When a person is an observer who makes an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone

CHAPTER I: ETHICAL DIMENSION OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

Ethics – generally speaking, is about

matters such as the good thing that we

should pursue and the bad thing that we

should avoid; the right ways in which we

could or should act and the wrong ways of

acting. It is about what is acceptable and

unacceptable in human behavior. It may

involve obligations that we are

encouraged to meet. Ethics as a subject to

study is about determining the grounds for

the values with particular and special

significance to human life.

CLASSIFICATIONS AND

TERMINOLOGY

Recognizing the notions of good and

bad, and right and wrong, are the primary

concern of ethics. In order to start, it

would be useful to clarify the following

points.

Kinds of Valuation

-Our first point of clarification is to

recognize that there are instances

when we make value judgements

that are not considered to be part of

ethics.

oFor instance, I could say that

this new movie I had just seen

was a “good” one because I

enjoyed it, or a song I had just

heard on the radio was a

“bad” one because it had an

unpleasant tone, but these are

not part of the discussion of

ethics.

oI may have an opinion as to

what is the “right” dip

(sawsawan) for my chicken

barbeque, or I may maintain

that it is “wrong” to wear a

leather vest over a Barong

Tagalog, and these are not

concerns of ethics.

-These are valuations that fall under

the domain of aesthetics. The word

“aesthetics” is derived from the

Greek word aesthesis (“sense or

feeling”) and refers to the

judgements of personal approval or

disapproval that we make about

what we see, hear, smell, or taste. In

fact, we often use the word “taste”

to refer to the personal aesthetic

preferences that we have on these

matters, such as “his taste in music”

or “her taste in clothes.”

-Similarly, we have a sense of

approval or disapproval concerning

actions which can be considered

relatively more trivial in nature.

oThus, for instance, I may think

that it is “right” to knock

politely on someone’s door,

while it is “wrong” to barge

into one’s office.

oPerhaps, I may approve of a

child who knows how to ask

for something properly by

saying “please” and

otherwise, disapprove of a

woman that I see picking her

nose in public.

-These and other examples similar

examples belong to the category of

etiquette, which is concerned with

right and wrong actions, but those

which might be considered not quite

grave enough to belong to a

discussion on ethics.

-To clarify this point, we can

differentiate how I may be

displeased seeing a healthy young

man refuse to offer his seat on the

bus to an elderly lady but by

indignation and shock would be

much greater if I were to see a man

deliberately push another one out of

a moving bus.

- We can also consider how a notion of

right and wrong actions can easily

appear in a context that is not a matter

of ethics.

oThis could also be when

learning how to bake, for

instance, I am told that the

right thing to do would be

to mix the dry ingredients

first, such as flour, or sugar

Dianna Rose O. Belen, RN, LPTGE 8 ETHICS2nd Sem

2018-2019

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