Introductory Discussion

Chapter Objective
• After this chapter, the student should be able
to:
1. Identify the ethical aspect of human life and
the scope of ethical thinking;
2. Define and explain terms that are relevant to
ethical thinking;
3. Evaluate the common-held notions on ethics
Vietnamese boy, 13, kills woman for money to
play video games

HANOI - Police in Vietnam have arrested a 13-year-old

boy accused of murdering and robbing an 81-year-old
woman for money to play online games. Dinh The Dan
was arrested on Sunday at his home…80 kilometers south
of Hanoi…
Police say Dan strangled Mai Thi Mau, 81, with a piece of
rope and took 100,000 dong (6.2 dollars) from her before
burying her in a pile of sand in front of his house…. "Dan
confessed that he needed money to play online games
and decided to kill and rob the woman."
 Questions
• Is there bad action? Why is it considered bad?
• What is the problem in the story? Why?
• Is it an ethical problem? Why?
 Think, Pair and Share
Think-Pair-Share” is a peer-to-peer discussion strategy where students discuss
their constructed responses to a prompt or question before sharing with the
whole class. It is a strategy that engages every student so that checking the
understanding of the whole class can be done efficiently. The following steps
outline the strategy (Fisher & Frey 2007).
• Pose a question, prompt, reading, visual, or observation.
• Allow a few minutes to individually THINK about the question.
• PAIR up students with designated partners to discuss their respective
responses, comparing thoughts and agreeing on the best responses.
• After an appropriate length of time, ask the pairs to SHARE their thinking
with the whole class.
Students need specific feedback on speaking and listening especially since
these skills do not always have products for reviewing.
What is Ethics course is about?

good and bad

right and wrong
obeying rules
pursuing ideals
developing character
What this Ethics course is not…

• this is not values education

• this is not catechism

• this is not moral theology

• this is not a rulebook or instruction manual

• this is not applied ethics (yet)

 Ethics
• It is about doing the good thing and avoiding
the bad thing
• It is about what is acceptable and
unacceptable for us
• As a subject it is a study determining the
grounds for the values with particular and
special significance to human life
 Clarification
• There are many instances that we try to classify or
value them as good or bad but they are not considered
to be part of Ethics
• Watching Movies
• Dip for Fried Chicken/French Fries
• Aesthetic is derived from the Greek word “aisthesis”-
sense or feeling
• It refers to the judgments of personal approval or
disapproval that we make about what we see, hear,
smell or taste.
• It talks about our “taste”
 Clarification
• I may think that it is “right” to knock politely
on someone’s door, while it is “wrong” to
barge into one’s office
• It is approve of a child who uses “po” and
“opo” and disapprove of a woman that is seen
picking her nose in public
• These belongs to etiquette
• It might be considered but it is not quite grave
enough to belong to a discussion
 Clarification
• In cooking bacon, it is right to cook it without
cooking oil in the pan
• It is wrong to jumpstart an automatic
transmission car
• Technique and technical
• From the Greek word “techne” which means
the right way of doing things
 Ethics vs. Morals
• Etymologically Ethics came from the Greek
word “ethos” – means custom, usage,
character
• Roman language equivalent “mores”
• Mores root word “morality” or “moral”
• Ethics and moral ordinarily used as equivalent
term
• They mean the traditional manners, customs,
habits or character of the community or group
 Ethics vs. Morals
• They group of standards or norms, or what
sometimes called the group’s “system of
values” which determines what is considered
as “good”, “right”, or the “proper” way of
living, of acting, of doing
Sources of Authority

Law
Religion
Culture
 So what is the source…?
• What reasons do we give to decide or to judge
that a certain way of acting is either right or
wrong?
• Let’s take “CHEATING”
• So why is it wrong?
• It is wrong because of punishment
• But it is shallow
• Rather, it is wrong based on a on a principle of
fair play or a respect for the importance and
validity of testing
 So what is the source…?
• Principles as rationally established grounds by
which one justifies and maintains her moral
decisions and judgment
• Moral theory is a systematic attempt to establish
validity of maintaining certain moral principles
• Framework is a theory of interconnected ideas at
the same time, a structure through which we can
evaluate a certain decision or judgment
 Be careful…
• Subjectivism - the individual is the sole
determinant of what is morally good or bad,
right or wrong
• Psychological egoism – one’s action are
ultimately always motivated by self-serving
desire
• Ethical egoism – one may act in a way that is
beneficial to others, but we should do that if it
is ultimately benefits us
 Exercise 1
• Look or a newspaper article that tackles an
ethical issue. Consider the following
questions:
1. What makes this a matter of ethics?
2. What is your own ethical judgment on this
case?
3. What are the reasons for judgment?
Thank you!