MORAL AND NON

MORAL STANDARDS
Again, we define MORALITY as the quality
in human acts by which we consider some
to be RIGHT (GOOD) and others to be
WRONG (EVIL)
But, there are times when we argue that
something is or is not a moral issue. This
means that there are times when we use
the terms “good” or “bad” and “right” or
“wrong” without giving them moral values
 Example
◦The water tastes good.”,
“bad music”
“Brushing ones teeth before
sleeping is the right thing to do.”
- These statements refer to something that attracts
the senses or actions that do not affect people to a
certain degree that violates their moral being.
The same thing could be said in situations
wherein only rules of conduct or etiquette are
involved.
◦For example: “knocking on the
door before entering the room”,
“while eating, do not talk when
the mouth is full.”
There is a moral issue if moral considerations
are important factors in the appreciation of a
given situation. What are moral considerations?

◦ Most people think in terms of the violation of a rule in some

code of ethics- that is, a person has done something
morally wrong if such a rule has been broken.
Our conception of right or wrong, good or bad
may not always involve some moral issues. When
one says,
◦“ This is a good book.”
◦“This apple tastes bad.”

- it doesn‟t actually mean in the moral sense.

The same case when a student fails to wear
the proper uniform
◦ doesn‟t mean that he is already immoral because he
is wrong in not wearing the proper uniform.

◦NOTE!
Violation of some standards or code of actions
doesn’t necessarily mean a violation in the
moral sense!
However there are situations when one justifies
misjudgment or indiscretion as forgivable since
no code of ethics required of him has been
violated
◦ There is the presumption that the rules are part of the code
because they were thought, rightly or wrongly, to
represent certain more general principles
◦ the violation of such a general principle is a reason to
judge behavior to be unethical or immoral even if no
specific rule was explicitly violated
In order to make proper value judgment with
regards to our actions, it is important to
distinguish moral from non-moral standards.

◦This discussion may sometimes be more of a

justification of one‟s behavior in choosing a
moral point of view.
A. John brought his two children inside a
convenience store. The youngest, Paul, picks up
a bottle of Coca-Cola and accidentally spills the
content all over the floor. John bends him over
his knee, and gives him a good swat on his
behind. An elderly woman reacted to the
father‟s action towards his son and
reprimanded him by saying,
“Hitting your child is a horrible way of
disciplining him.” John‟s response is “You have
no right to tell me what is right or wrong with
raising my own kids, only I can determine what
is right and wrong for them.”
B. Carla gets through school by handing in
reflection papers she copied from the
internet. Sophia challenges her behavior
but Carla said,
“She shared the same ideas with the writer and
she also infuses her own. Besides, it is in the
internet, so the information is public.”
C. St. Theresa‟s College in Cebu City
banned five graduating students and their
parents from attending the high school
graduation ceremony because the girls
posted photos of themselves in bikinis on
Facebook.
The parents considered the decision “harsh”
and “unjust”, claiming the girls were denied due
process. The school stood its ground that the
girls deserve the punishment because they
have violated the schools code of conduct for
students.
D. A marine engineering student withdrew all
his subjects because he wanted to shift to
another course. The reason for the shift was that
it is what his church pastor told him what to do.
His dean asked him whether it was what he also
wanted to do. He answered,
◦“No sir, but I could not question the advice of our
pastor.” The pastor told him that becoming a
seafarer will be detrimental to his faith and his
obligation to his God and church.
He will be away for many months and
could not attend church services.
Furthermore, the seafarer's life is full of
temptations and most of them are
living immoral lives.
E. The boy, John Lucas Joachim
"Luc"/"Jean Luc" Gallardo Cagadoc, was
born in 1999 to a Filipino family in Manila.
The Cagadocs migrated to Canada the
same year for job opportunities.
 In April 2006, school teacher Martine Bertrand,
who was assigned a role of school lunchroom
monitor at École Lalande, sanctioned the seven-
year old Luc on ten separate occasions for what
the school called "disgusting" and "piggish"
eating habits using a fork to push his food onto
a spoon before eating it.
The school board countered that the boy was
punished only for disruptive behavior. The
boy's mother pursued a formal apology and
reported that school principal Normand
Bergeron told her in a telephone conversation
that in Canada, one should eat with Canadian
manners

("Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada

you should eat the way Canadians eat.")
When do we say that a
Rule is a moral rule?
Moral standards - are norms that individuals or
groups have about the kinds of actions
believed to be morally right or wrong, as well as
the values placed on what we believed to be
morally good or morally bad.
- normally promote “the
good”, that is, the welfare and well-being of
humans as well as animals and the
environment.
Moral standards, therefore,
prescribe what humans ought to do
in terms of rights and obligations.
Moral rules or principles differ from
normative ones of other kinds
Ex. as rules or principles of law, etiquette,
or clubs
In that moral rules or principles indicate
what agents morally ought to do or are
morally allowed to do, or what deserves
moral praise and admiration.
When do we say that an experience is
a moral experience?
A Moral experience = places the agent in
a morally problematic situation that
provokes the agent to engage in a process
of moral deliberation, until he/she arrives
at a judgment that results in a choice
This is the point when one is making a
Moral choice. When this choice is made
and acted upon, it impresses someone to
judge the doer whether his action is right
or wrong.

