Basic Areas of

Ethical Study
Maraya Sweet Novernia S. Puzon | GEC 7
Learning Outcomс
Upon completion of this topic, the student must be able to:

1. identify the three basic areas of ethical study; and

2. explain the three basic areas of ethical study.
Table of contenʦ
01 02
Introduction Normative Ethics

03 04
Meta-ethics Applied Ethics
 Framework
● a set of assumptions, concepts, values
and practices
that constitutes a way of viewing reality
● We may understand basic theories as
frameworks in ethics as a system of rules,
ideas, notions, theories, or principles
that assists man in his moral decisions
and judgments.
 01
Normative
Ethics
Normative Ethics
- * Regarded as that branch of ethical inquiry that
considered general ethical questions whose answers
- * Had some relatively direct bearing on practice
(Normative Ethical theories, 2020).
- * It is a search for an ideal litmus test of proper
behavior (Fieser, n.d.).
* Concerned with the standard and criteria by which
we can judge man’s actions to be morally right or
morally wrong.
Normative Ethics
● The crucial thesis of normative ethical ethics is that there
is only one ultimate principle or standard of moral
conduct, whether it is a solitary law or a set of rules. 
● It stresses three elements:
○ the person who performs the act (the agent),
○ the act
○ the consequences of the act.

Generally, there are three categories of normative ethical

theories:  deontology, teleological ethics and virtue ethics.
Deontology
● Deontological normative ethical theories place the
locus of right and wrong in autonomous adherence to
moral laws or duties
● It emphasizes the correlation between duty
and morality of human acts. 
● Also called duty-based ethics, deontology is interested
with what man does, not with the consequences of his
actions.
● It advises people to do the right thing because it is the
right thing to do and keep away from wrong things
because they are wrong.
Teleological Ethics
● derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable
as an end to be achieved
● It believes that the rightness or wrongness of a human act
is contingent on its outcome.
● Hence, a human act is considered morally right if it produces
a good outcome.
● Since the moral goodness of a human act is dependent only on
its results, the more good results a human act produces, the
better or more right that human act is.
● The results of a human act generally eclipse all other
considerations.
●
Virtue Ethics
● theories that emphasize the role of character and
virtue in moral philosophy rather than either doing
one’s duty or acting in order to bring about good
consequences
● the fundamental component of moral behavior is the
person’s character rather than ethical duties and rules
about the acts themselves or consequences of
particular actions.
● this moral theory is character or person-based rather
than action based because it places special emphasis
on the moral character of the person executing the act.
 Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
- Frank Outlaw
 02
Meta-ethics
Meta Ethics
● branch of analytic philosophy that explores the
status, foundations, and scope of moral values,
properties, and words. (Meta-ethics, n.d.)
● It is an inquiry about the nature of
ethical assertions, attitudes, and evaluations.
Meta Ethics
Garner and Rosen (1967), claimed that there are three
kinds of meta-ethical problems, or three general questions:

1. What is the meaning of moral terms or judgments?

(moral semantics)
2. What is the nature of moral judgments?
(moral ontology)
3. How may moral judgments be supported or defended?
(moral epistemology)
 Moral Cognitivism vs. Moral Noncognitivism

a. Moral Cognitivism holds that moral statements do express beliefs

and that they are apt for truth and falsity (Moral Cognitivism vs.
Non-Cognitivism, 2018). It claims that
ethical sentences convey propositions that are capable being true
or false. It also declares that right and wrong are matters of fact.
Moral realism and ethical subjectivism are the two most common
forms of cognitivism.
 Moral Cognitivism vs. Moral Noncognitivism

a.1 Moral Realism (or Moral Objectivism) is the position that ethical
sentences express propositions that refer to objective features of the
world, that is, features independent of subjective opinion
(Shafer-Landau,2015). It assumes that moral values are objectively
true and their truth does not depend or are independent of our
opinions, perception, beliefs, feelings or attitudes of them.
 Moral Cognitivism vs. Moral Noncognitivism

a.2 Ethical Subjectivism is the meta-ethical view which claims that

the truth or falsity of such propositions is ineliminably dependent
on the (actual or hypothetical) attitudes of people
(Brandt ,1959). Contrary to moral realism, ethical
subjectivism argues that there are no objective moral truths. The
truth or falsity of ethical propositions is dependent on our
opinions, perception, beliefs, feelings or attitudes towards them.
Ethical sentences are arbitrary because they do not
convey unchanging truths.
 Moral Cognitivism vs. Moral Noncognitivism

