INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL JUSTICE

VALUES AND VIRTUES

 Values
• Values are principles for a group or society
– A principle, standard or quality considered
worthwhile or desirable
• Virtues are practices and actions of an
individual, it is the habitual and firm
disposition to do good
• Virtues are firm attitudes, stable
disposition, habitual perfections of
intellect and will that govern our
actions, order our passions and guide
our conduct according to reason and
faith
• Virtues are acquired by human effort.
They are the fruit and seed of morally
good acts
• The Word Exposed – 7 Christian virtues
• https://youtu.be/4yWBemdasuQ
 TYPES OF VIRTUES
1. THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES
2. CARDINAL VIRTUES
 THEOLOGICAL
VIRTUES
1. THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES – virtues that relate directly to God:
faith, hope and love
• Faith in God – enables us to believe in God and the teachings
of His church; moves us to search for God and find meaning in
life through our faith in Him
• Hope in God –refraining from despair and the capability of not
giving up; the belief that God is eternally present in our life and
never giving up on His love; leads us to view eternal life as our
most important goal and to place our total trust in God;
• Love – enables us to love God above all things and our
neighbors as we love ourselves
2. CARDINAL VIRTUES – are virtues that guide our
minds and actions to live the good life: PRUDENCE,
FORTITUDE, TEMPERANCE AND JUSTICE
• Called cardinal (Latin: cardo – hinge) virtues
because they are hinges on which all moral
virtues depend.
• They are also called moral (Latin: mores – fixed
values) because they govern our actions, order our
passions, and guide our conduct according to faith
• Prudence is the mother of all the virtues.
• It is the ability to think before we act.
• Prudence allows us to recognize our moral duty to act with
goodness and right discernment in situations that confront us
and allows us to choose the right way to make that happen.
• Prudence helps us apply reason and practical wisdom to our
everyday actions and decisions, big or small. Through
counsel, judgment, and decisiveness, we come to make
prudent choices that help steer our lives in the right direction.
• Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures
firmness in difficulties and constancy in the
pursuit of the good.
• It strengthens the resolve to resist
temptations and to overcome obstacles in the
moral life.
• Gives you the courage to do what is right even
in very difficult times
• Temperance is a virtue that moderates the attraction and
desire for pleasure and “provides balance in the use of
created goods”
• Living with temperance frees us to partake in material
goods in proportion with the way that is best for us and
will bring us the most happiness in the end.
• Temperance combats the sin of gluttony. While gluttony
is unrestrained in its consumption of food, drink, or other
pleasures, temperance practices healthy moderation.
 What is justice?
• The word justice comes from a Latin
word (jus) meaning “right.”
• Justice is the moral virtue that consists
in the constant and firm will to give
human persons what is due to them.
This virtue obliges us to respect the
dignity and rights of others.
• Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of
religion.’
• Justice toward men disposes one to respect
the rights of each and to establish in human
relationships the harmony that promotes
equity with regard to persons and to the
common good. 
 FAMILY
VALUES

• The children of a vegetable vendor found out after 17 years that their
mother had left them with five hectares of land in Camarines Sur.
• According to a “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” episode, Nanay Leoning
raised her 11 children by selling vegetables in the market.
• Although they lived in poverty, Noel, one of her children, said they
were rich in love and values because they were raised by a kind and
hardworking mother.
• “Ang nanay ko talaga, napakamatuwid niyan. Ayaw niyang nagnanakaw
kami,” he said.
SW1: VALUES AND VIRTUES
1. Name at least one value/virtue your parents had
instilled in you from your childhood.  How did they
teach you this? What words do they usually tell you to
remember practicing and applying this in your life?
2. Narrate one particular experience where you have
naturally shown this virtue.
at least 10 sentences
criteria: clarity of thoughts, content answers what is
asked in the questions