UNDERSTANDING MORALITY AND MORAL STANDARDS

MODULE 1

LESSON 1: Course Orientation and The Importance of Rules

1. Rules are important to social beings. Just imagine the chaos that results from the
absence of rules.
2. Rules are meant to set order. Rules are meant for man. For the sake of order in society,
everyone is subject to rules.
3. Rules are not meant to restrict your freedom. They are meant to help you grow in
freedom, to grow in your ability to choose and do what is good for you and for others.
4. If you are a rule or a law-abiding citizen, you don’t even feel the restricting presence of a
rule or law because you do what the law or what the rule states everybody should do.
This is the state when one acts not because rules demand it but because one sees he
has to act that way. It is like saying one no longer needs the rule or law because one has
become mature and wise enough to discern what ought to be done. This is an ideal state
which the ancient Chinse sages (Confucious, Lao Tzu) referred to as state of no-more
rules, no-more laws, because people discern what is right or good and do what is right or
good without thinking or a rule or law; people are no longer in need of a government
because they govern themselves. It is a state where one owns the moral standard not just
abide by the moral standard.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Rules are meant to set order in society.

 Rules are intended for human persons. They are not meant to limit a person’s freedom
which is the ability to choose and do what is good. Rather rules are meant to help
persons choose and do what is good.
 Those who do what is good don’t even feel the presence of a rule that prevent them
from doing what is not good. It is those who intend to do the opposite of what is good
that feel the suffocating and limiting presence of a rule.
 When society is ideal, i.e. when all persons are good and do only what is ideal then
there will be no more need for rules and laws according to Lao Tzu.

LESSON 2: Moral and Non-Moral Standards

The term “ethics” comes from the Greek word “ethos” meaning “custom” used in the
works of Aristotle, while the term “moral” is the Latin equivalent. Based on the Greek and
Latin etymology of the word “ethics”, ethics deals with morality.
 Ethics or moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy which deals with moral
standards, inquires about the rightness or wrongness of human behavior or the goodness or
badness of personality, trait or character. It deals with ideas, with topics such as moral
standards or norms of morality, conscience, moral values and virtues. Ethics is a study of the
morality of human acts and moral agents, what makes an obligatory and what makes a
person accountable.

“Moral” is the adjective describing a human act as either ethically right or wrong, or
qualifying a person, personality character, as either ethically good or bad.

Moral Standards or Moral Frameworks and Non-Moral Standards

Moral standards are norms or prescriptions that serve as the frameworks for
determining what ought to be done or what is right or wrong action, what is good or bad
character.

The following can be classified as moral standards:

 Do not lie.
 Don’t steal.
 Don’t cheat others.
 Don’t kill.

Moral standards are either consequences standards or non-consequence

standards. The consequence standards depend on results, outcome. An act that results in
the general welfare, in the greatest good of the greatest number. is moral. To take part in a
project that results in the improvement of the majority of people is, therefore, moral.

The non-consequence standards are based on the natural law. Natural law is the
law of God revealed through human reason. It is the "law of God written in the hearts of
men." To preserve human life is in accordance with the natural law, therefore it is moral.
Likewise, the non-consequence standard may also be based on good will or intention, and on
a sense of duty. Respect for humanity, treatment of the other as a human person, an act that
is moral, springs from a sense of duty, a sense of duty that you wish will apply to all human
persons.

On the other hand, non-moral standards are social rules, demands of etiquette and
good manners. They are guides of action which should be followed as expected by society.
Sometimes they may not be followed or some people may not follow them. From time to time,
changes are made regarding good manners or etiquette. In sociology, non-moral standards
or rules are called folkways. In short, non-moral actions are those where moral categories
cannot be applied.

Examples of non-moral standards are rules of good manners and right conduct,
etiquette, rules of behavior set by parents, teachers, and standards of grammar or language,
standards of art, standards of sports set by other authorities. Examples are "do not eat with
your mouth open;" "observe rules of grammar," and "do not wear socks that don't match."

The following standards are non-moral.

 No talking while your mouth is full.

