Southwestern College of Maritime, Business and Technology, Inc.
Quezon Drive, Calero, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro
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SUBJECT: Ethics DATE:
MODULE #: 1 TEACHER: Mr. Charles Ledgear G. Abante
I. TOPIC: Ethics: The Basic Concepts
Moral and Non-Moral Standards
Moral Vs. Ethics
II. TARGET LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, the student is expected to:
1. Differentiate between moral and non-moral standards.
2. Recognize and recall a moral experience.
3. Explain why only human beings can be ethical.
IV. MATERIALS NEEDED AND REFERENCES
1. Ethics (Erland De Vera Palean, Mylah Batoon Dumag Nazario, et al. 2019)
V. GEAR UP YOUR MIND
What are Moral Standards?
In making moral decisions, what standards are we supposed to follow? Who made these
standards? Will following these standards make us all ethically moral? These are but a few
questions that need to be answered as we are compelled to abide by ethical principles daily.
The rightness or wrongness of an act makes us, willingly or unwillingly, confront the morality of our
decisions. It is significant therefore, that we analyze carefully, not only the motive of our actions,
but to be certain that our actions are indeed keeping up with the ethical values that we have.
We are tied to some sets of moral standards that we bring us as we make moral decisions. These
standards serve as our compass, a sort of light in our path, keeping us on our toes, thus, allowing
us to check if our actions behooves ethical and moral ideals.
The questions of what is morally right and wrong has hounded man throughout the history. We
allowed ourselves to be judged by standards that we have imposed upon ourselves. In our attempt
to perfect our actions, and live in peace with our fellows, and with nature, we deemed it necessary
to create ethical standards that will surmise whether our actions are good, and of the greatest
virtue, or if we have been outrightly missing the mark.
Morality is the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason, that is, to do what there are the best
reasons for doing-while giving equal weigh to the interests of each individual who will be affected
by what one does.
Ethics, referring to the philosophical concept of morality, endeavors to understand moral concepts
and justify moral principles. It analyzes concepts such as right and wrong, and seeks to establish
principles of right behavior that may serve as guides to action for people to follow.
ETHICS VERSUS MORALS
Guiding principles of conduct of an individual or Principles on which one’s judgments of right and
group wrong are based
Influenced by profession, field, organization, etc. Influenced by society, culture and religion
Related to professional work Not related to professional work
Uniform compared to morals Vary according to different cultures and religions
To analyze what is morally acceptable or not, it is significant to zero in on the definition of morality,
and the standards that point out whether an action is moral or not. Morality is achieved when a set
of possible mores of any social group are observed and achieved.
Mores, are strongly held norms, which epitomize the deeply held standards of what is right, and
wrong. These are known to be morally significant which, if not followed, could result to social and
lawful sanctions. The mores are what dictates what is moral and non-moral in the society.
Moral standards then are those principles that we live by and believe. These are important
blueprints of our behavior, which we abide by daily, and are influenced by our society, or by certain
ethical universals. These influences are significant in our self-understanding, since it is somehow
difficult to dichotomize our personal moral standards from that of our society.
On the contrary, non-moral standards are those unwanted principles, which are in opposition to
everything that we expected to be and do. Likewise, non-moral standards are influenced largely by
the constructs prescribed in our society.
It is also significant to point out that only human beings belong to a certain standard of morality
since, as Guldberg (2011) explains, “We are capable of making judgments about our own and
other people’s behavior, and have the capacity consciously to change the way we behave and
society as a whole.”
Hence, it is only us, humans, who are able to make moral choices, reflect, rethink, and re-align our
actions to what is morally and ethically acceptable. These choices are not inherent in other living
beings. Thus, we are in a very special position as we are given that innate capability to make moral
decisions.
NAME OF STUDENT: Ethics
SECTION: MODULE #: 1
VI. BOOST UP YOUR LEARNING
Direction: Recall five instances in your life when you made decisions primarily invoking reason
and experience.
BASED ON REASON BASED ON EXPERIENCE
NAME OF STUDENT: Ethics
SECTION: MODULE #: 1
VII. LEVEL UP YOUR LEARNING
Direction: Answer the following questions briefly.
1. When do we say that an act is moral or non-moral?
2. Is it moral to end the life of a patient, with or without his or her consent? Explain.
3. Do you feel free in making moral decisions? Explain.