LESSON 2: MORAL STANDARDS NON - MORAL STANDARDS • Manage individual life aspirations and desires and may decide a

person's non-moral standards of any society could be the table

STANDARDS
manners, general etiquette, clothing etc.
• a level of quality of attainment. • Govern individual life, aspirations and desires and may decide a
• an idea or thing used as a person's place in his group. Some non-moral standards of any society
could be grammar and language expectation, clothing, etc.
measure, norm or model in
• Examples:
comparative evaluation
➢ Standards of etiquette
➢ The law
WHY WE NEED TO DISTINGUISH MORAL STANDARDS FROM NON-MORAL ➢ Standards of aesthetics
ONES? • What fall outside the scope Any violations that does not pose a serious
• Some values do have moral implications while others don't threat to human well-being
➢ Example: wearing shorts to a formal party
HOW WE ADDRESS THIS CULTURAL CONUNDRUM
• People have to understand the difference between moral standards CONSISTENCY
and non-moral ones, to identify fundamental ethical values that may • it may differ from society to society and culture to culture
guide our actions.
NORMS + VALUES
MORAL STANDARS • Norms- general rules about actions or behaviors
• Force others to act accordingly • VALUES – enduring beliefs about what is good desirable or not
• Affect other people
• Involve the rules people have about the kinds of actions they believe CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL STANDARDS
Are morally right and wrong, as well as the values they place on the • Deal with matters we think can seriously injure or
kinds of objects they believe are morally good and morally bad. Some benefit humans, animals and the environment.
ethicists equate moral standards with moral values and moral • Not established or changed by the decisions of
authoritative individuals or bodies.
principles. • Overriding, that is, they take precedence over other
• Are norms that individuals or groups have about the kinds of actions standards and considerations, especially of self-
believed to be morally right or wrong, as well as the values places on interest.
what we believed to be morally good or morally bad. • Based on impartial considerations.
• Normally promote "the good" that is, the welfare and wellbeing of • Associate with special emotions and vocabulary,
humans as well as animals and the environment
CHARACTERISTICS OF NON-MORAL STANDARDS
NON-MORAL STANDARDS • Welfare of non-beings
• We have no right to impose on others. • Relies on Authority-Law
• Do not affect other people. • Religion, Tradition
• refer to standards by which we judge what is good or bad and right or • Limits Hegemony
wrong in a non-moral way. • Self Interest
• are matters of taste or preference • ` X emotions and vocabulary
• refers to rules that affect the choice of a person but are not linked to
moral or ethical considerations, similar with ethics people use value EXAMPLES OF NON-MORAL STANDARDS
dealing with judgment in these aspects. • Standards of etiquette by which we judge manners as
good or bad
 • Standards we call the law by which we judge legal right c) no matter which course of action the moral agent chooses, there is always
and wrong that moral principle that is compromised.
• Standards of aesthetics - good or bad art
• The athletic standards - how well a game is being
played
LESSON 4: THE THREE LEVELS OF DILEMMA
Different CULTURES have different moral standards
• What is matter of moral indifference that is, a matter of taste in one culture LEVELS OF DILEMMA
may be a matter of moral significance in another. 1ST LEVEL: INDIVIDUAL

ETIQUETTE • a person, or an individual, has two or more moral values to consider, he or

• is a set of rules on how an individual should responsibly behave in the she can choose one only, and choosing one or the other will not solve the
society. Table manners such as the proper use of utensils and the proper problem in a moral way.
manner of eating are examples of etiquette.
2nd LEVEL: ORGANIZATIONAL

LESSON 3: MORAL DILEMMAS • can take many forms and these are the moral problems in the workplace.

