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Module 8 It is both rooted in the will. And the source of self-possession and
self-governance of human being. Both subject of own consciousness.
What is a moral character?
Will is the rational power of humans to act. It is their ability to
It is the existence or lack of virtues. A person has a good moral choose what’s right for them directed by reasons. Someone can be
character if he/she is a good person. It is the individual’s disposition prevented by doing something by external forces. However, carrying
to think, feel and behave in an ethical manner/ unethical manner. It an action is voluntary and willingness thus, cannot be forced upon.
is something that materialize from a moral agent’s will. It develops The lack of knowledge is the hindrance to will.
as one matures. It is viewed as a disposition or tendency to act/
think in a specific way wherein a person can be held morally Module 9
responsible.
Lawrence Stages of Moral Development
What is character?
It focuses on the thinking process that occurs when one decides
It refers to any distinctive or unique feature of person that whether a behavior is right or wrong. It emphasizes how one decides
distinguishes him/her to other people. to respond to a moral dilemma. It proposes that moral development
is a continual process that occurs throughout the lifespan.
Virtue Ethics
Heinz Dilemma
It views that an individual’s action is based on their inner moral
virtue. According to Aristotle, the goodness of character as a product Level 1: Pre-conventional Level (stage 1-2)
of the practice of virtuous behavior. Virtuous acts are not the end
result of a good character since practice allows the creation of a Morality is externally controlled. The rules imposed by authorities’
habit acting in a virtuous way. It is also said that virtues are learned, figure are conformed to avoid punishment or receive rewards.
developed and depends on clear judgment, self-control, symmetry Level 2: Conventional Level (stage 3-4)
of desire and artistry of means.
Conformity to social rules remain important. It gives emphasis on
Moral character as Disposition: the shift from self-interest to relationship with other people and
Moral character is a particular kind of characteristics that a person social systems. Individuals strive to support rules set by other
can possess. people to gain their approval or maintain social order.

- Moral character traits Level 3: Postconventional (stage 5-6)

Disposition of character wherein it is appropriate for a moral agent An individual moves beyond the perspective of his society. Morality
to be hold morally responsible. Disposition to have certain emotion is defined in terms of its abstract…
or affections. Module 10
Virtue: trait deserving of positive reactive Moral truth is the truth of reason. Moral judgement is said to be
Vice: trait deserving of negative reactive true if it is supported by reasons than alternatives.

- Personality trait Reasons

Disposition that becomes habituated to an individual. It is It is the ability of the mind to think, understand and form
developed, nurtured and cultivated. judgements by a process of logic. It utilizes new/ existing
information as basis to consciously make sense out of things while
A. Repetition of Action and its effect on the person applying logic. According to the article by Kant and Hume, reasons
and experience plays an important role in moral judgement. Reasons
Types of automatic actions: spells the difference of moral judgement from mere expressions of
Habit is an action that is constantly repeated over time. An action personal preference. Moral judgement requires reason as basis. In
becomes skill through repetition and experience that is done its absence, they are merely ignorable and capricious. Moral
without consciously thinking all the steps, reasoning and judgement. deliberation is a matter of weighing reasons and being guided by
And habitus is an inclination; a willingness to respond charitably to them. The nature of morality indicates that a rightful moral decision
anyone in need. Although nothing about it requires to be good. Can involves selecting the option that has the power of reason on its
also be a will to be miserly, thus, acting in a miserable way. The side.
morality of an action determines the morality of the habitus. - Good Reason
B. Type of Action (refer to the reviewer) Moral truth is objective. It is true regardless of what you think.
Human acts vs. acts of human being Morality is not arbitrary. Reason commends what is commends
regardless of anything.
C. Intention and Responsibility
Impartiality
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Manifest objectivity. It is the quality of being unbiased and objective - Individualist subjectivism: there are many distinct scales of good
in creating a moral decision. An impartial person makes moral and evil. Egoism maintains than every human being must pursue
decisions relative to the welfare of the majority. Each individual’s what is in their interest
interest and POV are equally important. It is a principle of justice - Moral/ethical relativism: for a thing to be morally right it must be
that requires every decision to be based on objective criteria rather acceptable to the society. Different things are right for people in
than on own personal bias and prejudice. different societies and periods of history.
- Ideal observe theory: what is right is determined by the attitude
Impartiality in morality that a hypothetical ideal observer would have.
Requires that we give equal consideration to the interest of all Emotivism
parties involved. According to the Principle of Impartiality, every
person is equally important and that no one is seen as more Theory about moral judgement, sentences, words and speech acts.
significant than others. Reason is a necessary requirement for Meta-ethical theory and the most popular form of non-cognitivism.
morality. Claims that ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions.
Moral judgements are not statement of fact but only a mere
According to the article entitled ‘Impartiality’, the only respect in expression of emotions by the speaker. (feelings based) Emotivist
which morality requires impartiality is with respect to violating believes that moral language expresses motion and tries to influence
moral rules. others (has no cognitive content)
Article: Reason and Impartiality as minimum requirement for Module 13
morality, states that reason and impartiality are basic prerequisite
for morality as one is expected to be able to deliver clear, concise, Reason
rightful and appropriate judgement based on logic and
understanding in an unbiased and unprejudiced manner while taking It is the process of drawing logical conclusions and associated with
into account the welfare of the majority in making moral decisions. knowledge. Reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from
previous knowledge. Knowledge is something we acquire as we
Module 11 study, matures and become professional. Is the foundation of
morality and the source of goodwill.
Emotion: response to stimuli based on past experiences and done
without conscious thought. (natural instinct) It is a result of logical Immanuel Kant: Reason is the power of producing oneness by
analysis. Sometime rational based at least sometimes in good understanding theories provided by the intellect/ mind. The
judgements. foundation of ethics is only through authority of human reason. Pure
reason is different from practical reason which entails performance
Feelings are instinctive that provides motivation to act morally. of action. Reason choose what is morally binding and act in
Reason: personal justification that varies from person to person accordance to it. Kant said that reason itself could be the foundation
based on their own ethical and moral code & prior experiences. of what is ethical for a man. Also, he reiterated that morality is
grounded with external authority but simply grounded to reason.
Some believe that ethics is also a matter of emotions. Moral
judgement is instinctive and trained in response to moral dilemmas. 3 points of Kant’s reason:

