1. AN OVERVIEW

3. WHAT AM I TO DO? WHAT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE? IS IT RIGHT? IS IT WRONG?

4. Contemporary Moral Trends  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

5. What is Ethics/Morality?  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

6. ETHICAL SYSTEMS  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 Humanism  Emphasis 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)

7. ETHICAL SYSTEMS  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.  Hedonism  What brings pleasure to an individual is good.  Ethical Egoism  Focuses on the pursuit of self-interest in human conduct.

8.  Teleological Ethics  From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.”  Concerned with the end-point or results of an action  Consequentialism  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.” ETHICAL SYSTEMS

9. Ethical Systems  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 thought and action.

10. Ethical Systems  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.

11. Contemporary Moral Trends  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”

12. Contemporary Moral Trends  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

13. References  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.htmlhttp://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 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 http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html