Moral vs Non-Moral

Standards

Dr. Enna S. Bodoso

No talking while your mouth is full
Do not lie.
Wear black or white for mourning;
never red.
The males should be the one to
propose marriage not females.
Don’t steal.
Observe correct grammar when
writing and speaking English.
Submit school requirements on
time.
If you are a male, stay by the
danger side(roadside) when
walking with a female.
Go with the fashion or you are not
“in”.
Don’t cheat others.
Don’t kill.
When you speak, pronounce words
correctly.
Focus the microscope correctly.
Maintain a 36-24-36 body figure.
 Ethics
 -ethos meaning custom
- Or moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy
which deals with moral standards, inquires about the
rightness or wrongness of human behaviour or the
goodness or badness of personality, trait or character.
Moral

 Is the adjective describing a human act

as either ethically wrong or right, or
qualifying a person, personality,
character, as either ethically good or bad.
Moral Standards

 Are norms or prescriptions that serve as the

frameworks for determining what ought to be
done or what is right or wrong action, what is
good or bad character.
 Do not lie.
 Don’t steal.
 Don’t cheat others.
 Don’t kill.
Non-Moral Standards

 Are social rules, demands of

etiquette and good manners. They
are guides of action which should be
followed as expected by society.
 Folkways
 No talking while your mouth is full.
 Wear black or white for mourning; never red.
 The males should be the one to propose marriage not females.
 Observe correct grammar when writing and speaking English.
 Submit school requirements on time.
 If u are a male, stay by the danger side when walking with a female.
 Go with the fashion or you are not “in”.
 Non-compliance with moral standards
causes a sense of guilt,, while non-

compliance with a non-moral standard

may only cause shame or embrassment.
 Classification of the Theories of Moral
Standards
1. Consequence standard (teleological, from tele which means end,
result or consequence) states that an act is right or wrong depending
on the consequences of the act, that is, the good that it produced in
the world.

2. Not-only-consequence standard (deontological) holds that the

rightness or wrongness of an action or rule depends on sense of
duty, natural law, virtue and the demand of the situation or
circumstances.
 What makes standards moral?
 For theists, God is the ultimate source of what is
moral revealed to human persons.
 For non-theists, God is not the source of morality.
Moral standards are based on the wisdom of sages
like Confucius or philosophers like Immanuel
Kant.
The Origin of Moral Standards

 The theistic line of thought states that moral

standards are of divine origin.
 For non-theistic line of thought, moral
standards must have evolved as the process
of evolution followed its course.
Moral Dilemmas
 Moral Dilemmas
 A pregnant woman leading a group of five people out of a cave
on a coast is stuck in the mouth of the cave. In a short time, high
tide will be upon them and unless she is unstuck, they will all be
drowned except the woman whose head is out of the cave.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), someone has with him a stick of
dynamite. There seems no way to get the pregnant woman loose
without using the dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if
they do not use it everyone else will drown. What should they
do?
 Moral dilemmas are situations where two or
more moral values or duties make demands on
the decision-maker, who can only honor one of
them, and thus will violate at least one
important moral concern, no matter what he or
she decides to do.
 Moral dilemmas present situations where there is
tension between moral values and duties that are
more or less on equal footing. The decision-maker
has to choose between a wrong and another wrong.
The decision-maker is in a deadlock.
 A false dilemma is a situation where the
decision-maker has a moral duty to do one
thing, but is tempted or under pressure to do
something else.
 The 3 Levels of Moral Dilemmas

 1. The mission of a Catholic School is to serve the poor

by giving quality education. It is torn between the
obligation to charge low tuition to help the poor and to
pay better salaries to keep quality teachers.
 2. Heinz’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new
drug might save here. The drug had been discovered by a local chemist, and
the Heinz tried desperately to buy some, but the chemist was charging ten
times the money it cost to make the drug, and this was much more than the
Heinz could afford.
 Heinz could only raise half the money, even after help from family and
friends. He explained to the chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he
could have the drug cheaper or pay the rest of the money later.
 The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going to
make money from it. The husband was desperate to save his wife, so later that
night he broke into the chemist’s laboratory and stole the drug.
3. A principal ought to welcome and encourage parents and
community participation in school affairs. Based on her
experience, parents and community are passive and so the
principal always ends up deciding and doing things just the
same. She is obliged to observe parents’ and community
participation which do not give any input at all at the same
time she is obliged to accomplish things on time.
A.Individual
Personal dilemma is an individual’s damn-if-you-do-and-damn-
if-you-don’t situation.
B. Organizational
An organizational dilemma exists between personal interests
and organizational well-being.
C. Structural/Systemic
A structural dilemma is a conflict of perspective of sectors,
groups and institutions that may be affected by the decision.
 Resolving Moral Dilemmas
 1. Think of alternative options revealing that the dilemma does not
really exist. This happens where there are available alternative
options.
 2. Choosing the greater good and lesser evil.

 One is only obliged to do something if and only if he can do it…”do

what you can where you are.” –Fletcher
 Love and do what you will. – St. Augustine
 End