DILEMMA 3RD LEVEL: STRUCTURAL

• it is a situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more • refer to moral predicaments in public administration.
conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable.
TYPES OF MORAL DILEMMA
• When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral implications,
they are called ethical or moral dilemmas. EPISTEMIC MORAL DILEMMAS

MORAL DILEMMAS • There are two or more requirements that conflict with each other.
• The moral agent hardly knows which one takes precedence over the other.
• are situations where persons, who are called "moral agent s" in ethics, are
forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which
ONTOLOGICAL MORAL DILEMMA
resolves the situation in a morally acceptable manner.
• There are two or more requirements that conflict with each other, yet
• In moral dilemmas, the moral agent "seems fated to commit something
neither of these conflicting moral requirements overrides each other.
wrong, which implies that he/she bound to morally fail because in on way
or another he/she will fail to do something which he/she ought to do. SELF-IMPOSED MORAL DILEMMA
• In other words, by choosing one of the possible moral requirements, the
• Caused by the moral agent's wrong doings.
person also fails on others. (- Benjiemen Labastin)
WORLD-IMPOSED MORAL DILEMMA
CONDITIONS TO BE CALLED A MORAL DILEMMA • Certain events in the world place the moral agent in a situation of moral
a) The person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make decision conflict (- William Styron)
about which course of action is best. OBLIGATION DILEMMAS
b) There must be different courses of action to choose from.
• More than one feasible action is obligatory
 FREEDOM

PROHIBITION DILEMMAS • According to Oxford Languages, Freedom is the power or right to act,
speak or think as one wants without hindrance or
• All feasible actions are forbidden
restraint.
SINGLE AGENT DILEMMA ➢ a measure or condition that keeps someone or something under
control or within limits.
• The agent "ought, all things considered, to do X, ought, all things
considered, to do Y, and he cannot do both X and Y. FREE WILL

MULTI-PERSON DILEMMA • According to Oxford Languages, Free will is the idea that we are able to
have some choice on how we act and assumes that we are free to choose
• One agent, R1, ought to do X, a second agent, R2, ought to do Y, and our behavior.
though each agent can do that he ought to do, it is not possible both for R1
to do X and R2 to do Y. HUMAN ACT VS ACTS OF HUMAN
• The multi-person dilemma requires more than choosing what is right; it is HUMAN ACTS
also entails that the persons involved reached a general consensus.
• Human acts are actions done intentionally, free and deliberate of a person.
STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT • These are actions that a man properly master for he does them with full
• Stage 1: Obedience And Punishment knowledge of his own will.
• Stage 2: Self-Interest • All human acts are subjected to morality.
• Stage 3: Interpersonal Accord and Conformity • Example:
• Stage 4: Authority And Maintaining Social Order ➢ Before jumping into river, he judges his ability to swim and save. If not,
• Stage 5: Social Contract asks right person to do it.
• Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle ACTS OF HUMAN

• Natural involuntary actions.

