What Is the Difference Between Ethics and Morality?

1. What is the difference between ethics and morality?

Ethics comes from the Greek word “ta ethicka” – means having to do with good character

Ethics is more interested in the good that humans strive for. Examples of “the good” include happiness and freedom.

Morality comes from the Latin word ‘moralitas’ - means having to do with the customs, manners, and habits shaping human life

Morality is interested more in the ways that humans can attain the good. Some examples of “ways” include: rules, laws or commandments which we experience as a duty or obligation to follow.

1. What is ethical pluralism?

We should use a variety of theories when possible. Example: Virtue Theory, Duty Ethics, Relational Ethics. Applying many approaches to the same problem (practicing ethical pluralism) is a good way to generate new insights about the issue.You may find that some perspectives are more suited to this problem than others.

Combining insights from more than one theory might help you come up with a better solution. Resist the temptation to choose your favourite approach (ethical theory) to a moral dilemma and ignore the rest.

1. Make sure you are well versed in another group’s social justice topic.

Make sure you have answers to all these questions in point form and DO NOT repeat yourself (you can see where the marks come from:

a)Give a brief four sentence summary of the specific topic presented. (Make sure you address whospecifically is affected by this issue, how they are affected, why they are affected and where this issue is taking place) (4 marks)

b)Give the name of the encyclical which addresses this issue and briefly describe it in light of the issue chosen. (2marks – name the encyclical for 1 mark and describe how it addresses the issue)

c)Which of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching addresses this issue? Briefly state why. (2 marks – identify the theme for one mark and apply it to the teaching for the second mark)

d)Give the name of an organization which employs the principles of social justice in an attempt to resolve this issue. Briefly state how the organization is accomplishing this task. (2 marks – name of the organization for one mark and tell me at least one thing that they are doing that is in line with the principles of social justice)

e)Give the name of an organization which employs charitable works in order to bring some relief to those who are affected by this issue. Briefly state how the organization is accomplishing this task. (The organization can be the same as the one listed in the previous question.) (2 marks- name of the organization for one mark and tell me at least one thing that they are doing that is in line with the principles of charity – the organization can be the same as D but how they are helping is different!!!)

f)Using three out of the eight beatitudes studied in class explain how the people who are considered the victims of your issue (or those who are trying to provide relief to these victims) can still experience the Kingdom of God. The Beatitudes are provided below. (6 marks – just identifying 3 beatitudes gets you 3 marks! I provide them for you so don’t go off memorizing them! Be sure to use the teaching behind each beatitude to connect it to the people who are being victimized or to the people who are helping for the other 3 marks )

1. Be able to perform exegesis and hermeneutics to interpret the following scriptural passage: You may find this is the powerpoint entitled “Exegesis, Hermeneutics, Matthew.”

5. Which of the beatitudes do you think that the following scriptural passages support?

A. Jesus called a child over and said, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not

enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the

kingdom of heaven.” Which Beatitude is Jesus is teaching?

1. As Jesus was carrying his cross to Calvary a woman known as Veronica approached Jesus and offered him some consolation as she wiped his face clean of sweat and blood. Which of the beatitudes is Veronica supporting?

1. While Jesus was eating at a Pharisee’s house, a sinful woman came to him with a jar of precious ointment. Weeping, she bathed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with oil. The Pharisee thought Jesus shouldn’t let the women even touch him. But Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven…Go in peace.” Which of the beatitudes is Jesus teaching?

1. When soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and struck Malchus, cutting off his right ear. Jesus touched the servant’s ear and healed him saying, “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.’ Which Beatitude is Jesus is teaching?

1. Jesus, watching people put money into the treasury; saw a poor widow put in two small coins. He told his disciples, “She put in more than all the others. They gave from their surplus, but she contributed all she had.” Which Beatitude is Jesus is teaching?

1. In the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus describes his role by quoting Isaiah: “To bring glad tidings to the poor…to proclaim liberty to captives, and recover sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” Which Beatitude is Jesus is teaching?

