ETHICS  POPULAR CULTURE

MORAL AGENT It borrows the idea from high culture and

popularizes it, making it available for the masses; a
Moral agents are those agents exposed to product of the media-dominated world; it is a
meet the demands of morality- choosing between positive force for it brings people of different
good and evil. backgrounds together groups living alongside each
other
They are capable of acting with reference
to right and wrong.  MULTICULTURALISM

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MORAL AGENT It is depicted to be very similar to cultural

diversity, other definitions align multiculturalism
A moral agent is endowed with all with different ethnic groups living alongside each
possibilities and capabilities to act upon actions other.
with moral considerations.
 GLOBAL CULTURE
He has the ability to discern right from
wrong and to be held accountable for his or her It as a key feature of globalization, they
actions. emerged due to patterns of migration, trends in
international travel, and the spread of the media,
CULTURE exposing people to the same images of the same
dominant world.
Culture is an aggregate of the learned
beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, and customs of a IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
society or group of people, shared by them and
transmitted from generation to generation within  Culture affects perceptions
the society.
 Culture influences behavior
TYPE OF CULTURE
 Culture shapes personalities
 HIGH CULTURE
 Culture shapes our values and belief system
Linked with the elite, upper-class society,
those families and individuals with an ascribed MORAL BEHAVIOR
status position. It is often associated with the arts
such as opera, ballet, and classical music, and It is the moral of the person or the society
sports such as polo. that makes them adopt particular moral behaviors.
 CULTURAL DIVERSITY Morals are the prevailing standards of
behavior that people have to follow. It is what one
A concept relating to culturally embedded believes to be the right thing to do
differences within society, it’s the fact that
different cultures exist alongside each other. ROLE OF CULTURE IN MORAL
BEHAVIOR
 SUBCULTURE
Culture undeniably does play a significant
A culture enjoyed by a small group within pseudo-role in shaping moral behavior and extends
society. In this sense, it is a minority part majority even further to social norms.
culture. They have distinct norms and values
which make them sub-sections of society. Culture is “everything” and not just in the
arts and entertainment that we occasionally enjoy;
it is like the oxygen we breathe.
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM KEY POINTS:

It is the principle of regarding the beliefs, CULTURAL RELATIVISM

values and practices of a culture from the
viewpoint of that culture itself. What one culture believes to be immoral,
may be perceived by another (culture) to be moral.
However, proponents argue that cultural
relativism does not necessarily condone practices, ETHICAL RELATIVISM
but rather seeks to understand them within their
cultural context in order to facilitate constructive Action is right or wrong depending on the
dialogue and promote cultural understanding. moral norms of the society in which it is practiced.

ETHICAL RELATIVISM MORAL RELATIVISM

It is the theory that holds that morality is There is no universal or absolute set of
relative to the norms of one’s culture. That is, moral principles. Rest on the belief that values are
whether an action is right or wrong depends on the subjective. It holds the belief that there is no
moral norms of the society in which it is objective morality; that there is no such thing as
practiced. right or wrong, good and evil. It is an attempt to
destroy the concept of ethics.
Ethical Relativism denies the existence of
one universal moral law- it follows that there is ASIAN MORAL CHARACTER
not one correct set of precepts that everyone
should adopt. - Just in any continent, Asia as well
possesses a distinct moral or ethical
MORAL RELATIVISM behavior that makes us unique in our
culture, dealing with socio-political-
It is the view moral judgments are true or cultural difficulties.
false only relative to some particular standpoint
(culture) and that no standpoint (culture) is - Most of East- Asian behavior or moral
uniquely privileged over all others. traits can be attributed to Confucianism.
Three behavioral traits in East- Asians are
This tells us that there is no universal or prominent
absolute set of moral principles.
- East- Asian’s lack of personality is traced
KINDS OF MORAL RELATIVISM in Confucian social institutions.

 Descriptive Moral Relativism - East- Asian’s lack of principles of moral

thinking is linked to dyadic, relation-based
Also known as cultural relativism, says character of the Confucian ethnicity, its
that moral standards are culturally defined. lack of hypothetical reasoning and its
hierarchical view of human relationships.
 Meta-Ethnical Relativism
- East- Asian’s lack of assertiveness is
There are no objective grounds for rooted in the Confucian ideal of society as
preferring the moral values of one culture based on the fulfillment of duties rather
over another. than assertion of rights.

