MODULE I LESSON 2: MORALITY AND VALUES

Arturo S. Isip, ED. D., CESO VI

INTRODUCTION

In this lesson, we discuss morality and values of which these two significant words are
inseparable or cannot be separated from each other.

As teachers, you are expected to be persons of good character where your values
have to be aligned with morality.

As laid down in the preamble of our Code of Ethics of Professional Teachers,

“teachers are duly licensed professionals who possess dignity and reputation with high
moral values as well as technical and professional competence. In the practice of their
profession, they strictly adhere to, observe and practice this set of ethical, and moral
principles, Standards”.

From the above preamble, the words moral values are mentioned twice, to
accentuate on the good moral character expected of you, the teacher.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

As you undertake learning in this lesson, you are expected to attain the following
learning outcomes:

. Defined morality, natural law and values.

. Enumerated and discussed the attributes of a person of good moral character

. Enumerated and discussed the dimension of values and Max Scheler’s hierarchy of
values

. Discussed the ideas on value formation and value clarification

. Discussed the significance of teachers to become persons of good moral character

 ACTIVITY

Let’s try this

1. List down at least five (5) good things that you have to do as a student who is aiming to be
a teacher someday. Likewise, list five (5) evil things that you have to avoid doing. Then
explain your answer. Try to discuss these with your classmates in our group chat.
[Reminders: no correct or wrong answers on this activity please respect the answers of
your classmates and allow him/her to elucidate further.]

2. List down at least two (2) habits which you consider moral for a student/teacher. Why
chose this habits?

3. What are the desirable values that you possess and you are proud of? Why? Can these
things that you considered values help you to become a good, better or best teacher? Why?
Discuss your answers with your classmates in our group chat.

ABSTRACTION

Let’s learn more:

The Foundational Principles of Morality

Someone once wrote of teachers: “Even your worst day on the job, you are still some
children’s best hope.” Indeed society expects much from you, the teacher. Henry Brooks
Adams said it succinctly: “A teachers affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence
stops”.
For you to be able to cope with these expectations you should be anchored on a
bedrock foundation of moral and ethical principles. Let us begin this lesson by defining
what morality is.
What is morality?

As defined by one textbook author, morality refers to “the quality of human acts by
which we call them right or wrong, good or evil”. (Panizo, 1964) Your human action right
when it conforms to the norm, rule, or law of morality. Otherwise it is said to be wrong. For
instance, when Juan gets the pencil of Pedro without the latter’s permission, Juan’s action
is wrong because it is contrary to the norm, “stealing is wrong”. A man‘s action, habit or
character is good when it when it is not lacking of what is natural to man, i.e. when it is
accordance with man’s nature. For instance, it is not normal for man to behave like a beast
because he is not a beast, He is a man, unlike the beast, and he has intellect and free will.
That intellect and free will. That intellect makes him capable of thinking, judging and
reasoning. His free will gives him the ability to choose. Unlike the beasts he is not bound by
instincts. It is a natural occurrence for beasts when a male dog meets a female dog on the
street and make right there and then as they are not free but bound by their instinct, like
sexual instinct. But it is contrary to man’s nature when a man and a woman do as the dogs
do. To do so is to go down the level of the beast.

Meaning of Foundational Moral Principle

What is meant by foundational moral principle? The word principle come from the
Latin word princeps which means a beginning, a source. A principle is that on which
something is based, founded, originated, and initiated. It is likened to the foundation or a
building upon which all other parts stand. If we speak of light, the principle is the sun is the
body from which the light of this world originate. A foundational moral principle is,
therefore, the universal norm upon which all other principles on the rightness or
wrongness of an action are based. It is the source of morality.

Where is this foundational moral principle? It is contained in the natural law. Many
moralists, authors, and philosophers may have referred to these foundational moral
principles in different teams. But it may be acceptable to all believers and non-believers
alike to refer to it as natural law.

What is the natural law? It is the law “written in the hearts of men”. (Romans 2:15) For
theists, it is “man’s share in the Eternal Law of God…” Panizo, 1964) St. Thomas defines it is
“the light of natural lesson, whereby we discern what is good and what is evil…” (Panizo,
1964) It is the law that says: “Do good and avoid evil.” THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL OR
FOUNDATIONAL MORAL PRINCIPLE.

