UNIT 1 : The Ethical Dimension of Human Existence

C. Sources of Authority
What are the different sources of moral authority?

ENGAGE
Ask yourself this question:
Where did you learn your values and who taught you what is right and wrong?
Do you believe in what they say and follow their principles and beliefs?
I learned my values from my parents and the environment that I grew up in. I
somehow believe in what they say to me and I decided to follow some of their
principles and beliefs. I adopted some of their principles and beliefs but even
though I adopted it, I’ve learnt many things from them. And I was able to create
my own principles and beliefs in life and in my own understanding.

ELABORATE
Reflect on the following passages and discuss your answers with a friend,
a family member, or anybody you want to ask or share.
Case 1: There are many different religions in the world: Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity, Islam, Seventh Day Adventist, Judaism, Confucianism, and many
more. Each of these religion claims that their doctrines are mandates of God and

The values that I learned from my church are the beliefs that the church teaches
everyone, such us we believed in Jesus, the only son of God and those moral
lessons that the priest told us every Sundays. Which embrace us to not do wrong
things and decide what is right and best for ourselves, with Jesus by my side, he
will guide me in a right path that’s worth for me. From what I’ve observed, there
was no unethical practices in my church. Those who tolerated and not following
the beliefs and rules that the church has, we all know that it will be a disgrace
and he or she committed a sin. But unethical practices still exists in some ways
of everyone in the church, that’s includes not wearing a long skirts, not listening
to the priest and got tempted by doing unnecessary things inside the church.
And I can now evaluate that my church is following the mandate of God, and
that’s because we believe in God, in Jesus who is the one and only son of God,
the Holy Spirit, Commandments, Apostles and the teachings of the church.
that their practices bring them closer to the Divine One. Now, focus on your religion
and ask yourself the question: What values did you learn from your church? Are
there some unethical practices that you see in your church that are allowed and
tolerated? What are those practices? In what ways could you really evaluate that
your religion is indeed following the mandate of God?

Case 2: While eating in China and in Japan, the chef or the cook expects that his
guests must make a sipping noise while slurping the hot soup in order to imbibe a
positive spirit while eating and to show a delectable experience of eating, showing

Yes, it is a good practice to adopt other cultures. This happens every time you
travel in different countries. So, it is possible that we can adopt the cultures that
a certain country and the people has. This by means that we can understand
other people in that country’s culture. It can also be a good practice to avoid
discrimination towards others. As long as you are able to adopt and understand
the practices of other people and countries cultures, you can be an ethical
person. You know how to deal with the practices of different cultures in the
neighboring countries.

how delicious the soup can be, inviting others to also eat and taste the soup. Do
you think this could be a good practice to be adopted by other cultures?

EVALUATE
Essay (10 points each)
1. What do you think is the best source of moral authority from among the
three sources enumerated in this topic? Explain.
I think that the best source of moral authority among the three sources is
the Culture. Culture is defined as our way of living or lifestyle, such as
choices, manners, habits and general conduct. Without culture we won’t
be able to make our own choices, beliefs and values. I could say that
Culture is the best source of moral authority because we should not judge
others behavior relative to their culture. We must understand and avoid
discrimination

2. What is cultural relativism? Elaborate.

 Cultural relativism is the idea that a Person’s beliefs, values, and
practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture,
rather than be judged against the criteria of others. This means that if we
meet other people who came from a different country or has a different
principles, values and beliefs, we should understand each other, we
should know where we came from and what principles, values and beliefs
that we have learnt.

3. Euthanasia
Should be or mercy killing
understood is legally
based allowed in some countries; while illegal
on that
in others. What is your opinion on this matter?

Person’s
In my ownown culture,
opinion, rathersay
I could than beMercy
that judgedkilling is somehow wrong but
it can also be a right way to end someone’s suffering in his or her life. I’ve
watched a video, an Eunthanasia doctor’s point of view in Belgium, in the
Against
video hethe “We of
criteria
said, have to accept that we cannot cure everything, and
another
our role, when we can’t cure is to try and relive the patient, to relieve his
pain and so I’m still doing my job as a doctor when I go to the very end.”
He also stated that, “It is an important act, a difficult one that has a great
emotional impact. I don’t call that killing a patient, I shorten his agony, his
suffering, I provide the final care but I don’t feel like I’m killing the patient.”
The patient has a serious illness that cannot be cured and his suffering
cannot be relieved. And it was the patient who decided to take
Eunthanasia. Though we are all going to die, and a person or we have
the right to demand a quality end of life, that’s why it’s called mercy killing.
Those who suffered from a serious illness that cannot be cured has the
right to decide for themselves whether to take Eunthanasia as a way to
end their suffering or not. Mercy killing is better than suicide. Mercy killing
is different from suicide. Mercy killing, you still have time to decide
whether you want to end your agony or to end the pain—especially if you
have an illness that cannot be cured. In suicide, it’s a different case,
you’re taking you own life just to end the pain, there’s wasn’t mercy. It’s
a person’s choice.