Emotion and reason are jointly at work. Cognitive deficit on either of 1. the relation of reason to empirical truth; 
the two could affect our decision making. They both have relative 2. reason’s role in scientific inquiry; and 
roles in ethical thinking.
3. the positive gains that come from appreciating reason’s limits. 
Reason removed from emotion allows decisions based on facts with
no reference to personal involvement. Using reason as a way of Aquinas: Conscience (voice of God) is not heard directly today in this
knowing allows us to see the consequences of our action through- finite world. In theology, reason is different from faith. Human
out decision making process. intelligence exercised by religious truth in explaining. Limitations
Ethical Subjectivism were set on how reason may be used in different churches.
Protestant churches, tends to allow to reason a wide field, reserving,
Theory about the nature of moral judgement. Moral judgement is however, as the sphere of faith the ultimate (supernatural) truths of
said to be made true / false by the attitude of the observers. Thus, a theology. 
statement is morally right if it met the approval by the person of
interest. Human conduct is shaped by perception. Will

Article: Basics of Philosophy Kant: Reason as the source of goodwill. What is morally binding is
rooted in reason as workable to humans who have goodwill. It is the
- Simple subjectivism: ethical statements reflects one’s sentiments, faculty of mind that in the moment of decision its always present.
preferences and feelings
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achieving some long-term goals. Egoist will help others once they
have fulfilled their own interest. (altruist: an unselfish person is
Goodwill devoted and concerned for the welfare of other) . Ethical egoist
Is the force to pursue what one possesses in mind. Goodness is claims that an altruist only helps because they think they will some
inside every person. The goodness of a person allows him to use his personal advantage in doing so or because they derive pleasure in
reason to do what he ought to do. The good will implies the helping others. They deny the possibility of genuine altruist because
achievability of what is known though reason. (we can do anything they believe we are all selfish by nature. Criticism: a person who
based on our reason as long as we have that goodwill) help others because of their self-interest is an immoral act.