- This judgment made by an observer is

called a moral judgment.
EXAMPLE
For example, you are listening to a friend
who chooses to lie to his parents on the
phone his whereabouts, and in your mind
you’re judging it to be wrong.
Differentiate moral from
non-moral standard
Moral standards involve the rules people have
about the kinds of actions they believe are
morally right and wrong, as well as the values
they place on the kinds of objects they believe
are morally good and morally bad.
Non-moral standards refer to rules that are
unrelated to moral or ethical considerations.
Either these standards are not necessarily linked
to morality or by nature lack ethical sense.

EXAMPLES:
- Rules of etiquette,
- fashion standards,
- rules in games,
- various house rules.
Technically, religious rules, some traditions,
and legal statutes (i.e. laws and
ordinances) are nonmoral principles,
though they can be ethically relevant
depending on some factors and context
Six (6) characteristics of
moral standards
a. Moral standards involve serious wrongs or
significant benefits.
b. Moral standards ought to be preferred to
other values
c. Moral standards are not established by
authority figures.
d. Moral standards have the trait of
universalizability.
e. Moral standards are based on impartial
considerations
f. Moral standards are associated with
special emotions and vocabulary
A. Moral standards involve serious wrongs or
significant benefits.
◦ Govern human relationships where actions and decisions
could produce benefits or cause serious wrongs
◦ Non-moral standards do not necessarily cause any harm
or injury to society but may only violate certain
standards of uniformity
EXAMPLE:

◦ For example, cheating during exam is a serious wrong since following or

violating some basketball rules may matter in basketball games but
does not necessarily affect one‟s life or wellbeing.
B. Moral standards ought to be preferred to
other values.
◦ have overriding character or hegemonic (LEADERSHIP or
DOMINANCE) authority. If a moral standard states that a person has
the moral obligation to do something, then he/she is supposed to
do that even if it conflicts with other non-moral standards, and
even with self-interest

◦ not the only rules or principles in society, but they take precedence
over other considerations, including aesthetic, prudential, and
even legal ones
◦ A person may be aesthetically justified in leaving behind his
family in order to devote his life to painting, but morally, all things
considered, he/she probably was not justified. It may be prudent
(showing care) to lie to save one‟s dignity, but it probably is
morally wrong to do so.

◦ When a particular law becomes seriously immoral, it may

be people‟s moral duty to exercise civil disobedience
There is a general moral duty to obey the law,
but there may come a time when the injustice
of an evil law is unbearable and thus calls for
illegal but moral non-cooperation

EXAMPLE
- Such as the Antebellum(occurring before the
American Civil War) laws calling for citizens to
return slaves to their owners
c. Moral standards are not established
by authority figures
◦ are not invented, formed, or generated by authoritative bodies or
persons such as nations‟ legislative bodies. Ideally instead, these
values ought to be considered in the process of making laws

◦ In principle therefore, moral standards cannot be changed nor

nullified by the decisions of particular authoritative body.
- Authoritative = who is generally considered an expert
d. Moral standards have the trait of
universalizability
◦ it means that everyone should live up to moral
standards. To be more accurate, however, it entails that
moral principles must apply to all who are in the
relevantly similar situation

◦ . If one judges that act A is morally right for a certain

person P, then it is morally right for anybody relevantly
similar to P
This characteristic is exemplified in the
Golden Rule, “Do unto others what you
would them do unto you (if you were in their
shoes)”

and in the formal Principle of Justice, “It

cannot be right for A to treat B in a manner in
which it would be wrong for B to treat A,
Universalizability is an extension of the
principle of consistency, that is, one ought
to be consistent about one’s value
judgments.
e. Moral standards are based on
impartial considerations
◦ Does not evaluate standards on the basis of the interests of a
certain person or group, but one that goes beyond personal
interests to a universal standpoint in which each person’s interests are
impartially counted as equal.
◦ Impartiality is usually depicted as being free of bias or
prejudice.
◦ Impartiality in morality requires that we give equal
and/or adequate consideration to the interests of all
concerned parties.
f. Moral standards are associated with
special emotions and vocabulary.
◦ Prescriptivity indicates the practical or action-guiding nature of
moral standards. These moral standards are generally put forth as
injunction or imperatives
Examples
“Do not kill,‟
“Do no unnecessary harm,‟
“Love your neighbor‟
These principles are proposed for use, to
advise, and to influence to action. Retroactively,
this feature is used to evaluate behavior, to
assign praise and blame, and to produce
feelings of satisfaction or of guilt.

- If a person violates a moral standard by telling a lie even to fulfill a

special purpose, it is not surprising if he/she starts feeling guilty or
being ashamed of his behavior afterwards
On the contrary, no much guilt is felt if one
goes against the current fashion trend (e.g.
refusing to wear tattered jeans)