“Summary on Ethics”

Ethics refers to a set of standards of what is right and wrong. It also

means of regulating and setting of limits on their behaviour. The study of

morality , good , bad ,right ,wrong ,human conduct, behavior. Meanwhile the

Philosophy means love of wisdom. It comes from the Greek words Philo (love or

friendship) and Sophia (wisdom). It is also concerned with Epistemology

,Metaphysics and Ethics. Normative Ethics is the study of ethical action.

Consequentialism pertains to the measurement of the morality of an act and it

based on legal ground and the violation of it will be considered immoral while the

Deontological ethics refers to personal conviction as well as the study of

rightness and wrongness of actions. Virtue ethics is study of a person’s character

and the virtues for evaluating ethical behaviour. Meta ethics is beyond ethics and

it has four approaches namely Intuitionism, Cognitivism, Naturalism and

Subjectivism. The Ethics of Religion condemns the atheist and they recognize

the supreme beyond us and it would be immoral not to recognized it , Religion

and Ethics are complementary. Lastly is the Philosophical Inquiry is about to find

the truth and become the starting point of learning also it was mentioned that a

person who ask question are more likely to have the opportunity to learn. I

realized that in every action that we do can speak a thousand words.

 “Summary on Moral Dilemma”

Self-defense is preservation of one’s life which is included in constitutional

and it maybe legal and lawful. The act of self-defense may have double effects ;

first is saving one’s life and second is slaying the aggressor. According to St.

Thomas intention of saving one’s life the act considered not unlawful however

he argues that the permissibility of self- defense not unconditional. The act of

self-defense may be deemed unlawful if a man in a self-defense uses more than

any necessary violence. Moral Dilemma are cases where individuals are

confronted with “ what is right?” . It primarily relates to the principle of double

effect. There are important elements in moral decisions and these are number

one the evil effect must not precede good effect , secondly is there must be a

reason of sufficient grave calling for the act in its good effect ,third is the intention

of the agents must be honest and lastly the act itself must be morally good or at

least indifferent. There are several steps given to address Moral Dilemma; first

examine the acts in relation to the agent, secondly is determine the

consequences of the acts, third identify the intention of the acts, and fourth

decide in accordance to divine and natural laws which govern moral life. I

realized that before making any decisions weigh out the possible decisions that

could make and assess the possible results and do not be an impulsive decision

maker.
 “Summary on Culture”

Culture is a system of codes that gives the world meaning and shapes the

behaviour of people. It also determine the proper behavior of people. A positive

culture promotes human development and it stretches your capacity to become

better individual not only good but the best. To be considered as culture it must

be always practiced. Human flourishing pertains to be a better person. The

Doctrine of Cultural Relativism means there is no superior and inferior culture

and all culture are equal to be respected. The strengths of relativism are, it helps

to avoid the attitude of moral dictatorship , it respects the wisdom of different

cultures , it promotes unity and harmony among cultures. While the problem of

relativism are toleration and acceptance of social injustice and inhumane

activities, rejection of higher universal or common moral standards and

vulnerability of racial discrimination. Lastly there three consequences of cultural

relativism, one we could no longer say that the customs of other societies are

morally inferior to or own. Two we could no longer criticize the code of our

society and three is the idea of moral progress is called into doubt. I realized the

culture and ethics plays a vital role in shaping one’s character.

 “Summary on Means to be Human”

Family is the basic unit of the society and the primary source of morality.

Parents are our first teachers of right and wrong .According to Charles Darwin

recognized that what make us most unique and our most important characteristic

is the moral sense. Culture has something to do with decision-making. In

personhood, every person by nature is moral and the morality of person is rooted

here. Western are more advanced and liberal culture while Developing and

conservative culture emphasizes duty to family, community and spiritually. I

realized that being a parent have an important responsibility in molding one’s

child moral character.

“Summary on Characteristics of Culture”

The characteristics of culture are the following ; share and transmitted,

learned and acquired, social phenomenon, gratifies human needs, dynamic and

integrated. Cultural views are divided into two views, first is the ethnocentrism

refers to the tendency to perceive and judge others according to one’s cultural

standards and the second view is Xenocentrism which refer to the tendency of

valuing other cultures more highly than one’s own. Ethical standards are explicit

code of conduct required by the organization for all those within it to follow. The

success and failure of any organizations is built on a culture of integrity, honesty

and trust. Debt of gratitude as a moral obligation refers to the normative

concept of right and wrong. I realized there are ways to improve our moral

culture.