LESSON 5: FREEDOM AS THE FOUNDATION FOR MORAL ACTS • Acts of person without the proper use of reason.
• Actions which are performed without the intervention of the intellect and
FREEDOM AND MORAL ACTS the free will.
THE FOUNDATION OF MORAL ACT • Examples:
➢ Jumping into river to save a person drowning without knowing to
Freedom as the foundation of Moral Act swim/not.
• According to Immanuel Kant we can make sense of moral appraisal and ETHICS APPLIES ONLY TO HUMAN PERSONS
responsibility only by thinking about human freedom.
• Good moral actions make us freer; bad moral actions make us a slave to • The song, "My Way" or "Born This Way", implies choice or freedom "I
our sin. did it my way". Unlike the lower forms of animals, human persons
have a choice or freedom, hence morality applies only to human
FREEDOM AND FREE WILL persons.
FREEDOM AND MORAL CHOICE ➢ The moral judgments of those authorities are considered essential
in moral issues of the community.
• Without freedom it is impossible to make a moral choice. If we have
free will we must have the ability to make a decision that is KINDS OF CULTURE
unhindered.
MATERIAL CULTURE
UNDER THE CHINESE TOIST CONCEPT OF HARMONY
• Includes all the physical things that people create and attach meaning to.
• "What I think must be the same as what I say, and what I say must be Clothing, food, tools, and architecture are examples of material culture that
the same as what I do". most people would think of. Natural objects and materials (rock, dirt, trees,
etc.) aren.t considered to be part of material culture. However, how people
view natural objects and how they use them are.
LESSON 6: CULTURE: HOW IT DEFINES MORAL BEHAVIOR NON-MATERIAL CULTURE
CULTURE AND ITS ROLE IN MORAL BEHAVIOR
• includes creations and abstract ideas that are not embodied in physical
CULTURE objects. In other words, any intangible products created and shared
between the members of a culture over time are aspects of their non-
• Reflects the moral values and ethical norms governing how people should material culture. Social roles, rules, ethics, and beliefs are just some
behave and interact with others. examples. All of them are crucial guides for members of a culture to use to
• Refers to the outlook, attitude, values, goals, and practices shared by a know how to behave in their and interpret the world.
group, organization, or society.
• Vary over time periods between countries and geographic regions, and MORAL BEHAVIOR
among groups and organizations.
• Action or actions that produce good outcomes for the individuals as
HOW DOES CULTURE INFLUENCE ONE'S MORAL DEVELOPMENT? members of a community, or society. It can be applied to the whole global
society. Schuman defines moral behavior as "Act intended to produce kind
• Culture is always social and communal. and /or fair outcomes
➢ Laws, rules, and standards of attitudes and behaviours are set • To act according to ones moral values and standards. Children
and promulgated by the community to promote a relationship that demonstrate prosocial and moral behavior when they share, help, co-
binds them together. operate, communicate, sympathize or in otherwise they demonstrate
• Culture define the normative principles and behavior of the society ability to care about others.
➢ It defines which particular principle and behavior should be kept to • There are different sources that might influence the way a person behaves
serve the beat of the community. morally, these include our family, the community we belong, the religion we
• Culture develops restrictions and sets boundaries practice, our school, and even the virtual world we see- the social media.
➢ These serve as protection among the members themselves and These factors may, in one way or another, affect our behaviour as a moral
creates an atmosphere which promotes the welfare of the person.
community.
• Culture conditions the mind THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE A PERSONS MORAL BEHAVIOR
➢ Culture helps in generating the character and identify of its people, • Family - the basic unit in a society. It includes one's biological or adoptive
including their moral character. family of orientation. The same provides us with our basic needs to survive
• Culture identifies the authorities or the governing individuals or groups. and develop as a significant member of the society.
 • School - it may include formal or non- formal educational system that Whether between or within nations and societies, cultures vary
provides a child with his learning needs. substantially in their promotion and transmission of a multitude of moral
• Church- the institution that determines what is specifically considered as judgements and behaviors.
right or wrong. It is composed of believers in the same faith. • Cultural behavior is Ant nests behavior exhibited by humans (and, some
• Mass media - those agencies that are purposive of entertaining, informing would argue, by other species as well, though to a much lesser degree
and educating through various channels like the radio, television, printed that is extrasomatic or extragenetic-in other words, learned.
materials etc. • Example: This is certainly a complex feat of engineering, but it is not
cultural. This behavior is instinctive, built into the ants' behavior
CULTURAL NORMS mechanisms. They cannot alter their plans or think of better ways to join
Are the shared, sanctioned, and integrated systems of beliefs and practices that leaves. They cannot teach or be taught to do so.However, there are
are passed down through generations and characterize a cultural group examples of animals that can learn behaviors, such as dogs and cats.
• ·A dog doesn't know instinctively not to urinate or defecate indoors, but it