 Wear black or white for mourning, never red.
 The males should be the one to propose marriage not females.
 Observe correct grammar when writing and speaking English.
 Submit school requirements on time.
  If you are a male, stay by the danger side (roadside) when walking with a female.
 Go with the fashion or you are not "in."
 When you speak pronounce words correctly.
 Focus the microscope properly.
 Maintain a good body figure.

An indicator whether or not a standard is moral or non-moral lies in its compliance

as distinguished from its non-compliance. Non-compliance with moral standards causes a
sense of guilt, while noncompliance with a non-moral standard may only cause shame or
embarrassment.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE THEORIES OF MORAL STANDARDS

Garner and Rosen (1967) classified the various moral standards formulated by
moral philosophers as follows:

1. Consequence standard (teleological, from tele which means end, result, or

consequence) states that ac act is right or wrong depending on the consequences
of the act, that is, the good that is produced in the world.
2. Not-only-consequence standard (deontological), holds that the rightness or
wrongness of an action or rule depends on sense of duty, natural law, virtue and the
demand of the situation or circumstances of that action or following that rule.

Natural law and virtue ethics are deontological moral standards because their basis
for determining what is right or wrong does not depend on consequences but on the natural
law and virtue. Situation ethics, too, is deontological because the rightness or wrongness of
an act depends on situation and circumstances requiring demanding exception to rule.

What Makes Standards Moral?

The question means what obliges us to follow a moral standard? For theists, God is the
ultimate source of what is moral revealed to human persons. For non-theists, God is not the
source of morality. Moral standards are based on the wisdom of sages like Confucius or
philosophers like Immanuel Kant.

The Origin of Moral Standards: Theist and Non-Theist

The theistic line of thought states moral standards is of divine origin while 20 th
century thinkers claim state that they simply evolved.

With the Divine source concept, moral standards are derived from natural law,
man’s participation in the Divine law. The moral principle, “Do good and avoid evil” is an
expression of natural law. Man’s obliging himself to respect the life, liberty, and property of
his fellowman arises from the God=given sacredness, spirituality, and dignity of his fellow
man. It arises from his faith, hope, and love of God and man.

With the evolutionary concept, the basics of moral standards – do good, avoid evil –
have been observed among primates and must have evolved as the process of evolution
followed its course.

LESSON 3: Moral Dilemmas

Meaning of Moral Dilemma

Moral dilemmas are situations where two or more moral values or duties make
demands on the decision-maker, who can only honor one of them, and thus will violate at
least one important moral concern, no matter what he or she decides to do.

Moral dilemmas present situations where there is tension between moral values and
duties that are more or less on equal footing. The decision-maker has to choose between a
wrong and another wrong. The decision maker in a deadlock.

Meaning of a False Dilemma

A false dilemma is a situation where the decision-maker has a moral duty to do one
thing, but is tempted or under pressure to do something else. A false dilemma is a choice
between a right and a wrong.

What to Do When Faced with a Moral Dilemma

Ultimately, dilemmas are conflicts in the application of moral standards. The

question is which moral standards must be followed? In a state of emergency, necessity
demands no moral law. You have to decide based on your judgment or choose based on the
principle of lesser evil or greater good or urgency.

LESSON 4: The Three Levels of Moral Dilemmas

A. Individual. This refers to personal dilemmas. It is an individual’s damn-if-you-do-

and-damn-if-you-don’t situation.
B. Organizational. An organizational dilemma is a puzzle posed by the dual
necessities of a social organization and members’ self-interest. It may exist between
personal interests and organizational welfare or between group interests and
organizational well-being… (Wagner, J. 2019)
C. Structural. A structural dilemma is a conflict of perspective of sectors, groups and
institutions that may be affected by the decision.

Gap Versus Overlap

There may be gaps and overlaps in roles and responsibilities. If key responsibilities
are not clearly assigned, there may be gaps or overlaps in important tasks. If there are gaps,
organizations end up with no one doing the responsibility. If there are overlaps, things
become unclear and may lead to more confusion and even conflict and worse wasted effort
and perhaps even resources because of the unintended overlap.

Lack of Clarity Versus Lack of Creativity

If employees are unclear about what they are supposed to do, they often tailored
their roles around personal preferences instead of system wide goals, frequently leading to
trouble.

