Universal Values

A value is universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people. Spheres
of human value encompass morality, aesthetic preference, human traits, human endeavour, and social
order (Wikipedia). Kit is clear that certain values are found across a great diversity of human cultures,
such as primary attributes of physical attractiveness (e.g. symmetry, youthfulness). Other attributes (eg.
slenderness) are subject to aesthetic relativism as governed by cultural norms. Relativism concerning
morals is known as moral relativism, a philosophical stance opposed to the existence of universal moral
values.

Universal values can be understood in two ways:

1. It could be that something has a universal value when everybody finds it valuable. According to
Berlin, “ universal values are that a great many human beings in the vast majority of places and
institutions, all almost all times, do in fact hold in common, whether consciously and explicitly
or as expressed in their behaviour”.
2. Something could have universal value when all people have reason to believe it has value.
Amartya Sen interprets the term in this way, when Mahatma Gandhi argues that non-violence is
a universal value , he has arguing that all people have reason to value non-violence, not that all
people currently value non-violence. Many different things have been claimed to be universal
value, for example, fertility, pleasure, and democracy. The issue whether anything is of universal
value, and if so, what that thing or those things are, is irrelevant to psychology, political science,
and philosophy, among other fields.

Values are important because they help us to grow and develop. They help us to create the
future we want to experience. The decisions we make are a reflection or our values and beliefs,
and they are always directed towards a specific purpose. That purpose is the satisfaction of our
individual or collective (organizational) needs.(www.valuescentre. com)

Types of values found in organizational setting

1. Individual values – reflect how you show up in your life and your specific needs-the principles
you live by and what you consider important for yourself-interest. These values include,
enthusiasm, creativity, humility, and personal fulfilment.
2. Relationship values – reflect how you relate to other people in your life, be they friends, family
or colleagues in your organization. These include openness, trust, generosity and caring.
3. Organizational values – reflect how your organization shows up and operates in the world;
include financial growth, teamwork, productivity and strategic alliances.
4. Societal values – reflect how you or your organization relates to society, include future
generations, environmental awareness, ecology and sustainability.
Ten Universal Values (Shalom Schwartz, 2014)

1. Power – the social status and prestige, control or dominance over people resources
2. Achievement – personal success through demonstrating competence according to social
standards
3. Hedonism – pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself
4. Stimulation – excitement, novelty and challenge in life
5. Self-direction – independent thought action – choosing, creating, exploring
6. Universalism – understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all
people and nature
7. Benevolence – preservation and enhancement of the welfare of the people with whom one is
frequently in personal contact
8. Tradition – respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional
culture and religion provide
9. Conformity – restraint in action, inclinations, and impulses which are likely to upset or harm
others and violate social expectations and norms
10. Security – refers to safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships and of self.
Schwartz argues that these values can be arranged in the following visual way

Moral Character

Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas had the conviction that ethics is fundamentally related
to what kind of persons we are.

On the assumption that what kind of person one is is constituted by one’s character. We can think of
one’s moral character as primarily a function of whether she has or lacks various moral virtues and vices.

Etymologically, the term ”character" comes from the ancient Greek term charakter, which initially
referred to the mark impressed upon a coin. Later it came to mean a point by which one thing was told
apart from others. There are two approaches when dealing with moral character:

a. Normative Ethics – involves moral standards that exhibit right and wrong conduct. It is attest of
proper behaviour and determining what is right and wrong.
b. Applied Ethics – involves specific and controversial issues along with a moral choice and tend to
involve situations where people are either for or against the issue.

In philosophy, the term character is typically used to refer to the particularly moral dimension of a
person. Aristotle often used the term ethos for character, which is etymologically linked to “Ethics”” and
”morality" (via the Latin equivalent mores).

The Greek word used by Aristotle and most commonly Translated as virtue “arête
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

• Unhappy with the. relativistic slant of many social scientists, Kohlberg gathered psychological
support for a more objective approach to morality.

• Regardless of our culture, we all develop in our moral thinking through a series of set stages.

• Moral education should help children develop in their moral thinking toward more advanced
stages.

• Moral psychology studies what moral development IS. Moral philosophy considers what moral
development OUGHT TO BE. The IS of psychology and the ought of philosophy must be
integrated before one can have a reasoned basis for moral education.

Central to moral education is the problem of relativity of values. Are there universal values that
Men, seem to develop? Kohlberg's theory of moral education is both psychological and
philosophical.

Pre-Conventional (young children do not have personal code of morality. Instead, their moral code
is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules.

Authority is outside the individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions.

Self-Focused

Concerned with concrete consequences to individuals, focusing on pursuing concrete interest, white
avoiding sanctions

Stage 1: Punishment- Obedience Orientation (Punishment: Authority Orientation)

• Obey or Pay

• Authority-Fear

• It’s O. K. to do it if you don’t get caught.

