Understanding Values, Morals, and Ethics

• A set of values arise from family, social, cultural, religious, and political contexts
• Some values correspond to global and universal frameworks

What are values?

• A value signifies something that an individual or community deems worthy of pursuit, promotion, or privilege.
• Values can manifest as tangible items, states of mind, or behaviors that result from these
• Examples include things like money, peace, protecting innocents, telling the truth, or being creative
• A value differs from a mere desire

Values vs Desires

• Desires involve wanting something without much reflection and may stem from instinct, urges, or physical needs
• Values may originate from desires, but they emerge after thoughtful consideration

Morals vs Values

• Morals typically result from rationality
• Values can arise from social contexts, emotional dispositions, or rationality
• Values are the subject of ethical investigation
• Ethics constitutes the study of morals

Universal Values

• Universal values serve as the foundation for moral and ethical judgments
• They aid individuals in distinguishing between right and wrong, good and bad
• A collection of fundamental ideas or ideals held in common across various countries, societies, and historical periods
• They surpass cultural, religious, and geographical boundaries
• These reflect a shared understanding of human rights, dignity, and the inherent worth of all individuals
• Interpretations and applications of these values may vary across different cultural contexts
• Underlying principles tend to remain consistent

Philosophical Perspectives on Universal Values

• Universal is an adjective related to what belongs or relates to the universe, and refers to everything created and common to everything

Plato

• Plato argued that the idea of virtues leads to understanding ethics and values
• Values serve as standards of excellence within particular activities, guiding how we should act
• Key values include temperance, courage, and wisdom
• Plato believed that universal values exist apart from the concrete world
• An example would be a good captain ensures a ship's safety; also what it means to be a good human being

Aristotle

• Aristotle held that people need knowledge of the virtues
• Individuals may desire things like wealth, food, drink, sex, or power to be happy
• These should be enjoyed in moderation to become significantly valued through rationality and community
• Emphasized that universal values exist embodied in the concrete individual as common or essential characteristics

Jesus Christ

• Universal values center around love, which brings patience, kindness, goodwill, compassion, and forgiveness
• Love described as the greatest commandment and the essence of God's character rooted in love for God and one's neighbor, characterized by selflessness and genuine concern for others
• Patience as taught by Jesus, encompasses enduring difficulties, waiting without complaint, and tolerance towards others, bearing with imperfections and shortcomings
• Kindness manifests in acts of compassion and generosity towards others, exemplified through healing miracles and willingness to forgive persecutors
• Goodwill fosters a desire for the welfare and happiness of others and promoting peace and harmony encouraging reconciliation
• Compassion compels individuals to show compassion toward those who suffer or are in need, showing mercy to the sick, poor, and marginalized
• Forgiveness includes the willingness to release resentment

St. Thomas Aquinas

• Universal values are grounded in the natural order based in God and discernible through human reason
• Goodness all beings possess intrinsic goodness, participating in the divine order established by God and conforming to God's plan
• Truth Truth corresponds between what is in the mind and what exists in reality, essential for understanding the natural world and divine revelation
• Justice Cardinal virtue giving each person their due, whether in terms of rights, obligations, or rewards involving commutative, distributive, and legal justice
• Prudence Virtue of practical wisdom, enabling individuals to make sound decisions and choose the right means to achieve good ends, involving careful deliberation, foresight, and consideration of consequences in moral actions.

Why are Universal Values Essential to Humans

• Serve as a common ground for diverse societies and cultures, fostering understanding, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence
• Offer ethical guidance for individuals to distinguish right from wrong, promoting fairness, justice, and compassion
• Form the basis for human rights frameworks, upholding inherent dignity and worth regardless of various factors
• Enable societies to navigate change with resilience and adaptability, empowering individuals and communities during challenges

Why are Universal Values Essential to Human Survival

• Values are relevant to human survival
• Builds bonds for strong social networks
• Examples are compassion, empathy, and cooperation during times of adversity
• Supports individuals
• Provides social cohesion and cooperation
• Peaceful resolution of conflicts through tolerance, forgiveness, and justice is essential for safety and survival
• Environmental stewardship includes responsibility and sustainability and is crucial for the planet's survival
• Recognizes interconnectedness for individuals and societies promoting conservation
• This mitigates climate change
• Cultural resilience includes shared values, purpose, and survival

Moral Character

• Understanding values and beliefs is fundamental to building moral character based from core principles

Building a Solid Moral Character

• A lifelong journey
• Includes conscious effort, self-reflection, and commitment to ethical principles
• Provides foundation for moral reasoning, actions that promote the greater good and uphold principles of justice and morality

Key Philosophers

Aristotle

• Described two kinds of human excellence, which includes excellence of thought and character
• His phrase ēthikē aretē translates to moral virtue emphasizing qualities that make an individual ethically good
• Good moral character is a state concerned with choice determined by reason not mere feeling, capacity, or tendency
• Poor character can make you vulnerable to vices

Lawrence Pervin

• Morality is viewed as behavior in consistent patterns of functions
• Implies that moral character reflects in real-world actions
• Strong moral character is ethical choices and actions across situations reflecting a stable set of moral principles

Development of Moral Character

• To be a moral person is to think and act morally
• Crucial to distinguish right from wrong in order to develop moral character
• Moral development in children:

