Republic of the Philippines

OCCIDENTAL MINDORO STATE COLLEGE

Labangan, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
website: www.omsc.edu.ph email address: [email protected]
Tele/Fax: (043) 457-0231 CERTIFIED TO ISO 9001:2015
CERT. NO.: 50500643 QM15

A Module
in
Ethics

Compiled by:
NOEL N. BANTOG, MPA
MA. SOLEDAD O. GUARISMA, MAT
MARIA LUISA P. PULIDO, MAT

The compiler does not own any of the contents of this learning module. Due credits and
acknowledgment are given to the authors, internet sources, and researchers listed on the
reference page. Such sources are reserved to further explain concepts and cannot be credited to
the compiler and the school. All diagrams, charts, and images are used for educational purposes
only. The sole objective of this instructional material is to facilitate independent learning and
not for monetary gains because this is NOT FOR SALE.

2020 Edition

i
 Republic of the Philippines
OCCIDENTAL MINDORO STATE COLLEGE
Labangan, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
website: www.omsc.edu.ph email address: [email protected]
Tele/Fax: (043) 457-0231 CERTIFIED TO ISO 9001:2015
CERT. NO.: 50500643 QM15

APPROVAL SHEET

This Instructional Material entitled A MODULE IN ETHICS, compiled by

NOEL N. BANTOG, MA. SOLEDAD O. GUARISMA, and MARIA LUISA P.
PULIDO (A.Y. 2020-2021), is recommended for production and utilization by the students
and faculty members of the Occidental Mindoro State College.

PANEL OF EVALUATORS

Local Evaluation Committee

GRYMON P. CALITANG JAZEL S. GAYONA

Member Member

NIMFA B. PASTRANA,PhD
Chairperson

Overall Instructional Materials Development Committee

VENESSA S. CASANOVA, PhD MA. IMELDA C. RAYTON, MA

Member Member

Recommending Approval:

JESSIE S. BAROLO, JR., MAEd

Chairperson

Approved:

ELBERT C. EDANIOL, EdD

Vice President for Academic Affairs

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SYLLABUS

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ix
 PREFACE

Ethics deals with principle of ethical behavior in modern society at the level
person, society, and in interaction with the environment and other shared resources
(CMO No. 20 s 2013).

On the first part of this instructional material, it introduced the morality which
pertains in the standards of right and wrong that an individual originally picks up from the
community. This instructional material will discuss the context and principles of ethical
behavior in modern society at the level of individual society, and in interaction with the
environment and other shared resources. This instructional material also teaches
students to make moral decisions by using dominant moral frameworks and by applying
a seven-step moral reason model to analyze and solve moral dilemmas.

This Instructional Material is organized according to the three (3) main elements
of the moral experience: (a) agent, including context – cultural, communal, and
environments; (b) the act, and (c) reason or framework (for the act). This module includes
mandatory topic on taxation.

Included in the Instructional materials are five (5) Lessons with sub topics such as:
Lesson 1: Basic Conflicts of Moral and Non-Moral Standard
Lesson 2: The Moral Agent
Lesson 3: The Act
Lesson 4: Framework and Principles Behind Our Moral Disposition
Lesson 5: Conclusion: Ethics Through Thick and Thin, and Ethics and
Religion

It is hoped that this Instructional Material will serve the needs of the institution.

N.N.B
M.S.O.G
M.L.M.P

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i
Approval Sheet ii
Outcomes-Based Education Syllabus iii
Preface x
Table of Contents xi
Lesson 1: Basic Conception of Moral and 1
Non-Morals Standard
Moral and Non-Moral Standards 1
Moral Dilemmas 2
Freedom as Foundation for Moral Acts 4
Lesson 2: The Moral Agent 8
Culture in Moral Behavior 8
Cultural Relativism 9
The Filipino Way 17
Universal Values 25
The Moral Agent 28
Moral Development 30
Lesson 3: The Act 34
Feelings and Moral Decision-making 34
Reason and Impartiality 36
The 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model 39
Moral Courage 44
Lesson 4: Frameworks and Principles behind Our Moral Disposition 47
Moral Theories and Mental Frames 48
Virtue Theory 50
Kant and Rights Theorists 53
Utilitarianism 57
Justice and Fairness 58
Taxation in the Philippines 63
Lesson 5: Conclusion: Ethics through Thick and Thin and Ethics and Religion 66
The Challenges of Pluralism and Fundamentalism 66
Challenges of Millenials and Filinnials 72
The Religious Response 74

REFERENCES 77

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 LESSON 1
BASIC CONCEPTS ON MORAL AND NON-MORALS STANDARDS

TOPICS
1. Moral and Non-Moral Standards
2. Moral Dilemmas
3. Freedom as Foundation for Moral Acts

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. differentiate between moral and non-moral standards;
2. recognize and recall a moral experience;
3. detect a moral dilemma;
4. identify the three levels of moral dilemmas; and
5. explain why only human beings can be ethical.

TOPIC 1: MORAL AND NON-MORAL STANDARDS

Moral Standards

Moral standards are the criteria people or individuals have about the different
actions considered to be morally right or morally wrong, and also the values attached to
what is believed to be morally good or morally bad.

It is usually said that moral standards promote “the good,” or the welfare and well-
being not only of humans but also animals and the environment. These are the actions
that can cause either benefit or harm.

Therefore, moral standards determine what people ought to do in terms of rights

and obligations.

Non-Moral Standards
Non-moral standards are guidelines which are entirely not associated with ethical
or moral considerations. The act of doing something which falls under non-moral
standards does not harm human beings. For example, the manner by which a person
eats, either by bare hands or by using utensils, falls under non-moral standards.

1
 ASSESSMENT

Write M if the statement is a moral standard and NM if it is a non-moral standard.

__________ 1. Fall in line.
__________ 2. Always tell the truth.
__________ 3. Do not harm others.
__________ 4. No talking while inside the museum.
__________ 5. Keep right.
__________ 6. Do not lie.
__________ 7. Do not take what is not yours.
__________ 8. Take off your shoes before you enter.
__________ 9. Do not cheat.
__________ 10. Turn off your mobile phones during performances.

TOPIC 2: MORAL DILEMMAS

Before we go to moral dilemmas, let us first understand what dilemma means. It

is defined as being in a situation where a person has to choose between two or more
conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable.

Moral dilemmas, therefore, are circumstances wherein persons, referred to as

“moral agents” in Ethics, are forced to choose between two or more opposing alternatives
neither of which leads to a morally acceptable outcome.

a.) there is an agent about to choose among

two or more options and must act
accordingly;

b.) the options from which to choose from Three (3) conditions to be
are conflicting; and called a moral dilemma

c.) no matter which course of action the

moral agent chooses, there is always that
moral principle that is compromised.

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 3 LEVELS OF MORAL
DILEMMAS

INDIVIDUAL DILEMMAS - a
person, or an individual, has ORGANIZATIONAL
two or more moral values to DILEMMAS - can take many STRUCTURAL DILEMMAS -
consider, he or she can choose forms and these are the refer to moral predicaments
one only, and choosing one or moral problems in the in public administration.
the other will not solve the workplace.
problem in a moral way.

Task/Activity

Read very carefully the following paragraph. What will you do if you were Lindsay?
On a half sheet yellow paper, write a ten-sentence paragraph to summarize your answer.
Lindsay is a deeply religious person; hence, she considers killing humans absolutely
wrong. Unfortunately, it is found out that Lindsay is having an ectopic pregnancy. As is well
known, an ectopic pregnancy is a type of pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus, most
commonly in the fallopian tubes. In other words, in ectopic pregnancy, the fetus does not
develop in the uterus. Now, if this happens, the development of the fetus will definitely
endanger the mother. Thus, if Lindsay continues 2 with her pregnancy, then there is a big
possibility that she will die. According to experts, the best way to save Lindsay’s life is to
abort the fetus, which necessarily implies killing the fetus. If we do not abort the fetus,
then Lindsay, as well as the fetus, will die.

_____________________________________________________________________
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 Writing Activity Scoring Guide
Name: Year and Section:
Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory (1) Total
(4) (3) (2) (10)
COMMUNICATIVE The The Some key The intended
EFFECTIVENESS message message points are message is not
is is conveyed, conveyed.
conveyed conveyed with some
in a clear rather flaws.
way. clearly.
ORGANIZATION The text The text The The text is not
is is paragraph/s logically arranged,
arranged arranged is/are too making the
clearly rather long, or paragraph/s
and clearly short, or incomprehensible.
logically. and absent, but
logically. it is possible
to follow
the main
idea.
GRAMMAR The text has Grammar
grammar mistakes make it
mistakes, difficult to
but on the understand the
whole is content.
good.
Adapted from
https://www.eslprintables.com/teaching_resources/assessment/assessment_rubric/Ru
bric_to_assess_a_writing_tas_717063/
Total points of student: ______/10

TOPIC 3: FREEDOM AS FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN ACTS

Freedom, defined as the act of doing something without any impediment, is

an important factor in doing moral actions. Man is said to be the highest of all creations
and is endowed with intellect and free will. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church Part
3, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 3, No. 1730 it is stated, “Man is rational and therefore like
God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.”

Even Charles Darwin (1871) wrote that he agreed with those writers who
reinforced the judgment that the most important difference between man and lower
animals is the former’s moral sense or conscience. He further stated that the biological
makeup of man determines the presence of three necessary conditions for ethical

4
behaviour: a.) the ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s own actions; b.) the
ability to make value judgments; and c.) the ability to choose between alternative courses
of action.

Task/Activity

Before doing something, do you have options to choose from? Do you do

something on impulse? Do you think in advance before you act?

On the space provided for below, write about something you did during the
Enhanced Community Quarantine or ECQ wherein you applied any one or all of the three
necessary conditions for ethical behaviour. (Maximum of 15 sentences only)

5
 Writing Activity Scoring Guide
Name: Year and Section:
Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Total
(4) (3) (2) (1) (10)
COMMUNICATIVE The The Some key The intended
EFFECTIVENESS message message points are message is not
is is conveyed, conveyed.
conveyed conveyed with some
in a clear rather flaws.
way. clearly.
ORGANIZATION The text The text is The The text is not
is arranged paragraph/s logically arranged,
arranged rather is/are too making the
clearly clearly long, or paragraph/s
and and short, or incomprehensible.
logically. logically. absent, but
it is possible
to follow
the main
idea.
GRAMMAR The text has Grammar
grammar mistakes make it
mistakes, difficult to
but on the understand the
whole is content.
good.
Adapted from
https://www.eslprintables.com/teaching_resources/assessment/assessment_rubric/Rubric_to_assess_a_writing_tas_717063/
Total points of student: _______/10
II. Read carefully the following scenarios. Identify what kind of dilemma is encountered.
(5 points each)
Rina works as the secretary to the sales manager, Mr. Alba, of S General Merchandise.
She overheard Mr. Alba talking to the accountant, Mike, who happens to be her
boyfriend. Mr. Alba told Mike to manipulate the sales figures for the month, just like
what he did last month. Mike replied he will gladly do it again and again only if Mr. Alba
will increase his share from P75,000 to P100,000.00 each month. Mr. Alba laughed and
told Mike money is not a problem.

Rina was horrified. She thought his boyfriend was a highly-principled person. At the
same time, she was disappointed because she has been suspecting for months now
that there is something going on.

