1 Module 5 – THEORIES OF VALUES AND MORALITY

MODULE 5 – THEORIES OF VALUES AND MORALITY

INTRODUCTION
The basic assumption in this module is that a country’s values education is a mirror of that
country’s philosophy of government and educational philosophy. This is so since philosophy is the
umbrella of all practices, be it in government or education. This module gives a rather brief account
of the theories and practices in values and moral education in western and eastern countries.

LESSON 1: The Western and Eastern Perspective

SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES:

In this lesson, you should be able to:
1. differentiate the values and morality of western and eastern perspective;
2. explain the cultural differences of western and eastern;
3. identify the western and eastern philosophy; and
4. list values that would be important to a person in eastern and western country.

PRE-ASSESSMENT

Define the following terms related to this topic:

1. Morality
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2. Western

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3. Eastern
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MODULE MAP

VALUES AND
MORALITY

WESTERN
PERSPECTIVE
 Greek EASTERN
 Period of PERSPECTIVE
enlightenment  Asian Thinking
 Current
Generation
Philosophers

The lesson map shows the values morality in western and eastern perspective.
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ENGAGE: RECALLING MY UNDERSTANDING ON THE VALUES OF AMERICAN AND ASIAN

COUNTRY

Activity 1
List three values that you believe to be typically American.
1.___________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________
3.____________________________________________________________________
List three values that you believe would be important to a person in eastern country.
1.___________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________
3.___________________________________________________________________

EXPLORE: IDENTIFYING THE WESTERN AND EASTERN PHILOSOPY

Instruction: Read the content below. Spaces are provided for comments and critiquing.

PROFILE OF WESTERN THINKING

GREEK
 Socrates – who taught that virtue is knowledge and that knowledge is virtue. “Only the
examined life is worth living”
 Aristotle – is made the acknowledgement for the emphasis on the role of the environment
and personal existence in a full human development.

PERIOD OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT

 JOHN LOCKE– advocated that childhood was not adulthood in miniature but a unique
phase of life which deserves reverence or respect despite its negative emotional and
moral tensions.
- He advocated that control of appetites and desires should be imposed and inculcated
through “censure and punishments”, and rational behavior should be reinforced by
“praised and commendation”.
 IMMANUEL KANT- his theory of education advocated that children reach rational
adulthood by only one means and that is through moral education.
- Kant’s morality is found in his Categorical Imperative where one is encouraged to “act in
conformity with that maxim, which you can, at the same time, will to be the universal law”.
The universalizability of an action is the only guide of morality. Suicide and robbery are
immoral because they are not universalizable.
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 MAX SCHELER – He regards the emotional sphere of man’s interiority as the most
essential sphere in his existence. The reason, according to him, is that it is in the
emotional sphere of values that moral values are seen intuitively by ethical insight.
- A very significant contribution to the theory of value that he gave is that as a child first
“feels” that something is nice before he judges it to be sweet, delicious, and that it is
chocolate candy. Similarly, when a husband is asked why he married his wife instead of
another woman, he cannot give immediately a definite reason, yet, deep in his heart, he
loves his wife deeply.
 HERBERT SPENCER – Spencer’s fundamental position stresses the responsibility of the
natural consequences of their actions and to act in a way consistent with natural laws of
morality and society.
- He advised that values educators have to analyze their own motivations and must
proceed with caution when setting up moral guidelines for others.
 JOHN DEWEY – regarded as the most prolific contributors to the field of education
through his voluminous writings.
- Dewey’s writings reinforced the concept that morality and education are both social in
nature and therefore any social reforms motivated by educational or moral considerations
must include actions both on the environment and its cultural forms, and in the hearts of
men and women who interact with it.

