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Basic Concepts

ETHICS FUNDAMENTS

1. What would be a good definition

for ETHICS?

2. What about MORAL and MORALITY?

3. What is the connection between the 3?

Do we really need them?

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ETHICS (tasks)A sub-field of philosophy

1. Clarification: what?

2. Foundation: why?

3. Application: where and how?

"El aporte de la Ética en la sociedad del siglo XXI”, Dr. Emilio Martínez Navarro

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ETHICS (d.)

From ethos: “character” or “custom” (habit)

d: A branch of philosophy concerned with moral principles and values…and how people should live their lives.

Ethical philosophers are concerned with the ideas of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ as they apply to human affairs.

"ethics"  A Dictionary of Sociology. John Scott and Gordon Marshall. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  ITESM.  9 August 2011  http://0-www.oxfordreference.com.millenium.itesm.mx/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t88.e750

Ordieres, Alejandro. Fundamentos para una Ética Ciudadana. McGraw Hill, 2010. p. 12

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MORAL (d.)

From mos or moris: customsadjective: Relating to

principles of right and wrong in behavior

noun: Moral practices or teachings (modes of conduct)

“moral” Merriam Webster Dictionary

Ordieres, Alejandro. Fundamentos para una Ética Ciudadana. McGraw Hill, 2010. p. 17.

d: A code of norms, beliefs, values, and customs that guide a person’s behavior (as a member of a community) or a group.

7How do we acquire our moral orientation?

a. Obtaining reasons to behave in a certain way.

b. Following examples of moral behavior.

c. Developing abilities for our personal reflection and the dialogue with others.

= our own moral conscience."El aporte de la Ética en la sociedad del siglo XXI”, Dr. Emilio Martínez Navarro.

8How does society acquire its moral code?

a.Popular traditions

b.Religions

c. Judicial dispositions

= each cultural group sees their own way of living as natural, right, and good.

"El aporte de la Ética en la sociedad del siglo XXI”, Dr. Emilio Martínez Navarro.

CONTRATO DE MAESTRAS 1923

Fuente: ‘La Revista del Consejo Nacional de la Mujer’, Año 4, Nro. 12. marzo 1999. Buenos Aires.

Inspirado en los contratos norteamericanos, las escuelas argentinas de las primeras décadas del Siglo XX solían acordar con sus maestras algunas pautas de comportamiento [en] el famoso contrato del “Consejo Nacional de Educación”, todo un orgullo para las chicas de los años 20, en una de las pocas profesiones con prestigio social al que podían acceder.

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1. Both words mean the same2. Both establish codes and norms of conduct3. Both determine how the individual should behave and classify him/her as good or bad.

ETHICS

1. It is the result of an individual proposition.

2. Its norms come from the conscience’s interior, not the exterior.

3. The value proposed by the conscience comes from within.

MORAL

1. It comes from a social group.

2. Its norms are established by the exterior (i.e. society)

3. The norms are applied with the use of an external force (i.e. laws)

Sim

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Diff

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Ordieres, Alejandro. Fundamentos para una Ética Ciudadana. McGraw Hill, 2010. p. 19

11MORALITY (d.)

The codes of conduct…a. put forward by a

society or another group (such as a religion), and

b. accepted by an individual for his/her own behavior

“morality” Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophyhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/morality-definition/

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morality

…assimilates and lives the

values proposed by

the society/group

The individual is capable of

living according to

those norms…

The society/group establishes norms and

codes of conduct.

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*It involves codes of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by

ALL rational persons.

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Our morality tries to answer questions such as…

“What should I do with my life?”

“Which are the values and principles that I should follow?”

“How could we live in a better and more civilized way?”

"El aporte de la Ética en la sociedad del siglo XXI”, Dr. Emilio Martínez Navarro.