She is thinking of reporting what she knew to the owner, Mr. Blanco, but she knew that
he is the brother-in-law of Mr. Alba.
Answer:

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Joe is a 3rd generation Guatemalan immigrant in the United States. He works as border
patrol officer along the Mexico-United States international border. He loves his job and
he is determined to enforce the law. Border patrol officers are responsible to prevent
illegal immigration and unlawful traffic of goods in the US.
His family has relatives who are not as lucky as they are. He has a first cousin, Andres,
who wants to seek asylum in the US but was trapped in Mexico when US closed its
borders. Andres was with his son, Angelito.
One day Joe received a call that Angelito was caught trying to illegally cross the border
and was held in a transfer facility and was scheduled for deportation to Guatemala the
following week.
His relatives are pressuring him to do all he can to prevent the deportation from
happening.
Answer:

Myla has two best friends: Kyla and Lyla. Kyla has a suitor, Naldy, who happens to be
close to Myla as well. Naldy confided to Myla that he loves Kyla but he is also attracted
to Lyla. Naldy is having second thoughts about pursuing Kyla because she is going to
migrate to Canada. Naldy has a stable job here and migrating to another country is not
an option for him. Lyla, on the other hand, prefers to stay here in the Philippines even
though her parents and siblings are in the US.
Naldy did not call Kyla for two weeks. During that time, he was always with Lyla, trying
to get to know her better. Lyla has feelings for Naldy also and she did not care at all,
although she knew very well that Kyla is falling for Naldy, too.
Meanwhile, Kyla told Myla that she has decided to forego her dream of going to Canada
because she has decided to accept Naldy and build a career here. She was very happy
with her decision and cannot wait to tell Naldy. In fact, she might even call him to
inform him of her decision.
After Kyla left Myla, Naldy came to announce that he and Lyla mutually agreed to date
exclusively but they could not tell Kyla about it.
Answer:

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 LESSON 2
THE MORAL AGENT

TOPICS
1. Culture and Moral Behavior
2. Cultural Relativism
3. The Filipino Way
4. Universal Values
5. The Moral Agent
6. Moral Development

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. recognize differences in moral behaviour of different cultures;
2. evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of cultural relativism;
3. analyze crucial qualities of the Filipino moral identity;
4. identify universal values;
5. explain the relationship between individual acts and character; and
6. identify and articulate each stage of moral development.

TOPIC 1: CULTURE AND MORAL BEHAVIOR

Merriam-Webster (2020) defined culture as the customary beliefs, social forms,

and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group. Moral behavior, on the other
hand, refers to the rightness or wrongness of a human act. A recurring theme in social
science is “different cultures have different moral codes.” What is practiced in one
culture might be taboo in another culture.

Darius, a king of Persia, travelled a lot. In one of his travels, he encountered a group
of Indians, the Callatians, who ate the bodies of their dead fathers. Darius knew that the
Greeks, usually practiced cremation and regarded the funeral pyre as the customary and
natural way of disposing the dead.

8
 Darius believed that an appreciation of different cultures was one way to
understand the world. One day, to prove his point, he summoned some Greeks to his
court and asked them what would make them eat the bodies of their dead fathers. The
Greeks were, of course, horrified and said no amount of money would make them do so.
He then called in some Callatians and, while the Greeks were listening, asked them what
would it take for them to burn their dead fathers’ bodies. The Callatians were shocked
and asked the king never to mention it again.

From the above example, we can see that what is practiced in one culture and is
believed to be the norm is actually an abomination to another culture. What we are
accustomed of doing could be something other cultures find hard to accept and vice
versa.

Task/Activity/

Write down at least 5 customs which are not practiced here in the Philippines. (10
points)

COUNTRY PRACTICE SOURCE

TOPIC 2: CULTURAL RELATIVISM

Cultural Relativism is a belief that there is no universal truth. For the cultural
relativists, all that exist are the customs of different societies. Said customs can neither be
judged as right or wrong since doing so would mean that there is an independent standard
by which they will be judged.

To many thinkers, this observation – “Different cultures have different moral codes”
– has seemed to be the key to understanding morality. The idea of universal truth in ethics,
they say, is a myth. The customs of different societies are all that exist. These customs
cannot be said to be “correct” or “incorrect,” for that implies we have an independent
standard of right and wrong by which they may be judged. But there is no such independent

9
standard; every standard is culture-bound. The great pioneering sociologist William
Graham Sumner, writing in 1906, put the point like this:

The “right” way is the way which the ancestors used and which has been
handed down. The tradition is its own warrant. It is not held subject to
verification by experience. The notion of right is in the folkways. It is not
outside of them, of independent origin, and brought to test them. In the
folkways, whatever is, is right. This is because they are traditional, and
therefore contains in themselves the authority of the ancestral ghosts.
When we come to the folkways we are at the end of our analysis.

This line of thought has probably persuaded more people to be skeptical about ethics
than any other single thing. Cultural Relativism, as it has been called, challenges our
ordinary belief in the objectivity and universality of moral truth. It says, in effect, that there
is no such thing as universal truth in ethics; there are only the various cultural codes, and
nothing more. Moreover, our own code has no special status; it is merely one among many.

As we shall see, this basic idea is really a compound of several different thoughts. It is
important to separate the various elements of the theory because, on analysis, some parts
turn out to be correct, while other seem to be mistaken. As a beginning, we may distinguish
the following claims, all of which have been made by cultural relativists:

1. Different societies have different moral codes.

2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better
than another.
3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is one among many.
4. There is no “universal truth” in ethics; that is, there are no moral truths that hold
for all people at all times.
5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within society; that is, if the
moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right,
at least within that society.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should
adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures.

Although it may seem that these six propositions go naturally together, they are
independent of one another, in the sense that some of them might be false even if others
are true. In what follows, we will try to identify what is correct in Cultural Relativism, but
we will also be concerned to expose what is mistaken about it.

Cultural Relativism is a theory about the nature of morality. At first blush it seems
quite plausible. However, like all such theories, it may be evaluated by subjecting it to
rational analysis; and when we analyze Cultural Relativism we find that it is not so
plausible as it first appears to be.

The first thing we need to notice is that at the heart of Cultural Relativism there is a
certain form of argument. The strategy used by cultural relativists is to argue from facts
about the differences between cultural outlooks to a conclusion about the status of morality.
Thus, we are invited to accept this reasoning:
10
 1. The Greeks believed it was wrong to eat the dead, whereas the Callatians
believed it was right to eat the dead.
2. Therefore, eating the dead is neither objectively right nor objectively wrong.
It is merely a matter of opinion, which varies from culture to culture.

Or, alternatively:

1. The Eskimos see nothing wrong with infanticide, whereas Americans

believe infanticide is immoral.
2. Therefore, infanticide is either objectively right or objectively wrong. It is
merely a matter of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture.

Clearly, these arguments are variations of one fundamental idea. They are both special
cases of a more general argument, which says:

1. Different cultures have different moral codes.

2. Therefore, there is no objective “truth” in morality. Right and wrong are
only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture.

We may call this the Cultural Differences Argument. To many people, it is persuasive.
But from a logical point of view, is it sound?

It is not sound. The trouble is that the conclusion does not follow from the premise –
that is, even if the premise is true, the conclusion still might be false. The premise concerns
what people believe. In some societies, people believe on thing; in other societies, people
believe differently. The conclusion, however, concerns what really is the case. The trouble
is that this sort of conclusion does not follow logically from the premise.

Consider again the example of the Greeks and the Callatians. The Greeks believed it
was wrong to eat the dead; the Callatians believed it was right. Does it follow, from the
mere fact that they disagreed, that there is no objective truth in the matter? No, it does not
follow; for it could be that the practice was objectively right (or wrong) and that one or the
other of them was simply mistaken.

To make the point clearer, consider a different matter. In some societies, people
believe the earth is flat. In other societies, such as our own, people believe the earth is
(roughly) spherical. Does it follow, from the mere fact that people disagree, that there is no
“objective truth” in geography? Of course not; we would never draw such a conclusion
because we realize that, in their beliefs about the world, the members of some societies
might simply be wrong. There is no reason to think that if the world is round everyone
must know it. Similarly, there is no reason to think that if there is moral truth everyone
must know it. The fundamental mistake in the Cultural Differences Argument is that it
attempts to derive a substantive conclusion about a subject from the mere fact that people
disagree about it.

This is a simple point of logic, and it is important not to misunderstand it. We are not
saying (not yet, anyway) that the conclusion of the argument is false. It is still an open

11
question whether the conclusion is true or false. The logical point is just that the conclusion
does not follow from the premise. This is important, because in order to determine whether
the conclusion is true, we need arguments in its support. Cultural Relativism proposes this
argument, but unfortunately the argument turns out to be fallacious. So it proves nothing.

Even if the Cultural Differences Argument is invalid, Cultural Relativism might still
be true. What would it be like if it were true?

In the passage quoted above, William Graham Sumner summarizes the essence of
Cultural Relativism. He says that there is no measure of right and wrong other than the
standards of one’s society: The notion of right is in the folkways. It is not outside of them,
of independent origin, and brought to test them. In the folkways, whatever is, is right.”
Suppose we took this seriously? What would be some of the consequences?

1. We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our
own. This, of course, is one of the main points stressed by Cultural Relativism. We
would have to stop condemning other societies merely because they are “different.” So
long as we concentrate on certain examples, such as the funerary practices of the Greeks
and the Callatians, this may seem to be a sophisticated enlightened attitude.
2. We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of
our society. Cultural Relativism suggests a simple test for determining what is right
and what is wrong. All one need is to ask whether the action is in accordance with the
code of one’s society. Suppose in 1975, a resident of South Africa was wondering
whether his country’s policy of apartheid - a rigidly racist system – was morally correct.
All he has to do is ask whether this policy conformed to his society’s moral code. If it
did, there would have been nothing to worry about, at least from a moral point of view.
3. The idea of moral progress is called into doubt. Usually, we think that at least some
social changes are for the better. Throughout most of Western history the place of
women in society was narrowly circumscribed. They could not own property; they
could not vote nor hold political office; and generally they were under the almost
absolute control of their husbands. Recently, much of this has changed, and most
people think of it as progress.

These three consequences of Cultural Relativism have led many thinkers to reject it as
implausible on its face. It does make sense, they say, to condemn some practices, such
as slavery and anti-Semitism, wherever they occur. It makes sense to think that our own
society has made some moral progress, while admitting that it is still imperfect and in
need of reform. Because Cultural Relativism says that these judgment make no sense,
the argument goes, it cannot be right.

Do all cultures have some values in common? It should not be surprising that, despite
appearances, the Eskimos are protective of their children. How could it be otherwise? How
could a group survive that did not value its young? It is easy to see that, in fact, all cultural
groups must protect their infants because a.) human infants are helpless and cannot survive
if they are not given extensive care for a period of years; b.) if a group did not care for its
young, the young would not survive, and the older members of the group would not be
replaced, and after a while the group would die out; and c.) any cultural group that
continues to exist must care for its young. Infants that are not cared for must be the
exception rather than the rule.

12
 Similar reasoning shows that other values must be more or less universal. Imagine
what it would be like for a society to place no value at all on truth telling. When one person
spoke to another, there would be no presumption at all that he was telling the truth for he
could just as easily be speaking falsely. Within that society, there would be no reason to
pay attention to what anyone says. Communication would then be extremely difficult, if
not impossible. And because complex societies cannot exist without communication
among their members, society would become impossible. It follows that in any complex
society there must be a presumption in favor of truthfulness. There may of course be
exceptions to this rule: there may be situations in which it is thought to be permissible to
lie. Nevertheless, there will be exceptions to a rule that is in force in the society.

Here is one further example of the same type. Could a society exist in which there was
no prohibition on murder? What would this be like? Suppose people were free to kill other
people at will, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it. In such a “society,”
no one could feel secure. Everyone would have to be constantly on guard. People who
wanted to survive would have to avoid other people as much as possible. This would
inevitably result in individuals trying to become as self-sufficient as possible – after all,
associating with others would be dangerous. Society on any large scale would collapse. Of
course, people might band together in smaller groups with others that they could trust not
to harm them. But notice what this means: they would be forming smaller societies that
did acknowledge a rule against murder. The prohibition of murder, then, is a necessary
feature of all societies.

There is a general theoretical point here, namely, that there are some moral rules that
all societies will have in common, because those rules are necessary for society to exist.
The rules against lying and murder are two examples. And in fact, we do find these rules
in force in all viable cultures. Culture may differ in what they regard as legitimate
exceptions to the rules, but this disagreement exists against a background of agreement on
the larger issues. Therefore, it is a mistake to overestimate the amount of difference
between cultures. Not every moral rule can vary from society to society.

Despite all this, thoughtful people may be reluctant to criticize other cultures for at
least three reasons. First, there is an understandable nervousness about “interfering in the
social customs of other peoples.” Europeans and other descendants in America have a
shabby history of destroying native cultures in the name of Christianity and Enlightenment,
not to mention self-interest. Recoiling from this record, some people refuse to make any
negative judgments about other cultures, especially cultures that resemble those that have
been wronged in the past. We should notice, however, that there is a difference between
(a) judging a cultural practice to be morally deficient and (b) thinking that we should
announce the fact, conduct a campaign, apply diplomatic pressure, or send in an army to
do something about it. The first is just a matter of trying to see the world clearly, from a
moral point of view. The second is another matter altogether. Sometimes it may be right to
“do something about it,” but often it will not be.