The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, he must have
done wrong.

Orientation to punishment and reward, and to physical and material power. What is right is to obey the
rules, avoid physical damage to persons and property. The reason is that one wants to avoid
punishment. Also, there is the deference to power and position. In relation to social perspective, what is
considered is simply one‘s own interest as there is stilt no sense of another's point of view»,
Stage 2: Instrumental- Purposive Orientation (Pleasure Orientation)

• Self Satisfaction

• If it feels good, do it.

Hedonism orientation with a instrumental view of human relations. Beginning notions of reciprocity but
with emphasis on exchange of favors “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.

“What is right is one’s immediate interest and letting others act also in their own interest. Thus, each to
his own. What is right is what is fair. You do your thing. I do my thing; we have fair equal exchange.

The reason for this is instrumental, to satisfy one‘s need and admit the needs of others in their own self
interest, while the other is after his/her own interest. I too have my own interest. And in do what is
wrong, I might not obtain my own interest. Human relations are seen as a market mace. a place of
exchange. Fairness, reciprocity, equal sharing are all interpreted in a physical pragmatic way.

Conventional level (most adolescents and adults), the adolescents begin to internalize the moral
standards of valued adult role models.

Authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which
the person belongs.

Group Focused

Concerned with fulfilling expectations maintaining and supporting the social order; and identifying
persons or groups involved in this order

Stage 3: Peer and Group Acceptance Orientation.

• Approval – Group Norm

• Loyalty – Belongingness

• Do it for me.

“Good boy” orientation or interpersonal concordance orientation: seeking to maintain expectations

and win approval. of one's immediate group. What is deemed right is what pleases or helps others, what
is approved by others, what reinforces mutual relationships such as trust, loyalty, respect, gratitude.

The reason for helping others, for pleasing others, for doing what is conventional or what is mutually
good for everyone is the need to be seen by the self and others as a loyal, helping person (important
here is my image to others). The desire to maintain rules and authority that support our typical good
behavior and living up to what is significant others expect.
In relation to the social perspective, one takes the third person perspective when one knows how the
groan and react, is aware of shared feelings, agreements, groups expectations that take primacy over
individual interest.

Stage 4: Legalistic Orientation ( Social Structure Orientation)

• Law and Order

• Duty to Society

• Do your duty.

Orientation to authority, law, and duty, to maintaining a hated order, whether social or religious,
assumed as a primary value.

What is right is doing one‘s duty; showing respect for laws, authority and society and contributing to the
maintenance of society and institutions. One's reason for doing one's duty and the like is that action
which breaks the social or moral agreements impairs the system which is a value. It would be hazardous
to regress from conformity from social norms.

One reason for this is that conscience is imperative to the moral law, to the ethical system. Another
reason is the maintenance of the system for its own sake. The social perspective takes the perspective of
a generalized other and not just the personal other. The generalized other is the institution, the society.
or the church. One sees a given social issue from the perspective of a fixed system of laws and beliefs.

Post Conventional Level

Universal Focused

In this level, there is the effort to define the mental values and principles that have validity and
application apart from the authority of groups or persons and the ability to see beyond laws and of
society. It is here that one examines, adopts, and applies ethical frameworks or principles.

Stage 5: Common Good.

• Standards of Society

• Social Contract

• It’s the consensus of thoughtful men.

SociaI-contract orientation is with emphasis on equality and mutual obligation within a democratically
established order; for example, the morality of the American Constitution.
This stage includes what is right; individual rights: which have been critically examined, and agreed upon
one says “these rights have been examined. And since they are right, they are the ones to be followed.”

Here, one is concerned that obligations be based on calculations of overall utility, what is really good for
all. To a certain extent, there is universality in this good but still within task: human society, task: human
agreements. The social perspective here views the rights of each as best protected when stability
governs relationships. When one recognizes that moral and legal perspectives are sometimes differ and
thus one may question the legal because it may not be moral.

Moral principles defined apart from authority of persons; can challenge laws based on rationality.

Good of the many – CONCENSUS RATHER THAN MAJORITY RULES

Laws can be changed. Social utility is considered more important.

Personal freedom and common good are given distinction.

Individual rights can be subsumed to common good.

The individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number,
there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals.

Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle

• Decision of Conscience

• Logical Moral Principles

• What if everybody did that?

This stage pertains to the principles of conscience that have logical comprehensiveness and universality.
Highest value placed on human life, equality, and dignity. People have developed their own set of moral
guidelines which may or not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone.

Kohlberg was not able to observe this stage in his group, and thus he projected it. What is right is
following self-chosen ethical principles based on judgments that are universalizable, irreversible, and
consistent.

What is right are the universal principles of justice, and the reasons given are the validity of universal
moral principles and the sense of personal commitment to these principles. The social perspective taken
is the moral point of view from which even the social arrangements are derived; from this
universalizable moral point of view, moral judgments are made.