INTRODUCTION TO

PHILOSOPHY
Ms. Nadelyn Chavez
 WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY
ABOUT?
More than anything else, philosophy is
thinking. The main instrument that
philosophers use in conducting their
investigations is the human mind. They
don't try to solve philosophical problems
by conducting scientific, empirical
research. They think. And so do you.
You think just because you're human.
 WHAT PHILOSOPHY DOES
Philosophy investigates the principles
and rules of language, and attempts to
clarify the meaning of vague words and
concepts.
Philosophy examines the role of
language in communication and
thought, and the problem of how to
identify or ensure the presence of
meaning in our use of language.
 WHAT IS ETHICS?
Ethics is the rational reflection on what is
right, what is wrong, what is just, what is
unjust, what is good & what is bad in terms
of human behavior.
Ethics refers to the evaluation of
moral values, principles & standards of
human conduct &
its application in daily life to determine
acceptable human
behaviour.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Rushworth Kidder states that:
-’’Standard definitions of ethics have
typically included such phrases as the science of
the ideal human character or the science of
moral duty.”
 Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human
morality by defining concepts such as good and
evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice
and crime. Moral philosophy is also related to
the fields of moral psychology, descriptive
ethics and value theory.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy,
states that the word 'ethics' is commonly
used interchangeably with 'morality' and
sometimes used more to mean the moral
principles of a particular tradition, group
or individual. Most people confuse ethics
with behaving in accordance with social
conventions, religious beliefs and the laws
and don't treat ethics as a stand alone
concept.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
Some ethical principles are:
-Truthfulness
-Honesty
-Loyalty
-Respect
-Fairness
-Integrity
WHAT IS ETHICS?
Derived from the Greek word
"ethos", which means "way of living",
ethics is a branch of philosophy that
is concerned with human conduct,
more specifically the behavior of
individuals in society. Ethics examines
the rational justification for our moral
judgments; it studies what is morally
right or wrong, just or unjust.
 ORIGIN OF ETHICS
 The word Ethics is derived from Latin word
'Ethicus' & the Greek word 'Ethikos‘ Ethics are an
arrangement of decent principles & a branch of
attitude which defines what is good for
individuals & society.
 There are many well known figures in the history
of ethics, Greek philosophers Plato & Aristotle,
modern influences include such people as
Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart
Mill, D.W.Ros, C.L.Stevenson, Alasdair
Maclntyre & John Rawls.
EVOLUTION OF ETHICS
 The evolution of ethics constructs a conceptual
bridge between biology & human behavior. In
theory, a cybernetic process is at the heart of
developing ethical systems. Ethics merge with
science in cybernetic ethics. This presents a
persuasive theory describing how ethics can be
linked to science & mathematics. Evolutionary
ethics belongs to a branch of evolutionary science
& not philosophy. Evolutionary ethics has no
logical connection to the formal ethics of
philosophy.
 ETHICS AND MORAL
PHILOSOPHY
A branch of philosophy that involves
systematizing, defending and
recommending concepts of right and
wrong conduct. The term 'ethics' is
derived from an ancient Greek word
'ethos' mean habit. The branch of
philosophy 'axiology' comprises the
sub-branches of ethics and aesthetics,
each concerned with values.
 SYNONYMITY OF MORALITY
AND ETHICS
 Morality speaks of a system of behavior in regards
to the standards of right and wrong behavior. The
word carries the concept of;

-Moral standards; with regard to behavior.

-Moral responsibility; referring to our
conscience.
-Moral identity; one who is capable of right or
wrong action.