People also feel, rightly enough, that they should be tolerant of other cultures.
Tolerance is, no doubt, a virtue – a tolerant person is willing to live in peaceful cooperation
with those who see things differently. But there is nothing in the nature of tolerance that
requires you to say that all beliefs, all religions, and all social practices are equally

13
admirable. On the contrary, if you did not think that some were better that others, there
would be nothing for you to tolerate.

The third is, people may be reluctant to judge because they do not want to express
contempt for the society being criticized. But again, this is misguided: to condemn a
particular practice is not to say that the culture is on the whole contemptible or that it is
generally inferior to any other culture, including one’s own. It could have many admirable
features. In fact, we should expect this to be true of most human societies – they are mixes
of good and bad practices.

Although we have dwelled on what is wrong with Cultural Relativism, like it rests on
invalid argument, that it has consequences that make it implausible on its face, and that the
extent of moral disagreement is far less than it implies, there are two lessons we should
learn from the theory, even if we ultimately reject it.

First, Cultural Relativism, warns us quite rightly, about the danger of assuming that all
our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard. They are not. Many (but not
all) of our practices are merely peculiar to our society, and it is easy to lose sight of that
fact.
The second lesson has to do with keeping an open mind. Growing up, we acquired
some strong feelings. Some conduct we find acceptable while there are others which we
reject. Occasionally, we find those feelings challenged.

Suppose we are taught that homosexuality is “immoral” so we are quite uncomfortable

around them and see them as alien and “different.” Here comes somebody who tells us that
this is a mere prejudice, that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, that gay people
are just gay people, like anyone else, who happen, through no choice of their own, to be
attracted to others of the same sex. But because we feel strongly about it, even after we
listen to arguments, we still have that unshakeable feeling that we should stay away from
homosexuals.

The appeal of Cultural Relativism, even though it has serious shortcomings, is based
on a genuine insight that many of the practices and attitudes we think so natural are really
only cultural products. If we want to avoid arrogance and have open minds, it is important
that we keep this thought firmly in view.

Task/Activity

Answer the following questions. Use the space provided below.

1. How do you understand “different cultures have different moral codes?”

14
 2. What do cultural relativists claim?

3. Why is the cultural difference argument not sound?

4. What are the consequences of taking cultural relativism seriously?

5. Do all cultures have some values in common?

6. Why are people reluctant to criticize other people?

7. What are the lessons that can be learned from cultural relativism?

Encircle the letter of the correct answer:

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the claims typically made by cultural
relativists?
a. There is no universal truth in ethics.
b. Western values are generally superior to non-Western values.
c. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward other cultures.
d. Different societies have different moral codes.

2. If cultural relativism is true, then which of the following claims must be false?
a. Some actions that conform to the code of one’s society may still be
wrong.
b. Society has made no moral progress since the days of slavery.

15
 c. To discover the truth about morality, one should consult the major
world religions.
d. None of the above.

3. Among the Eskimos, female infanticide is practiced more frequently than

male infanticide because
a. Marriage dowries are a heavy burden on the parents of girls.
b. Eskimos believe it is shameful for a woman to give birth to more than
one daughter.
c. Eskimo males die prematurely at much higher rates than Eskimo
females.
d. Eskimos have greater affection for boys than girls.

4. That different cultures have different moral codes is a relatively recent

discovery.
a. True
b. False

5. The cultural differences argument seeks to draw a conclusion about that is

true from claims about what is believed.
a. True
b. False

6. If cultural relativism is true, a social “reformer” cannot legitimately challenge

the ideals of his or her society.
a. True
b. False
7. Sometimes what appears to be fundamental disagreement about moral
principles is, in fact, merely disagreement about facts.
a. True
b. False
8. According to Rachels, the cultural differences argument
a. is basically sound.
b. draws a conclusion that does not follow from the argument’s
premise.
c. is rooted in a false premise.
d. demonstrates the truth of cultural relativism.

16
 TOPIC 3: THE FILIPINO WAY

A task force headed by Dr. Patricia Licuanan conducted a study which was sponsored
by the Philippine Senate. In 1987, Senator Leticia Shahani sponsored a bill which later on
became a law and became known as Moral Recovery Program. The following list of
Filipino strengths and weaknesses is taken from Filipino Values and Moral Development
published by the Economic Development Foundations in November, 1992.

STRENGTHS OF THE FILIPINO CHARACTER

Pakikipagkapwa-Tao (regard for others). Filipinos are open to others and feel one
with others. We regard others with dignity and respect, and deal with them as fellow
human beings. Pakikipagkapwa-tao is manifested in a basic sense of justice and fairness,
and in concern for others. It is demonstrated in the Filipino's ability to empathize with
others, in helpfulness and generosity in times of need (pakikiramay), in the practice
of bayanihan or mutual assistance, and in the famous Filipino hospitality.

Filipinos possess a sensitivity to people's feelings or pakikiramdam, pagtitiwala or

trust, and a sense of gratitude or utang-na-loob. Because of pakikipagkapwa-tao, Filipinos
are very sensitive to the quality of interpersonal relationships and are very dependent on
them: if our relationships are satisfactory, we are happy and secure.
Pakikipagkapwa-tao results in camaraderie and a feeling of closeness one to
another. It helps promote unity as well a sense of social justice.

Family Orientation. Filipinos possess a genuine and deep love for the family,
which includes not simply the spouses and children, parents, and siblings, but also
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, and other ceremonial relatives. To the
Filipino, one's family is the source of personal identity, the source of emotional and
material support, and the person's main commitment and responsibility.
Concern for family is manifested in the honor and respect given to parents and
elders, in the care given to children, the generosity towards kin in need, and in the great
sacrifices one endures for the welfare of the family. This sense of family results in a feeling
of belonging or rootedness and in a basic sense of security.
Joy and Humor. Filipinos have a cheerful and fun-loving approach to life and its
ups and downs. There is a pleasant disposition, a sense of humor, and a propensity for
happiness that contribute not only to the Filipino charm, but to the indomitability of the
Filipino spirit. Laughing at ourselves and our trouble is an important coping mechanism.
Often playful, sometimes cynical, sometimes disrespectful, we laugh at those we love and
at those we hate, and make jokes about our fortune, good and bad. This sense of joy and
humor is manifested in the Filipino love for socials and celebrations, in our capacity to
laugh even in the most trying of times, and in the appeal of political satire. The result is a

17
certain emotional balance and optimism, a healthy disrespect for power and office, and
a capacity to survive.
Flexibility, Adaptability and Creativity. Filipinos have a great capacity to adjust,
and to adapt to circumstances and to the surrounding environment, both physical and
social. Unplanned or unanticipated events are never overly disturbing or disorienting as
the flexible Filipino adjusts to whatever happens. We possess a tolerance for ambiguity
that enables us to remain unfazed by uncertainty or lack of information. We are creative,
resourceful, adept at learning, and able to improvise and make use of whatever is at hand
in order to create and produce.
This quality of the Filipino is manifested in the ability to adapt to life in any part of
the world; in the ability to make new things out of scrap and to keep old machines
running; and, of course, in the creative talent manifested in the cultural sphere. It is seen
likewise in the ability to accept change.

The result is productivity, innovation, entrepreneurship, equanimity, and survival.

Hard work and Industry. Filipinos have the capacity for hard work, given proper
conditions. The desire to raise one's standard of living and to possess the essentials of a
decent life for one's family, combined with the right opportunities and incentives,
stimulate the Filipino to work very hard. This is manifested most noticeably in a
willingness to take risks with jobs abroad, and to work there at two or three jobs. The
result is productivity and entrepreneurship for some, and survival despite poverty for
others.
Faith and Religiosity. Filipinos have a deep faith in God. Innate religiosity enables
us to comprehend and genuinely accept reality in the context of God's will and plan. Thus,
tragedy and bad fortune are accepted and some optimism characterizes even the poorest
lives.
Filipinos live very intimately with religion; this is tangible--a part of everyday life.
We ascribe human traits to a supernatural God whom we alternately threaten and thank,
call upon for mercy or forgiveness, and appease by pledges. Prayer is an important part
of our lives.
The faith of the Filipino is related to bahala na, which, instead of being viewed as
defeatist resignation, may be considered positively as a reservoir of psychic energy, an
important psychological support on which we can lean during difficult times.
This pampalakas ng loob allows us to act despite uncertainty.

Our faith and daring was manifest at EDSA and at other times in our history when
it was difficult to be brave. It is seen also in the capacity to accept failure and defeat
without our self-concept being devastated since we recognize forces external to ourselves
as contributing to the unfolding of events in our lives.

18
 The results of the Filipino's faith are courage, daring, optimism, inner peace, as
well as the capacity to genuinely accept tragedy and death.
Ability to Survive. Filipinos have an ability to survive which is manifested in our
capacity for endurance despite difficult times, and in our ability to get by on so little.
Filipinos make do with what is available in the environment, even, e.g., by eking out a
living from a garbage dump. This survival instinct is related to the Filipinos who bravely
carry on through the harshest economic and social circumstances. Regretfully, one
wonders what we might be able to do under better circumstances.
WEAKNESSES OF THE FILIPINO CHARACTER
Extreme Personalism. Filipinos view the world in terms of personal relationships
and the extent to which one is able personally to relate to things and people determines
our recognition of their existence and the value. There is no separation between an
objective task and emotional involvement. This personalism is manifested in the tendency
to give personal interpretations to actions, i.e., to "take things personally." Thus, a sincere
question may be viewed as a challenge to one's competence or positive feedback may be
interpreted as a sign of special affection. There is, in fact, some basis for such
interpretations as Filipinos become personal in their criticism and praise. Personalism is
also manifested in the need to establish personal relationships before any business or
work relationship can be successful.
Because of this personalistic world view, Filipinos have difficulty dealing with all
forms of impersonal stimuli. For this reason one is uncomfortable with bureaucracy, with
rules and regulations, and with standard procedures--all of which tend to be impersonal.
We ignore them or we ask for exceptions.
Personal contacts are involved in any transaction and are difficult to turn down.
Preference is usually given to family and friends in hiring, delivery of services, and even in
voting. Extreme personalism thus leads to the graft and corruption evident in Philippine
society.
Extreme Family-Centeredness. While concern for the family is one of the Filipino's
greatest strengths, in the extreme it becomes a serious flaw. Excessive concern for the
family creates an in-group to which the Filipino is fiercely loyal, to the detriment of
concern for the larger community or the common good.

Excessive concern for family manifests itself in the use of one's office and power
as a means of promoting the interests of the family, in factionalism, patronage, and
political dynasties, and in the protection of erring family members. It results in lack of
concern for the common good and acts as a block to national consciousness.
Lack of Discipline. The Filipino's lack of discipline encompasses several related
characteristics. We have a casual and relaxed attitude towards time and space which
manifests itself in lack of precision and compulsiveness, in poor time management and in

19
procrastination. We have an aversion to following strictly a set of procedures, which
results in lack of standardization and quality control. We are impatient and unable to
delay gratification or reward, resulting in the use of short cuts, skirting the rules
(the palusot syndrome) and in foolhardiness. We are guilty of ningas cogon, starting out
projects with full vigor and interest which abruptly die down, leaving things unfinished.
Our lack of discipline often results in inefficient and wasteful work systems, the violation
of rules leading to more serious transgressions, and a casual work ethic leading to
carelessness and lack of follow-through.
Passivity and Lack of Initiative. Filipinos are generally passive and lacking in
initiative. One waits to be told what has to be done. There is a strong reliance on others,
e.g., leaders and government, to do things for us. This is related to the attitude towards
authority. Filipinos have a need for a strong authority figure and feel safer and more
secure in the presence of such an authority. One is generally submissive to those in
authority, and is not likely to raise issues or to question decisions.
Filipinos tend to be complacent and there rarely is a sense of urgency about any
problem. There is a high tolerance for inefficiency, poor service, and even violations of
one's basic rights. In many ways, it can be said that the Filipino is too patient and long-
suffering (matiisin), too easily resigned to one's fate. Filipinos are thus easily oppressed
and exploited.
Colonial Mentality. Filipinos have a colonial mentality which is made up of two
dimensions: the first is a lack of patriotism or an active awareness, appreciation, and love
of the Philippines; the second is an actual preference for things foreign.
Filipino culture is characterized by an openness to the outside--adapting and
incorporating the foreign elements into our image of ourselves. Yet this image is not built
around a deep core of Philippine history and language. The result is a cultural vagueness
or weakness that makes Filipinos extraordinarily susceptible to the wholesome
acceptance of modern mass culture which is often Western. Thus, there is preference for
foreign fashion, entertainment, lifestyles, technology, consumer items, etc.

