail to do something which she ought to do. In other words, by choosing one of the possible
moral requirements, the person also fails on others.”
Types of Moral Dilemmas
There are several types of moral dilemmas, but the most common of them are categorized into the
following: 1) epistemic and ontological dilemmas, 2) self-imposed and world-imposed dilemmas, and 3)
obligation dilemmas and prohibition dilemmas.
Epistemic moral dilemmas involve situations wherein two or more moral requirements conflict with
each other and that the moral agent hardly knows which of the conflicting moral requirements takes
precedence over the other. In other words, the moral agent here does not know which option is morally
right or wrong. For instance, I ought to honor my promise to my son to be home early, but on my way
home I saw a sick old man who needs to be brought to the hospital. Where does my actual duty lie? We
cannot deny that there are conflicting duties (moral requirements) here, but we need to note that we
want a fuller knowledge of the situation: Is an important purpose being served by my getting home
early? How serious is the condition of the sick old man? Indeed, I could hardly decide which option is
morally right in this situation. However, one option must be better than the other; only, it needs fuller
knowledge of the situation―thus the term “epistemic” moral dilemmas. Ontological moral dilemmas,
on the other hand, involve situations wherein two or more moral requirements conflict with each other,
yet neither of these conflicting moral requirements overrides each other. This is not to say that the
moral agent does not know which moral requirement is stronger than the other. The point is that
neither of the moral requirements is stronger than the other; hence, the moral agent can hardly choose
between the conflicting moral requirements. For instance, a military doctor is attending to the needs of
the wounded soldiers in the middle of the war. Unfortunately, two soldiers urgently need a blood
transfusion. However, only one bag of blood is available at the moment. To whom shall the doctor
administer the blood transfusion? For sure, we could not tell whether administering a blood transfusion
to Soldier A is more moral than administering a blood transfusion to Soldier B, and vice versa.
A self-imposed moral dilemma is caused by the moral agent’s wrongdoings. For example, David is
running for the position of the town mayor. During the campaign period, he promised the indigenous
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peoples in his community to protect their virgin forest just to gain their votes, but at the same time, he
seeks financial support from a mining corporation. Fortunately, David won the elections, yet he is faced
with the dilemma of fulfilling his promised to the indigenous peoples and at the same time allows the
mining corporation to destroy their forest. Indeed, through his own actions, David created a situation in
which it is impossible for him to be discharged from both obligations. A World-imposed moral dilemma,
on the other hand, means that certain events in the world place the agent in a situation of moral
conflict. William Styron’s famous Sophie’s Choice is a classic example. “Sophie Zawistowska has been
asked to choose which of her two children, Eva or Jan, will be sent to the gas chamber in Auschwitz. An
SS doctor, Fritz Jemand von Niemand, will grant a dispensation to only one of Sophie’s children. If she
does not choose which one should live, Dr. von Niemand will send both to their death. Sophie chooses
her daughter Eva to go to the gas chamber. Her son, Jan, is sent to the Children’s Camp.”
Obligation dilemmas are situations in which more than one feasible action is obligatory,
while prohibition dilemmas involve cases in which all feasible actions are forbidden. The famous
“Sartre’s Student” is a classic example. It reads:
The famous Sophie’s Choice, as mentioned above, is a classic example of prohibition dilemmas.
Activity 1: Choose two out of the six types of moral

dilemmas and recall two actual or fictional
experiences that reflect your choices. Write a short
paragraph for each type of moral dilemma at the
back of this page. Write the type of moral dilemma
before each paragraph. Refer to the Short Answers
Rubric at the SAA Answer Sheet on how you will be
graded in this activity.
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Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards
Morality may refer to the standards that a person or a group has about what is right and wrong, or good
and evil. Accordingly, moral standards are those concerned with or relating to human behavior,
especially the distinction between good and bad (or right and wrong) behavior.

Moral standards involve the rules people have about the kinds of actions they believe are morally right
and wrong, as well as the values they place on the kinds of objects they believe are morally good and
morally bad. Some ethicists equate moral standards with moral values and moral principles.

Non-moral standards refer to rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations. Either these
standards are not necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical sense. Basic examples of non-
moral standards include rules of etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and various house rules.

Technically, religious rules, some traditions, and legal statutes (i.e. laws and ordinances) are non-moral
principles, though they can be ethically relevant depending on some factors and contexts.

The following six (6) characteristics of moral standards further differentiate them from non-moral
standards:

a. Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant benefits.
Moral standards deal with matters which can seriously impact, that is, injure or benefit human beings. It
is not the case with many non-moral standards. For instance, following or violating some basketball
rules may matter in basketball games but does not necessarily affect one’s life or wellbeing.

b. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
Moral standards have overriding character or hegemonic authority. If a moral standard state that a
person has the moral obligation to do something, then he/she is supposed to do that even if it conflicts
with other non-moral standards, and even with self-interest.