“Summary on Immanuel Kant’s View on Feelings”

In Immanuel Kant’s perspective he defined moral feeling as “the

susceptibility to feel pleasure or displeasure merely from being aware that

actions are consistent or contrary to the law of duty. Susceptibility to sensible

pleasure and pain then, is a condition at the deepest root of human experience

while moral feeling seems to be a product of the representation of moral law.

Values are those things considered important to life also it is a culture’s standard

for discerning what is good or bad, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, desirable

and undesirable, and what ought to perform and not to perform. Values become

our basis on how to make moral decision and most importantly values can

provide peace, order, and cohesion in society. There are four essential

characteristics by which a value is higher than another namely duration,

extensive, value must generate other value, depth of contentment or fulfilment

accompanies higher values. Thomas Andres in his hierarchy of Filipino values

and these are Closeness of the family, Debt of Gratitude which value is

associated with reciprocity and utang na loob, Social acceptance, Social mobility

wherein Filipino works hard for wealth and material comfort for their families, and

lastly is the Self-esteem which is the highest type of value among Filipinos. I

realized that values and feelings has deeper connection with regards on the way

we live and act.

 “Summary on Scheler’s Hierarchy of Values”

Moral Values if violated will result into morality also the word modality is

synonymous with feelings. Under the Theory of Value there are moral values of

good and evil which are solely related to persons not objects, the variety of

values can be experienced in different orders based on love, these values as

objective and unchanging. Max Ferdinand Scheler believed that love is the

center of our emotion. Emotion is useless if it is not supported by reason. It could

be positive or negative. It may be the source of morality and immorality. There

are four value-modalities in hierarchy of levels , first is the Sensory Value-

Modality wherein the feeling-states incorporated here are the lowest level of

value. These values range from agreeable to disagreeable. While the second

one is Vital Value-Modality which includes all modes of feelings in life are

included in these level. These values are higher than the values of pleasure also

it pertains to the recognition of health and sickness, strength and weakness,

aging etc. and third is Spiritual Value-Modality the feeling states relative to this

value-modality are connected to the spiritual feelings, more specifically on love

and hatred, beautiful and ugly, just and unjust ,joy and sorrow, delight and

dislike, and reverence and contempt. Respect over integrity, Integrity over

immorality, and honesty over dishonesty. And the last one is Value of Holiness

Modality which is the highest type of values that appear only on objects given

intentionally as “absolute objects”. It refers to the exemplary of character. I

realized that everything in this world has a reason for its existence and as a

person what is most important is the proper attitude than the wisdom. Also I
realized that there are times that we were not able to understand our own reason

itself but the heart has the reason why we can’t.

“Summary on Moral Character”

The term Moral Character is simply to do something good and avoid what

is bad. An admirable person’s face is in coin but nowadays the emphasis on

individuality tends to combine character with personality. Aristotle tells us of the

two different kinds of human excellences ; the excellence of thought and

excellence of character. His phrase for excellence of character is ‘ethikai

aretai’ which is translated as moral virtue or moral excellence. Moral virtue the

emphasis is not on mere uniqueness or individuality but on the combination of

qualities that make an individual the sort of ethically admirable person that he is.

In making a moral choice always choose the right and renounce the evil. Aristotle

believed that excellence of character is state concerned with choice, lying in a

mean relative to us being determined by reason and in the way in which man of

wisdom would determine it. According to Fr. Dionisio Miranda the three basic

needs and values and these are , Individuality or personal identity ,personal

autonomy, meaning to one’s becoming a human being. A crucial task of

childhood and adolescence is learning right from wrong or good from bad and

developing moral character. The three components in understanding children’

moral development is emotion, knowledge and action. Theoretical approaches

that explain the process of moral development are the following, first is Social-

learning theory under this approach children learn moral behaviour through

observation and imitation of other people’s behaviour, secondly Positive or

Negative reinforcement through reward system, thirdly cognitive development

theory refers on how children arrive at judgements about what is right and wrong,

fourth is psychoanalytic theory wherein moral character develops as a result of

parental identification, and lastly evolutionary theory focuses on the

neurobiological bases for moral development. In Kohlberg’s theory is stage

theory. Everyone goes through the stages sequentially without skipping any

stage. Kohlberg’s six stages ; Pre-conventional morality includes Stages 1 and 2

while Conventional morality contains Stages 3 and 4 and Post-Conventional

morality contains Stages 5 and 6. I realized that no matter how great you are still

at the end of the day character is what really matters and also when it comes to a

child’s holistic development will rely on how their parents will mold them from the

day they were born until they reach the age of adulthood.