 Normative Moral Relativism - These characters kept establishing our

Asian identity which makes us more
Idea that all societies accept each other’s resilient in facing challenges such as
differing moral values, given that there is no inflation, climate change, domestic
universal moral principles. problems and even political difficulties.
 - Smile are often a genuine way of WEAKNESSES OF FILIPINO CHARACTER
expressing happiness and friendliness but  Extreme Personalism
the can also be a way of masking true
 Extreme Family- Centeredness
emotions.
 Lack of Discipline
- As a rule, feelings are not expressed  Passivity and Lack of Initiative
directly. Showing disappointment in  Colonial Mentality
public is especially frowned upon.
 Kanya- Kanya Syndrome
BUDDHISM  Lack of Self- analysis and Self- reflection

It shapes character in Southeast Asia as POSITIVE FILIPINO VALUES

Christianity does in Europe. Theravada  Hospitability
Buddhism encourages its practitioners to keep  Helpful to others/Bayanihan
their emotions and passions in check and stresses
karma over determination which often means  Respectful (mano, po & opo, halik sa
people are more willing to accept their lot in life. kamay)
 Bravery
CONFUCIANISM  Jolliness and sense of humor
 Discretion and dignity
Include love and respect for the family ,
integrity, loyalty, honesty, humility,  Gratefulness
industriousness, respect for elders, patience,  Honesty and commitment (palabra de
persistence, hard work, friendship, commitment to honor)
education, belief in order and stability, emphasis  Helpfulness
on obligations to the community rather just
individual rights and preference for consultation  Family-oriented
rather than open confrontation.  Adaptability and resilience
 Resourcefulness and creativity
FILIPINO MORAL CHARACTER  Faithfulness
Friendly, outgoing, sensitive, easily  Thriftiness
offended, nosy, garrulous, direct, hospitable,
feisty, irreverent, good-natured, clever, witty, NEGATIVE FILIPINO VALUES
gregarious, happy, generous, easy to laugh,  Fatalism
gracious, easy to befriend, casual, fun loving,  Crab Mentality
sensitive and hospitable.
 Ningas- Kugon
We value education; we have some sense  Filipino Time
of shame (hiya); considered as “the easiest people  Colonial Mentality
in Asia to get along with.”  General Disregard of Values
 Procrastination or Mañana Habit
STRENGTHS OF FILIPINO CHARACTER
 Corruption
 Pakikipagkapwa-tao  Gossiping
 Strong family ties  Passivity (lack of leadership)
 Joy and Humor
 Flexibility, Adaptability, and Creativity
 Hardworking and Industrious
 Faith and Religiosity
DEVELOPING VIRTUE AS HABIT TYPES OF MORAL VALUES

VALUES OR GOOD MORAL VALUES (Kathy Slatterngren, 2018)

ONCE THEY ARE PRACTICED, THEY
TURN INTO VIRTUES. ACCEPTANCE

VALUE FROM THE LATIN WORD Having an objective attitude toward others’
VALERE, MEANS TO BE OF WORTH. ideas and practices that differ from your own.

JOHN DEWEY COMPASSION

“VALUE MEANS PRIMARILY, TO Understanding the suffering of others or

PRICE, TO ESTEEM, TO APPRAISE, TO self and wanting to do something about it.
ESTIMATE. IT MEANS THE ACT OF
CHERISHING SOMETHING HOLDING IT COURAGE
CLEAR AND ALSO, THE ACT OF PASSING
JUDGEMENT UPON THE NATURE AND Willingness to do difficult things.
AMOUNT OF ITS VALUE AS COMPARED
EQUALITY
WITH SOMETHING ELSE”
Believing everyone deserves equal rights
HUMAN VALUES
and to be treated with respect.
Human values are virtues that guide us to
FAIRNESS
take into account human element when one
interacts with another human being.
Acting in just way, sharing appropriately.
These human values give the effect of
BONDING, COMFORTING &
REASSURING.

WHAT WE EXPECT OTHERS TO DO TO

US & WHAT WE AIM TO GIVE TO
OTHERS.

MORAL VALUES

Moral values helps us distinguish between \]\

what’s right and wrong, good or bad for you, as
well as the society. Moral values are principles
that govern our lives and beliefs that makes us
realize the importance of life, the goals that we
want to attain or accomplish.

To say simply, values are anything that

motivates people which they really care about.
GENEROSITY FORMATION OF MORAL VALUES

Willingness to give resources, help, or Moral values are the standards of good and
time to others. evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and
choices. Individual’s morals may derive from
HONESTY society and government, religion or self - all of
which may change as the laws and morals of
Being truthful and sincere. society.