Flexibility versus Strict Adherence to Rules

You accommodate by bending rules to help someone or you stick strictly to rules no
matter what and so unable to help someone who is thrown into a helpless situation. Or you
may become being too accommodating that all rules are no more.
 Your jobs are defined so clearly that you will stick to them even if circumstances are
such that by sticking to your job description the service or product that your organization
provide suffers.

Excessive Autonomy Versus Excessive Interdependence

This refers to being too isolated versus too much coordination. When individuals or
groups are too autonomous, people often feel isolated and disconnected. If units and roles
are too tightly linked, people are distracted from work and waste time on unnecessary or too
much coordination.

Centralized versus Decentralized Decision Making

In decentralized decision making organizations can respond to change more rapidly

and effectively because the decision makers are the people closest to the situation. However,
top managers may lose some control. This is the dilemma of tight overcentralization or
diffusing authority which is loose.

Resolving Moral Dilemmas

The following offer some techniques in resolving moral dilemma:

1. Think of available alternative options revealing that the dilemma does not really
exist.
2. Another way is “choosing the greater good and lesser evil” or…,” Or one may apply
the situation ethics approach, following the rule, one must do only what he can
where he is. Do not resort to extraordinary or supernatural means.

LESSON 5: Freedom as Foundation for Moral Acts

Ethics Applies Only to Human Person

The Song, My Way/Born This Way, implies choice freedom “I did it my way”. Unlike
the lower forms of animals, human persons have a choice or freedom, hence morality applies
only to human persons. We cannot say a cat is unethical when it eats the food at table
intended for you or when a dog urinates on your favorite bag laying on the floor.

Freedom and Moral Choice

Without freedom it is impossible to make a moral choice.” If we are to have free will
we must have the ability to make a decision that is unhindered. Kant believe that we must
have free will if we are to be held morally responsible for our actions. If God did not give us
free will then our decisions cannot be considered immoral or moral as we would have had to
act in the way, we did. Thus, we cannot be held responsible; a good moral action cannot be
praised as you have no other option, whilst an immoral action cannot be punished as once
again there was no free choice.

Because a human person has freedom, he/she has choice and so is responsible for
the consequences of his/her choice. The lower forms of animals have no choice since they
are bound by instinct and so cannot be held responsible for their behavior.

To be Ethical: Own Not Merely Abide by Moral Standards

Having free will or freedom to choose among alternatives, which implies prior
analysis and study, is coming to terms with what you finally affirm or deny. When you arrive
at a personal conviction and self-affirmation, you begin to own the moral standard. The moral
standard begins to be integrated, internalized. You follow the norm not because it is imposed
by others, not because others say so or authoritatively impose it on you. On the other hand,
merely abiding by moral standards means applying them as basis to resolve a moral problem
without necessarily having internalized them. Merely abiding by them means once the
enforced is not around, the moral standard is not followed.

Or if you do not own or internalize the standard, you will tend to use it for
convenience, to evade a responsibility, to put the blame on the standard itself when things do
not end well. You simply become legalistic, and adopt the maxims, “follow the rule or law,
even if the sky falls down”; “the law says so”; the law is hard, but it is the law (dura lex sed
lex). You followed the law because others, authorities, regulators say so; not because you
say so. Owning moral standards means internalizing them, making them part of your
conviction. Internalized or embodied moral standards are being followed with or without
anyone telling you.

LESSON 6: Culture: How It Defines Moral Behavior

What is culture?

 Culture is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors. It is

people’s way of life.
 Culture consists of non-material and material culture. Non-material culture includes
language, values, rules, knowledge, and meanings shared by members of society.
Material culture refers to the physical objects that a society produces such as tools
and works of art.
 Culture is learned not inherited. It is acquired through enculturation, inculturation
and acculturation.
 Enculturation is the process of learning the components of life-material as well as
non-material- in one’s culture.
 Inculturation is making the Gospel take roots in a culture and introducing that
transformed culture to Christianity.
 Acculturation is the process by which people learn and adapt a new culture.
 Culture influences the human person, who is the moral agent.
 Culture affects human behavior. Not all cultural practices are morally acceptable.
Examples are the culture of vengeance and low regard for the African women in
comparison to the African men.