The Filipino colonial mentality is manifested in the alienation of the elite from their
roots and from the masses, as well as in the basic feeling of national inferiority that makes
it difficult for Filipinos to relate as equals to Westerners.

Kanya-Kanya Syndrome. Filipinos have a selfish, self-serving attitude that

generates a feeling of envy and competitiveness towards others, particularly one's peers,
who seem to have gained some status or prestige. Towards them, the Filipino
demonstrated the so-called "crab mentality", using the levelling instruments of tsismis,
intriga and unconstructive criticism to bring others down. There seems to be a basic
assumption that another's gain is our loss.

20
 The kanya-kanya syndrome is also evident in personal ambition and drive for
power and status that is completely insensitive to the common good. Personal and in-
group interests reign supreme. This characteristic is also evident in the lack of a sense of
service among people in the government bureaucracy. The public is made to feel that
service from these offices and from these civil servants is an extra perk that has to be paid
for.
The kanya-kanya syndrome results in the dampening of cooperative and
community spirit and in the denial of the rights of others.
Lack of Self-Analysis and Self-Reflection. There is a tendency in the Filipino to be
superficial and even somewhat flighty. In the face of serious problems both personal and
social, there is lack of analysis or reflection. Joking about the most serious matters
prevents us from looking deeply into the problem. There is no felt need to validate our
hypotheses or explanations of things. Thus we are satisfied with superficial explanations
for, and superficial solutions to, problems.
Related to this is the Filipino emphasis on form (maporma) rather than upon
substance. There is a tendency to be satisfied with rhetoric and to substitute this for
reality. Empty rhetoric and endless words are very much part of public life. As long as the
right things are said, as long as the proper documents and reports exist, and as long as
the proper committees, task forces, or offices are formed, Filipinos are deluded into
believing that what ought to be actually exists.
The Filipino lack of self-analysis and our emphasis upon form is reinforced by an
educational system that is often more form than substance and a legal system that tends
to substitute law for reality.

Task/Activity

Prepare 2 essays of 3-paragraph each based on the following instruction:

I. ESSAY I: Strengths in Filipino Character

 Narrate a personal experience based on any of the strengths in Filipino

character. (1st Paragraph)
 Do you think the strength you chose is true to all Filipinos? (2 nd
Paragraph)
 Analyze why this is a strength in character. (3rd Paragraph)

21
 ESSAY I: Strengths in Filipino Character

II. ESSAY II: Weaknesses in Filipino Character

 Narrate a personal experience based on one of the weaknesses in Filipino

character (1st Paragraph)
 Analyze why this is a weakness in character. (2nd Paragraph)
 How would you have done things differently? (3rd Paragraph)

ESSAY II: Weaknesses in Filipino Character

22
 3-Paragraph Essay Writing Rubric for Essay II

Description Total Points

Points Earned
Essay includes the required information:
 three paragraphs;
 first paragraph is a personal experience based on
one of the weaknesses of Filipino character
discussed;
 second paragraph is an analysis of why it is a
weakness in Filipino character; and
 third paragraph is related to paragraph one and it 15
illustrates an alternative course of action.
Essay is free of simple grammar and spelling mistakes.
There is subject-verb agreement, correct punctuation
and capitalization, and it is free of incomplete sentences. 5

Total Points: _______/20 Points

Additional activity: Watch and video clip below. Are you in favor of political dynasties
dominating the Philippine elections? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kPYpgELrmg

Are you in favor of political dynasties dominating the Philippine elections?

23
 Here is another video which you can watch. This was produced in 2016, when
President Duterte was newly-elected. Fast forward to 2020, with the recent scandal in
PhilHealth, how would you rate the degree of corruption in our country? As members of
the young generation, should you be concerned about it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nod4sU4-OIU

How would you rate the degree of corruption in our country? As members of the young
generation, should you be concerned about it?

24
 TOPIC 4: UNIVERSAL VALUES

Many times, religious leaders all around the world call for humanity to recognize
certain moral principles which could serve as a frame of reference for individuals who
undergo value conflicts and moral dilemmas.

Bell (1994) argued that without some universal standards, “we are left with no way
to condemn cannibalism, physical torture, mutilation, wife beating, child abuse, slavery,
murder, or genocide if they are part of the habitual practice and cultural traditions of a
group” (p. 18).

The Short List of Universal Moral Values:

1. Commitment to something greater than oneself

 To recognize the existence of and be committed to a Supreme Being,
higher principle, transcendent purpose or meaning to one’s existence
 To seek the Truth (or truths)
 To seek Justice
2. Self-respect, but with humility, self-discipline, and acceptance of personal
responsibility
 To respect and care for oneself
 To not exalt oneself or overindulge – to show humility and avoid gluttony,
greed, or other forms of selfishness or self-centeredness
 To act in accordance with one’s conscience and to accept responsibility for
one’s behavior
3. Respect and caring for others (i.e., the Golden Rule)
 To recognize the connectedness between all people
 To serve humankind and to be helpful to individuals
 To be caring, respectful, compassionate, tolerant, and forgiving of others
 To not hurt others (e.g., do not murder, abuse, steal from, cheat, or lie to
others)
4. Caring for other living things and the environment

25
 Task/Activity

On the writing sheet given below, write two scenarios highlighting respect for
human life and truth-telling. Discuss the possible results of upholding and not upholding
the two values.

For your first paragraph, write your scenario. Paragraph two will be the outcome
if you uphold respect for human life, and paragraph three will be the result if you will not
respect human life.

The same format goes for truth-telling.

Respect for human life

26
Truth-telling

27
 3-Paragraph Essay Writing Rubric

Description Total Points

Points Earned
Essay includes the required information:
 three paragraphs;
 first paragraph is the scenario for respect for
human life/truth-telling;
 second paragraph discusses the effect of
supporting respect for human life/truth-telling;
and
 third paragraph reflects on the consequences of 15
disregard for human life/truth-telling.
Essay is free of simple grammar and spelling mistakes.
There is subject-verb agreement, correct punctuation
and capitalization, and it is free of incomplete sentences. 5
Total Points: _______/20

TOPIC 5: THE MORAL AGENT

Homiak (2019) wrote that Plato and Aristotle, two of the greatest Greek
philosophers, both agree that excellent moral character involves more than an
understanding of the good. They think that virtue requires a harmony between cognitive
and affective elements of the person.

For Plato, a potentially virtuous person learns to love and take pleasure in virtuous
actions while still young but must wait until late in life to develop the understanding that
explains why what he loves is good. Once he has learned what the good is, his informed
love of the good explains why he acts as he does and explains why his actions are virtuous.

According to Aristotle, the virtuous person’s emotional responses are appropriate

to the situation, meaning the emotional responses are in harmony with the correct
reasoning about what to do.

28
 ASSESSMENT: VIDEO PRESENTATION

Prepare a 2-minute video highlighting the character of Nelson Mandela and Adolf Hitler.
There should be three parts: 1.) short biography and greatest contribution; 2.) a
discussion on why you think these two personalities are alike or poles apart, and 3.) who
among the two is worth emulating. Do not forget to include your sources at the end of
the video. Please visit nelsonmandela.org and
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler for your reference. You will use
those two sites only so that your reference and your instructor’s are the same.

Submit your output (in mp4 type) to the email account provided for by your instructor.

Individual Presentation Rubric

Trait 2 3
Criteria 4 5 Points
Content Presentation Presentation had Presentation had Presentation
Did the contained little to moments where a good amount of had an
presentation have no valuable valuable material was material and exceptional
valuable material? material. present but as a whole benefited the amount of _____
content was lacking. class. valuable
material and
was extremely
beneficial to the
class.
Organization The presentation There were minimal The presentation The
Was the lacked signs of organization or had organizing presentation
presentation well organization and preparation. ideas but could was well
organized and easy had little have been much organized, well
to follow? evidence of stronger with prepared, and _____
preparation. better easy to follow.
preparation.
Presentation Presenter was Presenter was not Presenter was Presenter was
Did the presenter unconfident and consistent with the occasionally very confident
speak clearly? Was demonstrated level of confidence/ confident with in delivery.
it obvious the little evidence of preparedness they their presentation Preparation is
material had been planning prior to showed but had some however the very evident.
rehearsed? presentation. strong moments. presentation was _____
not as engaging
as it could have
been.
Audio/Video Audio and video Audio and video are Audio and video Audio and video
Quality and Credits are not timed mostly timed correctly; are timed okay; are timed well;
/ References correctly; missing one or more references are all references are _____
references. references are missing there in the correct and all
in the credits credits. in the credits.

Total points of student: _______/20

29
 TOPIC 6: MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987), an American psychologist, was best known for his
work on the stages of moral development. He proposed three levels of development,
with two stages per level.

15

Pre-conventional Level (Obedience and Mutual Advantage)

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment
Stage 2: Market Exchange
The pre-conventional level of moral development coincides approximately with
the preschool period of life. At this age the child is still relatively self-centered and
insensitive to the moral effects of actions on others. The result is a somewhat short-
sighted orientation to morality.
Stage 1
 “morality of keeping out of trouble”
 The rightness and wrongness of actions is determined by whether actions
are rewarded or punished by authorities such as parents or teachers.
Stage 2

Eventually the child learns not only to respond to positive consequences, but also
learns how to produce them by exchanging favors with others.

At this stage the morally “good” action is one that favors not only the child, but
another person directly involved. A “bad” action is one that lacks this reciprocity.

Conventional Level (Conformity to Peers and Society)

Stage 3: Peer Opinion
Stage 4: Law and Order

30
 As children move into the school years, their lives expand to include a larger
number and range of peers and (eventually) of the community as a whole. The beliefs are
based on what this larger group of people agree on.
Stage 3
 The child’s reference group are immediate peers.
 The morality of an action depends heavily on peer approval.
Stage 4

Eventually, as the child becomes a youth and the social world expands even more,
he or she acquires even larger numbers of peers and friends. He or she is therefore more
likely to encounter disagreements about ethical issues and beliefs.

The young person increasingly frames moral beliefs in terms of what the majority
of society believes. Now, an action is morally good if it is legal or at least customarily
approved by most people, including people whom the youth does not know personally.

The emphasis is on maintaining social order.

Post conventional Level
Stage 5: Social Contract
Stage 6: Universal Principles
As a person becomes able to think abstractly, ethical beliefs shift from acceptance
of what the community does believe to the process by which community beliefs are
formed.
Stage 5

An action, belief, or practice is morally good if it has been created through fair,
democratic processes that respect the rights of the people affected.

Individuals recognize that rules represent an agreement among many people

about appropriate behavior. They recognize that rules are flexible and can be changed if
they no longer meet society's needs.

Stage 6
The realization that ethical means can sometimes serve unethical ends.
The morally good action is based on personally held principles that apply both to
the person’s immediate life as well as to the larger community and society.
The universal principles may include a belief in democratic due process (Stage 5),
but also other principles, such as a belief in the dignity of all human life or the sacredness
of the natural environment. At Stage 6, the universal principles will guide a person’s

31
beliefs even if the principles mean disagreeing occasionally with what is customary (Stage
4) or even with what is legal (Stage 5).

Task/Activity

Now that you know about the stages of moral development, where do you think
you are now?

On the blank page provided below, draw a chart showing your moral
development. On the next page, explain your chart and give example for each stage of
your moral development up to that stage you think you are now.
Draw your chart here:

32
Explanation:

Project Rubric

Criteria Needs Partially Proficient (3) Advanced (4) Point

Improvement Proficient (2) s
(1)
Creativity The project The project The project is The project
has little has some creative. shows
creativity. creative advanced
aspects. creativity.
Understandin Minimal Basic Good Exceptional
g, understandin understandin understandin understandin
Achievement, g of project g of project g of project g of project
and requirements requirements requirements requirements
Completion ; work is ; work is ; work is ; work is all
incomplete somewhat mostly complete and
or complete and complete and consistent.
inconsistent. consistent. consistent.
Grammar / 2 or more No errors in
Mechanics errors in grammar,
grammar, capitalization
capitalization , and
, and punctuation.
punctuation.
Total points of student: ________/10x 5 = 50 points

33
 LESSON 3
THE ACT

TOPICS
1. Feelings and Moral Decision-Making
2. Reason and Impartiality
3. The 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model
4. Moral Courage

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. capture and analyze your feelings in personal moral experiences;
2. compare reasonable and emotional responses;
3. check real-life cases against the 7-step model;
4. differentiate knowing and actually executing a good moral decision;
and
5. judge your own moral behaviour in terms of planning and execution
In important moral experiences.

