2: T he Moral
Lesson
A gen t
L u m i n a r ia s
Jeruel H
At the end of the session...
Learning Outcomes
Distinguish the difference between human acts and acts of man.
Define culture and cultural relativism.
Reconcile the belief on universal values versus cultural
determinism.
Intensify the practice of Filipino values
Check their personal growth against the stages of developmen
ACTIVITY( Group sharing)
What has influence you most in making up your
mind to take the course of your life now? Was it a
significant individual, situation, a personal
ambition?
What values did it impart on you?
01 Which of those
influences have
great impact on
you?
My L if e 02
Had you followed
your freedom,
De cis io n s , would you be
different now?
My L if e
03 How honest have
Ac ti o n s you been to
yourself?
Moral Agent
-has the power of taking the
decision, judgment ability to think
what is wrong or right, and
leadership qualities to influence
others about what is right or wrong.
-moral agent is any person or
collective entity capable of
exercising moral agencY
Back to Agenda
capacity to ACT(maybe subject
to morality)
1 2
HUMAN ACTS ACTS OF MAN
HUMAN ACTS
These are acts done with deliberate free
will.
human acts as:
1. Voluntary (free) acts of man.
2. Acts done with knowledge and consent.
3. Acts which are proper to man which is
acted with knowledge and freedom of the
will.
4. Acts which man is conscious, under his
control, and for which man is responsible of
it.
5. Acts which man is the master, as man has
the power and control of doing and not
doing as he pleases.
HUMAN ACT
KNOWLEDGE FREEDOM VOLUNTARINESS
Has intellectual knowledge
of the act; An act is done
When the doer acts on voluntarily or willfully
-- When the doer is its own initiative and when the doer
conscious and aware of the choice without being approves/consents to
reason and the
forced to do so. the act and owning it as
cconsequences of one’s
action – good or bad its own.
COMPONENTS
ACTS OF MAN
acts of man are actions done
according to our biological
and physiological make
up. It is instinctive,
involuntary, and not within
the control of the will
(Agapay, 1991)
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN
Eating Breathing
backbiting Jumping
Sleepwalking
jogging
Daydreaming
sweating
CULTURE
& Its influence to
Morality
CULTURE
SYMBOL BELIEFS
Symbols can be anything that a
Beliefs are assumptions or
group of people find meaningful
convictions held to be true
NORMS
nformal guideline by a particular group o
LANGUAGE f what is normal or correct social behavoir
VALUES
is a complex symbol system that Values are culturally acceptable
enable human beings to communicate standard of behavior
either verbally or through writing
How does culture affect
human behavior?
Naturally drawn to participate in culture
People want to belong.
To be accepted by peers.
need protection from danger
increases the human being chance of
survival
How does culture define
moral behavior?
Plato, in his Republic cited three critical element
that jointly influence the human person’s moral
development
native traits (or what we might call genetic
characteristics)
Early childhood experience
One’s cultural surroundings.
How moral character is
developed?
Defining moment refers to a
significant life-changing
event or moment that
reverberates throughout
your career and personal
life and so changes
everything
A person who has moral
character does moral actions
more readily and more willingly
than one who does not.
Therefore, it is good to develop
moral character.
It is, therefore, best for all
persons to develop moral
character. Moral character is
formed by repeatedly doing
moral acts.
STAGES OF MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
Lawrence Kohlberg studied morality using a
very interesting technique. His
theory holds the moral reasoning, which is the
basis for ethical behavior, has
identifiable development stages and each
become more adequate at responding to moral
dilemmas as the person progress from one
stage to the next.
STAGES OF MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
Moral development refers to the “process
through which a human person
gains his/her beliefs, skills and dispositions that
make him/her a morally
mature person.
Stages of Moral
Development
Stage 1
Pre-conventional
Stage 2
Stage 3
Conventional
Stage 4
Stage 5
Post-conventional
Stage 6
Pre- Conventional
Self-Focused
Stage 1: Punishment; Authority
Orientation
•Obey or Pay
•Authority- Fear
Stage 2: Pleasure Orientation
• Self-satisfaction
• “What’s in it for me?”
Pre-conventional level is
concerned with concrete
consequences to individuals,
focusing on pursuing concrete
interest while avoiding sanctions.
Stage One
Punishment- Obedient Orientation
What is right is to obey the rules, avoid
physical damage to persons and property. The
reason is that one wants to avoid punishment.
