MODULE 2: Understanding the Moral Agent M2: LESSON 2 - ETHICS AND CULTURE- FEATURES AND viewed as a macro system,
D CULTURE- FEATURES AND viewed as a macro system, binds a particular society together, and
This module explores an agent to be a moral agent, what culture is all
about, how facets of personal behavior attribute to culture, how
Filipino culture establishes Filipino ethical identity, and how different
cultures help shape the universal ethical standard.
M2: LESSON 1 - WHAT IS A MORAL AGENT?  whose ideas and behavior "fit" the culture. Change can also occur as a
MORAL AGENCY - says that a particular agent can appropriately, be
held responsible for her actions and their consequences. To better
understand moral agency, we will discuss here how to be a moral agent
addressing the two questions:  Why do we have Moral Theories? MacDonnell: Moral Theories " seek
1. What makes Us us?
2. What makes any agent moral agent?
The advantage of dealing these things, it allows one to focus on
mechanisms rather that dwelling on mysteries. By changing the context
slightly, it forces one to re-consider one's comfortable familiarity with
concepts like "I/me", "we/us", and "moral agency".
According to Kant... an action cannot be morally good unless the agent
in a fact reasoned in certain fairly complex ways ( allen et al, 2000, p.
253).
We take a moral agent to be any agent to which it is appropriate to
attribute moral agency: that is, to be morally accountable for one's
actions and their consequences. a moral is we believe, necessarily a
conceptual agent - example, an agent that possesses and employs
concepts. ( The converse need not be true: a conceptual agent is not
necessarily a moral agent: example, moral agents are a subclass of
conceptual agents.).
It is not enough, on our account, to be a moral agent that one does
morally good things - contra what Colin Allen et al. ascribe to John
Stuart Mill. No one, we believe - even the die -hard utilitarian - would
hold an agent morally responsible whose thoughts were not
systematically and productively structured in the manner of conceptual
thought. Regardless of whether Robbie the Robot is a moral agent, my
Aibo dog is not. Among other consequences, this means that it is not
enough for the agent merely to memorize a list of percepts.
To further enlighten your understanding on this lesson here is the short
video, please watch it.
VIDEO – ETHICS DEFINED: MORAL AGENT
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
Ethics? - simply means lead s to study of human conducts, study or
Solomon says: a set of theories of value, virtue, or right (valuable)
action. and for Johnson: it is a set of theories that provide general rules
or principles to be used in making those rules.
Ethics is important because it help us not only in distinguishing
between right and wrong but also in knowing why and on what
grounds our judgment of human actions is justified.
to introduce a degree of rationality and rigor into our moral
deliberations."
For Moral Decision making:
- Considerations
 Facts surrounding the situations
 Taking into account the interests of ll parties involved
 Taking into account the moral principles involved
 Take into account how the decisions will affect others.
 Use reason to determine the best way to achieve the
highest moral good.
 Distinguish between primary and secondary moral principles
1. Primary - general
2. Secondary - more specific
 Make rational calculations of the consequences of our
actions.
Hence, in this lesson, students will be articulated on how culture
shapes moral behavior; understanding of right and wrong in the
Filipino context considering that there is universal values. Knowing the
notion of culture from the three (3) perspective: personal,
subconscious, and universal. Then identifying the specific cultural
characteristics of Filipinos and Asians.
According to Edward Tylor, Culture refers to that complex whole which
includes knowledge, beliefs, art, law, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
Therefore, along with the discussion are as follows:
M2 ETHICS AND CULTURE – 3 PRINT
M2 : LESSON 3 - CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Culture - are those qualities and attributes that seem to be
characteristic of all humankind. Humans evolve and adapt primarily
through culture rather than changes in anatomy or genetics. Culture
survives if it can accommodate to changing conditions. Culture is
includes its manners, morals, tools, and techniques. Culture is a group
phenomenon, evolve from the interaction of person with others, and a
person's belief or behavior becomes part of the culture when it is
externalized and objectified.
According to Erikson, cultures change through the action of persons
result of a "paradigm shift" in fundamental understandings by those in
the culture. Culture is viewed as a way of doing, being, and explaining,
as they exist in each particular system. As a culture becomes more
complex and differentiated, so too child rearing, and other social
provisions appear.
These new systems arise to realize more effectively the complex values
of a culture. Certain values are in conflict with certain other values,
leading to tension and strain within the culture. Culture are marked by
the style in which they conduct social relationships. Caring is a
dimension of culture as much as tools and language.
Caring involves both an emotional disposition and caring labor. it is a
practice in which both thought and action ate integrated around
central aims or goals. Hence, regardless of sex, individuals and groups
who occupy subordinate’s status display a responsive orientation to
others characterized by difference, attentiveness, awareness of needs,
understanding of perspectives, moods, intentions, and responsiveness.
For further discussion on understanding the concept of cultural
relativism lets have these:
 Definition of Cultural Relativism
 Arguments against Cultural Relativism
 The Value of the Different Cultural Practices
 Check in Activity – The Problem of Ate Josie
MODULE 2.1 CULTURAL RELATIVISM-1 PRINT
M2: WHILE TASK/ LESSON 1
Moral Personhood
“The actions that we judge to be either morally good or bad are those