“Summary on Human Acts and Acts of Man”

Human acts are acts done deliberately performed by one possessed of

the use of reason. The three substantial elements of human acts are; Knowledge

is the awareness of reason, you must have the knowledge of the act that you will

perform, how to perform it; the means, and you must be aware of the

consequences, In freedom the doer acts by his or her own initiative and choice

without being forced to do so. Freedom is the power to choose between 2 or

more courses of actions without being forced . Without knowledge you cannot

practice freedom, Voluntariness is wilfully done when doer consents to the acts,

accepting it as his own, and assumes accountability for its consequences. The

three determinants of morality are Object, End and Circumstances. Acts of man
are opposed to human acts, are those actions done instinctively without reflection

and free will. The two classifications of human acts are External acts which

refer to those affected by bodily powers while the Mixed acts refer to actions that

include the use of bodily and mental powers. Conscience and Law are the two

norms of human acts. The seven classifications of laws are the following divine

laws, human laws, eternal laws, natural laws, positive laws, negative laws and

penal laws. Ignorance pertains to lack, want, or absence of knowledge in a

person capable of such. And lastly there are four kinds of ignorance namely

ignorance of the law, ignorance of fact, vincible ignorance and invincible

ignorance. I realized that Moral character is an evaluation of an individual's stable

moral qualities. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the

existence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or

of good behaviors or habits.

“Summary on Fundamental Stance and Fundamental Option”

Fundamental means basic because it is from the deepest level of the

person and affects and shapes his whole being , his thoughts ,his whole life,

actions, decisions and choices. Fundamental Option is described as a basic

commitment, an extraordinary choice that would eventually be part of all other

choices. It emphasizes one’s basic and fundamental disposition or orientation for

God or against God which is necessary for our salvation. The Fundamental

Option theory asserts that it is only our fundamental choice for God or against

God which is decisive to remain in the state of grace and the only one thing can

destroy or relationship with God, the fundamental choice to go against Him.

Fundamental Stance is a state that refers to the total direction or orientation of

our life, made up by all other concrete thoughts, decisions and actions I line with

our fundamental stance. The Basic Choice are the following Conscious and non-

reflexive, involves one’s basic or transcendental freedom and a life-time process

that includes particular choices ,predominant but not total, a rare thing, only a

moral adult can make and it has a religious and Christian aspect. Fundamental or

Basic Stance is a state not a process, one’s fundamental stance is caused only

by a basic choice and it is more important than the basic choice. I realized that

we as a person must in a deeper sense so we were able to guide accurately our

direction or orientation in life. Also I believe that every person give a freedom of

choice not because to abuse it but for making wise decisions that will lead to

happier life.

“Summary on Moral Courage”

Courage is from the latin word cor which means heart. It also indicates “ to

speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart” It is usually said to be a heroic dead

but heroes are not the only ones who have courage. According to St. Thomas

Aquinas he recognized that patience and perseverance are virtues related to

courage. Courage enable us to face danger, difficulities, and sufferings with

determination. In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, courage is mean with respect

to things that inspire confidence or fear. Courage is Virtue, virtue requires as the

right desire and the right reason. A virtue is disposition of good. Human virtues
are firm attitudes, stables, dispositions , habitual perfections of intellect and will

that govern our actions , order our passions and guide our conduct according to

reason and faith. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of

death, and to face trials and persecutions. The theological virtues are strong

foundation of moral courage. They are excellent guide to help a man to discern

qhat is moral and immoral. Faith is trust in God while Hope is keeps man from

discouragement and charity is deciding what is good or evil in a particular

situation. Moral courage is the result of a morally developed will. It is the capacity

to innate and sustain your resolve whenever you are certain of doing the good. It

is a kind of virtue that enables one to be ethical not just in thought but more

importantly ,indeed. Lack of courage is a person who draw backs in the

moment of action while Immoral courage refers to a person who fights back for

revenge. I realized that an act is morally courageous if it has noble ends.

Therefore the essence of courage is challenge a man to do good and avoid evil.

“Summary on Impartiality”

Impartiality means freedom from any bias or favoritism. It requires one not

to be swayed by any circumstance or factor to favor an individual. It assures that

everyone is treated in accord with what is fair and just, according to what each

deserves and needs. Consequentialism argues that moral evaluations and

justifications must be grounded on the value of the consequences of the act.

