AN OVERVIEW

WHAT AM I TO DO?

WHAT IS THE RIGHT

CHOICE?

IS IT RIGHT?

IS IT WRONG?

Might is right

Morals are mores

The individual is the measure

The human race is the basis of right

Right is moderation

Right is what brings pleasure

Right is the greatest good for the greater number

Right is what is desirable for it's own sake

Right is indefinable

Right is what God wills

Etymology Ethics from the greek “Ethos” Morals from the latin “Mos”

Which means: customs or practices

Morality refers to the rightness or wrongness of an action.

Ethics refers to the study concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong

Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994-2002

Relativism Right or wrong, good or bad is variable and relative,

depending on the person, circumstance or social situation.

Cultural Relativism – Moral standards are a product of culture. What is right in one culture may be wrong in another.

Morality changes through time.

Secular HumanismEmphasis on the human. “A search for viable individual, social and

political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility”

- (Council for Secular Humanism)

Virtue Ethics: Happiness is achieved through the development of “good habits:” intellectual (for example knowledge) and practical action and emotion(for example courage).

“Golden Mean” –neither excess nor deficiency.Seeks to develop individual character. A good person will make a good decision.

What brings pleasure to an individual is what is good.

Ethical

Egoism:Focuses on the

pursuit of self-

interest in human

conduct.

Teleological Ethics From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.” Concerned with the end-point or results of an

action

Consequentialism

ETHICAL SYSTEMS

Utilitarianism (Universal Hedonism)

The greatest good or happiness for the greatest number of people.

Deontology The good is found in the action itself and not based

on its consequences or results. Thus it is our duty to do the right action

Kantian Ethics “Act as if the principle on which your action is based

were to become a universal law of nature.”

Determinism Everything is caused and determined (even human

actions and choices) by previously existing causes that preclude free will and the possibility that humans could have acted otherwise. Fatalism Stoicism

Theonomous Ethics:Morality and religion

go together

Divine Command:Being good is doing whatever a sacred text tells you.

Christian Ethics:Looking at the person of Christ as the norm of all thoughts and actions.

Absolutism

It is not limited by exceptions or restrictions.

It is not to be doubted or questioned – positive, certain and unconditional.

Cultural absolutism There exists moral absolutes that do not vary from culture to

culture.

Might is right Relativism Hedonism / Egoism Absolutism

Morals are mores Cultural Relativism

The individual is the measure Relativism / Subjectivism Egoism

The human race is the basis of right Secular Humanism

Right is moderation Aristotle’s “Golden Mean”

Right is what brings pleasure Hedonism / Egoism

Right is the greatest good for the greater number Utilitarianism

Right is what is desirable for it's own sake Deontological Ethics

Right is indefinable Ethical Relativism Determinism

Right is what God wills Theonomous Ethics Absolutism

Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St. Pauls, 1998.

Karl Peschke. Christian Ethics.

Professor Dean R. Bork. Fundamentals of Ethical Systems. Lecture Notes. http://www.lar.arch.vt.edu/Resources/courses/LAR-3034/Notes/Ethics.html

Louis D. Whitworth. Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems. Probe Ministries, 1995. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/measmor.html

“Ethics” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004.

“What is Secular Humanism?” Council for Secular Humanism. Last updated 8/11/2004. http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html

Asst. Prof. Donna Roman-Osicki

UST Institute of Religion