Moral standards are not the only rules or principles in society, but they take precedence over other
considerations, including aesthetic, prudential, and even legal ones. A person may be aesthetically
justified in leaving behind his family in order to devote his life to painting, but morally, all things
considered, he/she probably was not justified. It may be prudent to lie to save one’s dignity, but it
probably is morally wrong to do so. When a particular law becomes seriously immoral, it may be
people’s moral duty to exercise civil disobedience.

There is a general moral duty to obey the law, but there may come a time when the injustice of an evil
law is unbearable and thus calls for illegal but moral noncooperation (such as the antebellum laws
calling for citizens to return slaves to their owners).

c. Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
Moral standards are not invented, formed, or generated by authoritative bodies or persons such as
nations’ legislative bodies. Ideally instead, these values ought to be considered in the process of making
laws. In principle therefore, moral standards cannot be changed nor nullified by the decisions of
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particular authoritative body. One thing about these standards, nonetheless, is that its validity lies on
the soundness or adequacy of the reasons that are considered to support and justify them.

d. Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
Simply put, it means that everyone should live up to moral standards. To be more accurate, however, it
entails that moral principles must apply to all who are in the relevantly similar situation. If one judges
that act A is morally right for a certain person P, then it is morally right for anybody relevantly similar to
P.

This characteristic is exemplified in the Gold Rule, “Do unto others what you would them do unto you (if
you were in their shoes)” and in the formal Principle of Justice, “It cannot be right for A to treat B in a
manner in which it would be wrong for B to treat A, merely on the ground that they are two different
individuals, and without there being any difference between the natures or circumstances of the two
which can be stated as a reasonable ground for difference of treatment.” Universalizability is an
extension of the principle of consistency, that is, one ought to be consistent about one’s value
judgments.

e. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
Moral standard does not evaluate standards on the basis of the interests of a certain person or group,
but one that goes beyond personal interests to a universal standpoint in which each person’s interests
are impartially counted as equal.

Impartiality is usually depicted as being free of bias or prejudice. Impartiality in morality requires that
we give equal and/or adequate consideration to the interests of all concerned parties.

f. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary.
Prescriptivity indicates the practical or action-guiding nature of moral standards. These moral standards
are generally put forth as injunction or imperatives (such as, ‘Do not kill,’ ‘Do no unnecessary harm,’ and
‘Love your neighbor’). These principles are proposed for use, to advise, and to influence to action.
Retroactively, this feature is used to evaluate behavior, to assign praise and blame, and to produce
feelings of satisfaction or of guilt.

If a person violates a moral standard by telling a lie even to fulfill a special purpose, it is not surprising if
he/she starts feeling guilty or being ashamed of his behavior afterwards. On the contrary, no much guilt
is felt if one goes against the current fashion trend (e.g. refusing to wear tattered jeans).
The Five Moral Foundations

According to Moral Foundations Theory, differences in people's moral concerns can be described in
terms of five moral foundations:
 Care: cherishing and protecting others; opposite of harm
 Fairness or proportionality: rendering justice according to shared rules; opposite of cheating
 Loyalty or ingroup: standing with your group, family, nation; opposite of betrayal
 Authority or respect: submitting to tradition and legitimate authority; opposite of subversion
 Sanctity or purity: abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions; opposite of degradation
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These five foundations are argued to group into two higher-order clusters – the person-
focused Individualizing cluster of Care and Fairness, and the group-focused Binding cluster of Loyalty,
Authority and Sanctity.
Activity 2: Perform the tasks stated below to express your understanding

of the module. Write your answers on the SAA Answer Sheet.
1. Briefly differentiate ethics from morality.

2. Choose one type of moral dilemma and make an example out of it.
3. Suggest what action are you going to do based on the sample dilemma
that you have mentioned, and explain briefly why you will be responding
in that manner.
V. Summary/Key Points
"Ethics" may be broadly defined as that division of philosophy which deals with questions concerning
the nature of value in matters of human conduct.
Generally speaking, it is about matters such as the good thing that we should pursue and the bad thing
that we should avoid.
It is about what is acceptable and unacceptable in human behavior. It may involve obligations that we
are expected to fulfill, prohibitions that we are required to respect, or ideals that we are encouraged to
meet.
It is a study about determining the grounds for the values with particular and special significance to
human life.
Ethics and morality are often considered as the same but they are entirely different form each other.
Moral standards are all about the morally right or wrong rules people observe in their actions and their
evaluation on the kinds of objects they believe are morally good and morally bad; whereas, non-moral
standards are rules that have nothing to do with moral or ethical considerations.
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VI. SAA Answer Sheet
Name: ________________________________________________ Score: _________________

Day/Time: _____________________________________________ Date: __________________
Read the rubric below to guide you in writing your short responses. Express your level of
understanding of the topics in this module by performing the tasks that follow. Use the allotted space in
doing so.
Short Answers Rubric