Morality is at the very last least, the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason and

to do what are the best reasons for doing while giving equal weight to the interest

of each individual affected by one’s decision. I realized as a moral person we

should always practice the essence of impartiality no matter how good or bad the

situation is. We must way facts before concluding something as well as we must

always think the betterment of everybody. We must uphold what is fair and just

so that no one will be a victim of injustice.

“Summary on Aristotle”

Aristotle is born in 384. He was ancient Greek philosopher and scientist

considered as one of the greatest thinkers in philosophy, politics , psychology

and ethics. The two moral perspectives are the question of action and question

of character. Ethics is matter of living well through the habitual practice of virtue

which are essentially translated into having a virtuous or excellent of character.

Good is that at which all things aim. Character is the most essential component

of ethics. Virtue is a state of character which makes a person good and capable

of fulfilling his or her end as a human person. Phronesis is an intellectual virtue

that aids one in being happy. Human can have two kinds of virtue and these are

intellectuall and moral virtue. Eudaimonia is an activity of the soul that

purposively attempts to choose the mean between two extremes in the realm of

morality while Happiness is attainable through the proper exercise of reason,

both morally and intellectually. Without good character happiness is impossible.

Good habits makes good character. I realized that the virtue of honesty is

outmost important because it will be influenced easily by a bad influence. Also

we must mold our character in accordance to moral virtue. Lastly is happiness

is key to a healthy and fruitful life.

“Summary on Aquinas”

Thomas Aquinas was born around 1225 to a noble family in the small

town of Roccasecca, near Aquino,Italy. He is the founder of the Dominican

Order. Natural law refers that is more or less the same for everyone everywhere.

The two key features is first we focus on God as the giver of natural soul and

secondly we focus on human role as recipient of natural law. Aquinas’s first

principle of morality is: Good should be done , and evil avoided. Those goods

are the following, preservation of life, procreation , knowledge, society and

reasonable conduct. God designed natural law so that humans participate in

God’s eternal law. Virtue means to perfect human activity. Virtue is a habit that

helps us live righteously. Aquinas three main categories of virtue are; intellectual

virtues, Moral virtues and theological virtues. The ultimate end is the happiness

in God. Happiness is the possession of good that satisfies man’s desire while

Enjoyment pertains to worldly goods and physical pleasures but these tend to be

short-lived. I realized that only God could give is the eternal happiness and

peace that we want. The perfect happiness could be only feel in the beatific

vision of God in heaven. While the Imperfect happiness are only earthly

pleasure in the world and it is only temporary.

 “Summary on Kant”

Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher who lived during the age of

Enlightenment. Right is important than the good. Deontology is an approach to

ethics that focuses rightness and wrongness of actions. In any act there is an

intention behind. Imperative refers to which is a necessary action in a particular

situation. Sacrifice your own motive for the common good. According to Kant’s

argument on lying , lying under any circumstances is the eradication of ones

dignity. The rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their

consequences but on whether they fulfil our duty. I realized any form of lying will

be still be considered as a lie. Also under any circumstances it is forbidden to lie

and even if cost someone else life.

“Summary on Utilitarianism”

Consequentialism is an ethical theory that states that the rightness or wrongness

of an action relies on its outcomes. There are two main forms of of

consequentialism and these are first, Hedonism which argues that pleasure and

happiness are the aim of human life and the highest of all intrinsic goods

achievable by humankind. It teaches one to maximize net pleasure, that is to say,

pleasure minus pain. A hedonist contends that pleasure is the highest good.

While Utilitarianism refers to the ethical theory that one tells to choose that which

will give the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people. It

means to say that people should maximize human welfare or well-being. Always
think what is pleasurable to the community. Jeremy Bentham was an English

philosopher, political radical and legal and social reformer of the early Modern

period. He is the founder of utilitarianism . While John Stuart Mil was an

English philosopher, political economist and Member of Parliament. For Mill the

happiness is pleasure and the absence of pain while unhappiness is pain or the

absence of pleasure. I realized that actions are in right in proportion as they tend

to promote happiness also with utilitarianism they promote a moral way of life

that considers the welfare of others and not just one’s own. Happiness is a

necessity for every person. Lastly our conscience serve as the ultimate sanction

of the principle of utility.

