ON MORAL AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS

Men have relentless search for the meaning of his existence.

In the process…one of the disturbing problems faced by men
How can one determine whether an act is good or bad, whether one is acting
rightly or wrongly?
Is there as measure by which to determine good or evil acts?

Man is a social individual.

Man is a social being not by choice but by nature. We often say. No man is
an island.
Whether in prehistoric or in modern times
In cave…man is a dweller who lives, grows & hunts with other cave dwellers
In family…man is a member who lives, eats, plays & sleeps with other
members of the family
In the community… man is a resident who lives along with other fellow
residents
In the state… man is a citizen who exists, works and associates with another
citizen

These basic human situations bring certain rights and obligations whether
written or unwritten.

This brings groups or a community’s code of behavior or system of values

by which the members are supposed to act, treat themselves, and relate to
one another.
This system of values: GROUP MORALITY OR ETHICS

♥ What is the importance of these system of values?

1. To maintain peaceful, just and well-ordered co-existence with other
fellow humans and likewise for the world in general.
2. For our own survival …for our own good and protection.

♥ Ethics
It is a branch of Philosophy that studies the rightness or wrongness of a
human action.
Ethical studies are based on reason. It involves the investigation of facts,
analysis, and deciding practical applications to a particular action.

♥ The difference between Theoretical Knowledge and Ethical Thinking

Theoretical Knowledge merely acquires knowledge in terms what is right

and good in matters of ethics.

Ethical thinking is more than acquisition of knowledge on right and good

but entails that person lives and actualizes moral principles. It is in acting
and doing morally that ethical thinking is possible.
Many philosophers believe that Ethics and Morality can be used
interchangeably. However, some thinkers are able to cite distinguishing
features between the two.

Ethics Morality
Denotes theory of right action and Practice of rightness or wrongness
greater good of action
Into the illustration of primary Tells what one ought to do and
problem and examination of follow the right way
underlying assumptions and critical
evaluation of moral principles
Science of morals Practice of Ethics

♥ Why is there a need to distinguish moral standards from non-moral

standards?

It cannot be denied that different societies have different moral beliefs and
values. Some values have moral implications, others do not. Different cultures
have different moral standards. It is important to understand these conditions
of differing cultures to avoid misunderstanding which may lead into more
serious condition such as ethnic cleansing or religious violence among others.
Also, this understanding of one’s culture will guide us in our action as we
relate to others. We can refrain from downgrading other cultures or we insist
that our cultures are far better than others.

Ex. In the manner of dressing, Americans have liberal in the way they dress
while Middle Eastern people have conservative style of dressing up when no
parts of the body shall be exposed except for the eyes.

♥ The Moral Standards

These are the norms that individual or group have about the kind of action
believed to be morally right or wrong in addition to the values placed over
that action/s.

What human ought to do in terms of rights and obligations?

These are justified by reason and not by custom, religion or conviction of
group of people.

Ex. It is wrong to kill, wrong to steal

Protect life
Protect the environment

♥ Norms
These are the general rules about our action and behavior.

♥ Values
These are the enduring beliefs or statements about what is good and
desirable
♥ Characteristics of Moral standard
1. It deals with matter that can seriously injure/benefit human, animals and
environment

Example: abuse, murder, exploitation

2. It is not established or changed by the decision of authoritative individual

or bodies.
It rests on adequacy of reason taken to support and justify the standards.
They are not just invented or generated.

3. It is overriding. Does not entertain self-interest

It is prime and foremost over other standards and takes priority over other
values. It is not self-serving.

4. It is based on impartial consideration.

It is fair and just and goes beyond personal interest. It gives equal and
adequate consideration to all.

5. It is associated with emotions

(Guilt, shame) and vocabulary (right - wrong, good-bad)

6. It has the trait of universality

Everyone lives up to moral standards. Moral principles apply to all
relevantly in similar situation.

♥ Non-moral Standard
It is referred to standards by which people judge what is good or bad, right
or wrong in a non-moral way (rules during meal time, fashion preference,
rules in games)

- Observance of these standards does not make a moral person

- It imposes no threat or violation to human being. (Violating basketball
rules may matter in basketball game but not necessarily in one’s life or
well-being).
- These tell us what is preferable or not, that of preference and taste
- They serve different purpose or function.
Example when we refer to:
Standard of etiquette, we judge the manner as good or bad
Standard of law, we judge the law as legal or illegal
Standard of aesthetics, we judge the art as beautiful or otherwise

Examples:
Etiquette (don’t talk when your mouth is full)
Fashion (conservative and liberal)
Rule of games (rules in basketball)
Ordinances (observance of curfew)
 Moral Standards Non moral standards
Do not kill Black is beautiful
Do not steal Health is wealth
Do not deceive Don’t talk when the mouth is full
Preserve life Elbows of the table
Protect the environment Do not text while driving
Don’t harm innocent people Saying “po” and “Opo”
Obligation to fulfill promises Shaking of hands
Child abuse Etiquette
Obligations in terms of human Aesthetic
rights Rules of the games
Respect and dignity to human ordinances
Do not need back up by law Matter of preference and taste

MORAL DILEMMA

♥ Dilemma
This is a situation where individual (group of individuals) is torn between 2
or more conflicting options.

