OVERVIEW OF ETHICS

Members:

Mejia, Aron Jay

De Luna, Karen Joy

Valdez, Jovilyn

Panganiban, Alenette Mae

Delos Santos, Shine Sydney

I. INTRODUCTION

Ethics is the study of moral principles and values that guide human behavior. Living in the IT

era, we are constantly exposed to new technologies and information systems that have

profound impacts on our lives, society, and environment. How do we use these technologies

responsibly and ethically? What are the ethical issues and challenges that arise from the

development and application of IT? How do we balance the benefits and risks of IT for

ourselves and others? These are some of the questions that this chapter will explore.

II. BODY

a. (Ethics, Values, and Attitude)

What is Ethics?

 Ethics is a set of standards that govern human behavior, defining what is right and

wrong. It involves recommending concepts of what humans thought to do and is based

on accepted beliefs and morals. Ethics can be seen in personal or organizational codes

of conduct. It directly impacts human values and attitudes, which determine appropriate

behavior.
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 Values

 Values are what individuals find important or worthy, influencing their judgments and

behavior.

Attitude

 This refers to a person's strong belief or feeling towards people, things, and situations,

and can be positive or negative, influencing the behavior of those around them.

b. Ethical Principles

 It is the basis of ethical analysis and serves as the viewpoints in making decisions.

These are the ethical recommendations and evaluations of human actions in justifying

judgments. It determines the considerations that should be weighed in decision making

or judgment. The different ethical principles are beneficence, least harm, respect for

autonomy, and Justice.

1. Beneficence

 It refers to an act of charity, mercy, and kindness with a strong connotation of doing

good to others including moral obligation. A person's duty to act in the best interests

and well-being of the patient, client, or resident. This action can be in a form of

kindness, mercy, and/or charity with implication of doing good to others and moral

obligation. However, doing more than is required or beyond what is obligatory is called

exceptional beneficence or classified as supererogatory. For example, providing an

extra benefit to clients that exceeds to the required services.

2. Least Harm (Non-maleficence)

 A person's duty to do no harm, to protect others from harm, and to maintain one's

professional competence. It is like beneficence except that it can be applied to

situations in which neither choice is beneficial where person should choose to do the

least harm possible and to do harm to the fewest people. A person has a larger
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 responsibility to simply walk past other person rather than to make derogatory remarks

about that person.

3. Respect for Autonomy

 A person's duty to respect and promote individuals' decision for themselves or apply to

their lives in achieving what they believe to be in their best interests that includes

respect for privacy and confidentiality. For example, a patient can choose or decide

about their medical treatment.

4. Justice (Distributive Justice)

 All persons involved, being of equal moral worth, should be treated fairly. Ethical

decisions should be consistent with the ethical theory except there is a situation that

provide an excuse and justification for an action. For example, A police officer is

allowed for over speeding to arrive in the crime scene immediately and to prevent a

person from getting hurt.

c. Forms of Ethical Theories

Ethical Theories

 Ethical theories are grounded in moral principles that highlight various facets of an

ethical dilemma and function as a roadmap for a morally sound resolution that stays

within the bounds of ethical theory. In ethical theory, a person's decision is frequently

determined by their experiences. Ethical theory can be divided into four categories:

virtue, rights, utilitarianism, and deontology.

1. Deontology

 Deontology is an ethical theory that says actions are good or bad according to a clear

set of rules. It is based on the idea of duty, which means doing what is right regardless

of the consequences. Deontology is often contrasted with utilitarianism, which judges

actions by their outcomes.

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 This theory's weakness is that it lacks a logical foundation or reason for determining a

person's obligations. It's unclear why certain individuals decided to make it their duty.

Conflicts between responsibilities and caring for the well-being of others are another

weakness. For instance, when someone has an obligation to get at a meeting on time

but is running late, how is this person supposed to drive? When someone speeds, they

violate their social obligations, and when they come late for a meeting, they fail to do

their duties.

2. Utilitarianism

 Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that asserts that right and wrong are best determined

by focusing on outcomes of actions and choices.

Two Types of Utilitarianism:

1. Act Utilitarianism - conforms exactly to the notion of utilitarianism, which holds that

actions should be taken based on what will benefit the greatest number of people,

regardless of one's own feelings or even social restrictions like laws.

2. Rule Utilitarianism - actions are concerned with fairness and takes law into account. It

seeks to benefit the most people however through the fairest and most just means

available. It values. justice as well as beneficence at the same time.

Act and rule utilitarian have disadvantages although life experience can be applied in

predicting outcomes, it is not certain that these predictions are accurate. This flaw can

lead to unexpected results and the decision maker appear unethical. Another concern of

utilitarian decision maker is the ability to compare various types of consequences against

each other on a similar scale. It is also difficult to compare material gains against

intangible gains (such as money and happiness) since their qualities differ to such a large

extent.

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 Achieving the maximum good is the concern of act utilitarian. Consequently, one

individual's right may break the terms to benefit a greater number of people. This type of

utilitarianism is not always concerned with autonomy, beneficence, and/or justice for an

individual if persecuting leads to a solution that benefits majority of people. Another

challenge for act utilitarianism occurs when an individual faces sudden changes in

experiences in the set of variable conditions that can lead to changes in the decision.

The possibility of conflicting rules occurs in rule utilitarianism. It may encounter conflicting

ideas about what is ethically correct that leads to no ethically correct answer. For

example, the scenario of running late in the meeting. An individual may believe that

following the law would benefit society and at same time he/she may also believe that

arriving on time in the meeting is ethically correct since it also benefits the society.

3. Rights

 Ethical theories based on rights are those rights established by a society that are given

the highest priority and protection. When these rights are widely accepted, they are

considered valuable and morally right. Rights can also be given to others if they have the

capacity and resources.

On a larger scale, this theory reveals major complications.

Understanding the characteristics of a right in society is essential and society must

determine the rights it wishes to maintain and grant to its citizens.

To achieve this, they must decide what the company's priorities and ethical goals are.

Therefore, to make rights theory useful, it must be used in conjunction with another

ethical theory that consistently explains the goals of society.

For example, respect for rights religious freedom is one of the goals of society and this

right is guaranteed in the Constitution.

At that time, people had the right to choose their religion.

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 4. Virtue

 The virtue ethical theory judges the character of a person rather than an action that may

veer from the person’s normal behavior. When rating an unusual behavior that

considered unethical, they must consider the person’s reputation, morals, and

motivation.

Rights give people with privileges, whereas Virtues shape their character and direct their

activities. The interplay between these concepts enhances our understanding of moral

behavior.

III. CONCLUSION

Summary

• Attitude is commonly defined as a representation of individuals' emotions towards

something or someone.

• Values are personal beliefs that drive individuals to take specific actions. They serve

as a framework for the way people act.

• Ethics delves into the logical basis for our moral evaluations, exploring concepts of

morally right or wrong, just or unjust.

IV. • Ethical theories are propositions or explanations on the moral principles or

obligations that individuals should adhere to. Their aim is to propose ethical guidelines

that individuals should take into account while making decisions based on ethics.

REFERENCES

Books/E-Books:

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 V.

VI. E-Sources:

VII.

VIII. Attitude Values and Ethics - YouTube

IX.

X. Personal Values and Ethics-Organizational Behavior (opentextbc.ca)

XI.

XII. 56031 CH01 001 axd (ibpub.com)

XIII.

XIV. What is Ethical principles - Meaning and definition Pallipedia

XV.

XVI. The Principle of Beneficence in Applied Ethics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

XVII. M

XVIII. Principles and Theories (davidson.edu) EthicalTheories.pdf(dsef.org)