CURRENT GENERATION OF PHILOSOPHERS

 MARTIN BUBER – I-Thou and I-It relationships
- Example: the teacher as demonstrated in the dialogical relationship with students.
 JOHN WILSON – posits that teachers and parents NEED TO DEFINED CLEARLY and
present their own moral code to children, and if children reject or accept this, they at least
know what they are rejecting or accepting.
 SKINNERS BEHAVIORIST THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT – requires
behavioral modification through which social controls are placed upon the behaviors of
people and unless these controls are enforced, general moral decay will ensue, like
breakdown of families, murders and wars (Skinner, 1971).

COMMENTS
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THE EASTERN PERSPECTIVE

- Eastern thinking is always within a spiritual and religious context. Asians are a deeply
religious people. Thus, eastern thought is characterized as synthetic, intuitive and
affective.

As an Asian country, the Philippines share certain common values with other oriental cultures. They
include among others:
1. The value of natural and organic. There is always a time for everything and everything that
happens occurs according to heaven’s design.
2. The value of the family and close family ties. The family is the content of the oriental
society. It is the source of security. As a matter of fact, sociologist tells us that when a man
marries a Filipino wife, he marries the entire family of the girl.
3. The value of integration and cohesion. This is the antidote to differentiation and cleavage.
This is exemplified in the Filipino propensity for “halo-halo” or being eclectic. The main
characteristics of the people of the orient are that they value holistic and total attitudes
towards anything.
4. The value of humanistic communitarianism. The very core of the east Asian culture is the
quest for human perfection. Notice the maxims of “return to the basics”, “bayan muna, bago
ang sarili”. The value of the community runs through the veins of all oriental cultures. Man is
never an isolated being but forms a community with the living and the dead.

COMMENTS
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EASTERN VS. WESTERN

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Integral Christianity,
Yoga, Islam, Taoism, Zen Rational, Scientific, Logical schools

East   MAIN PRINCIPLES West

● Cosmological unity

● Life is a journey towards eternal realities that ● Feeling oneself as an element of the Divine

are beyond the realities that surround us ● Life is a service (to

● Circular  view of the universe, based on the the God, money, business, etc.)

perception of eternal recurrence ● Linear view of the universe and life, based

● Inner-world dependent on the Christian philosophy where everything

has its beginning and the end.
● Self-liberation from the false "Me" and finding
the true "Me". The highest state is believed to be ● Outer-world dependent

a state of 'no-self', where neither self-worth nor ● Self-dedication to the goal (big dream, life

self-importance have any real meaning. vision, happiness, personal success, etc.)

● Behavioral ethics

East   LIVING PRINCIPLES West

VIRTUE ETHIC

"To be able under all circumstances to practice "One can live magnificently in this world if
five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five one knows how to work and how to love."
things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, ~ Leo Tolstoy
earnestness and kindness." ~ Confucius
"Refrain from doing ill; for one all powerful
"Be satisfied with whatever you have, and enjoy reason, lest our children should copy our
the same. When you come to know that you misdeeds; we are all to prone to imitate
have everything, and you are not short of whatever is base and depraved."
anything, then the whole world will be ~ Juvenal
yours." ~ Lao Tzu
"There is no real excellence in all this world
"The thought manifests as the word; The word which can be separated from right living."
manifests as the deed; The deed develops ~ David Starr Jordan
into habit; And habit hardens into character. So
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watch the thought and its ways with care, And

let it spring from love born out of concern for all
beings." ~ Buddha

East  Relationship with RELIGION West

Integration Opposition
 

East Search for ABSOLUTE TRUTH West

● HOLISTIC approach – all events in the

● More focused on INDIVIDUAL
universe are interconnected
EVENTS and the role of the person
● Searching INSIDE YOURSELF – by becoming
● Searching outside yourself - through
a part of the universe through meditation and
research and analysis
right living

"Though he should live a hundred years, not

seeing the Truth Sublime; yet better, indeed, is "The truth that survives is simply the lie that
the single day's life of one who sees the Truth is pleasantest to believe." ~ H.L.Mencken
Sublime." ~ Buddha

East BELIEFS and VALUES West

The main values

are success and achievement. These that
The true key is INSIDE. The inner world of a can be achieved in many ways, but rarely
human being and his or her ability to control and through developing inner strength. The
develop it is of the highest value. The way to the majority of success  and achievement criteria
top is inside yourself, through self-development. have an external nature (money, faith,
popularity, etc.). The way to the top is through
active OUTSIDE intervention.

