ARELLANO UNIVERSITY

JOSE RIZAL CAMPUS

Malabon City

Ethics
Module 1: Nature of Ethics

1. What is the situation? What makes it moral dilemma?

A friend discovers her best friend‟s boyfriend is cheating. She must decide whether to tell her friend or
keep it a secret.
„You go out with your husband for dinner at a new restaurant you have not frequented before. It is in a
part of town you rarely visit. You are shocked to see your friend‟s spouse having dinner with a very
young, attractive person. From the way they are behaving, it is obvious they are more than friends. The
couple finish their meal and leave without seeing you. They behave very affectionately on the way out
the door.‟
2. What values are involved in the dilemma?
Friendship, faith, and loyalty.
3. Who is involved and who will be affected by the decision? How will they react?
There are 4 people involved in this case: A wife, her husband, her best friend, and husband‟s lover.
4. How does the context affect the ethics in this case?
When someone lying to other person that‟s his/her part of life, it‟s not good because you partner is
trusting you, you‟re breaking his/her trust having affair with someone else. It‟s also disrespectful too
5. What are the possible solutions?
The possible solutions are two.
You either:
1. Tell your friend, knowing you probably will not be believed and that it may ruin your friendship?
2. Say nothing about seeing the couple as it is none of your business; they may even have an open
relationship?
6. What will be the results of said possible solutions?
If you tell her about her husband‟s affair:
1. Your friend either gets into a fight with her husband, or in worst cases, gets divorced.
2. Your friend may not believe you, or even think you‟re envious/jealous of her life, so you‟re trying to
mess it up.
If you say nothing to her it might make you feel unfaithful towards your friend, and guilty.
 7. FINAL DECISION-What would you do in this case?
I will try to talk to her husband before getting to my friend, about his relationship with a second woman, try to
make him understand that it‟s not fair, and convince him to confess everything to my friend. By doing this I‟ll
be able to save both their relationship and our friendship.
APPLICATION

Questions to ponder:

1. Why the need to distinguish moral standards from non-moral ones?

2. What is the culture conundrum? And how do we address it?
3. What are moral standards and how do they differ from other values of lines?

Answers:

1. Why the need to distinguish moral standards from non-moral ones?

The moral standards are those concerned with or relating to human behavior, especially the distinction between
good and bad (or right and wrong) behavior. And the non-moral standards, either these standards are not
necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical sense. We need to distinguish moral standards from non-
moral standards because it is important to note that different societies have different moral beliefs and that our
beliefs are deeply influenced by our own culture and context. For this reason, some values do have moral
implications, while others don‟t.

2. What is the culture conundrum?

The culture conundrum refers to the question of how to develop and maintain an organizational culture that will
facilitate the delivery of sustainable stellar performance. The danger is that one culture may impose its own
cultural standards on others which may result in a clash in cultural values and beliefs. When this happens, as we
may already know, violence and crime start such as religious violence and ethnic cleansing.
So how can we address this cultural conundrum?

This is where the importance of understanding the difference between moral standards and non-moral ones
comes in. This issue may be too obvious and insignificant for some people, but understanding the difference
between the two may have far-reaching implications.

For one, once we have distinguished moral standards from non-moral ones, of course through the aid of
principals and theories and ethics, we will be able to identify fundamental ethical values that may guide our
actions. Indeed, once we know that particular values and beliefs are non-moral we will be able to avoid running
the risk of falling into the pit of cultural reductionism and the necessary imposition of one's own cultural
standards on others. The point here is that if such standards are non-moral then we don't have the right to
impose them on others, but if such standards are moral ones such as not killing or harming people then we may
have the right to force others to act accordingly. In this way, we may be able to find common moral ground,
such as agreeing not to steal, lie, cheat, kill, harm, and deceive our fellow human beings.

3. What are moral standards and how do they differ from other values of lines?

A moral is a discipline of philosophy why its standard is reason in the broadest sense. Moral rules can be
objectified, but whether a person acted towards these rules is not. It is a matter of his very own conscience that
is not accessible from the outside. If someone says to have acted towards certain moral standards (even if these
standards are mutually or even generally shared standards) the justification is the utterance, why such a
statement is quite worthless for the other person can only believe the other‟s sincerity. Next to moral laws or
standards, there are many more laws, like natural laws, religious laws, or laws of right.

Concerning human action, the latter is most interesting in a legal state. Different from moral laws or standards
legal laws are objective, likewise the actions they can apply to. Therefore a legal law cannot prosecute someone
for thinking or even intending an action without actually performing the act. Legal laws forbid or compel
verifiable acts. Therefore murder or to keep a promise (according to a contract) is not a matter of morals, but
law.

Accordingly, a person trespassing the law, like driving too fast, not paying his/her taxes, or to meet promises, is
not an immoral person. A murderer in most cases is, but he/she is not judged for moral but legal misconduct.
ACTIVITY:

Ask yourself issues in our society,

choose at least one problem then identify

moral issues raised in the chosen problem.

Write your personal opinion about this issue.

Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20.

According to the Phil Rights, there are problems when a girl who is still a child herself gets pregnant and gives
birth to another child. These include the risks of pregnancy-related complications, stigma and discrimination,
limited social mobility, stunted development, and maternal mortality which is high among teen mothers.
Behavior and attitude of the youth change not because they are losing what some would loosely refer to as
“moral values” but because these do evolve through time as the environment and contexts do. Their perceptions
of issues may vary from that of previous generations. It is therefore important to understand the issue of teen
pregnancy.

