VALUE

Prepared By: Ethelynne Fame R. Fulgueras

 Values
Ethics, generally speaking, is about
matters such as the good thing that we
should pursue and the bad things that
we should avoid; the right ways in
which we could and should act and the
wrong ways of acting. It is about what
is acceptable and unacceptable in
human behavior.
CLARIFICATION AND
TERMINOLOGY

Recognizing the notions of

good and bad, and right and
wrong, are the primary concern
of ethics. In order to start, it
would be useful to clarify the
following points.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Our first point of clarification is to

recognize that there are instances when
we make value judgements that not
considered a part of ethics.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

For instance, I could say that the movie that I

had just seen was a “good” one because I
enjoyed it, or a song I had just heard on the
radio was “bad” one because it had an
unpleasant tone, but these are not part of
discussion of ethics.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

I may have an opinion as to what is the right

dip (sawsawan) for my chicken barbeque, or I
may maintain that is “wrong” to wear a leather
vest over a barong tagalog, and these are not
the concern of the ethics. These are valuation
that fall under the domains of aesthetics.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

The word aesthetics is derive from the Greek word

aesthesis (sense or feeling) and refers to the
judgements of personal approval or disapproval that
we make about what we see, hear, smell, or taste. In
fact, we often use the word “taste” to refer to the
personal aesthetic preferences that we have on these
matters, such as his taste in music or her taste in
clothes.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Similarly, we have a sense of approval or

disapproval concerning certain actions,
which considered relatively more trivial in
nature. Thus, for instance, I may think that it
is right to knock politely on someone’s door,
while it is wrong to barge into one’s office.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Perhaps I may approve of a child who knows how

to ask something properly by saying please and
otherwise, disapprove of a woman that I see picking
her nose in public. These and other similar
examples belong to the category of etiquette, which
is concerned with right and wrong actions, but
those which might be considered not quite grave
enough to belong to discussion on ethics.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

To clarify this point , we can differentiate how

I may be displeased seeing a healthy young
man refuse to offer his seat on the bus to an
elderly lady, but my indignation and shock
would be much greater if I were to see a man
deliberately push another one out of a moving
bus.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

We can also consider how a notion of

right and wrong actions can easily appear
in a context that not a matter of ethics.
This could also be in learning how to
bake, for instance.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

I am told that the right thing to do is to

mix the dry ingredients first, such as flour
or sugar before bringing up in any liquids,
like milk or cream; this is the right thing
to do in baking, but not one that belongs
in ethics.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

This could also be when learning how to play

basketball. You are instruct that it be against the
rules to walk more than two steps without
dribbling the ball; again, obeying this rule to not
travel is something that makes sense only in the
context of the game and is not an ethical
prohibition.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

We derive from the Greek word techne the

English words “technique” and technical,
which are often, use to refer a proper way
of doing things, but a technical valuation
may not necessarily be an ethical ones as
these examples show.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Recognizing the characteristics of aesthetic and

technical valuation allows us to have rough
guides as to what belongs to a discussion of
ethics. They involve valuations that we make in
a sphere of human actions, characterized by
certain gravity and concern the human well-
being or human life itself.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Therefore, matters that concern life and death

such as war, capital punishment or abortion and
matters that concern human well-being such as
poverty, inequality, or sexual identity are often
included in discussion in ethics. However, this
general description is only a starting point and
it will require further elaboration.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

One compilation that can be note is that the

distinction between what belongs to ethics and
what does not is not clearly define.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

At times, the question of what is grave or

trivial is debatable, and sometimes some
of the most heated discussions in ethics
could be on fundamental question of
whether a certain sphere of human
activities belongs to this discussion.
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Are clothes always just a matter of taste or

would provocative clothing call for some
kind of moral judgement?
 KINDS OF VALUATION

Can we say that a man who verbal abused

his girlfriend is simply showing bad
manners or this behavior deserve stronger
moral condemnation?
 ETHICS AND MORAL