LESSON 7: Cultural Relativism

 Cultural relativism is the idea that a person’s beliefs, values and practices should be
understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the
criteria of another.”
 Morality is relative to the norms of one’s culture. That is, whether an action is right or
wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same
action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another.
 The danger of cultural relativism is the idea of relativism itself. Whether an action is
right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced.
 What is good depends on what society’s culture considers as good. What is bad
likewise depends on what society’s culture considers as bad.
 Absolute relativism is self-contradictory and impossible. Absolute relativism states
“there are no absolute truths: which is an absolute truth itself, so absolute relativism
contradicts itself.
 There is a difference between cultural perspective and cultural relativism. To have
cultural perspective is to understand people’s beliefs, values, and practices in the
context of their culture. Having a perspective of one’s culture, is needed to
understand people. But it does not follow that morality be based on said culture.

LESSON 8: The Filipino Character

The Filipino character has weaknesses:

1. Extreme Family Centeredness

- strong family protection good or bad condition
2. Extreme Personalism
- always trying to to give personal interpretation to actions
- thank you with "but" (compliment-criticism-compliment)
3. Lack of Discipline : relaxed attitude but poor time management
- impatient and unable to delay gratification or reward
- love to take short-cuts or 'palusot' system
- carelessness
4. Passivity and Lack of Initiative : strong reliance to others fate
- yeah proud Pinoy. It's all because of the race (nationality/blood) not by persons
attitude, hard-work, dream and perseverance etc.
- very complacent (relax) but their rarely is a sense of urgency (It's OK we have 1
day left to finished, just relax)
- too patient without any plan or action (matiisin) "Bahala na System" - No matter
what, At least we tried.
- doubt and debate first than study, discuss until planning and action
5. Colonial Mentality : Patriotism vs Active awareness
- luck of love and appreciation on what they have
- open outside but side-open or close inside
6. Kanya-kanya Syndrome : self-serving attitude that generates feeling of envy
and competitiveness towards others (status vs prestige)
- personal ambition but insensitive to common good
- crab mentality
- lack of appreciation resulting unhealthy competition
7. Lack of self-analysis and self-reflection
-The tendency to be superficial and somewhat flighty.
- There is a lack of analysis or reflection in the face of critical problems, both social
and personal.
8.Emphasis on porma rather than substance
- This lack of analysis and emphasis on form is reinforced by an educational system that
is more form than substance
 The Filipino has a number of strengths. His/her strengths when they become extreme,
however, also become his/her weaknesses.
 His/her strengths help him/her become ethical and moral but his/her weaknesses
obstruct his/her moral and ethical growth.
 Culture has a significant impact on morality.
 The Filipino group-centeredness and “kami” – mentality make it difficult for the Filipino to
stand up against the group when what is the moral thing to do.
 There is much need for home, school, and society as a whole to help every Filipino grow
into the strong moral person everyone is called to become.
 For the Filipino to become the moral and ethical person, he/she should capitalize on
his/her strengths and eliminate weaknesses.

LESSON 9: Universal Values

Are there universal values? Is honesty a universal value? Plato talked about the
values or virtues of temperance, courage, and wisdom. Jesus Christ preached the value of
love from which springs patience, kindness, goodwill, forgiveness, and compassion.
Confucius taught righteousness, human-heartedness, filial piety.

DO NO HARM. Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you. Do
not lie. Do not steal. Do not cheat. Do not falsely accuse others. Do not commit adultery. Do
not commit incest. Do not physically or verbally abuse others. Do not murder. Do not destroy
the natural environment upon which all life depends.

DO GOOD. Do to others what you would like them to do to you. Be honest and fair.
Be generous. Be faithful to your family and friends. Take care of your children when they are
young. Take care of your parents when they are old. Take care of those who cannot take
care of themselves. Be kind to strangers. Respect all life. Protect the natural environment
upon which all life depends.

Universal values are the ultimate bases for living together and learning how to live
together. Without respect for human life by all then people will just kill to each other. If
honesty or truth telling is not valued by all, there will be endless lack of trust among people.