• Morality may refer to the standards that a

person or a group has about what is right and

wrong, or good and evil. Accordingly, moral
standards are those concerned with or relating
to human behavior, especially the distinction
between good and bad (or right and wrong)
behavior.
 WHY THE NEED TO DISTINGUISH MORAL
STANDARDS FROM NON MORAL
STANDARDS?
• It is important to note that different societies
have different moral beliefs and that our beliefs
are deeply influenced by our own culture.

• Some values have moral implications, while

others don’t.
Muslim women
wearing hijabs

Muslims praying
 Women not
wearing hijabs

The Pope
washing the feet
of some catholic
followers
 MORAL STANDARDS
• Norms that individuals or groups have about the
kinds of actions believed to be morally right or
wrong, as well as the values placed on what we
believed to be morally good or morally bad.

• Prescribe what humas ought to do in terms of

rights and obligations.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARDS
•1. Moral standards deal with matters we think can
seriously injure or benefit humans, animals and the
environment.

• 2. Moral standards are not established or changed by

decisions of authoritative individuals or bodies.

• 3. Moral standards are overriding. They take precedence

over other standards and considerations, especially self-
interest.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARDS

• 4. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.

Hence, moral standards are fair and just.

• 5. Moral standards are associated with special emotions

such as guild and shame and vocabulary such as right,
wrong, good and bad.
 NON-MORAL STANDARDS
• refer to rules that are
unrelated to moral or ethical considerations. Either
these standards are not necessarily linked to morality
or by nature lack ethical sense.

• basic examples of non-moral standards include rules of

etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and
various house rules.
 NON-MORAL STANDARDS
• Non-moral standards are matters of taste or
preference.

• Violation of said standards also does not pose any

threat to human well-being.
Moral Standards says… Non-moral Standards
says….

Do not harm innocent Don’t text while driving.

people.

Do not steal. Don’t talk while your mouth

is full.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
AMORAL AND IMMORAL
Amoral Non-moral Standards
says….

One who does not know the One who knows the
difference between right difference but does wrong
and wrong. anyway.
 WHAT IS A DILEMMA?

• Dilemma comes from the two Greek words: dis which

means twice, and lemma which means assumptions
or premise.

• Dilemmas are experiences where a person is confused

about the right decision to make because there are
several competing values that are seemingly equally
important and urgent.
 WHAT IS A DILEMMA?
• In the most general sense, a dilemma is a situation that
requires a choice between two options that are (or seem to
be) equally undesirable or unsatisfactory.
 WHAT IS A NON-MORAL DILEMMA?
• Dilemmas in which the choice is between options
that are undesirable or unsatisfactory for reasons
outside morality.

Example: A person seeks to buy both a book and a

shirt but can only afford to purchase one of them,
choosing one over the other will inevitably lead to
disappointment, in that it will fulfill only one of the
two desires. There need not be any moral dimension
to this decision for it to be a dilemma.
 WHAT IS A MORAL DILEMMA?

• A moral dilemma is a situation in which the

decision-maker has to give priority to one moral
value over another (Brinkmann, 2005;
Maclagan, 2003; Toffler, 1986).
 WHAT IS A MORAL DILEMMA?
• The crucial features of a moral dilemma are these:

1. The person is required to do each of two (or more) actions;

2. The person can do each of the actions; but he cannot do

both (or all) of the actions.

3. The person thus seems condemned to moral failure; no

matter what she does, she will do something wrong (or fail
to do something that she ought to do).
LEVELS OF
MORAL
DILEMMAS
 INDIVIDUAL MORAL DILEMMAS:

➢ conflict arrives when a person is asked to choose

between two important values for him or her.

Example: choosing between one’s duties to his or

her family one’s love for another person.
 ORGANIZATIONAL
MORAL DILEMMAS:

➢ encountered by institutions, business, or

organizations in their decision-making process, at
this level the dilemmas that the organizations’
experiences usually affect more than one person
and they can be part of the internal group or part
of an external stakeholder.
 STRUCTURAL MORAL DILEMMAS:
➢ affect a network of institutions and operative
theoretical paradigms like universal care, juvenile
laws, and immigration. This type of dilemma can
affect a community and even a society at large.
THREE LEVELS OF MORAL REASONING
(BY: LAWRENCE KOHLBERG)

LEVEL 1: PRECONVENTIONAL

STAGE 1: OBEDIENCE AND

PUNISHMENT ORIENTATION

STAGE 2: INDIVIDUALISM AND

EXCHANGE
 LEVEL 1: PRECONVENTIONAL

• At the preconventional level a person don’t have a

personal code of morality, and instead moral
decisions are shaped by the standards of adults
and the consequences of following or breaking
their rules.
• For example, if an action leads to punishment is
must be bad, and if it leads to a reward is must be
good.
• Authority is outside the individual and children
often make moral decisions based on the physical
consequences of actions.
 STAGE 1: OBEDIENCE AND PUNISHMENT
ORIENTATION

• The individual is good in order to avoid being

punished. If a person is punished, they must have
done wrong.

STAGE 2: INDIVIDUALISM AND EXCHANGE

• At this stage, an individual recognize that there is

not just one right view that is handed down by the
authorities. Different individuals have different
viewpoints.
THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMA
(BY: LAWRENCE KOHLBERG)

LEVEL 2: CONVENTIONAL

STAGE 3: GOOD INTERPERSONAL

RELATIONSHIP

STAGE 4: MAINTAINING THE SOCIAL

ORDER
 LEVEL 2: CONVENTIONAL

• Characterized by an acceptance of social rules

concerning right and wrong. At the conventional
level (most adolescents and adults), begin to
internalize the moral standards of valued adult role
models.

• Authority is internalized but not questioned, and

reasoning is based on the norms of the group to
which the person belongs.
 STAGE 3: GOOD INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS

• The individual is good in order to be seen as being

a good person by others. Therefore, answers relate
to the approval of others.

STAGE 4: INDIVIDUALISM AND EXCHANGE

• The individual becomes aware of the wider rules of

society, so judgments concern obeying the rules in
order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.
THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMA
(BY: LAWRENCE KOHLBERG)

LEVEL 3: POST CONVENTIONAL

STAGE 5: SOCIAL CONTRACT AND

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

STAGE 6: UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES

 LEVEL 3: POST-CONVENTIONAL

• Characterized by an individuals’ understanding of

universal ethical principles.

• Individual judgment is based on self-chosen

principles and moral reasoning is based on
individuals rights and justice.
STAGE 5: SOCIAL CONTRACT AND INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS

• The individual becomes aware that while rules/laws

exist for the good of the greatest number, there
are times when they will work against the interest
of particular individuals.

STAGE 6: UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES

• People at this stage have developed their own set

of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the
law.
Activity #2:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tracyclayton/moral-dilemmas-that-will-break-your-brain