TOPIC 1: FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION-MAKING

Feelings, used interchangeably with emotions, have a wide range of meaning to

philosophers, researchers, and scholars. Lane & Schwartz (1987) explored the
development of feelings and described five levels of emotion organization and awareness:
1. sensorimotor reflexive: emotion is experienced only as bodily sensations, but may be
evident to others in the individual’s facial expression; 2. sensorimotor enactive: emotion
is experienced as both a body sensation and an action tendency; 3. preoperational:
emotions are experienced psychologically as well as somatically, but they are
undimensional, and verbal descriptions are often stereotyped; 4. concrete operational:
there is an awareness of blends of feelings, and the individual can describe complex and
differentiated emotional states that are part of his or her subjective experience; and 5.
formal operational: there is an awareness of combinations of blends of feelings, as well
as a capacity to make subtle distinctions between nuances of emotion, and an ability to
comprehend the multidimensional emotional experience of other people.

34
 Should feelings be involved in moral decision-making? This question has been asked
and answered for thousands of years. Some would say that emotions are important and
give meaning to life and could very well serve as a guide to morality. Others would oppose
and say that using reason is the only way to make a decision.
Some people would say that our moral behavior is influenced by philosophy or
religious values, but in truth emotions play a major role in ethical decision-making.

Inner-directed negative emotions like guilt, embarrassment, and shame often

motivate people to act ethically.

Outer-directed negative emotions, on the other hand, aim to discipline or punish.

For example, people often direct anger, disgust, or contempt at those who have acted
unethically. This discourages others from behaving the same way.

Positive emotions like gratitude and admiration, which people may feel when they
see another acting with compassion or kindness, can prompt people to help others.

Emotions evoked by suffering, such as sympathy and empathy, often lead people to
act ethically toward others. Indeed, empathy is the central moral emotion that most
commonly motivates prosocial activity such as altruism, cooperation, and generosity.

Both reason and emotion guide us in our decision-making, both play an important
part, but reason is well-accepted while emotion is undervalued. If a person is described
as “rational” and the other person “emotional,” who will have a more favorable
acceptance?

Emotion may influence reason and reason may influence emotion. Both have
different roles but both play a part in providing information and guiding behavior.

Reason helps us put in order our world conceptually. It allow us to analyze,

synthesize, organize, plan, problem-solve, spatialize, and model scenarios. On the other
hand, emotions move us. They tell us what to seek and what to avoid. When connected
to thoughts related to values, they tell us what matters to us, what is important. They
are also what bind us or pull as apart.

An emotional response may seem chaotic to a person guided by reasonable

response while a reasonable response may sound unresponsive or cold to an emotional
person.

35
 Task/Activity

True or False. Read each statement carefully. Write True if the sentence is
correct and False if it is wrong. (5 points)
1. ________ There are four levels of emotion organization and awareness.

2. ________ Emotion is evident in an individual’s facial expression.

3. ________ Emotions are involved in ethical decision-making.
4. ________ Negative emotions inspire people to respond with kindness.
5. ________ An emotional person sees a reasonable response as chaotic.

TOPIC 2: REASON AND IMPARTIALITY

According to Ells (2014), reason allows a person to make conscious decision based
on fact, with no reference to personal involvement. Its use as a way of knowing allows
the knower to use the consequences of an action throughout the decision-making
process. It lacks the attachment that emotion carries and it has the ability to remain
detached from the situation. Therefore, it is through reason that ethical decisions can be
made without attachment to the problem at hand.
For Gert (1998), impartiality is a property of a set of decisions made by a particular
agent directed towards a particular group. It requires that equal and/or adequate
considerations be given to the interests of all concerned parties.

Task/Activity

 Find 2 video clips: one showing rational response and the other emotional
response.
 Study the subjects’ responses on your chosen video then write a one-page
report critiquing both responses in the space below.
 Submit both videos to your instructor’s email account.

36
37
 Rubric for Video

5 3 2 1 Point
Purpose and Clearly Relates to the Some Does not
Content relates to the learning relation to relate to the
learning objective or the learning learning
objective or illustrates a objective or objective or
illustrates a concept concept does not
concept illustrate a
concept
Video Videos relate Videos Videos are off No videos
to the subject mostly relate topic relate to the
to the subject subject
Total points of student: __________/10

Rubric for One-Page Critique Paper

4 3 2 1 Points
Analysis Organizes and Organizes Organizes Lists evidence,
synthesizes evidence to evidence, but but it is not
evidence to several the organized
several important organization is and/or is not
insightful patterns, not effective in related to
patterns, differences, or revealing topic.
differences, or similarities important
similarities related to patterns,
related to topic. topic. differences, or
similarities.
Student’s Specific Specific Specific Specific
position/pe position, position, position, position,
rspective perspective is perspective perspective perspective is
imaginative and takes into acknowledges stated, but is
takes into account the different sides simplistic and
account the complexities of of the topic. obvious.
complexities of the topic.
the topic.
Grammar/ No errors in 2 or more
Mechanics grammar, errors in
capitalization, grammar,
and capitalization,
punctuation. and
punctuation.
Total points of student: _________/10

38
 TOPIC 3: THE 7-STEP MORAL REASONING MODEL

The 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model presented below is used in business and
industry. Ethical decisions are hard and when we face moral dilemmas, it is always a good
idea to at least have a guide to help us when concerns arise.
A Seven-Step Guide to Ethical Decision Making
(From Michael Davis, “Ethics and the University” (Routledge. London, 1999), pp. 166-
167)
1. State problem. For example, “there’s something about this decision that makes me
uncomfortable” or “do I have a conflict of interest?”

2. Check facts. Many problems disappear upon closer examination of situation, while
others change radically.

3. Identify relevant factors. For example, persons involved, laws, professional code,
other practical constraints (e.g., under $200).

4. Develop list of options. Be imaginative, try to avoid “dilemmas”; not “yes” or “no” but
whom to go to, what to say.
5. Test options.
Use such tests as the following:
• Harm test: Does this option do less harm than alternatives?
• Publicity test: Would I want my choice of this option published in the
newspaper?
• Defensibility test: Could I defend this choice of option before a Congressional
committee or committee of peers?
• Reversibility test: Would I still think choice of this option good if I were
adversely affected by it?
• Colleague test: What might my profession’s governing board or ethics
committee say about this option?
• Organization test: What does the organization’s ethics officer or legal counsel
say about this?
6. Make a choice based on steps 1 – 5.
7. Review steps 1 – 6.

 What could you do to make it less likely that you would have to make such a
decision again?
 Are there any precautions you can take as an individual (e.g., announce your
policy on the question, change jobs, etc.)?
 Is there any way to have more support next time?

39
  Is there any way to change the organization (e.g., suggest policy changes at
the next department meeting)?

Task/Activity

Case Study. The Ford Pinto Case. Read the following case. Using the 7-Step Guide to
Ethical Decision-Making, how would you have solve the problem?
There should be three parts:
Part I is the summary of the case.
Part II is the analysis using the 7-step guide. You may present in tabular
form, written form, or both.
Part III is your recommendation.
The Pinto Case
In the early 1960s Fords market position was being heavily eroded by competition
from domestic and foreign manufacturers of subcompacts. Lee Iacocca, the President of
Ford, was determined to regain Ford’s share of the market by having a new subcompact,
the Pinto, in production by 1970.

When Ford engineers crash-tested an early model of the Pinto, they found that
when the automobile was struck from the rear at 20 miles per hour, the gas tank regularly
ruptured. Stray sparks could then ignite the spraying gasoline, engulf the car in flames
and possibly burn the trapped occupants.
Nonetheless, Ford management decided for several reasons to go ahead with
production of the Pinto as designed. First, the design met all applicable federal laws and
standards then in effect. Second, the Plato was comparable in safety to other cars being
produced by the auto industry. Third, an internal Ford study indicated that the social costs
of improving the design outweighed the social benefits. According to the study it was
estimated that a maximum of 180 deaths might result if the Pinto design were not
changed. For purposes of cost/benefit analysis the Federal government at the time put a
value of $200.000 on a human life (based on lawsuits). Consequently, the study reasoned,
saving 180 lives was worth about a total of $36 million to society. On the other hand,
improving the 11 million Pintos then being planned would cost about $11 per car for a
total investment of $121 million. Since the social cost of $121 million outweighed the
social benefit of $36 million, the study concluded that improving the Pinto design would
not be cost-effective from a societal point of view.

40
https://www.google.com/search?q=the+ford+pinto+case&hl=en&sxsrf=ALeKk02uWxauC3qv5OY3Q9Tz5u
hI1EZQzw:1597807385692&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjKw5KtqKbrAhWUEqYKHQEDBJ
QQ_AUoAnoECA0QBA&biw=1920&bih=920

41
Case Study

42
 Case Study Rubric

Excellent Good (meets Poor (fails to Point

(exceeds expected output meet expected s
expected output requirement) output
requirement) requirement)
Summary (15 Student Student Student provides
points) provides a short provides a a summary that
summary of summary of the is not brief and
only the most important facts includes analysis
important facts in the case, but of problems or
in the case in sentences are even
two to three not concise. recommendatio
brief sentences. Sentences may ns which should
be too long or be in subsequent
there are too sections.
many of them. (0-4)

(10-15)
(5-9)
Analysis (23 Student Student Student vaguely
points) identifies all of identifies many identifies some
the problems in of the problems of the problems
the case and in the case and in the case and
followed the 7- followed some did not follow
step guide. of the steps in the 7-step guide.
the guide.
(8-14) (0-7)
(15-23)
Recommendatio Student Student Student provides
ns (22 points) provides provides some
practical, practical recommendatio
insightful recommendatio ns, some of
recommendatio ns to the which might be
ns to the identified impractical to
identified problems. the identified
problems. problems.
(15-22) (8-14) (0-7)
Total points of the student: ______/60

43
 TOPIC 4: MORAL COURAGE

Murray (2015) wrote that moral courage is to stand up for what you believe in even
when it means that you are doing it alone. Morally courageous people act upon their
ethical values, especially when faced with moral dilemmas.
In moral decision-making, people may use different moral principles, others may be
more flexible and apply different principles depending on the situation. But how do
people choose which the best course of action is? Especially when faced with a moral
dilemma.
The will is the faculty of the mind which selects, at the moment of decision, that
action among the many being considered. The will is not the action itself, but it is like a
mechanism responsible for choosing what one decides is the best course of action to take.

Critical Checkpoints in using Moral Courage for Ethical Decision Making

Step Checkpoint
1 Evaluate the circumstances to establish whether moral courage is needed in the
situation
2 Determine what moral values and ethical principles are at risk or in question of being
compromised
3 Ascertain what principles need to be expressed and defended in the situation – focus on
one or two of the more critical values
4 Consider the possible adverse consequences/risks associated with taking action
5 Assess whether or not the adversity can be endured – determine what
support/resources are available
6 Avoid stumbling blocks that might restrain moral courage, such as apprehension or over
reflection leading to reasoning oneself out of being morally courageous in the situation
7 Continue to develop moral courage through education, training, and practice
Note: This table was adapted from Kidder (2005, p. 17)

44
 Task/Activity

Reflection Paper. Below, write about your most important moral experience in the past
year. What did you decide on and what did you actually do? There should be two
paragraphs only.

45
 Rubric for Two-paragraph Essay

Description Total Points

Points Earned
Essay includes the required information:
 two paragraphs;
 first paragraph is the student’s most important
moral experience in the past year; and 15
 second paragraph covers two sub-topics: what
the student decided he or she should do and what
he or she actually did.
Essay is free of simple grammar and spelling mistakes.
There is subject-verb agreement, correct punctuation 5
and capitalization, and it is free of incomplete sentences.
Total points of student: ______/20

46
 LESSON 4
FRAMEWORK AND PRINCIPLE BEHIND OUR MORAL DESPOSITION

TOPICS
1. Moral Theories and Mental Frames
2. Virtue Theory
3. Kant and Rights Theories
4. Utilitarianism
5. Justice and Fairness
6. Taxation in the Philippines

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. explain the role of mental frames in moral experience
2. classify the dominant mental frames;
3. articulate what virtue ethics is;
4. critique virtue ethics;
5. make use of virtue ethics;
6. understand and articulate the rights theory;
7. differentiate a legal from a moral right;
8. make use of the right theory;
9. explain why only human beings can be ethical.
10. articulate what utilitarianism is;
11. critique utilitarianism;
12. make use of utilitarianism;
13. articulate what justice and fairness are;
14. critique justice and fairness;
15. make use of justice and fairness

47
 TOPIC 1: Moral Theories and Mental Frames

Moral Theories

According to University of Auckland Moral theories are the scientific were not
mere theories untested, tentative, vague generalizations. It’s supported by the evidence,
observation and integrating result of evaluation before you making the concrete
prediction across a broad area of scientific inquiry.

