]UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS

College of Arts and Sciences

MODULE 1 in SOC SCI 101N (Ethics)

Course: SOC SCI 101 N

Course Title: Ethics
Course Credits: 3 units
Contact Hours/week: 8 hours
Prerequisite: None
Course Description:
Ethics deals with principles of ethical behavior in modern society at the level of the
person, society, and in interaction with the environment and other shared resources. (CMO 20
s 2013)
Course Outcomes:

At the end of the trimester, the students are expected to:

1. Differentiate between moral and non-moral problems and describe what a moral
experience is as it happens in different levels of human existence;
2. Explain the influence of Filipino culture on the way students look at moral
experiences and solve moral dilemmas and describe the elements of moral
development and moral experiences;
3. Use ethical frameworks or principles to analyze moral experiences and make sound
ethical judgments based on principles, facts, and the stakeholders affected;
4. Develop sensitivity to the common good and understand and internalize the principles
of ethical behavior in modern society at the level of the person, society, and in
interaction with the environment and other shared resources.

Topic 1:
Basic Concepts:
a. Moral vs. non-moral standards
b. What are dilemmas?
c. Three levels of moral dilemmas
d. Foundation of morality
e. Minimum requirement of morality

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:
1. Know what moral standards are and apply them in their daily lives every
time they encounter a life dilemma;
2. Understand the extent of freedom and use them in making crucial decisions
in life;
3. Use the advantage of owning moral standard over merely abiding by moral
standard;

Instructional Materials:
Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemma (ppt file)
Lecture Video (uploaded in FB page)
Additional Lecture notes

Teaching-Learning Activity/Lesson Proper:

 A. Moral and 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.
 
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 states 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.
  
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
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 universality.
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.” Universality 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)

B. What are moral dilemmas (ppt file)

C. The three levels of moral dilemma ( ppt file)
D. Foundation of Morality

The main five foundations of morality:

According to Moral Foundations Theory, differences in people's moral concerns can be described in
terms of five moral foundations:
1. Care: cherishing and protecting others; opposite of harm
2. Fairness or proportionality: rendering justice according to shared rules; opposite of cheating
3. Loyalty or in-group: standing with your group, family, nation; opposite of betrayal
4. Authority or respect: submitting to tradition and legitimate authority; opposite of subversion
5. Sanctity or purity: abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions; opposite of degradation

E. Minimum Requirement of Morality

REASON AND IMPARTIALITY AS MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR MORALITY:
1. Reason is the basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction. As a quality, it refers to the
capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought; for consciously making sense of things,
establishing and verifying facts, applying common sense and logic, and justifying, and if
necessary, changing practices ,institutions, and beliefs based on existing or new existing
information .It also spells the difference of moral judgments from mere expressions of personal
preference. In the case of moral judgments, they require backing by reasons. Thus, reason
commends what it commends, regardless of our feelings, attitudes, opinions, and desires.
2. Impartiality involves the idea that each individual’s interests and point of view are equally
important. It is a principle of justice holding that decisions ought to be based on objective
criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over
another for improper reasons .Impartiality in morality requires that we give equal and/or
adequate consideration to the interests of all concerned parties. The principle of impartiality
assumes that every person, generally speaking, is equally important; that is, no one is seen
intrinsically more significant than anyone else

Enhancement Activity/Outcome:
A. Research on Terminology
Fill in the table with 5 definitions of Ethics
DEFINITION AUTHOR YEAR OF
PUBLICATION

B. Heinz Dilemma
Copy your answers to the 6th post in the first meeting and explain in 1 sentence on
whether you used the minimum requirement of reason and impartiality in your
choices.
 1. __________________________________________________________________
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2. __________________________________________________________________
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3. __________________________________________________________________
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C. Personal Moral Dilemma
Referring to the last slide of the instructional material
Choose 2 of the 4 in the list (Current Events, Literature, Content Areas or Classroom
Issues) and Discuss in not more than 5-8 sentences each a situation where you
personally experienced a moral dilemma and how you resolved it. Also include in
each discussion what moral foundation became your basis for resolving the dilemma.
1. __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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2. __________________________________________________________________
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