WEEK 4 LESSON

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students will
1. describe how culture develops moral sense in people
2. explain how cultural relativism affects moral sense
3. analyze the effects of cultural relativism to moral sense in a situation

ACTIVATE
Process Questions
a. What would you consider to be the most important learning from your parents about right and
wrong?
b. Why is it important to listen to your parents’ advise with regards to right and wrong?
c. Is your moral sense different from your parents? Does generation gap between you and your
parents contribute to the clash of the concept of right and wrong?

ACQUIRE
I. Culture and Moral Behavior
a. Meaning of Culture- It is the totality of the social environment into which a human being
is born and in which he/she lives. It includes the community's institutional arrangements
(social, political, and economic), forms of art and knowledge, the assumptions and values
embedded in its practices and organization, its images of heroism and villainy, it various
systems of ideas, its forms of work and recreation, etc. (Pekarsky, 1998)

b. Sense of morality in culture norms and values are our basis

1. Norms- These are the defined ways on how members of a group or community are
expected to behave and conduct their daily activities.
2. Values- These are the things regarded necessary and indispensable to lead a productive,
peaceful, happy and progressive personal and community life. Values can personal, social,
cultural and religious values.
3. Filipino Sense of Morality-
i. Filipino Virtue ethics- It is built on the concepts of loob and kapwa. Loob means
relational will while kapwa refers to ‘other person” or better yet “together with the
person” (Reyes, 2015). These concepts bring forth the virtues like kagandahang-
loob, utang na loob, pakiramdam, hiya, lakas ng loob/ bahala na. These virtues are
meant to preserve and strengthen human relationships.
ii. Fear and shame moral sense- Shame or Hiya gives emphasis to the community
more than to self (“more of what would others say” and not “I am not worthy”).
Fear comes from possible repercussions of an action that upsets the natural order/
standard.
 iii. Intrinsic and Extrensic moral sense- Intrinsic sense refers to the natural
tendency of the Filipino to be in harmony with the other members of the
community. Extrensic refers to the idea that morally good and evil are
determined by inter-subjective harmony and social order.
iv. Community oriented vs. individual- Filipino moral sense is largely oriented
towards kapwa or inter-relatedness. The individual moral sense matters only in
the context of the community.
v. Inclusivity vs. exclusivity- Exclusivist moral sense is applying the socially
harmonizing tendency within a certain group or kin-based community. Inclusivist
moral sense is applying the socially harmonizing tendency to include all.

Process Questions
a. What values do you consider important or most relevant in your life?
b. Name a personal circumstance about lakas ng loob.
c. How does kagandahang loob work in a context where people are in dire need?

II. Cultural Relativism

a. Meaning of Cultural relativism- This to point out the importance of judging a culture
by its own standards and not by other cultural standards. In morality, it can mean that
each culture has its own moral codes which are different from the rest.
b. Types of Cultural relativism
Physical 1. Descriptive relativism- (how things are/seem) This refers to the variability of
culture. Beliefs and behavior are determined by culture. This accounts the differences
of beliefs and behaviors across cultures. Observable differences
Essence/standard 2. Normative relativism-(how things ought to be) There is no universal standard to
judge a culture. All judgements on culture is ethnocentric, or a judgement is dependent
on the viewpoint of who is making it. impossible to compare which one is better than the other
3. Epistemological relativism- it starts from the idea that everybody starts with tabula
rasa or blank slate. Anything found since the blank slate is cultural. Everything is
cultural determined. The factuality of an account is dependent or relative to the one
justifying or falsifying it.

c. Claims of cultural relativism (Rachels,1999)

1. Different societies have different moral codes.

2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than
another. no such thing as universal standard; judgement of cultures are ethnocentric
3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among
many. no culture is superior over the other
concept of 4. There is no "universal truth" in ethics; that is, there are no moral truths that hold for
dependence all peoples at all times. there is universal truth although not explicit; used as a basis for judgement
5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the
moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at
least within that society.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should
adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures.
 d. Implications of cultural relativism to moral behavior
Positively
1. No customs of any society are morally inferior
2. Right and wrong are based on what is culturally defined in a society
3. Cultures are preserved
4. It promotes cooperation, equality, and respect
Negatively
1.It cast doubts on moral progress. Society may revert to the sins of the past systems
2.It can foster conflict fueled by personal/ social bias
3.It discourages diversity. As each society promotes its own without recognizing the
importance of the others.

Process Questions
a. Do you agree to the claims of cultural relativism? Explain your answer.
b. Do you think it is necessary to have universal standards? Why?
c. Give an example of the negative impact of cultural relativism?

Links
Meaning of Culture
https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/48150_ch_1.pdf
Cultural Relativism
https://faculty.uca.edu/rnovy/Rachels--Cultural%20Relativism.htm
Moral Relativism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518FR6SbY_k
ACTIVITIES
• Situational Analysis
a. Give an example of a situation that shows cultural relativism in Filipino context. You
may use pictures of the situation.
b. Determine the type of cultural relativism
c. What are the implications of the situation?
i. 3 positive implications
ii. 3 negative implications
d. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation.

ASSESSMENT
• Oral Response/ written response to the process questions- Answer all the process
questions. For those in Sync and Async modes, write your answers using default format
of Word (Microsoft Office) and submit it via BB Learn.
• Situational Analysis and Presentation of analysis- refer to the ACTIVITIES for the
detailed instruction.