All Men and women, regardless of race and belief, have sense of these foundational
moral principle. It is ingrained in man’s nature. “It is built into the design of human nature
and woven into the fabric of the normal human mind”. We are inclined to do what we
recognize as good and avoid that which we recognize evil.

Panizo says: “Writings, customs and monuments of past and present generations
point out to this conclusion: that all peoples on earth, no matter how savage and illiterate,
have recognize a supreme law of divine origin commanding good and forbidding evil”
Panizo, 1964) Yhe same thing was said by the Chinese Philosopher, Mencius, long ago:

All men have a mind which cannot bear (to see the suffering of) others…If now men
suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without exception experience a
feeling of alarm and distress…From this case we may perceive that he who lacks the feeling
of commiseration is not a man; that he who lacks a feeling of shame and dislike is not a man;
he who lacks a feeling of modesty and yielding is not a man; and that he
who lacks a sense of right and wrong is not a man…. Man has these four beginnings… (Fung
Yulan, 1948, 69-70)
 The natural law that says “do good and avoid evil” comes in different versions. Kung-
fu-tsu said the same when he taught: Do not do to others only what you do not like others to
do to you.” This is also the Golden rule of Christianity only that it is written in the positive
form: “Do other what you like others do to you”. Immanuel Kant’s version is “Act in such a
way that your maxim can be the maxim for all.” For Christians, this Golden Rule is made
more explicit through the Ten Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes. These are
summed-up in the two great commandments, “love God with all your heart, with all your
mind, with all your strength” and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” The Buddhist
state this though the eightfold path. For the Buddhists, they do good when they : “(1) strive
to know the truth; (2) resolve to resist evil; (3) say nothing to hurt others; (4)respect life,
morality and property; engage in a job that does not injures others; (6) strive to free their
mind of evil; (7) control their feelings and thoughts, and (8) practice proper forms of
concentration”(World Encyclopedia, 1988) Buddha taught that “hatred does not cease by
hatred; hatred ceases only by love.” The Islamic Koran “forbids lying, stealing, adultery, and
murder”. It also teaches “honor for parents, kindness to slaves, protection of the orphaned
and the widowed, and charity to the poor. It teaches the virtues of faith in God, patience,
kindness, honesty, industry, honor, courage, and generosity. It condemns mistrust,
impatience and cruelty.” (World Book Encyclopedia, 1988. Furthermore, the Muslims abide
by the Five Pillars of Islam: 1) prayer, 2) self-purification by fasting, 3) fasting, 4) almsgiving
and 5) pilgrimage to Mecca for those who can afford.
(www.islam101.com/dawal/pillars.html).

Teacher as a person of good moral character. When you are of good moral
character? One Christian author describe four ways of describing good moral character: 1)
being fully human – you have realized substantially your potential as a human person, 2)
being a loving person- you are caring and unselfish and mature manner with yourself,
other people and God, 3) being a virtues person- you have acquired good habits and
attitudes and you practice them consistently n your daily life, and 4) being a morally mature
person- you reached a level of development emotionally, socially, mentally, spiritually
appropriate to your developmental stage. (Cosgrave, William, rev. ed. 2004, 78-79 In short,
you are on the right track when you strive to develop your potential, you love and care for
yourself and care for yourself and make this love flow to others, you lead a virtuous life,
and as you advance in age you also advance in your emotional, social, intellectual and
spiritual life.

The foundational moral principle is “Do good; avoid evil” This is contained in a natural
law. The natural law. The natural law is engraved in the heart of every man and woman. We
have in us the sense to do and to avoid the evil that we ought to avoid. This foundational
moral principle of doing good and avoiding evil is expressed in many other ways by
different people. The famous Chinese philosopher, Kung –fu-tzu taught the same principle
when he said: “Do not do to others what you do not like others do to you.” Immanuel Kant
taught the same: Act in such a way that your rule can be the principle of all” The Buddhists
abide by the same moral principle in their Eightfold Path. The Muslims have this
foundational moral principle laid down in their Koran and the Five Pillars. For the
Christians, the Bible shows the way to the good life- the Ten Commandments and the Eight
Beatitudes. The Ten Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes. The Ten Commandments
and the Eight Beatitudes are summarized in the two great commandments of love for God
and love for neighbor.