Kant: There is only one good which is good without any Divine Command Theory
qualification-good motive/ good will. The true purpose of reason is Main point: right and wrong come from the command of God
to produce a will which is good itself cause nothings else is always
and necessarily good. The will’ s autonomy makes a man a dignified Many claim the connection between morality and religion such that
one. To lose one’s free will it to lose one’s dignity. without religion there is no morality (right/ wrong behavior). The
theory claims that an action is right (or obligatory) if God commands
Module 14 it and wrong if God refrain us from doing so.
Morality: system through which we determine right and wrong Virtue Ethics
conduct -- i.e., the guide to good or right conduct.  This guides us to
constrain our self-interest not further it. Main point: right and wrong are characterized in terms of acting in
accordance w/ traditional virtues- making a good person
Ethics: philosophical study of Morality. 
Feminist Theory:
Moral Theory
Structured set of statements used to explain/ predict set of Main point: right and wrong are found in women’s responses to the
facts/concepts. It explains why a specific action is wrong or why we relationship of caring.
should act in a certain way. It is a theory of how we determine right
and wrong conduct. It provides framework in thinking and discussing Branch of ethical thinking by women to confront the challenges they
in a reasoned way and evaluate certain moral issues. Somehow face. It is a way of theorizing the good from women’s perspective.
related to applied ethics. We do ethics by integrating some moral (theory of good and justice: focus on abuses and injustices women
theory. Some cases require us to adjust our thinking about what suffer and why these exist and how to address them)
moral theory is best that might lead us to think that some theory
needs modification. Most moral theories are prescriptive. Utilitarianism

Kantian Theory
Descriptive: sociologist and anthropologist. Morality: philosophers
Contractarianism
Moral Subjectivism
Main point: Right and wrong are determined by you (subject) by Main point: principles or rules that determine what’s right and
what you think/feel is right or wrong. Based on personal assessment wrong (justice) are determined by a hypothetical contract forming
and judgement. procedure
Denial of moral principles of any kind and the possibility of moral
criticism and argumentation. The rightness and wrongness lose their Module 15
meaning because as long as you think/feel that a specific action is
right then there no more argumentation/criticism. Moral subjectivist Aristotle
cannot object to anyone’s behavior. (its flaw) Anyone can object to
Greek philosopher: Nicomachean Ethics
some people’s action and disagree about moral issues.
According to him, the ultimate purpose cannot be understood w/out
Cultural Relativism understanding the place of reason on ordering one’s life. Morality is
Main point: Right and wrong is determined by a particular set of about doing good habitually than only knowing the good. People
principles/ rules the relevant culture holds at that time. Based on
become what they are because of what they do than what they
the idea that people have different culture that dictates their
know.
morality and has different notion of what is right and wrong. Closely
linked to moral subjectivism. CR implies that we cannot criticize For him, self-realization (eudaemonia) is the highest good attainable
others for their action since they have their own culture. It denies
by man. Happiness is different from the pleasure/ possession of
the possibility of moral advancement.
wealth. Please is good but not ultimately good. Happiness is the
Ethical Egoism natural outcome of the active exercise of functions. The full
Main Point: Right and wrong is determined by what is in your self- realization of functions means fulfilling, realizing and developing
interest. Or, it is immoral to act contrary to your self-interest.  one’s nature with all its potentials.
Based on Psychological Egoism that we humans are selfish by
Eudaemonia is being sought for one’s sake. Wealth, health and
nature. EG implies that we act to maximize our self-interest. It
power are being seek because they are viewed to be instrumental in
requires that let go of some immediate pleasures for the sake of
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one’s flourishing. It is the activity of the soul in accordance with that arises from human relations. Any injustice is against human
virtue. For him, our chief good is not something we merely posses in nature.
mind by something we continually actualize in practice. 3. Propagation of the species: humans are naturally inclined to
preserve our species (natural good). We are obligated not to pervert
Threefold Nature of Man (corrupt/destroy) this natural inclination. The reproductive organs
Each must be fulfilled as the realization of each is accompanied by a are naturally designed to reproduce and perpetuate human species.
state of pleasure and happiness Interference with this is evil.