INTEGRITY VIRTUES AND ITS FORMATION

Sharing to your moral and ethical Human beings are aware of various moral
principles and values. values of which they have the option to practice.
Once these values are applied in order to lead a
KINDNESS good life, one is living in virtue, a habitual good
character.
Being considerate and treating others
well. The following are some of the principal
virtues that one can acquire to truly live a good
PERSEVERANCE life.
Persisting in a course of action, belief or FORMATION OF MORAL CHARACTER
purpose.
- At the heart of one major approach to
POLITENESS ethics is the conviction that ethics is
fundamentally related the what kind
Using good manners, acting in socially persons we are. Many of Plato's dialogues,
acceptable ways. for example, focus on what kind of persons
we ought to be.
RESPECT
- Moral character is formed by one's actions.
Showing consideration for the worth of Because human beings are body and soul
someone or something. unities, actions of the body are actions of
the self, that is, human beings are self-
RESPONSIBILITY possessing self-governing and self-
determining.
Being reliable in your obligations.
- Character and action are intertwined so
SELF-CONTROL intimately that one's professional duties, or
even what is perceived by others as one's
duties, cannot override one's conscience
without negatively affecting one's
character.

MORAL DEVELOPMENT

- Moral development occurs as we grow and

helps us choose between right and wrong.
The theory of Lawrence Kohlberg States
that the moral development of most people
begins with a desire to avoid personnel
punishment and may evolve overtime to I
desire to make the world a better and more
just place for all people.
 - Moral decisions are relative to actual CONSCIENCE – BASED MORAL
experiences that we are confronted with DECISIONS
particularly on moral issues that we
encounter in our our lives. - Conscience from its Latin origin known as
cum alia scientia, which means the
application of knowledge. Since it is an act
of knowledge, it is also an act of reason
which is applicable to the act itself and its
quality as either good or evil (Gualdo,
2000).

- Human decisions or acts are executions of

conscience; moral decision as well is an
act of conscience.

- It is observed and experienced that often

we act through the dictates of our
SIX STAGES OF MORAL conscience, which are possibly be contrary
DEVELOPMENT to moral norms because conscience may
not always be right as we all assumed.
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG
To make sure that our decision is moral, it is
The theory was inspired by the work of our duty to educate our conscience by
Jean Piaget and a fascination with children's overcoming ignorance and error.
reactions to moral dilemmas. This theory
holds that moral reasoning as basis for ethical
behavior, has six identifiable developmental
stages and is broken into three levels: pre- RECAP OF KEY POINTS:
conventional, conventional and post-
conventional. How do values turn into virtues?

Once values are practiced, they turn into

virtues. (Values practiced = Virtues)

What does value mean?

Value from the Latin word valere, means

to be of worth.

NO ONE FUNCTIONS AT THEIR HIGHEST

STAGE AT ALL TIMES.
 CHAPTER VI: THE ACT
THE ACT FEELINGS: Instinctive Response to Moral
Dilemmas
Categorically defined only to human, an
activity that is attributed to human beings.  KANT

CONSTITUENTS OF HUMAN ACTS Kant’s philosophy of ‘categorical

imperative’ conceives humans as having the
Essentially, human act proceeds from the ability to act on purely conscious moral
deliberate free will of man (Glen, 1965). In a reasoning and act according to universal moral
broader sense, human act refers to any activity, imperatives, a universal principle that compels
either external or mental that is performed by a all individuals to act under the light pure
person. More so, these acts are moral as long as reason; a practical moral judgment that tells us
they are actions in accordance to what is expected what the are morally obliged to do.
from human beings.
 HUME
For Babor (2006) however, mere acts of
human do not make them responsible for their Hume, on the other hand, believed that
actions unless done with knowledge, freedom and morals are not derived from cognition but
voluntariness. These are requisites to subject instead are determined by moral sentiments:
human action to moral obligation. Thus, these are passions that we feel immediately, which are
also considered constituents (Agapay, 1991) of akin to other bodily feelings such as hunger.
human acts. Moral decisions are often driven by automatic
affective responses rather than explicit
THREE CONSTITUENTS OF HUMAN ACT reasoning. However, subsequence reasoning
can lead people to change their initial decision.
 KNOWLEDGE
 Emotions as well can affect our moral
 FREEDOM decision-making. If your family and friends are
cheerful and can boost you up when you are
 VOLUNTARINESS feeling negative, it helps you in coming up
with positive decisions or at least try to think
FEELINGS & MORAL DECISION MAKING about the positive sides of a particular situation

