UNIVERSITY OF NEGROS

OCCIDENTAL -
RECOLETOS

ETHICS
FINAL COVER AGE (YEHEY)
V I R T U E ET H I C S
VIRTUE
o(Etymologically) manliness, i.e. strength,
courage
oDisposition, ability, or habit inclining man to
think and act correctly to follow what is right
and avoid what is evil.
oA highly regarded personality trait or aspect
of character.
oDeeply held value by a person that
intrinsically leads him or her to behave in a
certain way.
VIRTUE

oGood universal values, all of us should

have
oIt affect how we absorbed the world
around us and act in the world.
oVirtuous people are not perfect, but it
does not affect the purity or inspirational
component of the virtue itself.
oVirtuous actions make a person good.
VIRTUE

oIt is a good quality of the mind by which

one lives rightly, which no one uses badly
and which God works in us but without us
(St. Augustine)
oIt is a good habit perfecting man in any of
his rational potencies and inclining him to
the right and perfect use of his potencies
(St. Thomas)
VIRTUE ETHICS

oConsiders excellence or goodness

in terms of performance.
oAny activity that is good reflects
the doing of things in an excellent
way.
VIRTUE ETHICS

oActualization or perfection of
human excellence
oVirtues that give rise to a good life
oA good life and the manner by
which it is lived, and
exemplification of the virtues
APPROACHES TO VIRTUE
ETHICS
A. EUDAIMONISM (synonymous with virtue
ethics)
oThe ideal goal of human existence is
individual eudaimonia

Happiness; well-
being; good life
oThis goodness is attainable by acting
out those virtues, called phronesis
(prudence or practical wisdom)
ophronesis is a tool to achieve
happiness.
APPROACHES TO VIRTUE
ETHICS
B. ETHICS OF CARE
o20TH century
oOutgrowth of feminist theory of Annette Baier
oGender role influences a person’s action and
thinking
oTaking care of others, patient and
nurturing, willing to sacrifice one’s
own happiness for the sake of other’s
happiness
APPROACHES TO VIRTUE
ETHICS
C. AGENT-BASED THEORY (Michael
Slote)
oUses the largest, most normal and most
lauded virtues across time and culture (ex.
Kindness and mercy)
oMoves the burden of ethics to the inner life of
the agent who performs those actions.
THE FOUR CARDINAL
VIRTUES
1. PRUDENCE
2. JUSTICE
3. FORTITUDE
4. TEMPERANCE
oPRUDENCE
✓Regulates the intellect to think of the right thing
and to avoid evil.

oJUSTICE
✓Regulates the will of giving what is due to others.
oFORTITUDE
✓Regulates weakness of character

oTEMPERANCE
✓Voluntary self-restraint
CHARITY
✓The mover, the mother and root of all
virtues and the source of good will, kindness,
mercy, and forgiveness.
✓Supernatural virtue of loving God above all
things and loving one’s neighbour because of
God.
✓Gives unity and harmony to individual moral
life and to the whole humanity.
✓Helping the poor, the unfortunate, the
underprivileged
JUSTICE
oGiving what is due to others.
1. Legal
✓Binding all men to do what is for the common
good in accordance with the law.
2. Distributive (community to individuals)
✓Directs the state to share out to the people
benefits and offices according to the merits and
capabilities.
JUSTICE
3. Commutative justice (between
individuals)
✓Duty of one individual to give what is due to
another.
4. Social Justice
✓Direct individuals to give society its due.
✓It imposes the obligation to assist those in
need so that they too can live their life
worthy of dignity as persons.
.
JUSTICE
5. International justice
✓Common welfare of all nations. Main
duties are preservation of world peace,
unity, and brotherhood.
VIRTUE-BASED MORALITY

oThe extent of excellence

performed by an individual and
as to where that individual is
expected to function well.
VIRTUE-BASED MORALITY

The two great thinkers espoused a

virtue-based moral system:
Aristotle & St. Thomas Aquinas
ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE
ETHICS
• Teleological and eudaiministic
• “Telos” is a Latin term for “end” which mean a
product which the agent seeks to make or an
action that is to be done or accomplished.
• Human beings have the natural inclination to
pursue an end which is happiness.
• In Aristotle’s society, students are trained to
acquire moral knowledge and skills
ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE ETHICS

oTeachers and social political institutions,

ensure the cultivation of moral disposition
in their young citizens.
oTwo realms of social affair:
oIntellectual reals (education of young citizens)
oSocio-political realm (provides the education)
oReassure the honing of the two-fold virtues
to human excellence (intellectual virtue,
courage)
ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE ETHICS

