LESSON 3- VALUES FORMATION AND YOU

Lesson Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students will be expected to:

1. Differentiate transcendent from relative values
2. Explain values in terms of their three domains
3. Discuss the role of the intellect and will in value formation
4. Classify values according to Scheler’s hierarchy
5. Clarify whether one really values the things he says he values.

Values Formation

Living by the right values humanizes. The question that you may raise at this point is:
“is there such a thing as right, unchanging and universal value? Is a right value for me also a
right value for you? Or are values dependent on time, place and culture?

There are two varied answers to the question, depending on the camp where you
belong. If you belong to the idealist group, there are unchanging and universal values. The
values of love, care and concern for our fellowmen are values for all people regardless of
time and space. They remain unchanged amidst changing times. These are called
transcendent values, transcendent because there are beyond changing times, beyond space
and people. They remain to be a value even if no one values them. They are accepted as value
everywhere. On the other hand, relativists claim that there are no universal and unchanging
values. They assert that values are dependent on time and place. The values that our
forefathers believed in are not necessarily the right values for the present.

Values are taught and caught

Another essential question we have to tackle is: “Are values caught or taught?” Our
position is that values are both taught and caught. If they are not taught because they are
merely caught, then there is no point in proceeding to write and discuss your values formation
as a teacher here! Values are also caught. We may not be able to hear our father’s advice “Do
not smoke” because what he does speaks louder than what he says. The living examples of
good men and women at home, school and society have far greater influence on our value
formation than those well-prepared lectures on values excellently delivered by experts.

Values have cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions

Values have a cognitive dimension. We must understand the value that we want to
acquire. We need to know why we have to value such. This is the heart of conversion and
values formation. We need to know how to live by that value. These are concepts ought to be
taught.

Values are in the affective domain of objectives. In themselves they have an affective
dimension. For instance, “it is not enough to know what honesty is or why one should be
honest. One has to feel something towards honesty, be moved towards honesty as preferable
to dishonesty” (Aquino, 1990).

Values have a behavioral dimension. In fact, living by the value is the true acid test if
we really value a value like honesty.

Value formation includes formation in the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects

Your value formation as teachers will necessarily include the three dimensions. You
have to grow in knowledge and in wisdom and in your “sensitivity and openness to the
variety of value experiences in life” (Aquino, 1990). You have to be open to and attentive in
your value lessons in ethics and for those in certain schools, ethics and religious education.
Take active part in value sessions like fellowships, recollections organized by your church
group or associations. Since values are also caught, help yourself by reading the biographies
of heroes, great teachers and saints and other inspirational books. (It is observed that less and
less teachers read printed materials other than their textbooks.) Your lessons in history,
religion and literature are replete with opportunities for inspiring ideals. Associate with
model teachers. If possible, avoid the “yeast” of those who will not exert a very good
influence. Take sound advice from the Desiderata: “Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they
are vexations to the spirit.” Join community immersions where you can be exposed to people
from various walks of life. These will broaden your horizon, increase your tolerance level,
and sensitize you to life values. These will help you “fly high” and “see far”.

Value formation is a training of the intellect and will

Your value formation in essence is a training of your intellect and will, your cognitive
and rational appetitive powers, respectively. Your intellect discerns a value and presents it to
the will as right or wrong value. Your will wills to act on the right value and wills to avoid
the wrong value presented by your intellect. As described by St. Thomas Aquinas, “The
intellect proposes and the will disposes.”

It is clear that nothing is willed unless it is first known. Thought must precede the
deliberation of the will. An object is willed as it is known by the intellect and proposed to the
will as desirable and good. Hence, the formal and adequate object of the will is good as
apprehended by the intellect (Kelley, 1965). These statements underscore the importance of
the training of your intellect. Your intellect must clearly present a positive value to be a truly
positive value to the will not as one that is apparently positive but in the final analysis is a
negative value. In short, your intellect must be enlightened by what is true.

It is therefore necessary that you develop your intellect in its three functions, namely
formation of ideas, judgment and reasoning (Kelley, 1965). It is also equally necessary that
you develop your will so will be strong enough to act on the good and avoid the bad that your
intellect presents. How can your will be trained to desire strongly the desirable and act on it?
Kelley explains it very simply:

Training of the will must be essentially self-training. The habit of yielding to impulse
results in the enfeeblement of self-control. The power of inhibiting urgent desires, of
concentrating attention on more remote good, of reinforcing the higher but less
urgent motives undergoes a kind of atrophy through disuse. Habitually yielding to
any vice, while it does not lessen man’s responsibility, does diminish his ability to
 resist temptation. Likewise, the more frequently man restrains impulse, checks
inclination, persist against temptation, and steadily aims at virtuous living, the more
does he increase his self-control, and therefore his freedom. To have a strong will
means to have control of the will, to be able to direct is despite all contrary impulses.