But neither are moral theories quite like scientific theories. The data that scientific
theories try to explain is provided by observation of the natural world. The data that moral
theories try to explain is our considered moral judgments; judgments that have, we might
say, survived the test of good logical and critical thinking. There is an obvious difference
here. In the case of moral theories, we use our considered judgments to supply the data
by which we judge the adequacy of moral theories.

Still, even with this difference acknowledged, we do use moral theories, and often
in very similar ways to their scientific counterparts.

It is usually said that moral standards promote “the good,” or the welfare and well-
being not only of humans but also animals and the environment. These are the actions
that can cause either benefit or harm.

MENTAL FRAME

A mental frame is kind of like a picture frame. It determines where the picture
begins and ends, and our simulated viewpoint of the image. Now imagine we remove the
frame and the scene of the picture continues to expand outwards infinitely

Moral theories show us what is important and reasonable in morality, guiding our
judgments through overarching insights that may help us with specific cases and
arguments.

48
 ASSESSMENT

Essay: Differentiate Moral theories from Mental Frames

Rubric for Essay

Features Expert (5) Accomplished (4) Capable (3) Beginner (2)

Quality of Writing  Piece was  Piece was  Piece had  Piece had no
written in an written in an little style or style or voice
extraordinary interesting voice  Gives no new
style and style and  Gives some information
voice. voice information and very
 Very  Somewhat but poorly poorly
informative informative organized. organized
and well and
organized organized.
Grammar, Usage  Virtually no  Few spelling  A minute of  So many
& Mechanics spelling, and spelling, spelling,
punctuation punctuations punctuation punctuation
or errors, minor, or and
grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical
errors. errors. errors. errors that it
interferes
with the
meaning.
Total No. of Points (10)

49
 TOPIC 2: VIRTUE THEORY

Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It

may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in
contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes
the consequences of actions (consequentialism). Suppose it is obvious that someone in
need should be helped. A utilitarian will point to the fact that the consequences of doing
so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact that, in doing so the agent will be
acting in accordance with a moral rule such as “Do unto others as you would be done by”
and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person would be charitable or benevolent.

This is not to say that only virtue ethicists attend to virtues, any more than it is
to say that only consequentialists attend to consequences or only deontologists to rules.
Each of the above-mentioned approaches can make room for virtues, consequences, and
rules. Indeed, any plausible normative ethical theory will have something to say about all
three. What distinguishes virtue ethics from consequentialism or deontology is the
centrality of virtue within the theory (Watson 1990; Kawall 2009). Whereas
consequentialists will define virtues as traits that yield good consequences and
deontologists will define them as traits possessed by those who reliably fulfil their duties,
virtue ethicists will resist the attempt to define virtues in terms of some other concept
that is taken to be more fundamental. Rather, virtues and vices will be foundational for
virtue ethical theories and other normative notions will be grounded in them.

Aristotle (c. 384 B.C. to 322 B.C.) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist
who is still considered one of the greatest thinkers in politics, psychology and ethics.
Some of his most notable works include Nichomachean Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics,
Poetics and Prior Analytics.

A telos (from the Greek τέλος for "end", "purpose", or "goal") is an end or
purpose, in a fairly constrained sense used by philosophers such as Aristotle. It is the root
of the term "teleology", roughly the study of purposiveness, or the study of objects with
a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions.

Aristotle believed that virtue as a habit requires an intentional choice when you
begin. The habit of virtue is not yet developed, but over time one becomes used to
behaving virtuously and after a while one acts virtuously without needing to use volition.
You have become virtuous—it's now part of you and how you act.

Aristotle defines moral virtue as a disposition to behave in the right manner and
as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices. We learn moral
virtue primarily through habit and practice rather than through reasoning and instruction.

Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue. ... Happiness
depends on acquiring a moral character, where one displays the virtues of courage,

50
generosity, justice, friendship, and citizenship in one's life. These virtues involve striking
a balance or "mean" between an excess and a deficiency.

Thomas Aquinas (AKA Thomas of Aquin or Aquino) (c. 1225 - 1274) was an Italian
philosopher and theologian of the Medieval period. He was the foremost classical
proponent of natural theology at the peak of Scholasticism in Europe, and the founder of
the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology.

Natural law theory is a legal theory that recognizes law and morality as deeply
connected, if not one and the same. Morality relates to what is right and wrong and what
is good and bad. Natural law theorists believe that human laws are defined by morality,
and not by an authority figure, like a king or a government.

The natural law is comprised of those precepts of the eternal law that govern the
behaviour of beings possessing reason and free will. ... Here it is worth noting that Aquinas
holds a natural law theory of morality: what is good and evil, according to Aquinas, is
derived from the rational nature of human beings.

Happiness as constitutive of moral and cardinal virtues

Through teachings, we implicitly make the connection between morality and

happiness in an attempt to restore.
Ethics of the God
Morality of Happiness
The morality of happiness should be connected to our virtues in doing what is right and
good.

The Four Principal Cardinal Virtue

1. Prudence
2. Justice
3. Fortitude
4. Temperance

Prudence – Concerned with intellect

Guides the judgment for our conscience in discerning our true good and in
applying moral principles to particular circumstances.

51
Right reason in an action

THE GUIDE AND MEASURE FOR ALL THE MORAL VIRTUES

JUSTICE FORTITUDE TEMPERENCE

•Concerned with the will, • Give us strength to do • Moderation in all
virtue that consists in it, allow us to remain things, involves the
giving to God and strong and constant in balanced use of the
neighbor what is due to our pursuit of what is many goods given us
each, Giving to them
good and give us the so that their use
what is rightly belong to
them. To establish the strength to resists remains ordered and
peace and harmony that temptation that would at the service of the
bring together people pull us in the wrong service of the
and allow prosper while direction. development of the
living in community. good, well rounded
and complete person

Task/Activity/

Explain the Aristotelian (mean between two extremes) and Thomistic perspective on gay
marriage.

52
II. Interview a parents or church leaders about positions on controversial issues like gay
marriage, divorce, etc. The output video will be submitted thru email of your teacher.

Writing Activity Scoring Guide

Name: Year and Section:
Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory (1) Total
(4) (3) (2) (10)
COMMUNICATIVE The The Some key The intended
EFFECTIVENESS message message points are message is not
is is conveyed, conveyed.
conveyed conveyed with some
in a clear rather flaws.
way. clearly.
ORGANIZATION The text The text The The text is not
is is paragraph/s logically arranged,
arranged arranged is/are too making the
clearly rather long, or paragraph/s
and clearly short, or incomprehensible.
logically. and absent, but
logically. it is possible
to follow
the main
idea.
GRAMMAR The text has Grammar
grammar mistakes make it
mistakes, difficult to
but on the understand the
whole is content.
good.
Adapted from
https://www.eslprintables.com/teaching_resources/assessment/assessment_rubric/Ru
bric_to_assess_a_writing_tas_717063/

TOPIC 3: KANT AND RIGHTS THEORIES

Kant and rights theories

 Represent deontological ethics
 For him, a right action consists solely in an action that is ruled and
justified by a rule or principle.
 It was the rational and autonomous conformity of one’s will to see
right the universal moral law
 Foundations of Metaphysics of Morals, explains the
philosophical foundation of morality and moral actions.

53
 KANT’s CONCEPT

Good Will
Nature of
Imperatives

Categorical

MORALITY

 Only thing that is good without qualification.

 Other goods like intelligence and health can be qualified, Good Will is good by
virtue because it is the will to follow the Moral Law.

The Nature of Imperatives

 Imperatives are commands
 For Kant there exists 2:
 Hypothetical Imperatives
 Categorical Imperatives

Hypothetical Imperatives
 If you want, you ought. The ought or the duty is conditioned by your desires, wants
and goals.
 Our goals are grounded in SELF-INTEREST

Categorical Imperatives
 The general from of DO. (Unconditioned)
 For Kant, there is only one imperative command and it is the Moral Law.
 Divided in 2 formulations

54
 Different kinds of rights

Natural rights – are those which Private rights – are those rights
Acquired rights – are those which
man acquired by birth. These man gains through the fulfilment of which are possessed by an
rights are also called human some conditions. individual or by an imperfect
natural rights or human rights. society.

Positive rights- refer to those rights Negative rights – refer to those

Alienable rights are rights which
which confer upon a person the rights which do not perform
can be renounced and transferred.
power to do certain things. certain things.

Inalienable rights- refer to those

Perfect rights – are those rights
Public rights – are those rights rights which cannot be transferred
which are enforced by law. This is
which are possessed by a perfect or renounced since they are
why perfect rights are also called
society. indispensable for a person’s basic
legal or juridical rights.
obligations.

Moral rights are rights of creators

of copyrighted works generally Legal rights refers to rights
recognized in civil law jurisdictions according to law. It exists under the
and, to a lesser extent, in some rules of some particular legal
Imperfect rights – are those rights
common law jurisdictions. Moral system. Following is a case law
which are not enforced by law.
rights apply only to literary, defining the term legal right. A legal
dramatic, musical and artistic right is a claim recognizable and
works, and also to films (where the enforceable at law.
director enjoys moral rights).

ASSESSMENT

Encircle the letter of the correct answer:

1. According to Kant, what is the main problem with the golden rule?

a. It makes morality depend on a person's desires.

b. It makes morality depend solely on the consequences of one's actions.
c. It fails to give us any guidance whatsoever.
d. It allows lying, which is never permissible.

55
2. What does Kant mean by a maxim?

a. A bit of folksy wisdom.

b. An objective moral law.
c. A misleading moral command.
d. A principle of action that one gives to oneself.

3. What is the fundamental principle of morality, according to Kant?

a. Never lie.
b. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
c. Act only on maxims that are universalizable.
d. Always maximize happiness.

4. Which of the following best characterizes Kant's moral theory?

a. It is a version of utilitarianism.
b. It is a version of consequentialism, but it is not utilitarian.
c. It is neutral on the issue of whether consequentialism is true.
d. It is inconsistent with consequentialism.

5. What did Kant believe is the relationship between rationality and morality?

a. Morality and rationality are fundamentally opposed.

b. Rationality requires us to be moral.
c. Morality and rationality are completely independent.
d. Rationality might sometimes require immorality but not often.

6. What is a categorical imperative, according to Kant?

a. A command of reason that depends on our desires.

b. A command of reason that does not depend on our desires.
c. A principle of action that one gives to oneself.
d. A principle of action that one gives to others.

7. What is a hypothetical imperative, according to Kant?

a. A command of reason that depends on our desires.
b. A command of reason that does not depend on our desires.
c. A principle of action that one gives to oneself.
d. A principle of action that one gives to others.

8. Which of the following did Kant believe to be the central moral virtue?
a. Integrity.
b. Benevolence.
c. Compassion.
d. None of the above.

56
9. When did Kant believe that it is permissible to lie?

a. Whenever doing so brings about more good than harm.

b. Whenever doing so is necessary to avoid a catastrophe.
c. Whenever the subject matter is insignificant.
d. Never.

10. According to the text, what is wrong with the principle of universalizability?

a. It fails to explain what's wrong with lying.

b. It permits the actions of principled fanatics.
c. It falsely claims that the central moral virtue is benevolence.
d. It makes the morality of actions solely a matter of their consequences.

TOPIC 4: UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarianism is a theory about:

 What is of highest importance in life.
 What makes actions right or wrong

One of the great philosopher of the 19th century.

Utilitarianism is his famous ethical theory. It is a theory about
right and wrong.
At the age of 3 being home school by very ambitious father.
He started to learn Greek.
Passionate and talented man.
He had 5 younger siblings and he was home school and he
had to teach everything he learned to those 5 younger siblings.