oMoral education or ethical instruction

is the key in fostering good habits
(virtues) and discouraging bad habits
(vices)
oDoctrine of the mean
HAPPINESS AS A VIRTUE

oAnything good makes a human happy

oAristotle believes in happiness that is
pursued with pleasure.
oPleasure or happiness is the end goal of
human act.
oLasting enjoyment experienced by higher
beings
HAPPINESS AS A VIRTUE
o human beings enjoy higher pleasures guided
by higher faculty (rationality)
oLower form of animals enjoy lower pleasures
directed by lower faculties (appetites)
oHuman beings who heed to lower appetitive
tendencies experience the same lower
pleasures as that of animals.
oAristotle asserts that there can hardly be
happiness without virtue.
 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ON
NATURAL LAW
o Doctor of the Roman Catholic church,
theologian, philosopher
oRegarded as a pillar in theological approach
called Thomism as well as pillar of philosophical
movement known as Scholasticism
oPuts forward that there is within us a
conscience directing our moral thinking.
oThis sense of right and wrong must be informed,
guided, and grounded on morality.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ON
NATURAL LAW
oWe are called to heed the voice of conscience
and maintain a life of virtue.
oFor Thomas Aquinas, Natural law is the basis
of ethics and the ultimate ground directing our
sense of what is right and wrong.
oAll beings including man, came from God (first
efficient cause), who is essentially good
oAll beings will return to Him (final cause)
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ON
NATURAL LAW
oGod’s goodness is perfect, man’s is
imperfect.
oGod directs man to arrive at his
perfection and reach their proper end
which is returning to God.
THE ESSENCE AND
VARIETIES OF LAW
oLaw makes man concern about common
good (good of the community or whole
people)

oLaw is an ordinance of reason, made and

promulgated by man for the common good.
DIVISIONS OF LAW
oETERNAL LAW
✓A norm whereby God governs the universe and
most of which are unknowable to man.
✓What God wills for creation
✓Keeps the universe (Kosmos) in proper working
order
✓It always exist, and always will within the mind of
God (Logos)
ETERNAL LAW

✓All creatures are part and

participate in this law
✓E.g. sun, moon, daytime, night time,
high tide, ebb tide, time, etc.
DIVISION OF LAW
oNATURAL LAW
✓Aspect of eternal law knowable to man and
applicable to human lives.
✓“an intellect-bit size of reality”
✓Man has participation and contribution as a
rational being
✓E.g. procreation of man and woman, sustaining
and defending life, protection of the
environment, etc.
DIVISION OF LAW
oHUMAN LAW
✓An application of the general principles of
natural law to particular situations, by the
human minds.
✓Morally-based earthly laws by which human
societies function.
✓E..g. constitutional law, Republic acts,
Decrees, Ordinances, Ecclesiastical law, etc.
DIVISION OF LAW

oDIVINE LAW
✓An aspect of the eternal law made
known to human minds by God
through historical revelations.
✓Laid out in Old and New testaments
✓E.g. the 10 Commandments
DIVISION OF LAW
oThe OLD LAW
✓An aspect of the Divine law made known by God
thru pre-Christian revelation to the Jewish
people.

