VALUES

DEVELOPMEN
T
Chapter 3
VALUES
Values refer to everything from eternal ideas to
behavioral actions.
The act of valuing is considered an act of
making value judgments, an expression of
feeling, or the acquisition of and adherence to a
set of principles.
Etymologically, values come from the Latin
word "valere", which means "to measure the
worth of something."
Values may be positive or negative.

They are of diverse types and they transcend

facts and clamor for existence and realization.
There are also subjective and objective values.
THE
FORMATION
OF VALUES
First we learn to appreciate things that fulfill our
basic needs, but we value especially those people
that provide them to us.
Our character and personality are molded through
the attitudes and behavior of the people who raise
us.
When we are students, we start feeling social
pressures and the pressure of values that are
different from ours, as we relate to other people.
Teachers, leaders, and value models at school can
reinforce what was formed at home, but they cannot
replace them.
Values are convictions; they are behaviors we gladly
decide to follow and produce satisfaction.
Values are only conveyed through the example of our
daily attitudes and behaviors. They can seldom be
formed by explaining them or through a list of what is
considered correct or incorrect.
CLARIFICATIO
N AND
INTEGRATION
THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE FOR EVERY
PERSON CONSISTS OF TWO ASPECTS:
1. A map of reality is an understanding of what life
is all about, of nature and the cosmos.
2. A hierarchy of values-a perception of which
things are more important than others.
Will Durant a philosopher wrote that wisdom is
"seeing big things as big and small things as
small."
 Clarification of values means that we must
review which values should guide our life.
The problem starts when these values conflict, not
only with each other but also when they compete
for our time and attention.
KINDS OF
VALUES
1. UNIVERSAL VALUES
Are valued by all human beings due to the intrinsic
nature of these values or by virtue of our being human
beings.
The following are some of these universal values:
• Truth • Kindness
• Happiness • Justice
• Inner peace • Respect
• Love • Courage and fearlessness
2. CULTURAL VALUES
Are dependent on the social norms, religious
beliefs and other environmental situations of
people.

Some cultural values are cruel and yet are

tolerated or even promoted by members of the
community.
Cultural values also change with time.
What used to be unethical in one generation
may no longer be so in the next.

Cultural values are not necessarily good for

humanity simply because they have
widespread acceptance.
3. PERSONAL VALUES
Are worthwhile to a particular individual and
differ from person to person.

Are largely subjective and are neither ethical nor

unethical except when they go against one of the
universal values.
CLARIFYING
PERSONAL
VALUES
To integrate universal values into our lives,
we must do another necessary task: Clarify
our own personal values.
 It's essential for each one of us to clarify
what is truly meaningful in our lives things
that we would like to live and even die for.
 To help us attain such clarity, we must try to
answer two questions.
(1) What are three things that you would like to do
achieve or become before you die?
(2) What are three things that you would like to do
or accomplish within the next three years?
Check also whether your personal values are in
harmony with universal values. If not, review them
and see whether deep within yourself they are
really what you want in life.
INTEGRATION
OF VALUES
2 THINGS ARE REQUIRED TO
INTERNALIZE VALUES:
1. Clarity of universal and personal values: We must
be convinced that universal values are valid and truly
worth pursuing, and also that our personal values are
clear and strongly felt.
2. Contrary conditionings are neutralized. The
conditionings to be neutralized are of two kinds: (a)
Physico-emotional conditionings: those involving
habits and emotional reactions, such as fears,
resentments, etc.
(b) Mental conditionings: those molded by cultural
values, such as the measurement of success and
failure and philosophy of life. They create
preferences for lifestyles, modes of action, etc. This
aspect is related to a review of one's map of reality.
When true clarity is achieved and conditionings are
comprehensively reviewed, then values can be fully
integrated into our life with minimal difficulty.
VIRTUES: THE
GOOD HABIT
VIRTUES are habits of human excellence.
Moral virtues are excellences of character
acquired through the formation of good habits
and are necessary for happiness.
Aristotle defined it as a whole life, well lived.
An understanding of what virtue and virtue
ethics is all about can help people to see why
they need to form good habits of choosing and
acting.
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle studied human
excellences, which came to be called virtues. They
concluded that virtue in general and some virtues in
particular, enable a person not only to be good, but
also to have a good life.
In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states there are
2 kinds of virtues: intellectual virtues which are
excellences of the mind and moral virtues which are
excellences of character.
1. INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES:
• Art
• Science
• Speculative wisdom
• Practical wisdom (Prudence)
• Intuitive reason (Understanding)
2. MORAL VIRTUES
The virtues that make up good character, are
numerous. But the critical ones that, once ingrained in
a person, give that person the best chance of happiness
are the “cardinal" virtues of:
• Justice • Fortitude or courage
• Temperance • Prudence
Prudence (practical wisdom) is a special
virtue in that it is an intellectual one, but
guides human choices, while the moral
virtues are all about doing, or action.
Moral virtues are formed by acting in the
same way over and over again, until they
become habits.
VIRTUES ARE
REQUIRED FOR
THE GOOD LIFE
The moral virtues give people the character that
they need to persist through difficulties (fortitude)
to achieve worthwhile things, to say no to
themselves when it's really tempting to be self-
indulgent (temperance) instead of doing what ought
to be done, and to treat others proper (justice).

1. How do people acquire these moral virtues?

2. How will a person know when he acquires
these moral virtues?
Aristotle believed that happiness, or a well-lived
life, could not be attained without moral virtue.
Moral virtue is necessary for happiness because
otherwise people sabotage their own well-being
by making lots of bad choices and acting badly.
Good fortune is also required to the extent
that a certain amount of wealth and
possession of important goods are beyond
one's control.
• REFERENCE:
Delos Santos, A., Repata, D., Caday, J., Trumata,
P., Nacario, C., Roxas, R., Labuanan, G., Oco, J.
(2014). NSTP: National Service Training
Program. Malabon City:
Jimczyville Publications.