Ethics, Reason, and Society: Core Philosophical Concepts

Ethics: Foundations and Principles

Derived from the Latin mos, moris (custom) and the Greek ethos (custom). The Greeks believed habit and actions define what makes us human.

As a science, ethics involves:

• Theories
• Codes of conduct

Objectives of Ethics:

• Individual happiness
• Societal welfare. This is based on:
  • Ideology, religion, common good
  • Moral Values: Ideal patterns of behavior such as goodness, justice, love, gratitude, peace, equality, and freedom.

The Five Core Rules of Ethical Conduct

1. Do good and avoid evil.
2. Treat others as you want them to treat you.
3. Aid others and accept their help when you need it.
4. Earn your living from your work.
5. Live and let live.

Reason in Ethics and Social Acts

Reason should determine social acts.

Philosophical Views on Reason

• Plato and Aristotle: Emphasized rational dialogue and education in values and standards.
• Immanuel Kant: Highlighted that the most important values include freedom, fraternity, equality, knowledge, and science.

Understanding Rules of Civility

Rules of civility have several aspects:

• They facilitate the treatment of persons.
• They are a reflection of oneself.
• Historically, they have been used by the upper class as a sign of distinction.
• They may help avoid conflicts but can also encourage hypocrisy.

Factors Shaping Personal Education

Key determinants of an individual's education include:

• Language: Eloquence and conversational skill (e.g., "flawless conversational pearls").
• Culture and Prejudice: Societal norms and biases.
• Image: Physical appearance, including body and dress.
• Interactions (Deal): Influence from media, persuasion ('beat'), and the role of gifts and favors.

Sociology: The Study of Society

Sociology is the scientific study of society. Key elements and thinkers include:

• 1. Empire: (The specific meaning of "Empire" in this context is unclear from the original text).
• 2. Theoretical Scientific Method: This involves collecting existing knowledge about social facts.
• 3. Auguste Comte (originally 'Committee', and described in the original text as 'the patch of sociology'): Argued that social phenomena (originally 'social echos') must be investigated scientifically, without metaphysical ('metafisicas') explanations.
• 4. Adolphe Quetelet, Edward Burnett Tylor (originally 'Taylou'): Early contributors to sociological thought.

Approaches to Studying Society

Functional Sociological Approaches

(People are different according to their cultures) – closely related to anthropology and cultural relativism.

• Talcott Parsons - Function: An observable consequence of conduct (originally 'confucta') that impacts individuals in maintaining social consensus and cohesion (originally 'ny cohesió') within the system.
• Types of Functions: Cultural, organizational (originally 'Irganizativa'), economic.
• Classes of Functions: Manifest, latent, diffusion.

Structuralist Sociological Approach

Society consists of structures that are maintained in all cultures, though in some societies, structures are less complex than in others. This approach coincides with the Marxist perspective.

• Superstructure (Marxist): Determines ideology, culture, and politics.
• Social Class and Class Consciousness: For Marx, it was very important that people knew to which social class they belonged.
• Social Mobility: Ascending or descending movement within the social structure; "ascending-descending-value import of" (fragment from original text).

Feelings in Moral Philosophy

• David Hume: Argued that feelings are inherent to human nature and therefore are primary in moral and emotional understanding. Ethics is based (originally 'vasa') on the education of sentiments (originally 'entimientos'). He stated, "Reason discovers truth (originally 'ine') and virtue (originally 'virtus'), but not their cause." Sympathy is a fundamental value.
• B.F. Skinner (behaviorist, originally 'current coductista'), Aldous Huxley: Emphasized social integration.