NORMS
can be taught not to do so.
• Cultivate reliable guidelines for daily living and contribute to the health and • Dogs are capable of learning specific
well-being of a culture • behaviors. A dog's acquisition of a behavior satisfies one of the
• They act as prescriptions for correct and moral behavior, lend meaning requirements of culture, but it also fulfills another.
and coherence to life, and provide a means of achievinga sense of • If you were to take a dog that has learned not to eliminate indoors to a
integrity, safety, and belonging different house, it would still know not to urinate there. This is because the
• These normative beliefs, together with related cultural values and rituals, dog has made a generalization. It knows not to urinate or defecate in any
impose a sense of order and control on aspects of life that might otherwise house, not just the one in which it was taught.
appear chaotic or unpredictable
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
• This is where culture intersects with ethics. Since interpretations of what is
moral are influenced by cultural norms, the possibility exists that what is • Is the view that ethical system and cultural beliefs vary from one culture to
ethical to one group will not be considered so by someone living in a another. It is upheld that said ethical system are all equal in validity and of
different culture relevance. It cames from the idea that moral standards are product of
society. This philosophical principle started from the Greek philosopher
CULTURAL BEHAVIOR
Protagoras Of Abdera.Protagoras of Abdera - was born in Abdera, a costal
• Cultures vary substantially in both moral judgements and moral behaviors. town in northern- must Aegean Sea. He was said to be the oldestand the
Cultural variations in morality within the societies can vary much as most influence among all the sophists who had came to Athens. He spent
cultural variations in morality between societies. Cultural factors the most of his adult life travelling throughout the Greek impire, teaching
contributing to this variation includes religion, social ecology (weather, crop everyone for a fee. He was probably the first Greek to earn money in
conditions, population density, pathogen prevalence, residential mobility), higher education and was considered as the most notorious for the
and regulatory social institutions such as kinship structures and economic extremely high fees he charged. As a teacher, his audience consisted
markets. mainly of wealthy men from Athens' social and commercial elite.
• This variability raises questions for normative theories of morality, but also PROTAGORAS IS KNOWN FOR THREE CLAIMS:
holds promise for future descriptive work on moral thought and behavior.
• Examples of within societal cultural differences on morality, to shoe that 1. That man is the measure of all things, of the things are not that they are
these can be as substantial and important as cross-societal differences. not.
 2. That he could make the worse argument appear better or weaker then it will already be contradicting their belief that there is no absolute
argument appear to be not stronger. truth.
3. That one could not tell if the Gods existed or not. • - must not accept the ethical relativists own ethical belief.
• Another issue is the sense of thoughtless that one feels towards persons
• According to Protagoras, knowledge is limited to the persons various who are victims of an accident. This sense of thoughtless does not depend
perceptions. But such perceptions will differ with each person. He believed on one's sociocultural considerations or upbringings. Nevertheless, it has
that man's knowledge is measured by what he perceived. almost become part of every individual to have always the desire to be a
service to those who are in need. This is actually part of the fulfillment of a
MORAL RELATIVISM
person as a person. In this case, whether we are in Christians or Muslims,
• is the idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principle. It’s we seem to be always obliged to lend helping hand to those who are in
a version of morality that advocates "to each her own," and those who need. This consideration shows that ethical relativism is open to serious
follow it say "who am I to judge?" doubt and does not seem to be correct in all cases.

PROTAGORAS

• believed that the young should be educated to accept and support the
tradition of their society, not because this tradition is true but because it
makes possible a stable society.

DOCTRINE OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM

• also known as moral relativism is the ideas arises when the laws and
moral rules are based, not upon nature but upon convention.

MORAL RELATIVIST

• went on with the idea of Protagoras by saying what is moral relativism.

Standards of right and wrong are always relative to a particular culture.
Argue that there exist no point from which these norms can be upheld, no
universal or absolute criteria they can be criticized. Would have the claim
that whether an action as regard right or wrong depends upon the society
judging it. They claim that the different sets of moral principles are of equal
worth and nobody can claim that their moral beliefs and culture is better
than that of the others.

ETHICAL RELATIVISM

• appears to be self-contradictory and inconsistent. In as much as this

ethical school of thought upholds the idea that there is no absolute truth
and that truth is relative to the systems of belief of every culture, they,
therefore, should not insist that their theory should not be accepted by
everyone. This is because everybody would accept their ethical theory,