• According to Mill, HAPPINESS or PLEASURE is of highest value.

UTILITARIANISM

Ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. Holds
that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest
number.

Also the most common approach to moral reasoning used in business because of
the way in which it accounts for costs and benefits.

However, because we cannot predict the future, it’s difficult to know with certainty
whether the consequences of our actions will be good or bad.
Utilitarianism also has trouble accounting for values such as justice and individual rights.

57
 Example: Assume a hospital has 4 people whose lives depend upon receiving organ
transplant. First patient needs a heart, second patient needs a lungs, third patient needs
a liver and the last patient needs a kidney.
If a healthy person wanders to the hospital, his organs could be harvested to save
four lives at the expense of one life.
This would arguably produce the greatest good for the greatest number. But few
would consider it an acceptable course of action, let alone the most ethical one.
So, although utilitarianism is arguably the most reason-based approach to
determining right and wrong, it has obvious limitations.

3 Core Elements of Mill’s Utilitarianism

• The Utility Principle “pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things
desirable as ends” – they are the only intrinsic goods.
• The Greatest Happiness Principle (consequentialist principle) “actions are right
in proportion as they tend to produce happiness, wrong as they tend to produce
the reverse of happiness.
• Happiness = pleasure + absence of pain
Unhappiness = pain + absence of pleasure

• The focus of these core elements is the second one, Mill thinks that it is the
fundamental moral principle.

Task/Activity/

Make a case analysis about Marcopper and the Boac River. Send your output to the
given email of your teacher. http://umich.edu/~snre492/Jones/marcopper.htm

TOPIC 5: JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

"Contractarianism" names both a political theory of the legitimacy of political

authority and a moral theory about the origin or legitimate content of moral norms.

The political theory of authority claims that legitimate authority of government

must derive from the consent of the governed, where the form and content of this
consent derives from the idea of contract or mutual agreement.

58
 The moral theory of contractarianism claims that moral norms derive their
normative force from the idea of contract or mutual agreement.

Contractarians are thus skeptical of the possibility of grounding morality or political

authority in either divine will or some perfectionist ideal of the nature of humanity. Social
contract theorists from the history of political thought include Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and
Rousseau.

The most important contemporary political social contract theorist is John Rawls,
who effectively resurrected social contract theory in the second half of the 20th century,
along with David Gauthier, who is primarily a moral contractarian.

Global Distributive justice

is a concept that addresses the ownership of goods in a society. It assumes that

there is a large amount of fairness in the distribution of goods. Equal work should provide
individuals with an equal outcome in terms of goods acquired or the ability to acquire
goods.

in its broadest sense, is about how benefits and burdens ought to be distributed
among a set of individuals as a matter of right and entitlement. Political philosophers have
traditionally assumed that principles of distributive justice apply only within the bounds
of a given political community.
Egalitarianism
is a philosophical perspective that emphasizes equality and equal treatment across
gender, religion, economic status, and political beliefs. Egalitarianism may focus
on income inequality and distribution, which are ideas that influenced the development
of various economic and political systems.
Karl Marx used egalitarianism as the starting point in the creation of his Marxist
philosophy, and John Locke considered egalitarianism when he proposed that individuals
had natural rights.

Types of Egalitarianism

Economic Egalitarianism (or Material Egalitarianism) is where the participants of a

society are of equal standing and have equal access to all the economic resources in
terms of economic power, wealth and contribution. It is a founding principle of various
forms of Socialism.

Moral Egalitarianism is the position that equality is central to justice, that all
individuals are entitled to equal respect, and that all human persons are equal
in fundamental worth or moral status.

59
 Legal Egalitarianism the principle under which each individual is subject to the
same laws, with no individual or group or class having special legal privileges, and where
the testimony of all persons is counted with the same weight.

Political Egalitarianism is where the members of a society are of equal standing in

terms of political power or influence. It is a founding principle of most forms
of democracy.

Luck Egalitarianism is a view about distributive justice (what is just or right with
respect to the allocation of goods in a society) espoused by a variety of left-wing political
philosophers, which seeks to distinguish between outcomes that are the result of brute
luck (e.g. misfortunes in genetic makeup, or being struck by a bolt of lightning) and those
that are the consequence of conscious options (e.g. career choices, or fair gambles).

Gender Egalitarianism (or Zygarchy) is a form of society in which power is equally

shared between men and women, or a family structure where power is shared equally by
both parents.

Racial Egalitarianism (or Racial Equality) is the absence of racial segregation (the
separation of different racial groups in daily life, whether mandated by law or through
social norms).

Opportunity Egalitarianism (or Asset-based Egalitarianism) is the idea that

equality is possible by a redistribution of resources, usually in the form of a capital
grant provided at the age of majority, an idea which has been around since Thomas
Paine (1737 - 1809).

Christian Egalitarianism holds that all people are equal before God and in Christ,
and specifically teaches gender equality in Christian church leadership and in marriage.

Capitalism

is an economic system in which factors of production which include capital goods,

natural resources, labor, and entrepreneurship are owned by private individuals or
businesses.

Capitalism involves the free operation of capital markets where the laws of
demand and supply set the prices of bonds, stocks, currency, and commodities.

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 Characteristics of Capitalism

Profit Motive: In capitalism, profit motive induces individual owners to work

and produce.
Private property right: The capital goods like land, factories, machinery, etc. are
under private ownership, and the owners have the right to employ them, in the manner
they like. However, for the mutual benefit of the society government, can put some
restrictions.
Consumer sovereignty: In this system, consumers are free to make a choice as
to how they want to spend their income. Only those goods are produced by the
producers, which are demanded by the consumers.

Freedom of enterprise: Every individual is free to choose and involved in the

economic activity he/she thinks fit.
Competition: Competition exists among various sellers to sell products and
services to customers and among buyers to get the goods, so as to satisfy their want.
Income inequality: In capitalism, a wide disparity of income between haves and
have-nots is observed, which is caused by the unequal property distribution.

Socialism

Socialism is a populist economic and political system based on public ownership

(also known as collective or common ownership) of the means of production. Those

61
means include the machinery, tools, and factories used to produce goods that aim to
directly satisfy human needs.

Socialism, social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private
ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view,
individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another.

Types of Socialism

1. Democratic socialism
In democratic socialism, factors of production are under the management of an
elected administration. Vital goods and services such as energy, housing, and transit are
distributed through centralized planning, while a free market system is used to distribute
consumer products.

2. Revolutionary socialism
The running philosophy of revolutionary socialism is that a socialistic system
can’t emerge while capitalism is still in play. Revolutionaries believe that the road to a
purely socialistic system requires a lot of struggle. In such a system, the factors of
production are owned and run by workers through a well-developed and centralized
structure.

3. Libertarian socialism
Libertarian socialism works on the assumption that people are always rational,
self-determining, and autonomous. If capitalism is taken away, people naturally turn to a
socialistic system because it is able to meet their needs.

4. Market socialism
Under market socialism, the production process is under the control of ordinary
workers. The workers decide how resources should be distributed. The workers sell off
what is in excess or give it out to members of the society, who then distribute resources
based on a free market system.

5. Green socialism
Green socialism is protective of natural resources. Large corporations in a green
socialistic society are owned and run by the public. In addition, green socialism promotes
the development and use of public transit, as well as the processing and sale of locally
grown food. The production process is focused on ensuring that every member of the
community has enough access to basic goods. Moreover, the public is guaranteed a
sustainable wage.

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 Task/Activity/

Case analysis about President Duterte’s War on Drugs specifically the Extra Judicial
Killing. Submit your output in the email of your teacher.

TOPIC 6: TAXATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

Tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon a
taxpayer by a government organizational in order to fund various public expenditures. A
failure to pay, along with evasion of or resistance taxation, is punishable by law.

Objective of Taxation
• Raising revenue to render various economic and social activities, a government
needs large amount of revenue and meet this government imposes various types
of taxes.
• Removal of inequalities in income and wealth: government adopts progressive tax
to remove inequalities in income and wealth of the people.
• Ensuring economic stability taxation affects the general level of consumption and
production. Hence it can be used as effective tool for achieving economic stability.
Governments use taxation to control inflation and deflation.
• Reduction in regional imbalances if there is regional imbalance in the country,
government can use taxation to remove such imbalance by tax exemptions and
tax concessions to investors who made investment in under developed regions.
• Capital accumulation tax concession or tax rebates given for savings or investment
in shares and debentures lead to large amount of capital accumulation, which is
essential for the promotion of industrial development.
• Creation of employment opportunities governments might minimize
unemployment in the country by giving tax concession or exemptions to small
entrepreneurs and labor intensive industries.
• Preventing harmful consumptions governments can reduce harm things on the
society by levying heavy excise tax on cigarettes, alcohols and other products,
which worsen people’s health.
• Beneficial diversion of resources governments impose heavy tax on non-essential
and luxury goods to discourage producers of such goods and give tax rate
reduction of exemption on most essential goods. This diverts produce’s attention
and enables the country utilize to utilize the limited resources for production of
essential goods only.
• Encouragement to exports government enhance foreign exchange requirement
through export-oriented strategy. These provide a certain tax exemption for those

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 exporters and encourage them with arranging a free trade zones and by making a
bilateral and multilateral agreement.
• Enhancement of standard of living the government also increases the living
standard of people by giving tax concessions to certain essential goods.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD TAXATION

• Tax is a Compulsory is a compulsory contribution a tax is compulsory payment

from the person to the Government without expectation of any direct return.
Every persons has to pay direct as well as indirect taxes. As it is a compulsory
contribution, no one can refuse to pay a tax on the ground that he or she does not
get any benefit from certain public services the government provides.
• The Assessment will be required to pay tax if it is due from him No one can be
forced by any authority to pay tax, if it is not due from him. Suppose, if there is a
tax on liquor, the state can force an individual to pay the tax only when he drinks
liquor. But if he does not drink liquor, he cannot forced to pay the tax on liquor.
Similarly, if an individual’s income is below the exemption limit, he cannot be
forced to pay tax on income. For example individuals earning monthly salary
below birr 150 cannot be forced to pay tax on income.
• Taxes are levied by the Government No one has the right to impose taxes. Only
the government has the right to impose taxes and to collect tax proceeds from the
people.
• Common Benefits to All the tax, so collected by the government, spent for the
common benefit of all the people. In other words, when the government collects
a tax, proceeds are spent to extend common benefits to all the people. The
government incurs expenditure on the defence of the country, on maintenance of
law and order, provision of social services such as education, health etc. Such
benefits are given to all the people- whether they are tax-payers or non-taxpayers.
These benefits satisfy social wants. But the government also spends on subsidies
to satisfy merit wants of poor people.
• No Direct Benefits in the modern times, there is no direct relationship between
the payment of tax and direct benefits. In other words, there is absence of any
benefit for taxes paid to the government authorities. The government compulsory
collects all types of taxes and does not give any direct example, when taxable
income is earned by simply pays the tax amount at the specified rate cannot
demand any benefit against such payment.
• Certain Taxes levied for Specific Objectives through taxes are imposed for
collecting revenue for the government to meet expenditure on social wants and
merit wants, certain taxes are imposed to achieve specific objective.
• Attitude of the Tax-Payers the attitude of the tax-payers is an important variables
determining the contents of a good tax system. It may be assumed that each tax-
payer would like to be exempted from taxpaying, while he would not mind if other
bears that burden. In case, he would want his share to be within the general level
of tax burden being borne by others.
• Good tax system should be in harmony with national objectives a good tax system
should run in harmony with important national objectives and if possible should

64
 assists the society in achieving them. It should try to accommodate the attitude
and problems of tax payers and should also take into consideration the goals of
social adequate revenue for the treasury and should be flexible enough to move
with the changing requirements of the state and the economy.
• Tax- system recognizes basic rights of tax-payers a good tax payers recognizes the
basic rights of the tax-payers. The tax payers is expected to pay his taxes but not
undergo harassment. In other words, the tax law should be simple in language and
the tax liability should be determined with certainty. The mode and timings of
payment should be convenient to the tax-payer at the same time, a tax system
should be equitable between tax-payers. It should be progressive and burden of
taxation should be equitable on all the tax-payers.