1. Read the following article from a Seattle newspaper and determine which of the 7 principles of Social Justice are being ignored.

a)Life and Dignity of the human person.

b)Solidarity

c)Dignity of work and the rights of workers

d)Care for God’s creation

Read the following article from a Seattle newspaper and determine which of the 7 principles of Social Justice is being reinforced.

a)Call to family, community and the common good.

b)Solidarity

c)Dignity of work and the rights of workers

d)Care for God’s creation

Read the following Poem and determine which of the 7 principles of social justice is being described as lacking or missing.

a)Call to family, community and the

common good.

b)Solidarity

c)Dignity of work and the rights of

workers

d)Care for God’s creation

Read the following article and determine which of the 7 principles of social justice is being ignored.

Read the following article and determine which of the 7 principles of social justice is being reinforced by the TVPA.

7. Know the difference between an ethical absolutist and an ethical relativist. What is cultural relativism?

8. Which branch of ethics did we concern ourselves with the most in this course?

9. In the multiple choice section I give you an old testament passage and you have to identify the five traits of a covenant in the passage: Use the powerpoint entitled “Intro to Unit 3 exegesis and hermeneutics” to review the 5 traits exhibited by covenants. The 5 traits are:

1. THE PREAMBLE

In the bible treaties begin with the name, the titles and attributes of the king of the sovereign nation along with his genealogy.

2. THE HISTORICAL PROLOGUE

The Great King then gives a historical overview that describes the previous relations between the two contractors. It recounts the many benefits the sovereign has bestowed upon the vassal.

Ex. The sovereign might point out how he has come to the vassal’s aid when he was threatened by enemy attack.

3. THE SUBMISSION

The submission states what the Great King expects from the vassal. This submission of often includes a fundamental declaration on the future relations of the partners. It consists in a request of loyalty. This aspect of the submission is expressed frequently by the formula: “With my friend, be a friend! With my enemy, be an enemy!”

Often at this point the submission details certain conditions that must be met, for ex. Taxes to be paid, prisoners to be released.

4. THE WITNESSES

In biblical times the witnesses are the gods of the two partners, but also the deified elements of nature: the mountains, the rivers, the sea, the heavens and the earth.

5. THE BLESSINGS AND CURSES

The treaty tells what will happen if the vassal remains faithful or is unfaithful to the demands of the treaty. This is usually where the covenant is sealed with some graphic ritual (like cutting an animal sacrifice in half). The purpose of this was for both parties to agree that members engaged in the covenant would rather suffer like the animal sacrifice than break the agreement

10. What is the difference between social justice and charity?

11. List some practical ways of breaking each of the 10 commandments in our

world today.

12. What is exegesis and what is hermeneutics? Define Parousia, Beatitudes, Covenant, Blessed,

Eschatological

13. Be able to identify the following social documents of the church (encyclicals) if given a brief description:

a.Laudato Si (On the care of our common home)

b.EvangeliiGaudium (The Joy of the Gospel)

c.Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)

d.Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

Brief Summary is provided at the following link:

Or you can always go to the website under unit 1 and click of the tab entitled “Social documents of the Church” for a detailed description.

Unit 2

1.How did our work in the “accepting yourself” seminars support the correlativity of rights and duties? In your answer please make sure to identify the right (according to Kant) that we were trying to uphold. Using all three formulations of Kant’s categorical imperatives prove that it is your duty to uphold this right. Please use the 7 step process we outlined in class.

a. Establish a maxim

b. Apply the first formulation of the categorical imperative by rephrasing the maxim

c. Provide a rationale for whether or not the maxim passes the first formulation of the categorical imperative

d. Apply the second formulation of the categorical imperative by rephrasing the maxim

e. Provide a rationale for whether or not the maxim passes the second formulation of the categorical imperative

f. Apply the third formulation of the categorical imperative by identifying the goal of the maxim and the means by which you are achieving the goal.

g. Provide a rationale for whether or not the maxim passes the third formulation of the categorical imperative

2. Read the following scriptural passage and answer the questions that follow:

Matthew 25:34-36

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

1. Kant believed that moral actions (such as the ones listed by Jesus in the following passage) in and of themselves are not good enough. Explain how the first sentence in this passage could go against Kant’s idea of the good will and duty if taken literally.