Our act is moral when it is in accordance with our human nature. Our act is immoral
when it is contrary to our human nature. Our intellect and free will make us different from
and above the beast.

As a teacher, you are expected to be a person of good moral character. You are a
person of good moral character when you are 1) human, 2) loving, 3) virtuous, and 4)
mature.

Values Formation

Education in values means the cultivation of activity,

Leading the educand through exposure to an experience of
Value and of the valuable

To be moral is to become human. Living by the right values humanizes. The question
that you may raise at this point is: Is there such a thing as right, unchanging and universal
value? Is a right value for me also a right value for you? Are the values that we, Filipinos,
consider as right also considered by the Japanese, the Americans or the Spaniards as right
values? Or are values dependent on time, place and culture?
There are two varied answers to the question, depending on the camp where you
belong. If you belong to the idealist group, there are unchanging and universal values. The
values of love, care and concern for our fellow men are values for our people regardless of
time and space. They remain unchanged amidst changing time. These are called
transcendent values, transcendent because they are beyond changing times, beyond
space and people. They remain to be a value even if no one values them. They are accepted
as value everywhere. On the other hand, they assert that values are dependent on time and
place. The values that our forefathers believe in are not necessarily the right values for the
present. What the British consider as values are not necessarily considered values by
Filipinos.

Values are taught and caught

Another essential question we have to tackle: “Are values caught or taught? Our
position is that values taught and caught. If they are not taught because they are merely
caught, then there is even no point in proceeding to write and discuss your values
formation as a teacher here! Values are also caught. We may not be able to hear our father’s
advice” Do not smoke “because what he does (he himself smokes) Speaks louder than what
he says. The living examples of good men and women at home, school and society have far
greater influence on our value formation than those well-prepared lectures on values
excellently delivered by expert who may sound like “Empty Gongs clinging cymbals.”

Values have cognitive, Affective and behavioral Dimensions

Values have cognitive dimension. We must understand the value that we want to
acquire. We need to know why we have to value such. This is the heart of conversion and
values formation. We need to know how to live by that value. These are the concepts that
ought to be taught.
Values are in the affective domain of objectives. In themselves they have an
affective dimension. For instance, “it is not enough to know what honesty is or why one
should be honest. One has to feel something towards honesty, be moved towards honesty
as preferable to dishonesty.” (Aquino, 1990)
Values also have a behavioral dimension. In fact, living by the Value is the true acid
test if we really value a value like honesty.

Value formation includes formation in the cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects

Your value formation as teachers will necessarily the three dimensions. You have to
grow in knowledge and in wisdom and in your sensitivity and openness to the variety of
value experiences in life.” (Aquino, 1990) You have to be open to and attentive in your value
lessons in Ethics and for those in sectarian schools, Ethics and Religious Education. Take
active part in value sessions like fellowships, recollections organized by your church
group or associations. Since value are also caught, help yourself by reading the
biographies of heroes, great teachers and saints (for the Catholics) and other inspirational
books. (It is observed that less and less teachers read printed materials other than their
textbooks.) Your lessons in history, religion and literature are replete with opportunities
for inspiring ideals. Associate with model teachers. If possible, avoid the “yeast” of those
who will not exert a very good influence. Take the sound advice from Desiderata: “Avoid
loud and where you can be exposed to people from various walks of life. These will help to
“fly high” and “see far” to borrow the words of Richard Bach in his book, Jonathan
Livingstone Seagull.

Value formation is a training of the intellect and will

Your value formation in essence is a training of your intellect and will, your cognitive
and rational appetitive powers, respectively. Your intellect discerns a value
and presents it to the will as a right or wrong value presented by your intellect. As
described by St. Thomas Aquinas. “The intellect proposes and the will disposes”
 It is clear that “nothing is willed unless it is first known. Thoughts must precede the
deliberation of the will. An object is willed as it is known by the intellect and proposed to the
will as desirable and good. Hence the formal and adequate and adequate object of the will
is good as apprehended by the intellect”. (William Kelly, 1965) These statements
underscore the importance of the training of your intellect. Your intellect must clearly
present a positive value to be a truly a positive value to the will not that as one that is
apparently positive but in the final analysis is a negative value. In short, your intellect must
be enlightened by what is true.