B. Moral Non-cognitivism holds the view that ethical statements lack

truth-value which means they are neither true nor false. According to
Garner and Rosen (1967), noncognitivist denies the cognitivist claim
that moral judgments are capable of being objectively true, because
they describe some feature of the world. If moral statements cannot
be true, and if one cannot know something that is not true,
noncognitivism implies that moral knowledge is impossible (Garner
and Rosen,1967). Moral truths are not the type of truths that can
be known.
 Moral Cognitivism vs. Moral Noncognitivism

b.1 Emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims that

ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional
attitudes (Garner and Rosen,1967). It assumes that the purpose of
ethical propositions is to convey emotions of approval or
disapproval. To a certain degree they are also imperatives meant
to sway the frame of mind of other people.
Moral Univрsalism vs. Moral Relativism
a. Moral Universalism which is also called moral objectivism
proposes that ethical implications of an action is universally
applicable to everybody, regardless of circumstance. It
believes that there is a universal moral system which applies
to anyone which transcends culture, nationality, race,
religion, sexuality or other distinguishing feature. 
Moral Univрsalism vs. Moral Relativism
B. Moral Relativism is a philosophical position which believes
that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some
particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a
historical period) and that no standpoint is uniquely
privileged over all others (Westacott, n.d.). Moral
judgments differ from person to person and are all equally
valid and no one’s belief of right and wrong is really better
than any other. There is no objective and ultimate standard of
morality, so each moral judgment about right and wrong is
relative to a person’s cultural, social,
historical or personal circumstances and preferences.
Moral Empiricism vs. Moral Rationalism vs.
Moral Intuitionism
a. Moral Empiricism is an ethical perspective which assumes that moral
knowledge is based on one’s experiences and observations. It claims
that moral learning and knowledge is not possible without
experience. This ethical view is an extension of empiricism in
epistemology that states that knowledge comes only or primarily
from sensory experience (Psillos and Curd, 2010).  Empiricism
emphasizes the role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas,
rather than innate ideas or traditions (Forrest and Kaufmann,
2008). Other forms of moral empiricism suggest that moral truths are
reducible to matters about man’s judgments and beliefs or cultural
practices and therefore are recognizable by observation and
experience of their practices.
 Moral Empiricism vs. Moral Rationalism vs.
Moral Intuitionism
B. Moral Rationalism is a view in meta-ethics (specifically
the epistemology of ethics) according to which moral
principles are knowable a priori, by reason alone (Capps
and Pattinson, 2017). It considers reason as the main
source and test of moral knowledge. Because of reason,
certain moral truths exist and that the intellect can directly
grasp these truths.
 Moral Empiricism vs. Moral Rationalism vs.
Moral Intuitionism
C. Moral Intuitionism argued that moral truths are
self-evident, that is, evident in and of themselves and
so can be known without the need of any proof or reasoning.
What is morally right or morally wrong is self-evident in nature
and cannot be known through human experience.
03
Applied Ethics
Applied Ethics
● Refers to any use of philosophical methods critically to
examine practical moral decisions and to treat moral
problems, practices, and policies in the professions,
technology, government, and the like
● As a problem-solving branch of ethics, it strives to find out
the application of moral knowledge into practice.
● In other words, it bridges ethical theory and practical and
feasible solutions. It has produced principle-based
attitude toward ethical issues which in many instances
result in solutions to particular problems that are not
globally acceptable.
Bioethics
This is branch of applied ethics that studies the philosophical,
social, and legal issues arising in medicine and the life
sciences (Chadwick, n.d.). Bioethics devotes its time and
attention in studying the moral controversies brought about
by advances in biology and medicine. It is concerned with
scientific advances that can alter the way we understand
health and illness and, ultimately, the way we live and die. It is
multidisciplinary because it draws contributions from many
different academic disciplines or professional specializations
such as philosophy, theology, history, anthropology, law,
medicine, nursing, health policy, social work and the medical
humanities.
Environmental Ethics
This is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship
of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the
environment and its non-human contents (Environmental ethics, 2015).
It deals with man’s moral obligation to the preservation and care of
the non-human world.

Environmental ethics rests on the principle that all life forms on

earth have the right to live. Human beings and nature are closely
linked with each other because they depend on one another for their
existence. Owing to their inseparable relationship, the guiding
principles of man’s life and his ethical values should include it. By
destroying the environment and its non-human contents, man
unjustly and immorally denies its right to live.
Businсs Ethics
This can be understood as the study of the ethical dimensions of
productive organizations and commercial activities (Business
ethics, 2016). It is interested in the analyses of the ethical problems
and principles in the manufacture, supply, advertising, and selling
of products and services.

Business ethics is beyond just a moral code of right and

wrong in the workplace. Over and above their obligation to the
law, business organizations must be conscious of the moral
impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders,
communities and the environment in all aspects of their
operations.
Sexual Ethics
This is commonly understood as the study of human
sexuality and sexual behavior. It seeks to investigate
thoroughly moral behavior regarding with whom people
have sex and how they do so. It is an attempt to bring
about a comprehensive understanding of the moral
conduct of interpersonal relationships and sexual
practices from social, cultural, religious, medical, legal and
philosophical perspectives.
Social Ethics
This is an analysis of the set of rules, guidelines, values,
behaviors and responsibilities people have toward
themselves, each other, and the world as a whole. The
collection of social principles regulate relationships within
a society, specifically with regard to determining what is
considered morally right, just and noble. The rules which
society judges acceptable are expected to be followed
because they are meant to guide people in their ethical
choices and values.
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