What complicates the already complicated situation, even more, is the lack of adolescent sexual and
reproductive health education. This lack of knowledge compounds the tendency for risky sexual behavior
among the youth. Parents have discomfort discussing these topics with their children and even discourage
conversations on these issues.

Allowing teens to learn responsibility in health decision making, and improving safety and access to care.
Adolescence is a time of intense developmental transition. During adolescence, an individual will move into a
peer group, develop intellectually and emotionally, enter the workforce or higher education, and, in many cases,
become socially or financially independent.

In my opinion, need to provide knowledge about what decision she will take when she faces this situation.
Teenage pregnancy often gets a negative impact on a teen's future. Teen mothers are less likely to graduate from
high school and to attend college, are more likely to live in poverty, and are at risk of domestic violence. If your
teen decides to continue the pregnancy, address these challenges head-on. Discuss goals and how your teen
might go about achieving them as a parent. Look for programs to help pregnant teens remain in school or
complete coursework from home. Encourage your teen to take parenting classes and help your teen prepare to
financially support and raise a child. Remember, your love and support can help your teen deal with pregnancy
and the challenges ahead.
 Column A --- MORAL STANDARDS COLUMN B --- NON- MORAL STANDARDS

Indiscriminate killing of street dogs Cleanliness of person and habitation

Always tell the truth Polite behavior in company

Treat others as you want to be treated Saying “ please” and “thank you” appropriately

Take responsibility for your actions Avoiding embarrassing subjects in conversation

Do not steal

Respect people around you, he may be rich or poor, weak

or strong.

B. Read the passage then answer the question below.

SEX MOUNTAIN in Indonesia

It’s an unlikely story for the biggest Muslim population in the world, but Mount Kemukus is hailed around the country
as “Sex
Mountain”, where adultery, a scandalous sex industry and strange rituals take place.
It starts, as all good stories do in Indonesia, with a legendary prince of the 16th Century, Pangeran Samodro, the son
of a king who ran off with his step-mother Nyai Ontrowulan. They ran off to Mount Kemukus in Sragen Regency
Central Java, 28 kilometers away from the little town of Solo. It was here they were caught “in action” by the local
village, chased by soldiers, killed and buried together in a hole – now honored with a shrine.
Today they are honoured during the Pon Festival (which takes its name from Jumat Pon, or Pon Friday, an auspicious
day on the Javanese calendar). Legend has it that couples help to “finish” the act that the dead couple could not
complete before death would be granted blessings from Ontrowulan herself (one version of the story). Another
version states that couples who commit a more shameful act than Samodro and Ontrowulan will be granted
blessings„
With this amazing promise, pilgrims commit to a ritual on Gunung Kemukus. The ritual includes:
(1) Prayers and offerings at the grave of the dead royal couple.
(2) Pilgrims will then wash themselves in the sacred springs on the hill
(3) Then they must find a stranger and have sex with them
(4) Then they have to repeat this in a cycle of 35 days, 5 times over.
The ritual exploded, firstly with pilgrims making love under trees around the shrine, but slowly a small tourist-like
industry grew with hostels opening rooms for adulterous lovers – sadly this was of course corrupted and grew into a
rampant sex-trade, prostitution industry in the area. As you can imagine, the concerned, conservative Muslims
nearby wanted to see an end to the ritual and ended many of the businesses – especially with the rise of diseases like
HIV and AIDS„ Now, well, perhaps the strong believers continue to practice their rituals under the trees for Samodro
and Ontrowulan
Question:

1. Muslims in the entire world condemned the said rituals and claimed that it is UNISLAMIC. Can
we consider this as ethical Issue?
It is an ethical issue because indulging in sexual activity while on a pilgrimage is not what most people
would consider ideal.
The pilgrimage was soon corrupted by the growth of sex-trade and prostitution atop the hill, leading to
interference from locals and the government. Conservative Muslims who lived nearby started protesting
against the boom of adultery. The rise in the numbers of HIV and other STD cases further fueled the
situation and eventually, a major section of the businesses including hotels and rented rooms were shut
down. Most of the families which were not involved in the sex-related business have moved away from
the hill. This ritual isn't Islam as most would recognize it. It is a mix of Islam with earlier Hindu,
Buddhist and traditional beliefs — something that is typical in Indonesia, and especially Java. Kunijoro
Soeparno, a professor of sociology who‟s been researching these traditions for decades. "Islam is not
just Islam like it is in Arab countries. Hinduism is different here to what it is in India. Buddhism is
different from China. The Catholic Church is different from in Rome," he says.

C. MORAL DILEMMAS of a students

1. What are some ethical dilemmas face by you as a college students?

The ethical dilemma I faced is a failure to respect Professors and colleagues students; do not respect their
classmates and teachers because they develop very self-cantered personalities that do not allow them to consider
the rights of others. With the passage time, leaners in college develop a habit of disturbing others during classes.
Psychological counselling does not appeal to the learners because they do not want to undermine their
personalities at the campus.

2. What is the biggest ethical dilemma that you have faced, and how did you deal with it?

Balancing Family Life with Educational Responsibilities: I cannot spare time to spend with my family and
friends. Therefore, I face more tension as I'm experience progression in academic careers. Lack of social
activity in my life contributes to increased depression as a student‟s life.

I start doing physical activities like exercise, walking and I change my diet plan so I get proper nutrition, and it's
perfectly working for me. Also, I'm an artist, making sketches and paintings. Whenever I get free time, I make
art it helps me to reduce my stress level and it feels great. Then, listening to music it‟s a medicine for me. After
the class, whenever I get the opportunity to go to the mall and enjoying my own company. I also start readings
that I can connect myself to my God (Shiva) it's give me peace and more positive vibes.