"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so

"Happiness lies in virtuous activity,
he is." ~ Bhagavad Gita
and perfect happiness lies in the best
"The superior man understands what is right; the
activity, which is contemplative."
inferior man understands what will sell."
~ Aristotle
~ Confucius
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"By chasing desires you will meet only the outer

surface." ~ Lao Tzu

EXPLAIN: UNDERSTANDING THE VALUES MORALITY OF EASTERN AND WESTERN

PERSPECTIVE

Activity 3
1. Explain and compare the values and moral education in western and eastern countries.
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EXTEND: DIVING MYSELF TO THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES OF EASTERN AND WESTERN

COUNTRY

1. Why is it important to understand the cultural differences of eastern and western country?
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2. Based on the context given in the “EXPLORE” part, it shows that the relationship with religion in
eastern country is “integration” while in western is “opposition”. Elaborate this statement.

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E. EVALUATE: GAUGING MY UNDERSTANDING ON WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

1. Explain this statement by Socrates, “virtue is knowledge and that knowledge is virtue. “Only the
examined life is worth living”
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TOPIC SUMMARY

It could not be denied that different places have their own different culture and background of the
societies. Generally, Western philosophy of education comprises two schools, which are traditional
and modern. It has its roots in Athens, Rome and Judeo Christianity, whereas Eastern philosophy is
derived from Islam, Confucianism, Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism. This, is fundamentally
influence the system of life, and certainly creates their education system. By looking on Eastern and
Western countries, both countries have distinct differences in their ways of developing and shaping
an individual, in terms of skills and attitudes. Thus, different cultures will have different philosophies,
which results in different ways of doing things, especially in educating the next generation.

POST- ASSESSMENT
1. He posits that teachers and parents NEED TO DEFINED CLEARLY and present their own moral
code to children, and if children reject or accept this, they at least know what they are rejecting or
accepting.
a. John Wilson
b. Karl Marx
c. Martin Buber
d. John Dewey

2. His theory of education advocated that children reach rational adulthood by only one means and
that is through moral education.
a. John Locke
b. Immanuel Kant
c. John Dewey
d. Max Scheler

3. He regards the emotional sphere of man’s interiority as the most essential sphere in his
existence.
a. Max Scheler
b. Herbert Spencer
c. Skinners
d. John Dewey
10 Module 5 – THEORIES OF VALUES AND MORALITY

4. Throughout this level, a child’s sense of morality is tied to personal and societal relationships.
a. Pre-conventional
b. conventional
c. post conventional
d. None of the above

5. He advocated that childhood was not adulthood in miniature but a unique phase of life which
deserves reverence or respect despite its negative emotional and moral tensions.
a. John Wilson
b. Karl Marx
c. Martin Buber
d. John Locke

6. He advised that values educators have to analyze their own motivations and must proceed with
caution when setting up moral guidelines for others.
a. Max Scheler
b. Herbert Spencer
c. Skinners
d. John Dewey

7. He regarded as the most prolific contributors to the field of education through his voluminous
writings.
a. Max Scheler
b. Herbert Spencer
c. Skinners
d. John Dewey

8. He made the acknowledgement for the emphasis on the role of the environment and personal
existence in a full human development.
a. Aristotle
b. Karl Marx
c. Martin Buber
d. Socrates

9. I-Thou and I-It relationships

a. John Wilson
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b. Karl Marx
c. Martin Buber
d. John Dewey

10. Throughout this level, a child’s sense of morality is externally controlled.

a. Pre-conventional
b. conventional
c. post conventional
d. None of the above

REFERENCES
 Bauzon, P. T. (2002). Essentials of values education. 2nd ed. Manddaluyong City: National
Bookstore.