Virtuous versus vicious life and their effect on the will

In short, a virtuous life strengthens you to live by the right values and live a life of
abundance and joy while a vicious life leads you to perdition and misery. The warning then is
never to give way to a vice!

Panizo claims “virtue involves a habit, a constant effort to do things well in spite of
obstacles and difficulties.” A virtue is no other than a good habit. You get used to doing good
that you will be stronger to resist evil.

Max Scheler’s hierarchy of values

Our hierarchy of values is shown in our preferences and decisions.

Max Scheler (1874-1928) presented the following five principles in deciding the rank
of values. First, the longer the value lasts, the higher it is. For example, while the value of
pleasure lasts for the duration of the feeling of pleasure, the mental value remains after the
disappearance of the circumstances. (timelessness); Second, the harder it is to reduce the
quality of the value as its carrier (Werttrager) divides or the harder it is to increase the quality
of the value as its carrier enlarges, the higher the value is. For example, while the value of
material goods reduces as the goods divide, the value of mental goods is indivisible and not
related to the number of people concerned. (indivisiblity); Third, the higher value becomes
the base for the lower value. The fewer other values the value has as its base, the higher it is.
(independence); Fourth, there is an intrinsic relationship between the rank of the value and
the depth of satisfaction from its realization. In other words, the deeper the satisfaction
connected to the value is, the higher the value is. For example, the physical satisfaction is
strong but shallow. On the contrary, the satisfaction from artistic meditation is a deep
experience. The depth of satisfaction is not related to its strength. (depth of satisfaction);
Fifth, the less the sense of the value is related to the existence of its carrier, the higher the
value is. For example, the value of pleasure has significance in relation to the sense of
sensuality. The value of life exists for those with the sense of life, but the moral value exists
absolutely and independently from those who feel it. (absoluteness).

In accordance with the above principles, Scheler classified the values into the
following four categories (from the bottom to the top); (1) the value of pleasure and
displeasure(the emotional value), (2) the value of the sense of life (and welfare as a
subsidiary value to it), (3) the mental value (perception, beauty, justice), (4) the value of
holiness.

Further he divided the mental value into the value of beauty, the value of justice, and
the value of perceiving the truth. The value of holiness was strictly distinguished from all the
other values, which were thought to be given as the symbols of the value of holiness.

Thus, Scheler suggested five principles, by which the ranks of values can be decided,
and presented four levels of values. This idea is very instrumental in deciding the ranks of
values. He placed the durable mental values higher than the temporary physical values, put
the mental goods higher than the material goods, placed the satisfaction from artistic
meditation above the material satisfaction, appreciated the value of the sense of life more
highly than the emotional value of pleasure and displeasure, and placed the mental value of
perception, beauty, and justice higher than the value of the sense of life. This is an excellent
idea that can offer the right sense of values for some contemporary people with the mistaken
sense of values.

Values clarification

In a pluralistic society, we can’t help but face the value confusion and value
contradictions of our times. When we do not know what we really value or when we are not
clear on what we really value, we end up lukewarm or uncommitted to a value. The advocates
of value clarification assert that we must clarify what we really value. The term value if
reserved for those “individual beliefs, attitudes and activities that satisfy the following
criteria:
1) Freely chosen
2) Chosen from among alternatives
3) Chosen after due reflection
4) Prized and cherished
5) Publicly affirmed
6) Incorporated into actual behavior and
7) Acted upon repeatedly in one’s life.
Enrichment Activity

Do the following tasks:

1. Present Scheler’s hierarchy of values by means of an appropriate graphic organizer.

Each level of values must be explained and must be given an example.

2. The following are the lyrics of a popular Filipino song:

Nagsimula sa patikimtikim Ayan na nga... tumataas na ang

pinilit kong gustuhin amats ko
bisyo'y nagsimulang lumalim kasi laklak maghapon magdamag
kaya ngayon ang hirap tanggalin Dibale nang hindi kumain
Kabilin-bilinan ng lola basta may tomang nakahain
'wag nang uminom ng serbesa ang sabi ng lasenggo sa amin
ito'y hindi inumin pang bata pare shumat ka muna
mag-softdrinks ka na lang muna Laklak ka nang laklak
pero ngayon ako'y matanda na mukha ka nang parak
lola pahingi ng pangtoma

1. Does the above song express the persona’s regret over his imprisonment in a
vice? Why did you say so or why did you not say so?
2. Also, comment on the value system of the persona using Scheler’s hierarchy.

3. According to the following poem, are values taught or caught? Explain each line in
two or three sentences.

Children Learn What They Live

By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about
them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.