oThe NEW LAW

✓An aspect of the Divine law made known by
Christ to the church.
THE NATURAL AND ITS TENETS
(THOMISTIC THOUGHT)
oNatural means any innate human inclinations
(physical, moral) pertaining to one’s life.
oPhysically, we are naturally inclined to promote
life and continue living despite its odds.
oWe do not simply settle on securing our
earthly life but we deepen our relationship
with God.
THE NATURAL AND ITS TENETS
(THOMISTIC THOUGHT)
oSt. Thomas emphasizes that it is human
nature to desire his/her ultimate end in
God.
oThis natural tendency of man seeking
fulfilment in God finds its fulfilment through
the supernatural agent who is God Himself.
THE NATURAL AND ITS TENETS
(THOMISTIC THOUGHT)
oHuman will, as a nature (Voluntas ut
natura)
oOur acts of will or volition arise from
our natural desire for the ultimate
end.
oNatural law is instilled in us hence, it
can be known naturally.
oSynderesis- the habit of doing good
and avoiding evil.
HAPPINESS AS CONSTITUTIVE OF
MORAL AND CARDINAL VIRTUES
oHappiness (Felicitas) or Beatitudo or peace
(pax) is the ultimate end or good pursued by
human beings.
oTotal or ultimate happiness is in afterlife. This
is not the same with Aristotle’s “happiness”
achievable on earth.
oThe ultimate happiness or Beautitudo
Perfecta can never be perfectly actualized by
human beings, yet achieved by the grace of
God.
HAPPINESS AS CONSTITUTIVE OF
MORAL AND CARDINAL VIRTUES
oThe human activity is instrumental to the
divine activity.
oHappiness is not only achieved through
natural virtues acquired by humans.
oOtherwise, humans would end up in the
illusion of imperfect happiness.
oUltimate happiness requires the virtue of
FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.
oThru this union with God, perfect
happiness could be attained.
ETHICAL TEACHINGS OF ST.
AUGUSTINE
oGod is the focal point of St. Augustine’s moral
imperative
oGod is the starting and terminal point of
existence.
oGod created everything out of love.
oLove is the central basis of his ethics.
oGod favoured man among His creations,
because of the freewill.
ETHICAL TEACHINGS OF ST.
AUGUSTINE
oMan’s freewill is the primordial basis of the
existence of evil.
oMan authors evil, and not God.
oEvil is the absence of good.
oDespite the capacity to do evil, man is still capable
of attaining perfection by keeping himself good
thru prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance,
charity, and love.
ETHICAL TEACHINGS OF
JESUS CHRIST
oMore preference to the poor and the
oppressed
oEthics of love
oDemands honesty and authenticity
oTeaches faith in the Father
oEspouses peace and reconciliation
oDemands sacrifice and peace
ETHICAL TEACHINGS OF
JESUS CHRIST
o the moral man is he who loves his/her neighbour
and therefore loves God.
oDoesn’t like people who wants to be moral to be
recognized in public.
oA believer should not worry for tomorrow, thus
should develop a complete trust to the Father.
oHe who has enemies is not worthy to be in good
terms with God.
ETHICAL TEACHINGS OF
JESUS CHRIST
oJesus says that the road to heaven is thorny;
no beds of roses towards the glorious future,
for it is wrapped up with sorrow, pain, and all
sorts of tribulations.
o“if you follow me, you must deny yourself, take
up your cross and begin to follow in my
steps.”
 K AN T AN D
R I G H TS
TH E OR I S TS
KANTIAN ETHICS

oAchievement of the end

oMoral action comes from the
conviction of the “oughtness” or duty
which does not expect any result.
oThe very performance of duty in any
given circumstance.
KANT AND RIGHT
THEORISTS
oAutonomy and adequacy of practical
reason to make moral judgments.
oInvocation to God or any following of
the divine will and law is not
warranted.
GOOD WILL

oKant argues that any judgment of

goodness that is not limited and without
condition characterizes good will.
oGood Will -that which remains constant
despite the changing circumstances
oThe main objective of Kantian ethics is to
put morality on a solid foundation.
oFor Kant, morality would find itself on a
shallow ground and become problematic if
there is deficiency, or absence of the
ultimate norm of sound judgment.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE-
oMoral actions are not oriented towards
any purpose or end
oCommand an action without any
condition attached to them
oNot based on natural inclinations or end
like happiness
• As an intelligible beings, we do not
intend to abide with such law to
achieve something
oOur imperfections do not justify as
excuses to settle with inclinations way
below who we really are.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
Universal Law principle

oDemands an individual to “act as though

the maxim by which one can at the same
time will the it should become a universal
law”
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE

The Formula of Humanity

“Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your
own person or in that of another, always as an end,
and never as a mere means (to use it only for your
own benefit, with no thought to the interests or
benefit of the thing you’re using). “
HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVE

o“if the action is good only as a means of

something else, then the imperative is
hypothetical.”

oHypothetical Imperative-
oConditional moral command by which
the end becomes the condition
KINDS OF RIGHTS: LEGAL

oKant emphasizes the necessity of

social institution to authoritatively
regulate behaviours that run contrary
to the expectations of social order.
oThe civil society serves as an agency
to impose law and give punishment
o Society’s legal authority being punitive
in character
oLaw as a preventive measure
oNo citizen has the right to meddle
with any offender
RIGHTEOUS LAWS…

1. The liberty of every member of the

society as a man
2. The equality of every member of the
society with every other, as a subject
3. The independence of every member of
the commonwealth as a citizen
KINDS OF RIGHTS: MORAL
oMorality must advance the greater
freedom so that it can be the basis of all
free things
oThe consequences of action are beyond
control hence, there are standards to
secure the rightness of actions.
oStandard
oAn objective criterion that applies to all.
oIndeed, moral act should be placed on
impartial grounds
oApplicability to all free beings
oFor an action to be right, it should not
be detrimental to other’s freedom
U T I L I TA R I A N I S M
oEXOTICISM
oA phenomenon that tries to depict
poverty to an extreme degree where
people’s actual condition is used in
order to generate:
oBeautiful reviews from a show
oProfit for the network which
produces the show.
Consequentialism
oWorks in the idea that the result
is more important that the
means.