In Ethics
Dilemma places the Moral Agent (Human) in a situation that requires one
to choose between 2 or more conflicting moral requirements.

Moral requirements are obligations of person to do certain acts

accompanied with reason and impartiality as minimum requirements.

Reason is the fundamental belief that person is a rational being and

impartiality implies that moral and legal principles are free from biases and
prejudices as well as whims and caprices.

- Human is the only creature gifted with intelligence.

Moral dilemma consists of the following:

a. An agent (moral agent = human)
b. Obligation to act on 2 or more options
c. The agent cannot do both or all possible options

Ex. A Politician who promised to protect the environment during the campaign
period also deals with businessman from a logging firm. He won in that
election. What will he do? Where will his obligation be?

One is not in a moral dilemma if one is not forced to choose options, one is
just into problematic or stressful condition.

- If human action involves moral implication, then you are in a dilemma.

♥ Three conditions that must be present in moral dilemma

1. The person or the agent of moral action is obliged to decide about which
course of action is best
2. There must be different courses of action to choose from
3. No matter what course of action is taken; some moral principles are always
compromise

According to Benjamin Lebastin, in moral dilemmas, the moral agent

“seems fated” to commit something wrong, which implies that one is bound to
morally fail to do something which she might to do.

- By choosing one of the possible requirements, the person also fails on

others.

One has to choose specific option. It cannot be both or all. Hence, by

choosing one you are taking the risk of not really choosing the best option.
(parang itinalaga kang mabigo dahil sa pagpili, na maaring ang hindi mo pinili
ay siya pala ang mas dapat)

♥ Types of Moral Dilemma

1. Epistemic and Ontological Dilemmas

Epistemic dilemma
- There are 2 or more moral requirements that conflict each other.
- Moral agent hardly knows which take precedence over the other.

Scenario:
A father promised to his son that he will go home early so that they will have
quality time. On his way home, the father encountered a sick old man on the
street who needs help.
Where does his actual duty be? To his son or to the old man

Is an important purpose being served by getting home early?

How severe is the condition of the sick man?
One option must be better than the other: Only it needs fuller knowledge of
the situation, thus this is Epistemic dilemma (coming from Greek word
“Episteme” meaning knowledge)

Ontological Dilemma
- Two or more moral requirement conflict with each other, neither these
overrides each other and neither of the moral requirement is stronger-
hence moral agents can hardly choose
Scenario
A military doctor attending to wounded soldiers who need blood transfusion.
However, only one bag is available.
To whom the doctor will administer the blood

2. Self-imposed and world-imposed dilemmas

Self-imposed dilemma
- is caused by the moral agent herself/himself.

Scenario
A Mayor’s promise during election… (refer to earlier example)
Is it still possible for him to discharge his own obligation?

World-imposed dilemma
- Certain events in the world place the moral agent in a situation of moral
conflict.

Classic Example: Sophie’s Choice

Sophie, Polish interned in Auschwitz concentration camp. She had 2 children
and she had to choose who will be among her 2 children would be taken
inside gas chamber and who will be dispensed.
She cannot choose both otherwise both will die
Eva, her daughter was taken to the chamber
Jan, went to the children’s camp.

3. Obligation Dilemmas and Prohibition Dilemmas

Obligation Dilemma
- involves more than one feasible action which is obligatory.

A brother of a French student was killed by Germans. Nonetheless, later his

father collaborated with Germans. The student was torn between staying in
France with his mother who found comfort in him or to join the French army
to fight the Germans.
It is now family vs. Nation

No correct or incorrect decision

Invent solution to the problem

In Prohibition Dilemma, all feasible action is forbidden

Classic example is Sophie’s Choice

4. Single agent and multi-person dilemmas

Single agent dilemma

- The agent ought all things consider to do A, ought all things consider to
do B and agent cannot do both A and B.

HIV patient and medical Doctor

It is legal requirement to report such case
Doctor has to respect confidentiality

What is he going to do now that he knew that his patient is HIV positive?

Multi-person dilemma
- One agent P ought to do A, second Agent ought to do B. Each agent can
do what one ought to do it is not possible for Agent 1 to do A and Agent
2 to do B

Shown in family, organization community- there must be consensual decision

Euthanasia or mercy killing. Will the family favor it?
Workforce reduction. Will the company close the plant or go for reduced
manpower?

Multi-person Dilemma requires more than choosing what is right, it also

entails that person involved reached a general consensus.

Please note that:

In case of emergency, necessity demands no moral law
Decide on your best judgment that is choosing lesser evil and greater good

♥ Three levels of moral Dilemma

1. Individual (Personal level)

Individual Moral Dilemma is resolved by oneself

Story of Twins:
Andi is the healthy one, Idna is the sickly with kidney failure and already
undergoing dialysis. Andi has kidney profile compatible to Idna
Andi is the best donor.

