● No Morality without Choices
○ Morality requires that we
Reviewer: Lesson 7 have options and are free to
choose among them.
– Decision! ● No Choice without Freewill
Decision! ○ Having choices presupposes
the existence of free will.
Topic: How to Make Moral Decisions
● No Freewill without Soul
○ The free will is seen as a
1. Understanding faculty of the soul.
Decisions ○ The free will must be guided
by human reason.
What are decisions?
Decisions are choices made between
alternatives in order to achieve a particular
goal or resolve a situation.
3. Thought-Provoking
Why do you make decisions? Reflections
We make decisions to act according to our ● Should I make a choice?
values, solve problems, pursue goals, or
respond to different life situations. ○ Reflect on your responsibility
and the consequences of
What is the basis of your choosing or not choosing.
decision?
● Why are there moral wimps?
The basis of a decision often depends on
one’s values, moral principles, reasoning, ○ Some individuals avoid
and the consequences of the actions. making difficult moral
decisions, possibly due to
fear, lack of conviction, or
misunderstanding of moral
responsibility.
2. Key Reflections on
Morality and Choice ● We do not understand
compassion.
○ Compassion is crucial in facing.
moral decision-making.
2. Gather the facts.
○ It helps us redeem ourselves
from wrongdoings. ○ Understand the context and
background of the issue.
3. Consider the factors affecting the
issue.
4. Peter Kreeft on Mercy ○ These may include people
and Justice involved, consequences,
values, and social norms.
“Mercy presupposes justice.
Mercy tempers justice, it does 4. Develop a list of
not replace it. Forgiveness has alternatives/options.
to have something to forgive,
some real wrong.” ○ Explore all possible courses
of action.
Key Takeaways:
5. Choose the best option(s).
● Mercy and compassion should be
present. ○ Select the option that aligns
best with moral reasoning
● However, they should not be used and values.
to:
6. Implement your decision.
○ Deny the existence of
wrongdoing. ○ Act according to the option
you have chosen.
○ Replace or negate the need
for justice. 7. Reflect on the outcome.
○ Evaluate the result of your
action and what can be
learned from it.
5. Steps in Making a Moral
Decision
1. Know the moral issue.
○ Identify clearly what moral
Reviewer: Lesson 8
dilemma or problem you are
– Bioethics
3. Relationship Between
Bioethics and Medical
1. Definition of Bioethics
Ethics
● Bio – Life
● Bioethics is a broader term that
● Ethics – Rightness or Wrongness of encompasses ethical concerns not
an Action just in medicine, but also in
biological sciences, public health,
research, and environmental ethics.
Bioethics is the study of ethical issues
emerging from advances in biology and ● Medical ethics is a subset of
medicine, addressing questions about life bioethics focusing more narrowly on
and the moral principles guiding decisions in the moral responsibilities of
healthcare and life sciences. healthcare professionals and
institutions.
2. Historical Background
of Bioethics 4. Spheres of Bioethics
Fritz Jahr (1927)
Academic Bioethics
● Published an article advocating for
● Deals with both theoretical and
the extension of Kant’s respect for
practical aspects of medicine.
persons to all forms of life.
● Focuses on concepts like:
● Considered one of the earliest
voices in the field of bioethics.
○ Responsibilities of clinicians
○ Defining what is good, right,
Van Rensselaer Potter and valuable in biomedicine
● Described bioethics as the “science
○ Systematic ethical reasoning
of survival” in an ecological
sense, highlighting the intersection
of biology, ecology, and human
values.
Public Policy and Law Bioethics
● Focuses on the role of legal and
extra-legal institutions.
● Concerns include: 5. Beneficence – Promoting the
well-being of others
○ Regulation of clinical and
research practices
○ Ethical legislation and public
policy decisions
6. Key Ethical Issues in
Bioethics
Clinical Ethics
Brain-Death Issue
● Concerned with the application of
bioethics in clinical settings. ● Case: Karen Ann Quinlan
● Focuses on: ○ One of the first widely known
cases of brain death and life
○ Improving patient care support decisions
through ethical
decision-making ○ Sparked public debate about
definitions of death and the
○ Addressing real-time right to die
dilemmas faced by
healthcare providers
Beginning-of-Life Issues
● Abortion – Ethical debates over the
5. Core Principles of rights of the fetus and mother
Bioethics
● Assisted Reproduction – Includes
1. Respect for Persons – Upholding IVF, surrogacy, and related
individual dignity and autonomy dilemmas
2. Justice – Fairness in distribution of ● Cloning – Ethical concerns about
benefits and burdens identity, individuality, and human
experimentation
3. Inviolability of Life – Respecting
the sacredness of life
4. Non-Maleficence – "Do no harm"
Sustenance-of-Life Issues
● Organ Transplant – Ethics of donor
consent, distribution, and
commercialization
● Genetic Medical Procedures –
Reviewer: Lesson 9
Genetic screening, modification, and
therapy
– Business Ethics
● Health Resource Allocation – Fair
access to healthcare resources
1. Definition of Terms
Business
End-of-Life Issues
● Refers to an economic system
where goods and services are
● Euthanasia – Active and passive
exchanged for money or other value.
forms; voluntary and non-voluntary
● Brain Death – Determining death in
a medical-legal context Ethics
● Refers to the moral principles that
● Persistent Vegetative State –
govern a person's or group's
Decisions around prolonged life
behavior regarding what is right and
support
wrong.