We all have feelings and these help us to  On the other hand, moral decision-making is a
live every minute of our life. Anger, sadness, choice made based on the person's ethics,
happiness, fear, surprise and love are some of the manners, character and what they believe is
most common feelings experienced by every proper behavior. This decisions tend to not
human being. only affect their well-being, but also the well-
being of others.
 APPROACHES TO MORAL DECISION 4. RIGHTS APPROACH

1. VIRTUE APPROACH “What moral rights do the affected parties have,

and which course of action best represents those
“Which course of action develop moral virtues” rights?”

The virtue approach to moral decision- The rights approach centers on the inherent
making focuses on the development of virtuous rights and liberties of individuals. It emphasizes
character traits in individuals. It emphasizes the that certain rights, such as the right to life, liberty,
importance of cultivating virtues such as honesty, and property, are fundamental and should not be
compassion, courage, and integrity. Decisions are violated. Moral decisions are made by respecting
made by choosing actions that reflect and promote and protecting these rights, even if it means
virtuous character. sacrificing some overall utility.

2. FAIRNESS/JUSTICE APPROACH 5. COMMON GOOD APPROACH

“Which course of action treats everyone the “Which course of action advances the common
same, except where there is a morally justifiable good?”
reason not to and does not show favoritism or
discrimination?” The common good approach prioritizes the
well-being of the community or society as a whole.
The fairness or justice approach is It suggests that moral decisions should contribute
concerned with ensuring equitable treatment and to the common good and benefit everyone
distribution of benefits and burdens. It seeks to collectively. Decisions are made by considering
uphold principles of fairness, equality, and justice how they impact the broader community and
in decision-making. Moral judgments are based on promote social well-being.
whether actions treat individuals fairly and
distribute resources or opportunities justly. APPROACHES TO MORAL DECISION

3. UTILITARIAN APPROACH Evaluate situations in life wherein you are

to make a moral decision.
”What benefits and what harms will each course
of action produce and which alternative lead to REASON & MORALITY
the best overall consequences?”
ACTING MORALLY IS THE SAME AS
The utilitarian approach to moral ACTING RATIONALLY
decision-making focuses on maximizing overall
happiness or utility. It evaluates actions based on When we are choosing how to act, we
the principle of producing the greatest net benefit know that our self-interest or happiness influences
and minimizing harm. Decisions are made by our choices. However, happiness can’t be the basis
considering the consequences and choosing the of morality.
option that results in the greatest overall well-
being. First, what makes people happy differs.

Second, sometimes (one’s) happiness is morally

bad.
 IMPARTIALITY & MORALITY MORAL COURAGE

The Principle of Impartiality from the Moral courage is the courage to take action for
moral point of view asserts that all persons are moral reasons despite the risk of adverse
considered equal and should be treated consequences. Courage is required to take action
accordingly. when one has doubts or fears about consequences.

It should be UNIVERSAL because all Moral courage, therefore, involves deliberation

people, in virtue of being rational, would act in or careful thought. Moral courage is the
precisely the same way and IMPARTIAL because commitment to standing up for and acting upon
their actions are not guided by their own biases, one's ethical beliefs amidst sarcasm, humiliation,
but because they respect the dignity and autonomy and ridicule.
of every human being and does not put their own
personal ambitions above the respect that others WILL & REASON
deserve.
One of most perennial debates in the world
THE 7 STEP MORAL REASONING MODEL of moral philosophy is to determine the ultimate
ground of morality. Two of these fundamental
(Davis, 1999) questions are will and reason.

1. State the problem AQUINAS

2. Check Facts For Aquinas, will is the rational appetite,

which basically means that will as appetite is the
3. Identify relevant factors form of desire, but as rational, will is guided by
intellect. Will as an appetite could direct human
4. Develop list of options actions morally in the light of good reason.

5. Test options KANT

 Harm test For Kant, the ultimate ground of morality

is reason. If reason is practical, the will - guided by
 Publicity test reason - can effect, or cause action. He argues that
the “true function of reason must be to produce a
 Defensibility test will which is good”.

 Reversibility test

 Colleague test

 Organization test

6. Make a choice based on steps 1-5

7. Review steps 1-6