Our second point of clarification is on the

use of the words ethics and morals. This
discussion of ethics and morals would
include cognates such as ethical,
unethical, immoral, amoral, morality and
so on.
As we proceed, we should be careful
particularly on the use of the word not
when applied to the words moral or
ethical as this can be ambiguous.
The term “moral” may use to refer to specific
beliefs or attitudes that people have or to
describe acts that people perform. Thus, it
says that an individual’s personal conduct
referred to as his morals, and if he falls short
of behaving properly, this can be describe as
immoral.
However, we also have terms such as
“moral judgement” or “moral reasoning,”
which suggest a more rational aspect.
 The term “ethics” can spoke of as the
discipline of studying and understanding
ideal human behavior and ideal way of
thinking. Ethics is acknowledge as an
intellectual discipline.
However, acceptable and unacceptable
behaviors are also generally describe as
ethical and unethical, respectively.
 In addition, with regard to the acceptable and
unacceptable ways of behaving in given field,
we have the term “professional ethics” (e.g.,
legal ethics for proper comportment of lawyers
and other people in the legal profession;
medical ethics for doctors and nurses; and
media ethics for writers and reporters).
Therefore, various thinkers and writers posit a
distinction between the terms moral and ethics and
they may have good reasons for doing so, but there is
no consensus as to how to make distinction. We will
be using the terms ethical and moral interchangeably.
DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE

Our third point of clarification is to distinguish

between a descriptive and a normative study of
ethics.
DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE

A descriptive study of ethics reports how

people, particularly groups, make their
moral valuations.
 DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE

This kind of study is often the work of the social

scientist: either historian (studying different
moral standards over time) or a sociologist or
anthropologist (studying different moral
standards across cultures).
 DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE

A normative study of ethics, done in

philosophy or moral theology, engages
the question: what could or should be
consider as the right way of acting?
 DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE

In other words, a normative

discussion prescribes what we
ought to maintain as our standards
or bases for moral valuation.
DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE

When engaging in discussion of ethics, it

is always advisable to recognize whether
one is concerned with a descriptive view
 DESCRIPTIVE AND NORMATIVE
(noting how filial piety and
obedience are pervasive
characteristic of Chinese culture) or
with a normative perspective
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA

As to final point of clarification, it

may be helpful to distinguish a
situation that calls for moral
valuation. It can be called a moral
issue. For instance, imagine a
situation where a person cannot
afford a certain item, but then the
possibility presents itself for her to
steal it.
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA

This is a matter of ethics (not just

law) insofar as it is involves the
question of respect for one’s
property.
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA

We should add that issue is also

often used to refer to those
particular situations that are often
the source of considerable and
inconclusive debate (thus, we would
often hear topics such as capital
punishment and euthanasia as moral
issues).
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA

When one is place in a situation and

confront by the choice of what act
to perform, she is called to make
moral decision. When a person is an
observer who makes an assessment
on the actions or behavior of
someone, she is making moral
judgement.
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA

Finally going beyond the matter of

choosing right over wrong, or good
over bad, and considering instead the
more complicated situation wherein
one is torn between choosing one of
two goods or choosing between the
lesser of two evils; this is referred to
as moral dilemma.
ISSUE, DECISION, JUDGEMENT, AND DILEMMA

We have a moral dilemma

when an individual can
choose only one from a
number of a possible actions,
and there are compelling
ethical reasons for the
various choices.
 REASONING
Why do we suppose that a certain
way of acting is right and its
opposite wrong? The study of ethics
is interested in question like these:
Why do we decide to consider this
way of acting as acceptable while
that way of acting, it is opposite is
unacceptable?
To put it in another way, what
reasons do we give to decide or to
judge that a certain way of acting its
opposite, is unacceptable? To put it
in another way of acting either right
or wrong?
A person’s fear of
punishment or desire
for reward can provide
him a reason for acting
in a certain way. It is
common to say
someone say:
“I did not cheat on the exam
because I was afraid that I might get
caught,” or “I look after my father
in the hospital because I wanted to
get higher allowance.” In a certain
sense, fear of punishment and desire
for reward can be spoken of as
giving some a “reason” for acting in
a certain way.
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

• Law - It is supposed to be
that the law is one’s guide to ethical
behavior. In the Philippines,
Filipinos are constrained to obey the
laws of the land as stated in the
country’s criminal and civil codes.
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

• Religion -
“Love the lord, Your God,
therefore, and always heed his
charge: his statutes, decrees,
and commandments.” (New
American Bible)
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

• Culture-
Our exposure to different societies and
there cultures makes us aware that there
are ways of thinking and valuing that are
different from our own, that there is in
fact a wide diversity of how different a
people believe it is proper to act. As to:
SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

Aesthetic differences – Japanese

art vs. Indian art
Religious differences – Buddhism
vs. Christianity
Etiquette differences – conflicting
behaviors regarding dining practices