National University-Manila

Moral Agent
ETHICS GROUP PRESENTATION

Prepared by:
Zoe Ramilo Claire Rafols
Frankie Subala Ahlea Opina October 2022
Andrea Custodio
 Introduction
Developing Virtue as a Habit
Moral Characters and Virtues
The Circular Relation of Acts
and Character
Moral Characters as
Dispositions
FLOW OF Six Stages of Moral
Development
PRESENTATION Heinz Dilemma
Getting to the Highest Level,
Conscience-Based Moral
Decision
Problems with Kohlberg’s
Theory
Feelings and Moral
Decision–Making
 INTRODUCTION
what is
moral agent?
A moral agent is someone who can distinguish
between right and wrong and be held accountable
for his or her own actions. Moral agents have a
moral obligation not to cause unjustified harm.
 A moral character would depend on the
existence or lack of virtues.

Virtues are behaviors that show high

Developing moral standards such as integrity,
courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty.

Virtue as a A person who has a good moral character

Habit means that he or she is a good person

and a good citizen with a sound moral
compass (a person’s ability to judge what
is right and wrong and act accordingly).
 Moral Character = having or lacking moral
virtues.

Moral Lack of Virtue = morals vices/ between

virtue and
continence/incontinence)
vices (ex.

Characters Aristotle (Book of the Nicomachean

and Virtues Ethics), virtue or an excellence of moral

character highlighting is not on mere
distinctiveness or individuality, but on the
blending of qualities that would make a
person an ethically admirable individual.
 National University-Manila

The Circular
Relation of Not all acts help to build a
Acts and moral character, but the
actions that come from
Moral development should
be understood in the sense
of human flourishing which
Character moral
matter
characters
in
will
moral
is attained by the habitual
practice of virtues.
development.
 Moral Characters as
Dispositions

Dispositions are kinds of A good moral character is

The moral character traits are
properties or characteristics that practically a disposition to do
understood as behavioral and
objects can possess. Virtues and virtuous acts while a bad moral
affective dispositions.
vices are also considered character is a disposition to do
dispositions vicious deeds.

Heinz Dilemma
The Heinz dilemma is a frequently used example in
many ethics and morality classes. One well-known
version of the dilemma, used in Lawrence Kohlberg's
stages of moral development, is stated as follows:
“A woman was on her deathbed. There was one drug
that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of
radium that a druggist in the same town had recently
discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the
druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him
to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged
$2,000 for a small dose of the drug.
The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he
knew to borrow the money, but he could only get
together about $1,000 which is half of what it cost. He
told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him
to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist
said: “No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make
money from it.” So Heinz got desperate and broke into
the man's laboratory to steal the drug for his wife.”
Six Stages of Moral Development
1 Obedience and Punishment Orientation
Pre-conventional
Morality
2 Individualism and Exchange

3 Good Interpersonal Relationship

Conventional
Morality
4 Maintaining the Social Order

5 Social Contract and Individual Rights

Post-conventional
Morality
6 Universal Principles
Getting to the Highest
Level, Conscience- Based
Moral Decision

Conscience describes two things – what a
person believes is right and how a person
decides what is right.
A personal awareness of right and wrong that
you use to guide your actions to do right.
A moral decision is a choice made based on a person's
ethics, manners, character and what they believe is
proper behavior. These decisions tend to not only
affect your well-being, but also the well-being of
others.

Kohlberg’s stages, especially when combined with

Piaget’s theory

Might makes right 1 Respect for Power and Punsihment

What's in it for me? 2 Looking out for #1

I want to be nice 3 Being a "Good Boy" or "Nice Girl"

I'll do my duty 4 Law and order thinking

I'll be by the rules 5 Justice through democracy

6 Deciding on basic moral principles by which you will live your life
Problems with
Kohlberg's Theory

Measuring only moral reasoning and not

moral behavior, and for possible culture
and gender bias.

 Feelings and Moral

Decision–Making

Feelings as Instinctive
Response to Moral
Dilemmas
Some ethicists believe that
ethics is also a matter of
emotions. Moral judgments
should also be emotional.
Feelings as Obstacles to
Making the Right Decision
If one is not careful, intense emotions can lead to hasty decisions. Anger and
embarrassment may lead to more vulnerable to high-risk, low-reward decisions.
2.1 Ethical Subjectivism 2.3 Emotivism
Is the meta-ethical view which claims that: A theory that regards ethical and value judgements
Ethical sentences express propositions. as expressions of feeling or attitude and
prescriptions of actions, rather than assertions or
reports of anything.

Feelings are necessary for
ethical judgement as they are
deemed by instinctive and
trained response to moral
dilemmas.
2.2 Analyzing Ethical Subjectivism
Suggest that we are to identify our moral
principles by simply following our feelings.
2.4 Evaluating Emotivism
Use the argument that we can't appeal to reason in
ethical disagreements; instead, we can only appeal
to emotion. There is no question that this could lead
to complete anarchy.
 Feelings and Moral
Decision–Making
For example, people often direct anger,
There are times when our feelings disgust, or contempt at those who have
and preferences are relevant to
acted unethically. This discourages others
the correctness of our decisions
from behaving the same way.
and actions. We wonder how a
course to take, a job to take, and Feelings Can Help in
Making the Right Positive emotions like gratitude and
especially a person to marry can
Decisions admiration, which people may feel when they
be truly right without at least
see another acting with compassion or
considering our feelings, taste, and
preference. kindness, can prompt people to help others.
THANK YOU
FOR LISTENING!
Group 1
Frankie Subala
Andrea Custodio
Zoe Ramilo
Claire Rafols
Ahlea Opina