E=R/M
THE PRINCIPLE OF
UTILITARIANISM
oEmbraces a norm that will bring happiness
to as many persons as possible.
oAn action can be measured best to be
moral or not if and only if the said action is
agreed by all or a great many people to be
good.
UTILITARIANISM

oStarted in the philosophy of Epicurus

(Epicurean Philosophy)
oIt’s peak began in the philosophy of Jeremy
Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

QUANTITY QUALITY
BENTHAM AND THE
MEASURED HAPPINESS
oPleasure/pain principle, or hedonistic
calculus
oThe path to happiness is said to be
pain-free and pleasure-filled
BENTHAM’S CATEGORIES
a. Intensity
• What is the intensity or level or pleasure and/or pain that the action
leads to?
b. Duration
• What is the duration of that pleasure or pain the action creates?
c. Certainty/Uncertainty
• Is there a notable amount of certainty or uncertainty of pleasure or
pain resulting from the action?
d. Propinquity/ Remoteness
• How soon after the action does the pleasure or pain kick in? Is it near
or far? For example, the benefits of eating healthy take a while for the
benefit to kick in, in the form of a lower cholesterol level over time. But
eating a cheeseburger? The pleasure is immediate.
e. Fecundity
• How likely is the action to be followed by even more pleasure (if
it’s a pleasurable act) or pain (if it’s not so pleasurable)?
f. Purity
• How pure or impure is the pleasure or pain after an
action? As an opposite of the previous metric, this asks
how
likely the feeling after an action is to be followed by the
exact opposite.
e. Extent
Number of people affected
“The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness
of the greatest number that is the measure of right
and wrong.” —Jeremy Bentham
MILL AND THE QUALITY
HAPPINESS
o The idea of today’s utilitarianism is
synonymous to that of Stuart Mill.
oThe qualitative idea of action that will
bring happiness to as many people
oOne does not want pleasure for
pleasure’s sake
oMill was able to establish his own version
of conscience- the internal sanction
oPrinciple of utility establishes that
happiness is the ultimate criterion to
establish what is moral or not.
oThe greatest amount of happiness
altogether
“The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible,
is that people actually see it. The only proof that a sound is
audible, is that people hear it. In like manner, I apprehend, the
sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is
desirable, is that people do actually desire it . . . . No reason can
be given why the general happiness is desirable, except that
each person, so far as he believes it to be attainable, desires his
own happiness . . . . [W]e have not only all the proof which the
case admits of, but all which it is possible to require, that
happiness is a good: that each person’s happiness is a good to
that person, and the general happiness, therefore, a good to the
aggregate of all persons.” —John Stuart Mill
JUSTICE AND
FAIRNESS
TOWARD THE
COMMON GOOD
ON COLLECTIVE TELOS

Telos
✓a Greek idea considered to be
the vision of an act.
✓An idea of seeing through the end.
ON COLLECTIVE TELOS

oThe idea of personal goals and

collective goals are contradictory and
sub-alternately opposed
oThis problem has been solved through
natural, legal, and religious norms.
ON COLLECTIVE TELOS
oThe nature of man’s goodness is preserved
via measures that are meant to maintain it
while the nature of evil is dispelled via
measures that are meant to prevent the
actions from happening.
oThe ultimate goal of the measures is
helping one from individualism to
collectivism.
ON COLLECTIVE TELOS

oThere is a real collective telos.

oMan is a part of a vast island of
people.
ON JUSTICE

“The Republic,” by Plato.

✓Plato’s philosophy
✓Metaphysics
✓Aesthetics
✓Ethics
THE REPUBLIC
✓after justice
✓Justice can reign from individual to
collective.
✓Each person’s function was as important as
any other.
✓Justice cannot lean on “towards the truth
of the stronger.”
THE REPUBLIC
✓Justice is possible through living a life of
virtue.
✓There can be no societal justice if there is
no personal justice.
✓Justice must be distributive.
✓The effect of justice has to be fairness.

Being impartial
ON JUSTICE

o Life is unfair as everyone can

attest to it.
oWhat is illegal and unfair have
turned out to be normal.
ON JUSTICE
oFairness happens if and only if there is
equality.
John Rawls- theorized on justice and
fairness.
oJustice and fairness can only be
achieved through veil of
ignorance.
ON JUSTICE

oAccording to Rawls, the problem of man is

present because he has forgotten his
original position.