Needs improvement Approaching standards Good Excellent
1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points
Ideas and
Content There is no clear or You put thought into What you are writing What you are writing
specific explanation this, but there is no about is clear. You about is clear and
in answer to the real evidence of answered the question. well-expressed,
question. learning. More specific Some support may be including specific
information is needed lacking, or your examples to
or you need to follow sentences may be a bit demonstrate what you
the directions more awkward. Overall, a learned. Well done!
closely. decent job.
Use of
terms No terms from the Only one term from Your answer included Your answer included
lesson are used. the lesson is used in several terms from the all the terms from the
the answer. Try for a lesson, demonstrating lesson that applied to
few more, next time. adequate the question asked. All
understanding of the terms are fully defined
material. and used in the proper
context.
Sentence
Fluency Sentences are Some sentences are Sentences are complete Sentences are
incomplete or too complete and easy to and able to be complete and they
long. It makes understand. Others understood. connect to one
reading them require some work. another easily when
difficult. they are read out
loud. Your writing
'flows.'
Conventions
Few end marks or Mistakes using end Use of punctuation No punctuation or
capital letters. marks or capitals as marks and capitals, as structural mistakes.
Answers contain well as spelling well as spelling, is No spelling errors.
numerous spelling mistakes make the mostly correct. Few Your writing shows full
or structural errors. writing hard to read. errors exist in your awareness of the rules
answer. of English use.
https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=U66W43&sp=true
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1. Briefly differentiate ethics from morality.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Choose one type of moral dilemma and make an example out of it.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Suggest what action are you going to do based on the sample dilemma that you have mentioned, and
explain briefly why you will be responding in that manner.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
VII. End of Module Assessment
Go back to page 1 and reread the passage, “A Doctor’s Dilemma” to answer the following:
1. What kind of moral dilemma is involved in the passage?

Answer:
2. Choose which between the two options below the passage suits you well. In 2-3 sentences, explain
why you chose that option. (3 points)
Answer:
3. What kind of standard is being observed in the two options? Is it moral or non-moral?
Answer:
4. Explain your answer in item number 3 in 2-3 short sentences. (3 points)

Answer:
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VIII. SAA Answer Key
Activity: Answers vary since they are subjective ones. The given rubric will determine the student’s
accumulated score.
End of Module Assessment:

1. Epistemic moral dilemma
2. Answers vary since they are subjective ones.
3. Moral standard
4. Answers vary since they are subjective ones.
IX. Looking Ahead
Ponder on the following by using your prior understanding of the following items:
1. What is culture?
2. How would you describe Filipino culture?
3. Is it possible for culture to influence our moral behavior?
X. Self and Module Evaluation
On each description below, please check the column that best describes your evaluation of this module.
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
1. The learning outcomes are clearly stated and
attainable.
2. The introduction part is interesting.
3. The presented concepts enables the learner to
attain the target learning outcomes.
4. The concepts presented are detailed and
comprehensive.
5. The questions on the Self-Assessment Activity
are reflective of the lessons suggested in the
Learning Experience part of the module.
6. The questions posted in the module encourage
critical thinking.
7. The instructions in the Self-Assessment Activity
are clearly stated.
8. The general concepts/key points are logically
summarized.
9. The module enables the learner to use his/her
prior knowledge.
10. The sources of information are cited in the
module for verification and acknowledgement
purposes.
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XI. References
https://philonotes.com/index.php/2018/05/13/what-is-ethics/
https://philonotes.com/index.php/2018/06/10/moral-dilemmas/
https://ourhappyschool.com/node/824
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_foundations_theory
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Trunkline: (054) 871-5531-33 Local 101

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Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

AQUILINO P. MATEO, JR.

STUDENT’S NAME: _______________________________________

What for you is RIGHT?

How about WRONG?

Which one do you always PRACTICE? Why?

III. Learning Outcomes

IV. Learning Experiences and Self-Assessment Activities (SAA)

Fundamental Concepts in Ethics

What are Moral Dilemmas?

Types of Moral Dilemmas

The famous Sophie’s Choice, as mentioned above, is a classic example of prohibition dilemmas.

Activity 1: Choose two out of the six types of moral

Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards

The Five Moral Foundations

Activity 2: Perform the tasks stated below to express your understanding

1. Briefly differentiate ethics from morality.

VI. SAA Answer Sheet

Name: ________________________________________________ Score: _________________

Short Answers Rubric

1. Briefly differentiate ethics from morality.

VII. End of Module Assessment

1. What kind of moral dilemma is involved in the passage?

4. Explain your answer in item number 3 in 2-3 short sentences. (3 points)

VIII. SAA Answer Key

End of Module Assessment:

IX. Looking Ahead

X. Self and Module Evaluation

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

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Name: ________________________________ Score: _