Business Ethics
Information and Research Issues
● The application of ethical values and
● Truth-Telling – Honest principles in the world of business.
communication with patients
● Informed Consent – Ensuring
understanding and voluntary
participation 2. Forms of Business
● Confidentiality – Protecting patient Organization
information
● Entrepreneurship – A type of
● Use of Humans in Research – business ownership by a single
Ethical standards in experimentation individual who manages and
and trials assumes the risks of the business.
● Corporation – A legal entity ○ Subject to justice-based
separate from its owners, offering moral evaluations.
limited liability but regulated by law.
● Can cause environmental
● Partnership – A business owned by damage.
two or more individuals sharing
profits, losses, and responsibilities.
● Business Organization – The
overall structure and legal form of a
business entity.
4. Arguments Against
Ethics in Business
These arguments attempt to deny the
relevance or necessity of ethics in business:
3. Nature of Business Acts
1. The Invisible-Hand Argument
Business acts:
● Suggests that economic forces
● Are performed knowingly and (e.g., supply and demand) are
freely. enough to ensure that business
activities benefit society.
○ Agents are aware of the
morality of their actions ● Posits the idea of an “invisible hand”
(good or bad). guiding businesses toward the
social good, beyond personal profit.
○ Individuals can choose
whether or not to perform
these actions. 2. The Legal Argument
● Can lead to serious human ● Claims that legality equals
injuries. morality.
● Can violate moral rights. ● If a business act is legal, it is
considered moral.
○ Subject to deontological
evaluations (duty-based ● Rejects the need for ethics beyond
moral theory). the law.
● Can result in unfair distribution of
benefits and burdens. 3. The Amorality Argument
● Asserts that business and morality practices, and sustainability.
belong to separate spheres.
● Belief that moral principles do not Individual Issues
apply to business practices.
● Concern the moral responsibilities
of individuals within a business.
4. The Immorality Argument
● Involve actions of managers,
● Argues that the profit motive is employees, and stakeholders in
inherently incompatible with making ethical decisions.
morality, especially benevolence.
● Profit is seen as selfish, thus
contradicting ethical principles.
● Concludes that “business ethics”
is an oxymoron (a contradiction in
Reviewer: Lesson
terms). 10 – Environmental
Ethics
5. Levels of Ethical Issues
in Business 1. Opening Reflection
Systemic Issues
Questions
● What kind of world do we have at
● Involve economic, political, legal,
present?
and social systems.
● What kind of world do we want to
● Concern how broad systems affect
leave to the future generation?
or relate to business ethics.
● What is happening to our common
home?
Corporate Issues
● Ethical dilemmas arising within
These questions invite moral reflection
companies or institutions.
about human responsibility toward the Earth
and future generations.
● Examples may include corporate
governance, transparency, labor
● Scientific: Study of nature as
2. Definition of
“natural laboratories.”
Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics is a
systematic account of the moral
relations between human 2. Sentientism
beings and their natural
environment. ● Extends moral status to sentient
animals, not just humans.
It provides a framework for understanding
how we ought to behave with respect to the ● It is a sentience-centered
natural world. approach: if an animal can feel pain
or pleasure, it deserves moral
consideration.
3. Theoretical Frameworks
in Environmental Ethics
3. Speciesism
1. Anthropocentrism
● Discriminating against beings solely
● A human-centered view. based on their species.
● Non-human natural objects have ● Often critiqued in both Sentientist
no intrinsic value; they matter only and Biocentric ethics.
in relation to human benefit.
● Based on Evangelista and
Mabaquiao (2020).
4. Biocentrism
Mike Martin's Categories of Human ● A life-centered ethical perspective.
Interests:
● All life forms have intrinsic value,
● Economic: Management and use of not just humans.
resources for survival and economy.
● Every living thing deserves respect,
● Aesthetic: Enjoyment of nature’s just as humans respect themselves.
beauty.
● Recreational: Use of nature for Emphasizes:
leisure and activities.
● Reverence for life
5. Ecocentrism Environmental Justice Issues
● A broader framework than “Whatever is the impact of
Biocentrism. climate change, we all suffer
from it, especially the poorest of
● Grants intrinsic value to all living the poor.”
things and abiotic factors (like air,
water, soil). ● Emphasizes the disproportionate
burden of environmental
● Focuses on ecosystems as a whole. degradation on vulnerable
communities.
Key Concept: Land Ethic ● Linked to social justice and equity.
“A thing is right when it tends to
preserve the integrity, stability,
and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it
tends otherwise.” 5. Call to Action (from
Laudato Si)
● “We must aim for a new lifestyle.”
4. Core Themes and
● “We must educate ourselves and
Ethical Issues one another.”
Sustainability Issues ● “We must regularly examine our
conscience.”
● Ethical responsibility to ensure the
long-term viability of ecosystems ● “We must regain the conviction that
and natural resources. we need one another, that we share
responsibility for others and the
world, and that being good and
Nonhuman Interest Issues decent are worth it.” — Pope
Francis, Laudato Si
“Every act of cruelty towards
any creature is contrary to
human dignity.”
— Pope Francis, Laudato Si
● Our treatment of animals reflects our
moral values and respect for life.
6. Final Reflective
Questions
● What is your response?
● What can you do?
Encourages personal reflection, ethical
commitment, and action in response to the
ecological crisis.