There is the difference to power and position.
In relation to social perspective, what is
considered is simply one's own interest as
there is still no sense of another's point of
view.
Stage Two
Instrumental-Purposive Orientation
What is right is one's own immediate
interest, and letting others act also in their
own interest. What is right is what is fair. You
do your thing, I do my thing; we have fair equal
exchange.
The reason is to satisfy one's need and admit
the needs of others in their own self-interest.
While other is after his/her own interest, I too
have my own interest. If I do what is wrong, I
might not obtain my own interest.
Conventional
Group- focused
Stage 3: Peer and Group Acceptance
Orientation
▸Approval- Group Norms
▸Loyalty- Belonging
Stage 4: Legalistic Orientation(LAW)
▸Law and Order
▸ Duty to Society
Conventional Level is concerned with
fulfilling role expectations, maintaining
and supporting the social order, and
identifying persons or groups involved in
this order.
Stage 3
Interpersonal Agreement Orientation
What is deemed right is what pleases
or helps others, what is approved by
others, what reinforces mutual
relationships such as trust, loyalty,
respect, and gratitude.
The reason for helping others, for pleasing
others, for doing what is conventional or what is
mutually good for everyone is the need to be
seen by the self and others as a loyal, caring
person(important here is my image to others),
the desire to maintain rules and authority that
support your typical good behaviour and living
up to what significant others expect.
In relation to the social perspective,
one takes the group expectations that
take primacy over individaul interest.
Stage 4
Social Structure Orientation
What is right is doing one's duty, showing
respects for laws, authority and society and
contributing to the maintenance of society and
institutions. One's reason for doing one's duty
and the like is that, action which breaks the
social or moral agreements impair the system
which is a value. It would be hazardous to
digress from conformity and from social
norms.
One reason for this is that conscience is
imperative to the moral law, to the ethical
system. Another reason is the maintenance of
the system for its own sake. The social
perspective takes the perspective of a
generalized other and not just the personal
other. The generalized other is the institution,
the society, or the church. One sees a given social
issue from the perspective of a fixed system of
laws and beliefs.
Post-Conventional
Universal Focused
Stage 5: Common Good
▸ Standards of Society
▸ Social Contract
Satge 6: Universal Principles
▸ Decision of Conscience
▸ Logical Moral Principles
Post-conventional level is concerned of
the effort to define the moral values and
principles that have validity and
application apart from the authority of
groups or persons and the ability to see
beyond laws and norms of society. It is here
that one examines, adopts, and applies the
different ethical frameworks or principles.
Stage 5
Social Contract Orientation
This stage includes what is right,
individual rights, and standards which
have been critically examined and
agreed upon. One says, “these rights
have been examined, and since they are
right, they are the ones to be followed.”
Here, one is concerned that obligations
be based on calculations of overall utilty,
what is really good for all. To a certain
extent, there is universality in this good but
still within basic human society, basic
human agreements.
The social perspective here views the
rights of each as best protected when
stability governs relations, when one
recognizes that moral and legal
perspectives sometimes differ and thus one
may question the legal because it may not
be moral.
Stage 6
Universal Ethical Principles
Kohlberg was not able to observe this
stage in his group , thus he projected it.
What is right is following self chosen
ethical principles based on judgements
that are universalizable and consistent.
What is right are the universal principles
of justice, and the reason given are the
validity of universal and moral principles
and the sense of personal commitment to
these principles.
The social perspective taken is the moral
point of view from which even the social
arrangements are derived; from this
universalizable moral point of view, moral
judgments are made.
Thought of as an ideal, aspirational stage
o f m o r a l
e n t s t a g e s a r e
h e d i f f e r K o h l b e r g
To s u m , t L a w r e n c e s
c o r d i n g t o n g w h a t i
p m e n t a c d e t e r m i n i
d e v e l o s e d w i t h s d e s c r i b e
o b e c o n f u t h e s t a g e
not t r o n g . B u t f t h e
r i g h t o r w o f e a c h o
m o r a l l y a c t e r i s t i c s e c a r e f u l
t h e c h a r n e m u s t b
on l y s . H e n c e , o t b a s e d
t a l s t a g e t t o a n a c
v e l o p m e n j u d g m e n e d b y
de o n m o r a l
e n t d e v e l o p
t t o p a s s d e v e l o p m
no s o f m o r a l
h e s t a g e e r g .
on t Kohlb
