Ethics and Morality Misconceptions

• The slides are about Moral Agents and Moral Development

Morality

• Refers to principals concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior

Fruits of Knowing Yourself

• Self awareness and self understanding are important
• People are the most important organizational resource
• Improved predictability and increased self-confidence are gained
• Relationships are built
• Human resources are effectively utilized
• Conflicts are avoided or managed
• The quality of life and work environment are improved

What Makes Us A Human Being

• Metaphysical aspects are the level of being, fundamental, radical, and substantial act of being and what you are.
• Operational aspects are the level of doing and are accidental.
• Being human and fundamental dignity lies in the level of being, not in the level of operation.
• Operationally (biologically, socially, morally, intellectually, emotionally), the human person has yet to grow, and conception begins human life.
• Metaphysically, the embryo is already a human person, created in the image and likeness of God.

Man is Rational

• Means a human being possess the faculty of intellection (knowledge) and volition (will).
• Knowledge is the power of generalization, the conception of abstract ideas, and the possession of intellectual truths.
• Will is a strong desire to acquire an object which, after due consideration of its consequences, has been pronounced by reason to be good.

Man's Rationality

• Capable of making a choice
• Able to make judgement
• Has capacity to make decisions
• Power to determine himself freely in attaining his destiny

Moral Agent

• An ethical representative for a public person
• Not an irrelevant label when discussing ethics
• Responsible for his or her actions and behaviors
• Moral Agent is a creature able to act morally which suggests that the creature has the ability to know that its actions have moral consequences

Moral Character

• Evaluative orientation that distinguishes good and bad and prescribes good
• Sense of obligation towards standards of a social collective
• Sense of responsibility for acting out of concern for others
• Concern for the rights of others
• Commitment to honesty in interpersonal relationships
• A state of mind that causes negative emotional reactions to immoral acts

Moral Agency

• Ability of moral agents to make moral judgments based on some notion of right and wrong
• Traditionally, moral agency is assigned only to those who can be held responsible for their actions

Forms of Moral Agency

• Teleological
• Deontological
• Social morality
• Noble character

Dimensions of Moral Agency

• Rational Thoughts
• Feeling/Emotions
• Action

Moral Development

• Focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood
• Develops across a lifetime and is influenced by an individual's experiences and their behavior when faced with moral issues through different periods of physical and cognitive development
• Moral development includes characteristics of honesty, truthfulness, trustworthiness, self-respect, respect of others, righteousness, self control, duty consciousness and compassion in childhood
• Moral development is the process through which children develop proper attitudes and behaviors towards other people in society, based on social and cultural norms, rules and laws

Stages of Moral Development

• Post-Conventional
• Social contract and individual rights
• Universal principles
• Conventional
• Good interpersonal relationships
• Maintaining social order
• Pre-Moral
• Obedience and punishment
• Individualism and exchange

Explore common misconceptions about ethics and morality. This lesson clarifies that morality focuses on effectiveness, not just right and wrong. It also addresses misunderstandings about self-awareness, moral agents, and human resource utilization.