Three Aspects of Childhood and Adolescence

• Emotions, feelings and values that shape moral standards
• Experiencing empathy creates moral concern for others
• Knowledge, learning community's moral code judging what’s good/bad
• Through these sources, children become increasingly capable of understanding abstract moral concepts
• Action, appropriate responses based on rules/requests in controlling negative impulses
• Behavior reflects moral reasoning/values
• Examples include sharing and apologizing as actions that reflect growing understanding

Tips to Develop Moral Character

• Define your core values
• Choose actions and behaviors that reflect those traits practiced
• Find people aligned on the traits you want to embrace
• Take small actions towards goals involving risk and commitment
• Commit to lifelong building of character

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

• Development is crucial to human growth
• Influences ethical dilemmas and social interactions
• Moral development shapes behaviors, attitudes, and interactions

Proposed Stages

• Lawrence Kohlberg proposed six stages in early 1960s
• The framework is grouped into three levels of moral reasoning through stages sequentially

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

• Morality is externally controlled
• Childrens decisions shaped by expectations/consequences

People following rules

• For avoiding trouble
• Seeking rewards

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

• Decisions based on punishment
• Children obey

Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation

• Defined by individual's self-interest
• Focused on receiving/satisfying needs
• It is about scratching each others backs

Level 2: Conventional Morality

• Characterized by accepting social rules
• Children supporting and wanting approval, positive relationships, societal order

Level 3: "Good Boy or Nice Girl" Orientation

• Want the approval of others to avoid disapproval
• Living up to expectations
• Emphasis on the "nice"
• Seen as good

Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation

• Wider rules and judge society
• Making moral decisions
• Preserving laws

Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality

• Deciding with correct thought
• Fair, just
• Morality is internalized
• Judgment based on self-chosen rights and justices

Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation

• Aware laws exist for #1, but times for working against interest
• Changed when necessary
• Members approve standards

Stage 6: Universal Ethics

• Developed by individual guidelines that may not fit the law
• Universal rights
• Prepared to defend if it means going against society

Stages of Moral Development

• Stage 1 Moral reasoning based on direct consequences following rules to avoid consequences
• Stage 2 Action based in of rewards valuing a worth the risk seeking advantage
• Stage 3 About living up to social expectations from interpersonal relationships to maintain positive
• Stage 4 Considers societal laws to undermine social order as an importance
• Stage 5 About respecting the laws and contracts to change
• Stage 6 Based on universal ethics to preserve

Human Act

The Meaning of Human Act

Human acts promote ethical behavior, respect, dignity, justice and strive uphold dignity

Human acts examined

Whether or not it is right or wrong

Human Act vs Acts of Man

• Human acts can be morally evaluated while acts of man cannot
• Human Act involves conscious decision making
• Acts of man are instinctive act

The Determinants of the Morality of Human Acts:

• The object of the act
• The end, or purpose and
• Circumstances.

What is Object and End

• Object refers to a concrete thing being performed
• End reflects the intention and motive

Circumstances

• This include time, place and overall setting
• This shapes moral judgement and perceptions
• This may increase or decrease goodness for that Human Act

Morally good acts require that overall is good

Morally bad acts corrupt the action

Feelings as a modifier

• Emotions influence decisions and what is ethical
• Feelings can be obstacles/aids for moral dilemmas
• Involves understanding of feelings with rationality

What are Feelings

• Feelings like joy/love
• Can vary
• Personal experiences and reactions
• An entirely emotional decision is reactive and subconscious for immediate threat
• Emotions facilitates coding and compacting to support logical decisions
• Can lead to destruction

Decision consequences:

• It lacks reasoning
• It overrides judgements
• It distorts and creates biases
• It is inaccurate on how one will feel in the future

Morality

• "Stealing is wrong" is an emotion
• Not verified
• However: "Pedro stole my cat" is a fact

Summations as Human Act

• Acts carried voluntarily from mind
• The object is to be free
• Good
• Conditions around it diminish the goodness if bad
• Good requires 3 things :Object, the end, and circumstances

Reason

• Minimum Requirements for Morality include ethics, morality, impartiality and reason
• It is the capacity to make sense, verify facts, apply logic, and beliefs
• In simple terms: Thinking, cognition, intellect

Impartiality:

• A fair person does not chose the side of the other, but neutral to not show prejudice
• In simple terms: Unbiased

Morality:

• Personal/cultures, principles of behaviours
• There must be internal compass

Ethics/Morals:

• Ethical/Morals may be used interchangably, but they mean different things

Ethics:

Followed from various, philosophical/social contracts and legal framework

Morality:

Personal

Example:

• People may consider ethical/moral something is wrong, but if its for good, they may accept it
• So there must be principle consistency

Consistency:

• In line with reasons, as an action
• Creates a cohesive thinking The idea can be observed with reason and impartiality.

Good Reason Requires:

• thoughtful consideration,
• critical thinking
• ability to communicate values

Example:

• Speeding to hospital, is bad, but wife's in labor so some sympathy must
• Provide specific info

Reason Allows

• Evaluate situation objectively
• Develop consistent principles
• Provides rationale for choices

Impartiality

• Fair.Prevents favor
• Helps finding solutions