St. Cecilia’s College- Cebu, Inc.

A LASSO Supervised School

Poblacion, Minglanilla, Cebu
SY 2020-2021
First Semester

Instructional Study Module

(ISM) # __8__

_____GE 2 - ETHICS_____
(Subject)

_______________________ _________________ _Ms. Elma R. Quiero, MAT-RE__

Student Name Course/Year/Section Instructor’s Name

I. Rationale
Module 8 is “How is Moral Character Developed?” In this module learners will understand the
relationship between individual acts and character and the stages of moral development.
II. Learning Objectives
A. How is moral character developed?
B. How does character determine moral acts?
C. Explain the relationship between individual acts and character.
D. Discuss the six stages of moral development.
III. References:
A. Electronic Reference:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bounwXLkme4 Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral
Development
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0axVjiTe9Q
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_qHOtHsog
B. Book Reference:
 Ethics, Foundations of Moral Valuation
By Oscar G. Bulaong Jr., Mark Joseph T. Calano, Albert M. Lagliva, Michael Ner E. Mariano,
Jesus Deogracias Z. Principe
IV. Learning Experience
A. Presentation and Discussion
 Let’s get started by reflecting on the following (The Blaming Game):
1. Parent to child: Is that what your teachers have taught you?
2. Teacher to child: Is that how your parents have molded you?
Who then is to blame, parents or teachers?

How have they influenced you?

Influencers Survey Results

Parent/s (Mother/Father)
Sibling/s (Brother/Sister)
Relative/s (Uncle, Aunt, Lolo/a)
Teacher/s (Elem, H.S., College, etc.)
Faith-worker or Professional
mentor/counselor
Celebrity
Others (Stranger, Book, etc.)

What it is.
 Moral character is the force behind Moral Action
Moral character is a personality trait that has become habituated in the individual moral agent.
(After several years of training, contact, interaction with people surrounding the person): The
Ripple Effect (the continuing and spreading results of an action).

Early childhood experience from siblings, modeling by important adults and older youth, peer
influence, the general physical and social environment, the communications media, the teachings
of schools.

Character determines what kind of person you are and what types of relationships you form in
life

 St. Thomas Aquinas: “Whatever moves is moved by another!” (Quinque Viae)

Application of the principle of causality: “Now whatever is in motion is put in motion by

another, for nothing can be in motion unless it is in potentiality to that towards which it is
in motion; whereas a thing moves inasmuch as it is in act.… Now it is not possible that the same
thing should be at once in actuality and potentiality in the same respect, but only in different
respects.… It is therefore impossible that in the same respect and in the same way a thing
should be both mover and moved, i.e., that it should move itself. Therefore, whatever is in
motion must be put in motion by another.”

Determinants of moral character

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_dBSWDR1mk
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PywamxAq6fY Human Actions
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJbTkXp8PKw Moral Character
What are the main (top 3) determinants of moral character?
1. Actions
2. Character
3. Identity

Together, they define one’s moral life!

Kohlberg’s stages of moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg
An American psychologist and educator known for his theory of moral development.

- Kohlberg believed that correct moral reasoning was the most significant factor in moral
decision-making.

– He was also able to demonstrate through studies… that people progressed in their moral
reasoning (i.e., in their bases for ethical behavior) through a series of stages. He believed that
there are six identifiable stages. He classified it into three levels.

– The American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg grouped together children while they were still
small and did a study on the moral development of these people in a span of about twenty
years. He was interested in the justification or reasoning behind the right behavior of the group
and was able to mark out six stages of development.

First level of moral thinking

1. Pre – Conventional Level
 Obedience and Punishment Stage
(Obey and Pay)
– In the first stage of this level, people behave accordingly to socially acceptable norms
because they are told to do so by some authority figure (e.g., Parent or Teacher), this
obedience is compelled by the threat or application of punishment.
Example: It would be bad for me to take my friend's toy because the teacher will punish me.

 Individualism, self – satisfaction Stage

– The second stage of this level is characterized by a view that right behavior means acting in
one’s thus, each to his own. What is right is what is fair. You do your thing I do my thing.
We have fair, equal exchange. Own best interest.
Example: If Katy is nice to me, I'll be nice to her, but if she is mean to me, I won't feel bad about
being mean too.
Second level of moral thinking
2. Conventional Level
 Good Boy/Girl Stage
– The third stage of this level is characterized by an attitude which seeks to do what will
gain approval of others.
Example: I better not drink and drive because my friends will think less of me and I, in turn, will
think less of myself.

 Law and Order Stage

– The fourth stage of this level is one oriented to abiding by the law and responding to the
obligation of duty.
Example: I am personally against the war, but would never publicly protest it on campus without
the administration's permission.

Third level of moral thinking

3. Post – Conventional Level
 Social Contract Stage
– Its fifth stage of this level is an understanding of social mutuality and a genuine interest
in the welfare of others.
Example: It can't be right that huge corporations sometimes pay no taxes; that law needs to be
changed, so that the burden of taxes falls more equally on everyone's shoulders.

 Principle Conscience Stage

– The last or sixth stage of this level is based on respect for universal principle and the
demands of individual conscience.
Example: I refuse to obey a law which treats a large portion of the population as second-class
citizens.

Heinz dilemma
A dilemma that Kohlberg used in his original research was the druggist's dilemma: Heinz Steals
the Drug in Europe.
A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors
thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently
discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the
drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of
the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but
he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that
his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said:
"No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and
broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife.

Should Heinz have broken into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why
not? Kindly answer in another paper.
From a theoretical point of view, it is not important what the participant thinks that Heinz
should do. Kohlberg's theory holds that the justification of the participant offers is what is
significant, the form of their response. Below are some of many examples of possible arguments
that belong to the six stages:

Stage one (obedience):

Heinz should not steal the medicine because he will consequently be put in prison which means
you are really terrible.

Or: Heinz should steal the medicine because it is only worth $200 and not how much the
druggist wanted for it; Heinz had even offered to pay for it and was not stealing anything else
besides.

Stage two (self-interest):

Heinz should steal the medicine because he will be much happier if he saves his wife, even if he
will have to serve a prison sentence.

Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine because prison is a awful place, and he would probably
languish over a jail cell more than his wife's death.

Stage three (conformity):

Heinz should steal the medicine because his wife expects it; he wants to be a good husband.

Or: Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is bad and he is not a criminal; he tried to do
everything he could without breaking the law, you cannot blame him.

Stage four (law-and-order):

Heinz should not steal the medicine because the law prohibits stealing making it illegal.

Or: Heinz should steal the drug for his wife but also take the prescribed punishment for the crime
as well as paying the druggist what he is owed. Criminals cannot just run around without regard
to the law; actions have consequences.

Stage five (human rights):

Heinz should steal the medicine because everyone has a right to choose life, regardless of the
law.

Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine because the scientist has a right to fair compensation.
Even if his wife is sick it does not make his actions right.

Stage six (universal human ethics):

Heinz should steal the medicine, because saving a human life is a more fundamental value than
the property rights of another person. Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine, because others
may need the medicine just as badly, and their lives are equally significant.

B. Feedback
What part of the discussion was not very clear to you?
C. Quiz:
1. How is moral character developed?
2. How does character determine moral action?
3. Explain the relationship between individual acts and character.
4. Discuss the six stages of moral development.
5. Where are you in your moral development?
D. Assignment:
Make a character study of Nelson Mandela and Adolf Hitler.

V. Wrap Up
- What have you learned in this module? Answer in another paper.