1. Vegetative: physical body that is cultivated by food and proper Determinant of Morality
exercise. Basic necessity of man to survive and keep oneself - Object: act itself
physically fit. - Circumstances: conditions that can affect morality (who, what,
2. Sentient: man, as full of sense has sentient nature. Man’s sensual where, by what means, how, why and when)
feelings and emotions must be developed through sex activity within - End of the agent: sense of end/ purpose of the agent or does
the limit of his social conventions to satisfy his senses.
3. Rational: Human being are rational animals. The full realization of Module 16
vegetative and sentient nature allows they to long for more
satisfaction. Food and shelter alone cannot satisfy their thirst for Kantian Theory
self-realization. Human develop their rational nature in pursuit of Main Idea: Right and wrong is determined by rationality, giving
scientific knowledge, philosophical truth, political activity, religious universal duties. Non-consequentialist moral theory. 
commitment and creative artistic endeavor.
Basic ideas: There is "the supreme principle of morality". Good and
For him upon realization of man’s highest nature there is happiness. Evil are defined in terms of Law / Duty / Obligation. Rationality and
Freedom are also central. Kant thought that acting morally was quite
Determinant of Morality
simple. That is: 
Doctrine of the golden mean is the central in self-realization ethics
a. you ought to do your duty (simply because it is your duty). 
of Aristotle. (full exercise of 1 & 2 nature) Reason seeks balance
b. Reason guides you to this conclusion. 
between too much and too little. Extremes and excesses are evil and
c. Good Will (i.e., having the right intentions) is the only thing that is
must be avoided.
good without  
St. Thomas Aquinas qualification. So, actions are truly moral only if they have the right
intention, i.e., based  
His philosophy began with the standpoint of faith. Known to on Good Will. 
Christianized the philosophy based on his theories and ways. His
perspective entails the existence of God (author, source and goal of What establishes Good Will?
all). For him, there is a natural law which is the interpretation of man
from eternal law. The source of moral law is reason itself thus it law of "universal conformity" -- "I should never act except in such a
recognizes the basic principle ‘do good and avoid evil’. He used way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal
synderesis (term) to describe the inborn capacity of humans to know law". 
what is good/ bad. The moral law dictates the voice of reason
(conscience: immediate judgement of practical reason integrating Categorical Imperative = Principle of Universalizability (The Golden
Rule). We should adopt as action-guiding rules (i.e., maxims) only
the general principle of morality) and being expressed in the
those that can be universally accepted. Consider someone
principle that good must be done and evil be avoided.
wondering if they could break a promise if keeping it became
What is good for St. Thomas inconvenient. We might formulate the following maxim governing
promises: 
For him, what is human good is which is suitable for and proper to
human nature. An act is said to be good and must be done if its “I can break promises when keeping them becomes inconvenient.” 
suitable to human nature. (vice versa). Human nature is the
proximate norm of morality. In his view, good is built into human This can’t be universalized because making promises then becomes,
in essence, contradictory. The thinking is that a promise is, by
nature to which we are directed by our own natural inclinations:
definition, something you keep. The above maxim would lead to a
self-preservation.
contradiction of will, i.e., "I'll make a promise (something I keep), but
Three Natural Inclinations of Man I'll break it if I choose".

1. Self-preservation: we are inclined to preserve our life. Self- In Principle of Universalizability we must  always ask the following
destruction is unnatural. This urges people to take care of their questions: What if everyone did the action you are proposing? Or,
selves rather than put in danger. what if I were  in the other person's position? This leads to the basic
2. Just dealing with others: reason allows us to treat others with the idea behind the Golden Rule. 
same dignity and respect as ourselves. This is the basis of justice
Kant had another way of formulating the Categorical Imperative that
is worth noting. 
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Never treat anyone merely as a means to an end. Rather, treat UNCERTAINTY), and its NEARNESS (or FARNESS). He also includes its
everyone as an end in themselves.  "fecundity" (will more of the same follow?) and its "purity" (its
pleasure won't be followed by pain & vice versa). In considering
Many think that this way of formulating the Categorical actions that affect numbers of people, we must also account for its
Imperative shows that Kantianism is clearly anti-Utilitarian.  EXTENT. 

Some things to ask about Kantianism:  John Stuart Mill 

He adjusted the more hedonistic tendencies in Bentham's
● Is it true that having good intentions is the only thing that counts philosophy by emphasizing: 
morally?  1. It is not the quantity of pleasure, but the quality of happiness that
is central to  
● Must we always ignore good consequences?  utilitarianism, 
2. the calculus is unreasonable -- qualities cannot be quantified
● Is it always wrong to treat people merely as a means to an end? (there is a distinction between 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures), and 
(Can we do otherwise?) 3. utilitarianism refers to "the Greatest Happiness Principle" -- it
seeks to promote the capability of achieving happiness (higher
Rights-based Theories of Kant 
pleasures) for the most amount of people (this is its "extent"). 
Main Point: We are to act in accordance with a set of moral rights,
which we possess simply by being human.  Act and Rule Utilitarianism 
We can apply the principle of utility to either PARTICULAR
Rights-based views are connected to Kantianism and are ACTIONS or GENERAL RULES. The former is called "act-utilitarianism"
Non-consequentialist. The basic idea is that if someone has a right, and the latter is called "rule-utilitarianism." 
then others have a corresponding duty to provide what the right
requires.  Act-utilitarianism -- The principle of utility is applied directly to each
alternative act in a situation of choice. The right act is then defined
A positive right is one in which the corresponding duty requires as the one which brings about the best results (or the least amount
positive action, e.g., giving a charitable donation in order to sustain of bad results). Criticisms : difficulty of attaining full knowledge and
someone's right to life, shelter, education, etc. certainty of the consequences of our actions. It is possible to justify
immoral acts using AU: Suppose you could end a regional war by
A negative right is one in which the corresponding duty merely torturing children whose fathers are enemy soldiers, thus revealing
requires refraining from doing something that will harm someone. the hideouts of the fathers. 
For instance, the right to life does not require that we give what is Rule-utilitarianism -- The principle of utility is used to determine the
needed to sustain life, rather merely that we refrain from taking any validity of rules of conduct (moral principles). A rule like promise-
action that would take life.  keeping is established by looking at the consequences of a world in
which people broke promises at will and a world in which promises
Some things to ask about Rights-based theories:  were binding.  
Right and wrong are then defined as following or breaking those
● Where do rights come from? From nature (we have them simply by rules. Criticism: if the Rules take into account more and more
being human)? From principles of Justice? Or, from Utilitarian exceptions, RU collapses into AU. More general criticisms of this
procedures?  view argue that it is possible to generate "unjust rules” according to
the principle of utility. For example, slavery in Greece might be right
● How do we decide between competing rights? 
if it led to an overall achievement of cultivated happiness at the
expense of some mistreated individuals. 
Module 17

