Good Governance

Group II
The Different Normative Ethical Theories

Commonly Used in
Business Decision Making
• The Different Normative Ethical Theories
• Norms Of Morality
• Kantian Ethics
• The Principles Of Machiavellian
• The Principles Of Utility Or Utilitarianism
• Legal Positivism
• Divine Command Theory
• Ethical Egoism (Ayn Rand)
• Rand’s Arguments
• Virtue Ethics
• Hedonist
Normative Ethics
•is the study of ethical action. It
is the branch of philosophical
ethics that investigates the set
of questions that arise when
considering how one ought to
act, morally speaking.
•it examines standards for the
rightness and wrongness of
Normative Ethical Theories
• Normative ethical theories
represent systematic attempts to
describe and explain moral or
ethical phenomena.
• To be precise, in normative ethical

theories it is possible to isolate a
tripartite structure that comprises a
Definition of Moral
•concerned with the

principles of right and wrong
behavior and the goodness
or badness of human
character.
Definition of Immoral
•not morally correct.
•not conforming to accepted

standards of morality.
•badness of human character

Moral Standard
• it specifies what characteristics all moral
actions must possesses.
“Actions are moral to the degree that their

consequences produce the most happiness.”
(Harris, 61-62.)
Retrieved from: http://www2.onu.edu/~m-dixon/handouts/ethical%20theories.html?fbclid=IwAR0IwIQIYX-
hiOG7KAHCXSFKwuwNqdmLNBZHfH4uIqqu4a7HGzZObuiGRZo#Note2
General Moral Principle
• principles that focus on general

action classes
• that claim that all actions in a
certain class are either moral or
immoral.
“It is immoral to act with the direct

Particular Moral Principles And
Judgments
• These principles and judgment focus on
more specific action classes or on
specific actions.
"Rape is immoral“
"Spousal abuse is immoral"

Normative Ethics vs Descriptive
Ethics
•Descriptive ethics is the study of how people do
behave, and how they think they should behave
•Normative ethics - it examines standards for the
rightness and wrongness of actions
Let’s set an example:

Descriptive ethics would be concerned with determining what
proportion of people believe that killing is always wrong,
while Normative Ethics is concerned with whether it is correct
to hold such a belief.
Kantian Ethics
•The difference between the Categorical
and the Hypothetical Imperatives
•The various formulations of the Categorical

Imperative
•Kant's understanding of the universalization

of maxims
Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)
• one of the most influential philosophers in
the
history of Western philosophy
• His contributions to metaphysics,
epistemology,
ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound
impact on almost every philosophical
movement
that followed him.
Three Major Works:

Difference between Categorical
and Hypothetical Imperative
• Hypothetical imperatives are a means to an end.
They claim that something is good for something else.
They are saying if you want to do X, you should do Y.
“A shovel is good for digging holes.”
• The Categorical imperative on the other hand is

claiming that some X is good in itself, or morally good.
“Saving someone's life is good in itself.”
Categorical Imperative
•Act only according to that
maxim by which you can, at
the same time, will that it
become a universal law.
•You should not do anything

Categorical Imperative
•Act only according to that maxim by
which you can, at the same time, will
that it become a universal law.
• Maxim - Proposed conduct

• Universal Law - Everyone's doing it
Asking someone for money
and lying for giving it back
• I want 100 pesos, is it ok for me to ask someone
for 100 pesos and lie about paying it back.
Will I get my desired outcome?
• We all know that Lying is immoral conduct
• Once your maxim is universalized, even it is
contradictory to your end goal, then it is
immoral.
• It's a lot of contradiction
Maxim: Speeding in order to arrive
quicker
Universal Law: Everyone's doing it
• Did you get your desired outcome?

Or
• Did you get to your destination quicker?
The answer is : No, you can get into an

accident prior in a couple of seconds.
Maxim: Asking someone for
money
and lying for giving it back
• In this case, if everyone is doing the same kind of
conduct, everyone is lying about paying back the
money in order to get it.
• Well, then the very first person that I ask in the first
place is also doing the same thing.
• Then he/she will say "We all know that everyone ask
for 100 pesos and lies to say that they’re going to
pay it back.
• The Desired outcome is different on actual outcome.

Maxim: Lying in order to deceive
Universal Law: Everyone's

doing it
• Do you get your desired outcome

for deceiving someone?
- Absolutely not, because the
moment you say something that's
Summarization
You should not do

anything which could
not be universalized
into a law of nature.
The Principles of Machiavellian
Niccolò Machiavelli (Niccolò di Bernardo dei
Machiavelli)
BORN: MAY 3, 1469

FLORENCE, ITALY
DIED: JUNE 21, 1527

M AT
I P LO
• D •
POLITICIAN
• HISTORIAN
• PHILOSOPHER
• HUMANIST
He was known of his writings of
“THE PRINCE” in 1513.
WHAT IS MACHIAVELLIANISM?
Conceptualized as one’s propensity to
distrust others, engage in amoral
manipulation, seek control over others
and seek status as oneself
.
In psychology it refers to a
personality trait which sees a person
so focused on their own interests
they will manipulate, deceive and
exploit others to achieve their goals.
Machiavellianism is not
defined personality disorder,
although the extreme forms
of it may be classified as
Antisocial Personality
Disorder.
Machiavellianism is a part of
what is called the Dark Triad
which also includes
MACHIAVELLIANISM
NARCISSISM
PSYCHOPATHY
Machiavelli believed as a ruler, it was
better to be widely feared than to be
great loved. A loved ruler retains
authority by obligation while a
feared leader rules by fear of
punishment.
Machiavelli said: “Its better to be
feared and respect than to be great
loved.”
ME:
The Principles of Utility
or Utilitarianism
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism gets its
name from the term
“utility” which in
this context does not
mean “useful” but, rather,
means pleasure or happiness
The principle of utility states that action or
behavior are right in so far as they promote
happiness pleasure, wrong as they tend to
produce unhappiness or pain. Hence, utility is a
teleological principle.
Utilitarianism is a moral principle that
holds that the morality right course of
action in any situation is the one that
produce the greatest balance of benefits
over harms for everyone affected.
LEGAL POSITIVISM
Legal Positivism- is the belief in a postulated code of conduct
based upon social facts, adopted by authorized institutions, and used
as an instrument of control for the people of a state.
2 KINDS OF LEGAL POSITIVISM
UTILITARIANISM POSITIVISM: there are no natural human rights, nothing like a natural law.
NON-UTILITARIAN NARROW POSITIVISM: there is something like natural law (universal human rights, universal moral principles)

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Group II

The Different Normative Ethical Theories

• To be precise, in normative ethical

•concerned with the

•not conforming to accepted

•badness of human character

“Actions are moral to the degree that their

• principles that focus on general

“It is immoral to act with the direct

"Spousal abuse is immoral"

Let’s set an example:

•The various formulations of the Categorical

•Kant's understanding of the universalization

Three Major Works:

• The Categorical imperative on the other hand is

•You should not do anything

• Maxim - Proposed conduct

• Did you get your desired outcome?

The answer is : No, you can get into an

• The Desired outcome is different on actual outcome.

Universal Law: Everyone's

• Do you get your desired outcome

You should not do

BORN: MAY 3, 1469

DIED: JUNE 21, 1527

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