Topic: Introduction

1. Topic: Introduction Sub-topic: Basic Concepts Ethics: (a) Ethics is the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. An individual may have personal ethics. This will be the rules by which that individual lives his life. A group such as a Physicians Association may have a code of ethics that is applied to the behavior of its members.

2. Topic: Introduction Sub-topic: Basic Concepts • Ethics: Ethics is thus a mechanism to control or regulate the behaviors of individuals or groups. (b) Ethics is also the study of morality. In other words, ethics studies or investigates the morality of some conduct. 2. Morality: It is the standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong, or good and evil.

3. Topic: Introduction Sub-topic: Basic Concepts 2. Morality (Cont.) • Moral standards include • Norms: the kinds of actions we believe are morally right and wrong. These norms are usually expressed as general rules or statements. Examples: “Always tell the truth.” “It is wrong to kill innocent people.” “It is wrong to steal.” (b) Values: These are the judgments, in terms of good and bad, we put on objects. Examples: “Honesty is good.” “Injustice is bad.”

4. Topic: Introduction Sub-topic: Basic Concepts 2. Morality (Cont.) • Sources of Moral Standards: Where do moral standards come from? We learn about these standards through the socialization process as we grow up from childhood to adulthood. When we become adults, experience, learning, and intellectual development may lead us to revise these standards. We may even discard some moral standards and adopt new ones as we mature. • Notice that we do not always live up to the moral standards we hold. In other words, we do not always do what we believe is morally right. Also, we do not always pursue what we believe is morally good.

5. Topic: Introduction Sub-topic: Basic Concept Salient Characteristics of Moral Standards (Morality): These characteristics distinguish moral standards from non-moral standards. An example of non-moral standards is standards of etiquette such as table manners. a. Moral standards deal with matters that can seriously injure or benefit human beings. Examples: a drug company does not tell its clients the side effects of some of its medications. Murdering people, raping people b. Moral standards are not established or changed by the decisions of particular authoritative bodies. c. Moral standards are preferred to other values, particularly self-interest. Example: Consider a business firm (a drug company) that lies about the side effects of one of its medical drug.

6. Introduction Characteristics of Moral Standard (Cont.) d. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations. This means one should not be biased or prejudiced when making a decision. For example, A judge should not judge on the basis of friendship. He does, then his judgment will be partial, not impartial.