It is therefore, necessary that you develop n its three functions, namely: “formation
of ideas, judgment and reasoning” (William Kelly, 1965). It is also equally necessary that you
develop your will so you will be strong enough to act on the good and avoid the bad that your
intellect presents.

How can your will be trained to desire strongly the desirable and act on it? William
Kelly explains it very simply:

Training of the will must be essentially self-training. The habit of yielding to impulse
results in the enfeeblement to f self-control. The power of inhibiting short desires, of
concentrating attention on more remote good, of reinforcing the higher but less urgent
motives undergoes a kind of atrophy through disuse. Habitually yielding to any vice, while
it does not lessen man’s responsibility, does diminish his ability to resist temptation.
Likewise, the more frequently man restrains impulse, checks inclination, persist against
temptation, and steadily aims at virtuous living, the more does he increase his self-control,
and therefore, his freedom. To have a strong will means to have control of the will, to be
able to direct it despite all contrary impulses.

Virtuous versus vicious life and their effect on the will

In a short, virtuous life strengthens to live by the right values and live a life of
abundance and joy while a vicious life leads you to perdition and misery. WARNING: Then
NEVER to give way to a vice! Instead develop worthwhile hobbies. Cultivate good habits.
If you recall, in the fourth chapter we said moral person is one who lead a virtuous
life. Panizo claims “virtue involves a habit, a constant effort to do things well in spite of
obstacle and difficulties”. A virtue is no other than a good habit. You get so used to doing
good that you will be stronger to resist evil. So, START and CONTINUE, doing and being
good!

Max Scheler’s hierarchy of values

Max Scheler outlined a hierarchy of values. Our hierarchy of values is shown in our
preferences and decisions. For instance, you may prefer to absent from class because you
want to attend the annual barrio fiesta where you are the “star” because of your ability to
sing and dance. Another one may prefer just the opposite by missing the fiesta (anyway,
she can have all the fiestas after studies) and attends class. Aquino (Aquino, 1990) presents
Scheler’s hierarchy of values arranged from the lowest to the highest as shown below:

Pleasure Values - the pleasant against the unpleasant

- the agreeable against the disagreeable

• Sensual feelings
• Experiences of pleasure or pain

Vital Values - values pertaining to the well-being either

Of the individual or of the community

• Health
• Vitality

- Values of vital feeling

• Capability
• Excellence
Spiritual Values- values independent of the whole sphere of the body of
the body and of the environment;
- Grasped in spiritual acts of preferring,
Loving and hating

• aesthetic values: beauty against ugliness

• values of right or wrong
• values of pure knowledge

Values of the Holy- appear only in regard to objects

Intentionally given as “absolute objects”

• belief
• adoration
• bliss

Based on Scheler’s hierarchy of values, the highest values are those that directly
pertain to the Supreme Being while the lowest values are those that pertain to the sensual
pleasures. We act and live well if we stick to the Scheler’s hierarchy of values, i.e., give
greater preference to the higher values. We act well when we give up the pleasure of
drinking excessive alcohol for the sake of our health. But while we take care of our health,
Christians will say, we bear in mind what we do not “live by bread alone” but also by “the
word that comes from the mouth of God” (Luke 4:4)….life is more than food and the body
more than clothing.” (Luke 12:23) Our concerns must go beyond the caring of our bodily
health. As we learned in lesson I, man is an embodied spirit and so we also need to be
concerned with matters of the spirit like appreciation of what is right and what is beautiful.
The saints have been raised to the pedestal and are worthy of the veneration of the faithful
because they gave up their life for their faith in the Holy one. San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first
Filipino saint, spurned offers of liberty and life for his faith in God. Having done so, “he
firmed the absolute superiority of the Holy.” We also know of Albert Schweitzer, the much-
honored physician, missionary, and musician who because of his deep reverence for life
spent many years extending humanitarian assistance by treating thousands of sick people
during his medical mission in Africa. He also built his hospital and leper colony for the less
unfortunate in Africa. We cannot ignore Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India who
chose to leave a more comfortable life in the convent in order to devote her life bathing,
consoling, and picking up the dying outcast in the streets of Calcutta out of genuine love and
compassion.
Outside the Catholic Church we, too, can cite several whose lives were focused on
matters of the spirit more than the body. At this point we cite Mahatma Ghandi, the great
political and spiritual leader of India, who passionately fought discrimination with his
principles of truth, non-violence, and courage. His non-violent resistance to the British
rule in India led to the independence of India in 1947. We do not forget Helen Keller, who
despite her being blind, traveled to developing and war-ravaged countries to improve the
conditions of the blind like her for them to live meaningful life. Of course, we do not forget
Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero, Benigno Aquino Jr. and all other heroes of our nation who
gave up their lives for the freedom that we now enjoy and many more for you to talk about
at the end of this Lesson