To be fair is
The standpoint of to be ethical
fairness both to you
and to others.
JUSTICE TODAY…
oThe world has lost its veil of
ignorance.
oThe basis of relation is already
grounded within the names/categories
attached to them.
o fairness today, is nothing but the tip of
an iceberg in the person.
FINAL NOTE ON JUSTICE:
✓ a society that practices a clear ethics
promotes justice and fairness.

✓Distributive and collective

 CHA PTER 5

L E S S O N 1 : G L O B A L I Z AT I O N ,
PLURALISM, AND THE
CHALLENGES OF FILINNIALS
GLOBALIZATION AND
PLURALISM
GLOBALIZATION
➢A process of an increasingly integrated global
economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of
capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor
markets.
PLURALISM
➢A situation in which people of different social classes,
religions, races, etc. are together in a society but
continue to have their different traditions and
interests.
GLOBALIZATION AND
PLURALISM
• In a globalized society: great ideas vs
concrete realities
• In ethics, there are pluralities of moral
commitments.
• “thin principles” vs “thick identities”

✓grand ideas against human realities

“THICK” IDENTITIES
✓Particular lives within specific
networks of relationship, among
certain people but not others.
✓Particular communities with which we
share understandings of the world.
✓Piety, loyalty, and deference are
cultivated.
“THIN” PRINCIPLES

✓Ways of thinking and speaking that

can enable such diverse groups to
cooperate to strengthen planetary
interdependence- and at the same
time be morally acceptable to all.
 We have poor understanding
of own’s identity thus…

✓Life has thick identities and

thin principles…

We have to rationalize
individual’s identities.
GLOBALIZATION AND
PLURALISM
✓Interdependence is a way of life to
achieve ethical uniformity.
✓Explore the ways of interacting with
active cooperation.
✓Sense of balance of differing views and
interests.
CHALLENGES OF FILINNIALS
AND MILLENNIALS.
Baby boomers
Filinnials
Young adults
Millennials
CHALLENGES OF FILINNIALS
AND MILLENNIALS.
✓Relationship between today’s parents and their
child/ren is generally marked by tension.
✓Parents do not want their children to go through
the same process of hardship which they
experienced.
AS A RESULT OF OVER-
PARENTING…
“ their children have turned out to be
feckless baby-people, ill-prepared for
everyday life.” (Koslow)

Individuals try so hard to be

independent adults.
MILLENNIALS BECOME…

✓Less assertive
✓Less resilient
✓Indecisive
 RESPONSES OF MILLENNIALS
AND FILINNIALS
✓Parents can be a
companionship. good source
of advice and healthy
✓“raising and letting go of
adults who can face the
problem of the 21st century-
and figure out how to nurture
the next generation.”(Koslow)
LESSON 2

THE ROLE OF
RELIGION IN
ETHICS
✓Because of systematic religion, humanity
could possibly live their life to the fullest.

RELIGION
➢A personalized or institutionalized system
of religious beliefs, attitudes, and practices.
 ETHICS AND RELIGION

is it possible to have ethics

without religion?
ETHICS AND RELIGION

✓It is equally possible that religion

be a basis of Ethics.
✓Sources of morality are traced
from Divine Revelation.
TO SITUATE THEIR RELATION, BOTH
HAVE TO BE DIFFERENTIATED:

ETHICS as a Philosophy
➢Engages in a rational investigation of goodness
regardless of religious convictions.
RELIGION
➢Came from a Latin word, “Religare,” meaning, “to
bind.”
➢Is grounded on traditions; one’s moral behavior is
practiced in the light of religious traditions.
ETHICS AND RELIGION
✓Ethics teaches the value of religion.
✓Religion contributes to the teaching of
Ethics and continues to enrich with its
moral insights.
✓Despite the different moral beliefs of
different religions, they still coincide in their
efforts to improve both man and human
societies.
BECAUSE OF
GLOBALIZATION…
✓Human progress is the promise of globalization.
✓IRONICALLY, advancements have not secured
people’s lives’ improvements.
✓Capitalism
✓Consumerism
✓Other forms of materialisms
✓Little emphasis on knowledge, virtues,
holiness, and spirituality
ROLE OF RELIGION IN A
GLOBALIZED WORLD
✓Religion has preset of laws
governing the lives of its believers
worldwide.
✓The laws address on pressing
issues affecting social life.
ROLE OF RELIGION IN A
GLOBALIZED WORLD
RELIGION CAN:
✓Bind people despite various
orientations
✓Correct the disorientations and
disvalues
✓Reach out across cultures and
different nations
END OF
FINALS