 Common synonyms include ethic, principles,

virtue and goodness.
 MORALITY AND OUR
BEHAVIOR
 Morality describes the principles that
govern our behavior. Morality relates to
our behavior on three levels:
-To ensure fair play and harmony
between individuals.
-Help to make us good people in
order to have a good
society.
-To keep us in a good relationship
with the power that created us.
 MORALITY AND OUR
CONSCIENCE
Morality impacts on our everyday
decisions. Conscience is a matter
of our hearts, that concepts of
right, wrong and fairness are
programmed in each of us. Our
decisions are based solely on our
need to survive. Sometimes, it is
based on learned behaviors.
 MAJOR AREAS OF ETHICS
 1.Meta-Ethics - concerning the
theoretical meaning and reference of moral
propositions and how their
truth values can be determined.
2.Normative Ethics - concerning the
practical meanings of determining a moral
course of action.
3. Applied Ethics - concerns what is
obligated in a specific situation or a
particular domain of action.
 META ETHICS
Meta ethics asks how we understand,
know about and what we mean, when
we talk about what is right and what is
wrong. A meta-ethical question is
abstract and relates to a wide range of
more specific practical questions. For
example, "Is it ever possible to have a
secure knowledge of what is right and
wrong?" would be a meta ethical
question.
 META- ETHICS
 Meta-ethics has always accompanied
philosophical ethics. Aristotle implies that less
precise knowledge is possible in ethics than in
other spheres of inquiry and he regards ethical
knowledge as depending upon habit and
acculturation in a way that makes it distinctive
from other kinds of knowledge.
Study of how we know in ethics divided into
cognitivism and non-cognitivism; similar to the
contrast between descriptivists and non-
descriptivists.
 META- ETHICS
Non-cognitivism is claim that when we
judge something as right or wrong; this is
neither true or false. We may for example
be only expressing our emotional feelings
about these things.
Cognitivism can be refer as the claim
when we talk about right or wrong, we are
talking about the matters of fact.
 NORMATIVE ETHICS
Is the study of ethical action. It is the
branch of
ethics that investigates the set of questions
that arise when considering how one ought
to act, morally speaking.
Is a distinct form of meta-ethics because it
examines standards for the rightness and
wrongness of actions, while meta-ethics
studies the meaning of moral language and
metaphysics of moral facts.
 APPLIED ETHICS
Applied Ethics- is a discipline of
philosophy that attempts to apply ethical
theory to real life situations. Discipline
has many specialized fields, such as
Engineering ethics, Bioethics, Geoethics
and Business ethics. It is used in some
aspects of determining public policy, as
well as by individuals facing difficult
decisions.
 PARTICULAR FIELDS OF
APPLICATION OF ETHICS
Bioethics-is the study of
controversial ethics brought about by
advances in biology and medicine.
concerned with the questions that
arise in the relationships among life
sciences, biotechnology, medicine,
politics, law and philosophy.
Business ethics- is a form of applied
ethics that examines ethical principles and
moral or ethical problems that arise in
business environment.
Military ethics- are considered with the
questions regarding the application of
force and the ethos of the soldier and are
often understood as applied professional
ethics. Just war theory is generally seen to
set the background terms of military
ethics.
Political ethics-is the practice of making
moral judgments about political actions
and political agents. Public sector ethics is
a set of principles that guide public
officials in their service to their
constituents, including their decision
making on behalf of their constituents.
*Decisions and action are based on
what best serves the public's interest.
*Opposed to the official's personal
interest.
Publication ethics- is the set of
principles that guide the writing and
publishing process for all professional
publications.
*Authors must verify the
publication.
*A way to avoid misconduct in
research these principles can also apply
to experiments that are analyzed in
publications by ensuring the data is
recorded honestly and accurately.
Relational ethics-is related to an ethics of
care, used in qualitative research, especially
ethnography. Researchers who employ
relational ethics value respect the
connection between themselves.
Communities in which they live in work
and developing friendship with their
participants. Relational ethics in close
personal relationships form a central
concept of contextual therapy.
Animal ethics- is term used in
academia to describe human-animal
relationships and how animals ought
to be treated.
Subject matter includes animal rights,
animal welfare, animal law, animal
cognition, wildlife conservation, the
moral status of nonhuman animal, the
concept of nonhuman personhood,
the history of human use andtheories
of justice.
Moral psychology -is a field of study
that began as an issue in philosophy
and that is now properly considered
part of discipline of psychology the
study of moral development, the
intersection of ethics, psychology and
philosophy of mind, involvement of
mind in moral issues, moral
responsibility, moral development,
moral character.
Evolutionary ethics -concerns
approaches to ethics based on the role of
evolution in shaping human psychology
and behavior, focus on understanding and
explaining observed ethical preferences
and choices. Descriptive ethics is on less
philosophical end of spectrum, gather
particular information about how people
live and draw general conclusions based
on observed patterns.
END
THANK YOU!