that involve moral persons, both as the sources and recipients of these
actions” (Mabaquiao & Evangelista, 2019)
Who are the Moral Persons?
Are human beings moral persons? On what basis?
Are animals moral persons? On what basis? What does being a moral
person entail? What would be the consequences for an entity to be
regarded as a moral person?
-Now, this refers to the significance of moral personhood.
What does it mean to be a person?
To define personhood is to look at the possession of rights: to be a
person is to be a bearer of rights. A legal person is the one who
possesses legal rights. It is his/her possession of moral rights which
makes a moral person an object of moral concern (a minimum
definition. Thus, a moral person is the one who possesses moral rights.
What are rights?
These are entitlements. These are interests one (bearer of rights) is
allowed to pursue or actions one is allowed to do. For example, when
we say that humans have the right to live, we actually mean that
humans are entitled or allowed to do things that are necessary to
continue with their existence in this world. And to say that we do not
have the right to take another person’s life, we basically mean that we
are not entitled, allowed, or permitted to take another person’s life.
Correlation of rights and duties
Duties are actions that we ought to do or perform. They are linked to
sanction, i.e., failure to perform a duty merits a sanction.
Rights are not linked to sanction, i.e., failure to exercise a right does
not merit any sanction.
Rights and duties imply one another
On the one hand, one’s possession of a right imposes certain duties on
other people. For example, if I have the right to use the resources in
CEU, then other people have the duty not to prevent me from using
such resources if I decide to do so. And if I have the right to know
certain information, then certain people have the duty to provide me
such information.
On the other hand, duties respect rights in that a person’s duty is
intended to respect another person’s rights. For example, it is our duty
not to kill a person because every person has the right to live. We have
the duty to respect the privacy of other persons because every person
has the right to privacy.
Classifications of Rights
1. On the basis of the kind of duties imposed by rights, whether these
duties are only duties of non-interference or duties of provision as
well. And this has two categories:
a. Negative right – if one’s possession of a right imposes only the duty
of non- interference on other people.
b. Positive right – If it imposes the duty of provision (or positive 2. Agentive Moral Persons. They are moral persons who can be moral
performance), in addition to the duty of non- interference, on the agents. They can be both moral patients and moral agents. Actions are
other people. done to them.
2. In terms of how rights are acquired. Necessary Conditions for Moral Accountability
a. contractual – the rights that we acquire when we enter into an Being the source, or the agent, of an action is only one considered as
agreement or a contract with some other persons or institutions. the necessary condition for moral accountability. While moral agents
can be morally accountable for their actions, they are not always so
b. legal – the rights that we acquire when we become citizens of a because it will still depend on whether the other conditions are
certain country or state. satisfied.
c. moral – acquired wen one becomes a moral person or becomes a Criteria of Moral Personhood
member of the moral community.
Here, these criteria refer to the different theories of moral personhood
Moral Persons such as:
Beings or entities having moral status or standing. They are the kind of 1. Criterial Theories of Personhood. These criteria are divided into two
entities or beings we ought to be concerned about with regard to (2) groups: the Uni-Criterial Theories, and the Multi-Criterial Theories.
whether the actions that they do or the actions done to them are
morally good or bad. 2. Meta-Criterial Theories of Personhood
Moral person have two kinds: moral agents and moral patients For further study, download and read the file below:
Moral Agents and Moral Patients PRINT MABAQUIAO_EVANGELISTA MORAL PERSONHOOD
If humans are moral persons in virtue of their possession of certain M2 Lesson 2: Ethics and Culture
qualities (other than being human), then, moral persons, in principle,
can either be human or non-human. M2: LESSON 2 - ETHICS AND CULTURE- FEATURES AND
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
Non-human moral persons, in this regard, would refer to those
possessing the defining features of being a moral person but not of Ethics as principles cannot be possible without taking consideration
being a human being. These moral persons may include animals, what affects the moral agent and his or her behaviors. Thus, it is of
aliens, and artificial entities (corporations and intelligent machines). much important to consider other people, the environment, practices
and traditions. In short, we need to include in our evaluation of ethical
Moral Agents principles this thing we call culture.
Moral agents are moral persons who act as the sources of morally What is Culture? VIDEO
evaluable actions. They are the doers of morally evaluable actions.
Features and Characteristics of Culture
Moral Patients
Shared Changing Accumulative Social Learned
Moral patients are moral persons who are the receivers of morally Integrated Gratifying Transmitted
evaluable actions.
Continuous Responsive Linked with other society
Specific Classes of Moral Persons
1. Non-agentive Moral Persons. They are moral persons who cannot be
moral agents. They are the ones who can only function as moral Culture defined...
patients.
It refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society- Edward Tylor collectively. No matter where people live in the world, they share these
universal traits.
It refers to an appreciation of good literature, music, art, and food. For
a biologist, it is likely to be a colony of bacteria or other
microorganisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory Petri
dish. Examples of Universal Cultural Traits of Human Beings

For anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is the full 1. Communicating with a verbal language consisting of a limited set of
range of learned human behavior patterns. sounds and grammatical rules for constructing sentences.

Culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile 2. Using age and gender to classify people.
phenomenon. It is constantly changing and easily lost because it exists
3. Classifying people based on marriage and descent relationships and
only in our minds.
having kinship terms to refer to them.

4. Raising children in some sort of family setting.

Filipinos' Views on Ethics
5. Having rules to guide and regulate sexual behaviour.
1. Propriety (Hiya) versus Troubled (Pagkabagabag)
6. Distinguishing between good and bad behaviour.
2. Personal versus Duty/Obligations
7. Having some sort of body ornamentation.
3. Family solidarity versus Universal
8. Making jokes and playing games.
4. Pakikipagkapwa-tao versus Pakikisama
9. Having art.
The Filipino Character
10. Having some sorts of leadership roles and models for the
implementation of community decisions.

Layers of Culture (by Dennis O'Neil)

First, the body of cultural traditions that distinguish your specific

society. When people speak of Italian, Samoan, or Japanese culture,
they are referring to the shared language, traditions, and beliefs that
set each of these peoples apart from others.

The second layer of culture that may be part of your identity is the
subculture. This occurs in a complex, diverse societies in which people Filipino Cultures and Ethics
have come from many different parts of the world, they often retain
much of their original cultural traditions.

As the cultural differences between members of a subculture and the

dominant national culture blur and eventually disappear, the
subculture ceases to exist except as a group of people who claim a
common ancestry.