Will he donate one of his kidneys or not?

2. Organizational

Ethical cases are encountered and resolved by social organization, business

sector, medical field and public sector.
To shut down or to continue plant operation with reduced workforce?
To resign or to continue as health worker?

3. Systemic/Structural

Ethical standards are universal or general, multisectoral

What vaccines to buy?
Buhay or kabuhayan?

♥ Foundations of Morality

A. FREEDOM
Presupposition: Person is Free along with reason
We make way within the limits and material entanglement, in here we make
choices

To live a life of virtue or vice?

A life of health or wealth?

B. RESPONSIBILITY
Action of man is his own and he be responsible for it

Make or break
Recognize or criticize
Awarded or be punished

Animals do not have moral or legal liabilities.

 ON 7-STEP MODEL OF MORAL REASONING

Minimum requirements for morality

1. REASON
2. IMPARTIALITY

REASON
This is the basis of an action or decision
Moral judgment is backed up with reason

IMPARTIALITY
Equal treatment of all
All point of view is equally important
Adhere to principle of justice
Decision must be based on objective criteria

• 7 –step Moral Reasoning Model

1. Gather the facts

The simplest way of clarifying an ethical dilemma is to make sure the facts
are clear. Ask: Do you have the facts that are necessary to make a goad
decision? What do we know? What do we need to know? In this light it might
become clear that the dilemma is not ethical but about communication or
strategy.

2. Determine Ethical Issues

Ethical interests are stated in terms of legitimate competing interests or
goods The competing interests are what creates the dilemma. Moral values
and virtues must support the competing interests in order for an ethical
dilemma to exist. If you cannot identify the underlying values/virtues then you
do not have an ethical dilemma. Often people hold these positions strongly
and with passion because of the value/virtue beneath them.

3. Determine what values/principles have a bearing on the case

In an ethical dilemma certain values and principles are central to the
competing positions. Identify these. Determine if some should be given more
weight than others. Ask what the source for the principle is-constitution,
culture, natural law. religious tradition…

4. List the Alternatives

Creatively determine possible courses of action for your dilemma. Some
will almost immediately be discarded but generally the more you list the
greater potential for coming up with a really good one. It will also help you
come up with a broader selection of ideas.

5. Compare the Alternatives with the virtues/principles

This step eliminates alternatives as they are weighed by the moral
principles which have a bearing on the case. Potentially the issue will be
resolved here as all alternatives except one are eliminated. Here you must
satisfy all the relevant virtues and values-so at least some of the alternatives
will be eliminated (even if you still have to go on to step 6). Often here you
have to weight principles and virtues-make sure you have a good reason for
each weighting.

6. Consider the consequences

If principles have not yielded a clear decision consider the consequences
of your alternatives. Take the alternatives and work out the positive and
negative consequences of each. Estimate how beneficial each positive and
negative consequence is-some might have greater weight than others.

7. Decision

ON CULTURE

☼ Broadest Description
Culture is a structure of collective experience and shared practices which are
commonly expressed in but not limited to arts, music dance, literature,
behavior and social norms. It is made up of external and material elements
around us.

☼ Simplest Definition
It a way of life…way of doing, thinking, and valuing things that are identifiably
and distinctively theirs. (Anthropologist view)

Culture is a particular feature of a particular form of life.

The link between culture and life makes ethics and morality interwoven with
culture.
Culture contains and encompasses material, emotional, intellectual and
ethical aspects of society.

☼ What is the foundation of our culture?

- In the Philippines, the core of culture is shaped by history of

colonialism and Christianity which shapes our politics, governance and
religion including our psycho-social consciousness, self-identity and
interest.
- The “thickness” of history is very evident.
- Postcolonial residues remain operative. Some practices of yesteryears
can still be observed in our current times.

- In the Philippine context, any assessment on Filipino behavior, judgment

and values is insufficient without considering its religious orientation and
substance
- The link between culture and western colonialism and Christianity is at
the heart of religious culture in the Philippines.
Edward Said, a post-colonial literary critic mentioned that non-western
cultures are produced through representation in Western imaginaries and
Western academia. This representation is a matter of operation of POWER
and it is not neutral. Western culture is projected to be superior than other
culture like that of middle eastern practices where Arabs are
seen/represented as barbaric.
People and culture representation are determined and shaped by their
subject position in the colonizer/colonized power relation

☼ In summary, culture has the following features:

- Culture is human made. It is a social construct., historical, social,

political and religious. It embodies and expresses human aspiration and
ultimate concern.
- Culture is site specific and particular to a society or social operation.
There is no “universal culture”
- Culture reflects and embodies the logic and power relations of a
particular social order. It a product of particular social order. There is a
culture within a particular culture.
- Culture is performative, not static not fixed. It transforms.
- Culture mutates as historical contingencies change, social configuration
modifies or political order revolutionizes

☼ Role of culture in Moral Behavior

1. It shapes our moral behavior
2. It influences our perception of what is right and wrong
3. It gives unity to people in society