“Summary on Justice”

Justice is derived from the Latin word jus which means right. It means

that giving a person what he or she deserves or giving each person his or her

due. The three characteristics of justice are, Justice is a social norm that is a

directive for guiding men in their action towards one another, Justice is

approvative in the sense that judging an action to be just manifest approval of the

actions, Justice is obligatory in that judging a certain course of action to be just

entails that a person in the like situation ought to do the same thing. Theories or

justice are positive law, social good and natural right theory. According to Rawls

the justice as fairness around specific interpretations of the ideas that citizen are

free and equal and that society should be fair. The two main principles of justice
as fairness are liberty and equality principle. The two parts of Equality principle

are fair equality opportunity and difference principle. I realized justice is what we

should exercise in accordance to our right as well as the essence of of fighting

what is right and just for an individual. I believe that If justice is above everything

no problem will arise in a country or to the world.

“Summary on Taxation”

Taxation is the most pervasive and the strongest of all the powers of the

government. It is the lifeblood of the government, without which, it cannot subsist.

Also it includes all types of involuntary levies such as income, capital gains and

estate taxes. The main purpose of taxation is to accumulate funds for the

functioning of the government machineries. The ability of the government to

serve the people depends upon the taxes that are collected. The first known

system of taxation was in the First Dynasty of the Ancient Egypt. Augustus

Caesar introduced the inheritance tax to provide retirement funds for the military.

The four main purposes of tax are revenue, redistribution, repricing and

representation while common kinds of taxes are income tax, social security

contribution, payroll workforce, property, goods, services and excise or license

taxes. Tax as a moral obligation is a fair system assist us in building good, strong

societies, in which everyone benefits from the common good. This is logic of

taxation. It is linked to our understanding of common good as end of taxation.

Tax morale is referred to as the motivation of a country’s citizen to pay taxes. I

realized that taxes are really important to one’s government because without the

government will be paralyzed and couldn’t make their duty to the citizen of the

country. Also we must think taxes we will pay is for the common good.

“SUMMARY ON FAITH”

Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. Man can lose this

priceless gift by rejecting conscience. Faith is the beginning of eternal life.

Religion what bond the humans and gods. Faith makes man taste in advance

the light of the beatic vision, to see God face to face. Religion may be defined as

a cultural system of behaviors and practices that relate man to the super natural,

sacred and spiritual. Durkheim’s element of religion are belief, practice, moral

community, sects, and cults. Church describes religions that are all-embracing of

religious expression in a society while denomination are large and established

religious bodies that have a hierarchy of religious bodies that have a hierarchy of

religious leaders operating within formal, bureaucratic structure. The major

religion in the world are first Judaism they are monotheistic , believing in one true

God , second is the Christianity at the core, to be Christian is to believe in the

trinity of father, son and holy spirit as one God., third is the Islam , the center of

islam is the belief that Allah is the only true God that Muhammad is God’s

messenger or the prophet and lastly is the Buddhism it refers to the teachings of

Guatama Buddha. I realized faith is the most wonderful gift that a man could

receive. Also it struck to me the quote “ walk by faith and not by sight” which is
true in every waking day of our life we must trust and surrender it to God no

matter how we doubt and think it would be impossible to do it because we may

be have limited ability but our God is limitless.

“Summary on Ethical Challenges Face by Millenials”

Some ethical challenges face by millenials are the following , first is

Suicide is the intentional killing of oneself and therefore, it is gravely immoral.

Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being preserve and

perpetuates of his life , secondly is fornication is a carnal union between

unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely sinful to engage with it,

third is abortion , it is gravely contrary to the moral law, fourth is homosexuality

which applies to people who are attracted to and interested in relationship with

people of the same sex. Men with homosexual orientation are referred to as a

gay while woman with homosexual orientation are referred to as lesbians.

Bisexual refers to people who are both attracted to men and women and

Transgender people are those who believe they were born with the body of the

opposite sex. Homosexuality is not morally legitimate if it exposes the person’s

life to danger and scandal, fifth is the Drug addiction, is a growing problem in

our contry, most of the drug users are young people.. The virtue of temperance is

to avoid every kind of excess, sixth is the abuse and misuse of technology it

cause alienation of adolescents to personal and closer mode of communication

resulting to a distorted image of the adolescent relationships to the social

environment. The Philippines is now suffering from the very rest impact of

climate change. The R ule of Nonmalefiecence is the duty not to do harm to any

entity in the natural environment that has good on its own. I realized that ethical

challenges arise from certain causes but I believe that this certain cause will not

arise or it can be mitigated by proper guidance, discipline and unity of each every

person living in this world. We started it that why we need to end it. Above all we

must always think for the betterment of our world.

MODULES’
SUMMARY &
REFLECTION