Utilitarianism  Module 18
Utilitarianism: normative ethical theory that places the locus of right
and wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) What is Globalization? 
of choosing one action/policy over other actions/policies. It moves
beyond the scope of one's own interests and takes into account the
Globalization has become the trend of unity among
interests of others. 
countries as this concept made scattered states one
Jeremy Bentham’ Principle of Utility  interacts with each other. Globalization is defined
1. Recognizes the fundamental role of pain and pleasure in human through the following: 
life, 
2. Approves or disapproves of action on the basis of the amount of a. the world-wide integration of government
pain or pleasure brought about i.e, consequences,  policies, cultures, social movements, and
3. Equates good with pleasure and evil with pain, and  financial markets through trade and the
4. Asserts that pleasure and pain are capable of quantification (and exchange of ideas; 
hence 'measure').  b. intensification of worldwide relationships
which link distant localities in such a way that
In measuring pleasure and pain, Bentham introduces the local happenings are shaped by events occurring
following criteria: INTENSITY, DURATION, CERTAINTY (or many miles away and vice versa. c. It is the stress
6

on trans-nationalization of the connections ● corporate practices; 

taking place in the world today.  ● business behaviors; and 
● the conducts and relationships of individuals in the
Some Problems with Globalization  organization. 
1. duplication/ imitation of products; 
1. It uses up finite resources more quickly. Once 2. child labor; 
one country opens up their product to the world 3. money laundering; 
wherein all countries can avail, there is a big
4. environmental issues; 
possibility of depleting the supply. 2. Increases
world carbon dioxide.  5. and other business malpractices and crimes 
3. It makes it virtually impossible for regulators ● cyber crimes 
in one country to foresee the worldwide ● sexual harassments 
implications of their actions.  ● intellectual property 
4. It acts to increase world oil prices.  ● patent thefts 
5. It transfers consumption of limited oil supply
from developed countries to developing
countries. 
6. It transfers jobs from developed countries to less
developed countries. 
7. It transfers investment spending from
developed countries to less developed countries.
8. With the dollar as the world’s reserve
currency, globalization leads to a huge US
balance of trade deficits and other imbalances. 
9. It tends to move taxation away from
corporations, and onto individual citizens. 10. It
sets up a currency “race to the bottom” with
each country trying to get an export advantage
by dropping the value of its currency. 
11. It encourages dependence on other countries
for essential goods and services. 
12. It ties countries together, so that if one
country collapses, the collapse is likely to ripple
through the system, pulling many other
countries with it. 

Some Ethical Challenges of Globalization 

 It cannot be denied that globalization has an

emerging challenge to address. They can be deduced
from the following: 
1. Wealth concentration for the few and leaving behind the
majority. 
2. Laissez-faire capitalism deepens the
inequalities within and between nations for
consequentialist and deontological standpoints. 
3. States are losing their own sovereignty. 
4. Problem of handling the global environment in
order to prevent a global ecological collapse. 
5. Explosive population growth which threatens
to surpass the earth’s carrying capacity and bust
the biosphere. 

Some Emerging Issues of Globalization and Business Ethics 

As globalization is largely an economic concept and
system, it is reasonable to enumerate the different
concerns in Business Ethics. Business ethics is defined
as a form of an applied ethics that examines moral
principles concerning business environment involving
issues about: ● corporate policies;