Values clarification

After introducing transcendent values, let me introduce you to the process of value
clarification. In pluralistic society, we can’t help but value confusion and value
contradictions of our times. When we do not know what we really value or when we are not
clear on what we really value. The advocates of value of clarification assert that we must
clarify what we really value. The term value is reserved for those “individual beliefs,
attitudes and activities…that satisfy the following criteria: 1) freely chosen; 2) chosen from
among alternatives; 3) chosen from after due reflection; 4) prized and cherished; 5)
publicly affirmed; 6) incorporated into actual behavior; and 7) acted upon repeatedly in
one’s life

This means that if you value honesty you have chosen it freely from among
alternatives and after considering its consequences. You prize it and you are proud of it and
so you are not ashamed for others to know that you value it. You practice and live by honesty
and have made it your habit to act and live honestly.
 APPLICATION

(Note: To be included in your portfolio)

A. Direction: Answer the following with a YES or NO. If your answer is NO, explain your
answer in a sentence.

________ 1. Is it morality for person and animals?

________ 2. It is a natural law known only by the learned?

________ 3. Did the primitive people have a sense of the natural law?

________ 4. Is an animalistic act of a man moral?

________ 5. Is it right to judge a dog to be immoral if it defecates right there in your garden?
________ 6. Is the foundational moral principle sensed only by believers?

________ 7. Is the foundational moral principle very specific?

________ 8. Is the foundational moral principle the basis of more specific moral principles?

________ 9. Is the foundational moral principles so called because it is the basis of all moral
principles?

_______ 10. Are the Ten Commandments for Christians more specific moral principle?

_______ 11. Is the natural law literally engraved in every human heart?

_______ 12. Are The Five Pillars of Islam reflective of a natural law?

_______ 13. Is the Buddhist’s Eightfold Path in accordance with the natural law?

_______ 14. Are The Golden Rule for Christians basically the same with Kung-fu-tsu’s
Reciprocity rule?
 B. Direction: Answer the following in a sentence

1. To be moral is to be human. What does this mean?

2. Why is morality only for person

3. What do the following tell you about the natural law?

C. Answer briefly and do as instructed.

1. How do you describe a teacher who has good moral values? Do you consider yourself as
a student studying educations to be a man or woman who has professional good moral
values?

2. What do you think would happen to our educational system if majority if not all have no
considerations of themselves to have good moral values? Based on experience, do you
know for teachers in this campus/university have can able moral values? How about those
who have none at all?
3. Reflect on becoming teachers to have moral values?

4. By means of a song, a poem or an acoustic on the words morality and values, show the
importance of these two significant word in the world of teaching and education. (Write on
the long bond paper to form part of your portfolio on Module I).

5. Which Filipino values pose obstacles to your value formation? Write your answers on a
long bond paper to form part and parcel of your portfolio for Module I).

ASSESSMENT

Let’s measure your learnings

A. Direction: answer the following in a sentence or two.

1. To be moral is the humans. What does this mean?

2. Why is morality only for person?

3. What to do the following to tell you about the natural law?

4. Do we have such a thing as unchanging values in there changing time?

5. What do we mean when we say transcendent values are independent of time, space and
people?

6. Should values be taught? Why?

7. What values are three dimensions of values and value formation? Explain each.
8. Value formation is the training of the intellect and the will, what does this training consist
of?

9. What is the effect of good habit (virtue) and bad habit (vice) in the will?

10. Which is the lowest value on Scheler’s value hierarchy? How about the highest?

11. Based on Scheler’s hierarchy of values, what is a life will lived?

12. According to advocates of value clarification, how can you test if a value is really your
value?

Congratulations! You finished lesson 2. You are now ready to explore Lesson 3. Let’s do it.