THE MORAL AGENT

Culture and its Roles in Moral Behavior

 What is culture?

Culture has been defined in many ways. Jomil

C. Baring, CSSR citing Sir Edward Taylor
defines culture as the “integrated pattern of
human knowledge, beliefs and behaviors.
This consists of language, ideas, customs,
morals, laws, taboos, institutions, tools,
techniques, and works of art, rituals and other
capacities and habits acquired by a person as
a member of society.”
 What is the role of culture
in moral behavior?

Culture as fundamentally the basis of people’s

moral behavior is the short and precise answer
to the question. Culture becomes the basis of
our moral valuation as we evaluate the
rightness or wrongness of our decision and
action according to the values and codes of
our culture.
In a seminar in which culture was a subtopic, one participant,
a former member of the Society of Jesus, described what
culture is in the following terms: Culture is equal PERSIA,
where:

P = Political
E = Economic
R = Religion
S = Social (Society)
I = Intellectual and
A = Artistic

Therefore, C (culture) = P + E + R + S + I + A (PERSIA)

 Cultural Elements

Time
place
player
dynamism
 Time

Something that is part of culture must endure

time. If it does not last, it might just be a fad.
 Place

A culture is limited in its coverage. It is limited in a

particular place. It cannot be a practice in all places,
otherwise it is a universal phenomenon and it does not
reflect the culture of a particular place.
 Player

(persons). In the same manner as the place, culture is

also limited to particular persons living the particular
culture. There has to be a people practicing the
culture. If nobody practices something, it is not
culture. Culture gives an identity to a particular
people. It is what makes such a people unique.
 Dynamism

A culture is not dead. It is alive. Cultures continue to develop

or evolve to become another culture.
THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
1. Culture is always social and
communal

Culture is learned in the context of the society in

which the person lives and expands his or her
horizon. One’s relationship allows one to learn
and be influenced by the specific culture in
which the person lives and mature.
2. Culture defines the normative
principles and behavior of the
society.

Within the culture are sets of principles that are

encouraged to guide the manner in which people
will have to live. As such, there are behaviors
that are recommended by the culture and the
society that practices them.
3. Culture sets the restrictions and
boundaries in the lives of people as
they relate and live in their
community.

In any society, not everything is tolerable as

there are restrictions in order to maintain a
certain order to guarantee that each member is
protected in the same manner that the same
member can protect others. Restrictions and
boundaries are important to any society because
delinquent manners may always be present. As
such, they serve as guide to people’s behavior .
 4. Culture helps generate the
character and identity of its people
and that includes their moral
character

The manners in which people live together give

them their identity as a unique group.
THE END