Topic 2: Moral versus Non-Moral Standards

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this topic, the student must be able to:
1. differentiate Moral from Non-moral standards;
2. cite the metaphors for moral standards; and
3. explain the characteristics of moral standards.

Introduction

Moral Standards are principles, norms or models an individual or a group has

about what is right or wrong, what is good or bad. It is an indication of how human
beings ought to exercise their freedom. Norms are expressed as general rules about
our actions or behaviors. Some examples are: “Take responsibility for your actions”;
“Always tell the truth”; “Treat others as you want to be treated”; “It is wrong to kill
innocent people”. Values are underlying beliefs and ideals that are expressed as
enduring beliefs or statements about what is good and desirable or not. Some
examples are: “Honesty is good”; “Injustice is bad.” Moral Standards are a combination
of norms and values. They are the norms about the kinds of actions believed to be
morally right or wrong, as well as, the values placed on what we believe to be morally
good and morally bad. In other words, they point us towards achievable ideals (De
Guzman, 2018).

What moral standards do? First, they promote human welfare or well-being;
second, they promote the “good” (animals, environment, and future generations); and
third, they prescribe what humans ought to do in terms of a.) Rights (responsibilities to
society); and b.) Obligations (specific values/virtues).

Non-Moral or Conventional Standards are standards by which we judge what is

good or bad and right or wrong in a non-moral way. Some examples are: good or bad
manners, etiquettes, house rules, technical standards in building structures, rules of
behavior set by parents, teachers, other authorities, the law, standards of grammar or
language, standards of art, rules of sports, and judgments on the way to do things.
Hence, we should not confuse morality with etiquette, law, and aesthetics or even with
religion. As we can see, non-moral standards are matters of taste or preference.
Hence, a scrupulous observance of these types of standards does not make an
individual a moral person. Violation of said standards also does not pose any threat to
human well-being.

Some individuals may have heard the term “Amoral” (n.d). What makes this
word different from the descriptions above? It means not influenced by right and wrong.
If a person who is immoral acts against his conscience, a person who is amoraldoes not
have a conscience to act against in the first place. Infants could be said to be amoral
since they have not yet developed a mature mind to understand right and wrong. Some
extreme sociopaths are also amoral, since they lack a conscience as a result of a
cognitive disorder. In other words, an immoral person has a sense of right
and wrong but fails to live up to those moral standards. An amoral person has no sense
of right and wrong and does not recognize any moral standard.

Another word that needs clarification is the adjective “Unmoral” (n.d.). It refers
to something to which right and wrong are not applicable, such as animals, forces of
nature, and machines. For example, Typhoons cause damages to properties and loss
of lives but they are unmoral, since they are formed by unconscious natural processes
that exist outside the bounds of morality. When talking about non-moral agents, such
as animals or weather patterns, we use unmoral.

“Moral norms” (n.d.) have different forms. They can be expressed as principles,
dispositions, character traits, and even through the life of a person. These are different
ways of specifying criteria for moral judgments.

Metaphors for Moral Standards

1. Carpenter’s Square
Moral norms are like a carpenter’s square used to measure human freedom and
construct morally good character and right actions. Moral norms are standards or
criteria for judging and acting. Its purpose is first, to provide moral standards, criteria,
or measures for judging; and second is to guide one’s conscience in making moral
judgments.

2. Moral Road Signs

Moral road signs are guides to being and doing; they are indications or
directions to types of actions that are right or wrong, obligatory or permitted. Its
purpose is to preserve and protect moral goods and values by guiding us; and to focus
our attention on what is morally important.

3. A Model for an Art Class

Moral norms are ideals indicating who we ‘ought’ to become and what we ought
to do. They are models and patterns for how to do so. Hence, the purposes of moral
norms are to provide models to help us concretize our values and realize our ideals,
and to prioritize our values and help us to fit them with our circumstances.

4. An Architect’s Blueprint for a Building

Moral norms are a set of instructions and expectations for the moral life. Their
purposes are: to teach moral wisdom of a community and serve as moral reminders of
communal wisdom; and, to set moral expectation that shape how we see and act.

Five Characteristics of Moral Standards

1. Involved with serious injuries or benefits

They deal with situations, conditions and behaviors we think can seriously injure
or significantly benefit the well-being and the good of human beings, animals and the
environment. Some examples are fraud, theft, murder, assault, rape, slander, etc…
2. Not established by law or legislature
Moral standards are not formed or changed by the decision of particular
authoritative bodies such as the senate or congress or even the college of bishops
of the Church. The validity of these moral standards lies on the adequacy of the
reasonsthat are taken to support and justify them. We do not need a law to back up
our moralconviction that killing innocent people is absolutely wrong.

3. Overriding
They should be preferred to other values including self-interest. If a person
hasa moral obligation to do something, then the person ought to do that even if this
conflicts with other non-moral values or self-interest. At work, for instance, moral
values of honesty and respect for lives come first rather than compromising them
for keeping a well-paid job.

4. Based on impartial considerations

Moral standards do not evaluate on the basis of the interest of one particular
individual or group but one that goes beyond personal interests to a universal
standpoint in which everyone’s interest are objectively counted as equal.

5. Associated with special emotions and vocabulary

Emotions such as guilt and shame, and vocabulary such as right, wrong,
good and bad revolve around moral standards. The feeling of guilt, shame and
remorse arise as an individual acts contrary to certain moral standards. If your heart
and mind tell you an action you have done had an unsettling and seemingly
disconcerting ending, then the action was probably morally wrong and not the best
way to react. Forexample: A young man helps an old lady to cross the street in order
to impress the ladies on the other side of the road but then he feels guilty about it
when he reflects on what he just did.

Activities Activity 1

Direction: At home, the student together with some members of his/her family will
make a video clip skit, showing moral standards, non-moral standards, amoral acts
and unmoral acts.