The third layer of culture consists of cultural universals. These are

learned behavior patterns that are shared by all of humanity
ASIAN VERSUS WESTERNERS
 3. Voluntariness-the act is done willfully when the doer consents to the
act, accepting it as his or his own, and assume the accountability for its
consequences.
Classification of Human Acts
1. Acts of Will-refer to actions that human perform freely or with their
free will.
courageous element) - the part of thr soul in which courage resides and
in which courage perfects.
Aristotle believed that the epitome of courage is facing noble death at
the hands of the enemy during an offensive attack in a just war for the
people.
Courage as Virtue

2. Acts of Reason - are actions conceived by reason as morally good or Both Plato and Aristotle wrote about courage as a virtue. Plato's
morally bad Laches is a dialogue about nature of courage (literally translated,
"manliness"). Aristotle defined virtue as a purposive disposition, lying
Norms of Human Acts in a mean and being determined by the right reason.

MODULE 3: THE ACT
This module refers to "The Act" that focuses on the understanding of
the concept of Reason and Impartiality as requirements for ethics.
That through this module students may able to recall immediate
responses to dilemmas and distinguish responses on reason and those
of feelings. It gives better enlightenment on students to perceive their
feelings in personal moral experiences, able to concretize reasonable
and emotional responses. Evaluate real-life cases against 7-step mode,
a model that uses reason and impartiality. Furthermore, you students
will be able to articulate knowing and actually doing a good moral
decision, judge your own moral behavior in terms of planning and
making important moral experiences. Also. you will be able to express
the role of mental frames in moral experience.
MODULE 3: REASONS AND IMPARTIALITY
Norms are the accepted standards of behavior of social groups. Moral
norms are the rules of morality that people ought to follow. In ethics,
there are two kinds of norms: conscience and law. Conscience is the
"inner voice" that tells a person to do what is good and avoid evil. It
also judges particular choices, approving what is good and denouncing
what is evil. Law is a ruke of conduct enacted by competent figures of
authority for the sake of common good.
The Modifiers of Human Acts
There are circumstances where human acts may be modified and be
deemed as acts of man. These are the factors that diminish one's
responsibility and impair the element of voluntariness of human act.
1. Ignorance- pertains to lack, want, or absence of knowledge in a
person capable of such.
2. Passion or Concupiscence - defined as a compelling desire for
something. It can also refer to a person's sexual desire or lust.
M3- Lesson 3: Reason and Impartiality
To help you understand the topic in Reasons and Impartiality let me
present to you this power point lecture below.
PRINT REASONS AND IMPARTIALITY PPT
Seven-Step Guide to Ethics Decision-Making
Michael Davis series that in order arrive at an imperial decision, one
must follow the seven-step guide to ethical decision-making. He
emphasizes the importance of identifying multiple responses to ethical
challenges.
The seven-step guide to ethical decision-making according to Davis
(1999) appears as follows:

Lesson 1- HUMAN ACTS VS ACTS OF MAN 3. Fear-defined as a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat.

Human acts are actions performed by a person who has full knowledge 4. Violence-a physical force exerted on a person by another free agent
through free will. Human acts are grounded in the very nature of a for the purpose of compelling the sais person to act against his or her
person that he or she is intelligent and free. will.

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS
1. Knowledge- it is employed in doing human act. This is to say that
when the doer is conscious of his or her actions, his or her senses are
active, and he or she is aware of the reason and the consequences of
his or her actions
2. Freedom-when the doer acts through his or her own initiative and
choice without being forced by another person or situation, then the
act is done on the basis of freedom.
5. Habits- are inclination to perform specific acts acquired by
repetition, and characterized by decreased power of resistance and
increased facility of performance.
MORAL COURAGE
Courage is derived from the Latin word cor meaning heart. Courage is
the ability to do something that one is fearful of. This suggests that
courage is "to speak one's mind bt telling all one's heart".
Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato regarded courage as one of the
most desirable human character traits. In Plato's Republic, courage is
M3 A STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
related to that element of the soul which is called thymos (the spirited,