65
 LESSON 5
CONCLUSION: ETHICS THROUGH THICK AND THIN, AND ETHICS AND
RELIGION

TOPICS
1. Pluralism and Fundamentalism
2. Globalization and Pluralism
3. Challenges of millennials and filinnials
4. Ethics and religion

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. identify the moral challenges of globalization
2. compare responses to shared moral dilemmas of baby boomers and
millennials
3. state qualities of the filinnials
4. construct a plan for the coping with the challenges of globalization
5. differentiate ethics from religion
6. appreciate the role of religion in globalized world

TOPIC 1: PLURALISM VS. FUNDAMENTALISM

Let us define Pluralism it is the holding of two or more beliefs or concepts in a

single society. This is a prevailing idea that is introduced in the modern world to make this
a better place to live in. The Pluralist ideology fell on the following premises:
Pluralism is engagement with diversity. This means that the walls that divide
people due to religious beliefs shall be removed, at present religious diversity is present
but devoid of religious pluralism. That is in certain countries religious ghettoes allow
religious minorities to exist in their fold but is still alienated due to their biases by the
adherents of the dominant religion.
Pluralism is understanding that transcends lines of differences. Many are mistaken
that we have to learn the entire religious doctrine of another only a portion is enough to
at least build a bridge to connect them. Absence of knowledge of another culture led to
bias and alienation.

66
 Pluralism is encounter of commitments, this is simply to empathize to people of
another religion. We should not isolate ourselves from what we know but break boarders.
Pluralism is based on dialogue-talking is the most basic way of communicating,
silence will bring us nowhere.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLURALISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM:

What is pluralism/ethical pluralism first?

- an idea that there are many theories about what is right or wrong which
may be incompatible and/or incommensurable with your own personal moral norms.
What is fundamentalism/ ethical fundamentalism?
- it is when an individual looks for outside sources to make the decision of what is ethical
and unethical. The person is looking to be told what is right and wrong and what he or
she should do.
There difference is where their decisions that are being conducted from, like on
ethical pluralism, the ideas were being bonded with our own decision of what is right or
wrong because some of it are not compatible with our personal solutions on a certain
dilemma while fundamentalism, the decision depends on other sources like the person
who tells what he/she should decide with to have an intended solution that is ethical or
unethical.

Task/Activity

Watch video clip on facets of globalization: What are the Ethical challenges for
business that works in a globalized world; and what standards do workers follow?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix7yMIJf82g

67
GLOBALIZATION
“Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world
into a more connected and interdependent place. Globalization also captures in its scope
the economic and social changes that have come about as a result”
Globalization revolve on the ideas how to improve or to be more developed country
while pluralism their holding a theory that there are more than one or more than two
kinds of ultimate reality. Globalization affect pluralism because the world is changing
faster than it ever has.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLURALISM AND GLOBALIZATION:
What is pluralism/ethical pluralism?

- an idea that there are many theories about what is right or wrong which
may be incompatible and/or incommensurable with your own personal moral norms.

What is globalization?
term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into a
more connected and interdependent place. Also captures in its scope the economic and
SOCIAL CHANGES that have come about as a result.
On globalization, the dilemmas related to a certain economy were enhanced and
handled by the majority of the common good for a better purpose that matters on how
it will improve and to make it stable while on pluralism, problems were answered by
fulfilling an specific leader’s concern about how dilemmas are intended to accomplish
through his/her decision even though it is very complicated to choose what is good or
better to come up with an idea whether it is ethical or unethical.
GLOBALIZATION AND PLURALISM

The world is changing faster than it ever has. Globalization constantly has an effect on
religion and almost every facet of life. While there are certainly positives to the type of
access to information and current events globalization affords, with it also come many
questions for religious people, especially proponents of interfaith activity and peaceful
pluralism. When current events break on the news, within the hour there are hundreds
of reaction pieces posted, already making the rounds on social media. While globalization
has drastically changed technology and access to information, another type of
globalization is happening right in front of us. The people around us are increasingly
diverse and complex. With both strands of globalization occurring rapidly, advocating for
pluralism and interfaith activity will necessarily look different in the coming year. In this
post I want to lay out two main ways pluralists can respond to growing diversity, while
being open to and aware of the rapidity at which the scene for interfaith work is
changing. Pluralism is not an idea set in itself, but is rather a way of posturing yourself in
the world.

68
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FUNDAMENTALISMS TO PLURALISM
Pluralism the holding of two or more offices or positions (such as benefices)at the
same time or a state of being plural while fundamentalism is a form of a religion,
especially Islam or Protestant Christianity, that upholds belief in the strict, literal
interpretation of scripture.
Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies,
and governments worldwide. As a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, globalization
is considered by some as a form of capitalist expansion which entails the integration of
local and national economies into a global, unregulated market economy. Globalization
has grown due to advances in transportation and communication technology. With the
increased global interactions comes the growth of international trade, ideas, and culture.
Globalization is primarily an economic process of interaction and integration that's
associated with social and cultural aspects.

Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings, and values

around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. This process is
marked by the common consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet,
popular culture media, and international travel.
Economic Globalization is the increasing economic interdependence of national
economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods,
services, technology, and capital.
Political globalization refers to the growth of the worldwide political system, both
in size and complexity. That system includes national governments, their governmental
and intergovernmental organizations as well as government-independent elements of
global civil society such as international non-governmental organizations and social
movement organizations. One of the key aspects of the political globalization is the
declining importance of the nation-state and the rise of other actors on the political
scene.
Pluralism is a social philosophy that seeks to allow many different viewpoints to
coexist within a larger structure. A pluralist society, system of government or organization
contains many groups that keep their identities while also participating in the larger
group. Pluralism states that having multiple viewpoints and groups strengthens the
overall system, enriching its culture with a wider spectrum of ideas and building a deeper
and more principled consensus in the political system. Pluralism is a fundamental
principle of democracy, in which members of different groups with different viewpoints
can voice their opinions and ideas.

69
Political pluralism
Political pluralism is a complex idea. Virtually every country has to grapple with a
history of inequality based on race, religion, gender, sexuality or cultural differences.
Political pluralism is meant, not only to establish a system in which every person is valued
equally, but to address lingering effects of an unequal past. Many postcolonial countries,
such as the United States, Canada, India and Brazil, developed pluralist policies after
achieving independence. Such countries often establish constitutions that make all
citizens, colonizer and colonized alike, equal before the law.
Religious Pluralism
Religion at its best is a force for human improvement; at its worst, a source of violent
division. Religious pluralism pursues the former and avoids the latter by acknowledging
the value of multiple traditions and faiths.
Social Pluralism
Virtually every society is pluralist to one degree or another. Differences in age and
gender are unavoidable and differences of worldview, faith and political affiliation
abound. Examples of social pluralism are examples of situations in which those
differences are celebrated rather than oppressed.
The Power of Plural
As the world grows more interconnected and new ideas and movements arise, the
concept of pluralism takes on new significance. The willingness to allow for multiple value
systems and the ability to acknowledge the successes and flaws of each are both key skills
for living in a global society. As the world grows more interconnected and new ideas and
movements arise, the concept of pluralism takes on new significance. The willingness to
allow for multiple value systems and the ability to acknowledge the successes and flaws
of each are both key skills for living in a global society.

Task/Activity

Essay: How do we respond to an increasingly pluralist and individualist globalized world?

70
 Rubrics in Writing Essay
Features Expert (5) Accomplished Capable (3) Beginner (2)
(4)
Quality of  Piece  Piece was  Piece had  Piece had
Writing was written in an little style no style or
written interesting or voice voice
in an style and  Gives some  Gives no
extraordi voice information new
nary  Somewhat but poorly information
style and informative organized. and very
voice. and poorly
 Very organized. organized
informati
ve and
well
organize
d
Grammar,  Virtually  Few spelling  A minute of  So many
Usage & no and spelling, spelling,
Mechanics spelling, punctuations punctuation punctuation
punctuat errors, or and
ion or minor, grammatical grammatical
grammat grammatical errors. errors that
ical errors. it interferes
errors. with the
meaning.
Total No. of Points (10)

WHO ARE THE MILLENNIALS AND FILINNIALS?

 Millennials are sometimes referred to as “echo boomers” due to a major surge in
birth rates in the 1980’s and 1990’s and because millenials are often the children
of the baby boomers. This generation is generally marked by the usage of digital
technology and social media.

 Filinnials(short for Filipino millennials) are usually spendthrifts due to their

propensity to spend money for luxury goods which left their bank accounts

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 TOPIC 2: THE CHALLENGES OF MILLENIALS AND FILINNIALS

WHAT ARE THEIR CHALLENGES?

 Racism
 Student debt/Debt
 Economy
 Climate Change
 Social Media/Technology Addiction
 Older Generations
 Unemployment/Jobs
 Environment
 Drugs
CHALLENGES OF MILLENNIALS AND FILINNIALS
Millennials - also known as ‘Generation Y’ or the Net Generation’
- 1970s to early 1980s as starting birthyears and mild 1990s to early 2000s as
ending birth years.

Filinnials - term to use to denote the Filipino Millennials

-They are called as “selfie generation”, being generally characterized as social
media dependent. They are massive multi-taskers, and are constantly connected to their
handheld devices.

Filinnial’s Generation
-Increased used and familiarity with communications, media and digital
technologies.
Challenges of Millennials and Filinnials

1. Racism
2. Student debt/Debt-Millennials today deal with financial Problems. They need to
loan to pay their tuition and others.
3. Millennials have to save longer to buy a house
4. Millennials are struggling to build wealth
5. Millennials are caring for aging parents and spending more money doing so
6. Millennials rely on their parents for financial assistance
7. Millennials need to save money for retirement
8. Poverty

72
 Task/Activity

Essay:

1. What are the issues that cause moral friction between Millennials/Filinnials and
their parents?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. How should we resolve the friction? Who is right?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

73
 RUBRICS IN WRITING ESSAY
Features Expert (5) Accomplished (4) Capable (3) Beginner (2)
Quality of Writing  Piece was  Piece was  Piece had  Piece had no
written in an written in an little style or style or voice
extraordinary interesting voice  Gives no new
style and style and  Gives some information
voice. voice information and very
 Very  Somewhat but poorly poorly
informative informative organized. organized
and well and
organized organized.
Grammar, Usage  Virtually no  Few spelling  A minute of  So many
& Mechanics spelling, and spelling, spelling,
punctuation punctuations punctuation punctuation
or errors, minor, or and
grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical
errors. errors. errors. errors that it
interferes
with the
meaning.
Total No. of Points (10)

TOPIC 3: THE RELIGIOUS RESPONSE

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS AND RELIGION:

 Ethics are universal decision-making tools that may be used by a person on any
religious persuasion, including atheists. While religion makes claims about
cosmology, social behavior, and the “proper” treatment of others, etc. Ethics are
based on logic and reason rather than tradition or injunction.
SIMILARITY BETWEEN ETHICS AND RELIGION:
 They are often treated the same, with various religions making claims about their
belief systems being the best way for people to live, actively proselytizing and
trying to convert unbelievers, trying to legislate public behavior based around
isolated religious passages, etc.
WHAT IS THE RESPONSE OF RELIGION TO ETHICS?
 Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and
wrong behaviour. A central aspect of ethics is “the good life”, the life worth living
or life that is simply satisfying, which is held by many philosophers to be more
important than traditional moral conduct.

74
  Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported
supernatural revelation or guidance. Some assert that religion is necessary to live
ethically.

Task/Activity

1. What are the challenges to ethical behaviour in today’s world?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Is it still meaningful to search for universal values?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

ASSESSMENT

1. Identify the important moral challenges of globalization

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

75
 2. Individual Case Analysis: How do I respond to the challenges of globalization and
the differences of mindsets caused by differing generational relations to
technology and social media? Send your output to your teacher’s email.

RUBRICS IN WRITING ESSAY

Features Expert (5) Accomplished (4) Capable (3) Beginner (2)
Quality of Writing  Piece was  Piece was  Piece had  Piece had no
written in an written in an little style or style or voice
extraordinary interesting voice  Gives no new
style and style and  Gives some information
voice. voice information and very
 Very  Somewhat but poorly poorly
informative informative organized. organized
and well and
organized organized.
Grammar, Usage  Virtually no  Few spelling  A minute of  So many
& Mechanics spelling, and spelling, spelling,
punctuation punctuations punctuation punctuation
or errors, minor, or and
grammatical grammatical grammatical grammatical
errors. errors. errors. errors that it
interferes
with the
meaning.
Total No. of Points (10)

76
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Rachels, J. (2004). The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 1-15.4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill
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Rachels, J. (2004). The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 16-31.4th ed. New York: McGraw-
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reason-play-in-ethics/
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