B. How would Levinas interpret this scriptural passage?

1. According to the Catholic understanding of predestination and the Kingdom of God how should the first sentence in this passage be interpreted?

3. Define deontological ethics, teleological ethics, autonomy, maxim, rights, categorical imperative.

Unit 3

1. What is the definition of free will according to the church?

Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God.

2. What is Genetic Determinism?

The theory of genetic determinism proposes that who you are as a person is determined by your genetics. As part of the evolutionary process humans are no more than a part of the material universe. Everything including humanity is part of one grand chain of being connected by cause and effect. For proponents of genetic determinism the Human Genome Project provides the blueprint of humanity. The human self is not an “intending self,” but a genetically pre-programmed organism. There is no human spirit or culture; humans and human activity are the result of the natural selection process. Human morality is structured so as to encourage reproduction and the perpetuation of genes.

3. Be sure that you are able to define conscience according to the catechism of the catholic

Church as a capacity, process and judgement call.

1. Create a chart that compares religious determinism, social determinism and religious

determinism. Try to come up with as many similarities and differences as you can.

1. How do Catholics reconcile the fact that God wills everyone to be saved yet allows some to be damned?

6. Read the following moral dilemma and elaborate on what you would do using each of the six (6) stages of moral development. For each stage please describe your course of action and explain the reason for choosing this action using Kohlberg’s description of that stage. (6 marks)

You are the network administrator for a rather large company. You have a young family and need your job to support them. As part of your responsibility as a network administrator is to monitor the emails for the organization. Usually this just means occasionally allow through emails for staff members that have been accidentally blocked by the spam filters. One day you get a helpdesk request from a staff member asking for an email to get released. Normally it’s standard procedure except this time the request has come from the wife of a very good friend of yours. You recognize the name on the helpdesk request so quickly attend to the problem. As part of the procedure you need to manually open up the email to ensure that it isn’t spam, so you do and you discover that it certainly isn’t spam. You find that it’s actually an email to your friends’ wife from her lover. You scan the rest of the contents of the email and there is no doubt that she has been having an affair for some time now.

You can’t decide what to do. You’re initial reaction is to call your friend up and tell him about the email, however you quickly realize that company policy is very strict about revealing the contents of confidential emails of staff members regardless of the contents and unless someone’s life is in immediate danger, under no circumstances are you permitted to reveal the information.

In any case you know that revealing this information presents great risk, because even if you don’t do it directly, there is a good chance that the dots will be joined somewhere along the line and you will be found out. However you feel that by not telling you friend that you are aiding his wife get away with adultery and this troubles you greatly.

TRUE AND FALSE QESTIONS TO CONSIDER….

1. Social Determinists believe that our choices have already been determined by God.

1. “I did this because I was abused as a child” is something a religious determinist would say.

1. Aristotle did not believe that community was necessary to achieve happiness.

1. Cultural relativism is different from ethical relativism in that cultural relativism deals more with descriptive ethics which is more concerned with recognizing the fact that different societies exhibit different moralities.

1. When an imperative is hypothetical it is based on conditional circumstances.

1. Moral dilemmas involve situations where two ethical principles are in conflict and the

correct course of action is not obvious.

1. Genetic determinists believe that the human self is not an “intending self”, but a genetically pre-programmed organism that is driven by instinctual urges.

1. Kant said that moderation and achieving balance in life when it comes to your desires, emotions and actions are the key to happiness.
2. Rights are universal because they only apply to certain groups of people with certain

characteristics.

1. Actions cannot be judged as good bad or different without taking the intention behind

them into consideration.

1. Rights are transferable from one person to another.

1. In this course we are mainly concerning ourselves with a branch of ethics known as

prescriptive ethics.

1. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, perfect freedom can only be attained when following the will of God.

1. Determinists believe that there is no such thing as human freedom and that humans cannot be held responsible for their actions or choices.

1. Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only goal in life.

1. Prudence is a vice that motivates us to reason in order to know what is good in every

circumstance and choose the right way.

1. Deciding to go to a party because everyone else is going, is an example of

heteronomy.

1. The notion of predestination requires that we acknowledge God’s perfect foreknowledge and his desire for nothing but happiness for His children.