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CHAPTER 4CHAPTER 4

THE MORAL PERSON/INDIVIDUAL

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Subject Learning Outcomes (SLO)

1. Recognize and respect good moral values

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Protecting human lifeAvoiding moral deviation

Preserving social orderPreserving peace

Protecting human rights

Saving time and energy

Special terminologyBelieved justification

Admiration and esteemBelieved importance

Feeling of guilt & disapprovalIntrinsic motivation

Moral reasoning

Moral feeling

Moral action

Ethical dimension

Ethical dimension Moral formMoral form

Principalistic ethics form

Situational ethics form

Human Characteristics Societal Rules

Raising standard of living

Developing intellect

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MORAL CONTENT

THE MORALPERSON

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• SUGARMAN (1973) says “ A person view will influence his way of thinking and his life and subsequently shape his approach to morality.

• The way a teacher or a parent educates his pupils or children will be influenced by his views on the concept of morality.

INTRODUCTION

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• Eg: parent - morality - human obligation - a dictator - unlikely to compromise when teaching his children about morality in life.

• If parents - relative values – children have free choice of moral values and decide between right and wrong - democratic.

• Eg: parent - morality - human obligation - a dictator - unlikely to compromise when teaching his children about morality in life.

• If parents - relative values – children have free choice of moral values and decide between right and wrong - democratic.

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In this chapter, we will discuss the concept of moral from three aspects, i.e, Moral Content, Moral Form and Moral Dimension.

At the end of the topics we can see how they relate to the formation of a moral person.

In this chapter, we will discuss the concept of moral from three aspects, i.e, Moral Content, Moral Form and Moral Dimension.

At the end of the topics we can see how they relate to the formation of a moral person.

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MORAL CONTENTMORAL CONTENT

Moral or ethics has a content. The contents divided into 2 aspects

Societal Rules

Human Characteristics

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SOCIETAL RULES

Human being require rules which place certain restraints on their freedom to act in order that the safety and human rights of others can be protected.

D. EMMET (1966) in his book “Rules, Roles and Relations”

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ROBERT B. ASHMORE (1987) in his book “Building a Moral System” says that all matters in the natural worlds act according to certain rules and laws.

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The moral issues experienced first by an

individual are the customary rules and

regulations that form the “mores” of a society.

Such customs are not merely habitual ways of action, but are also ways that are validated by a human group.

They have a prescriptive force which not only imposes conduct and behavior in the community, but also explains how one should act.

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Customary Rules and regulations provide customary morality which is different from reflective morality.

Customary Rules and regulations provide customary morality which is different from reflective morality.

Customary Morality

- standards or rules of our ancestors. An individual accepts and act accordingly because they are prescribed norms

-cannot be disobeyed or challenged

- expected to conduct himself within the boundaries of customary morality.

Reflective Morality

-calls for reasoning and consideration of the individual.

The main thing - to be familiar with the reasoning and then to observe or oppose the customary rule.

Reflective morality stresses on reasoning to observe and examine customary rules before acting on them.

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LIST OF RULES OF SOCIETY/NORMS TO BE DISCUSSED

CUSTOMARY/REFLECTIVE TYPES OF MORALITY

• ONES CAN’T GIVE CLOCKS TO PEOPLE ON THEIR BIRTHDAY(SIGN OF DEATH)

•LADIES SHOULD ONLY BE TAKING CARE OF THE FAMILY & NOT ALLOWED TO WORK

• DON’T WEAR RED SHIRT WHEN ATTENDING FUNERALS

•NEVER OPEN AN UMBRELLA INSIDE THE HOUSE (SIGN OF BADLUCK)

• CAN’T MARRIED IF THE COUPLE GOT A SAME SURNAME (RISK OF GETTING DISABLE BABY)

• CHILDREN MARRIAGE CONTROLLED BY THE PARENTS

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Hence, the main difference between customary morality and reflective morality is not what is believed but the reason that believe is preserved. So, customary morality always defends itself with statements like “This is traditional” or “This is the way we act” or “This is how we have been taught”

We can say in a moral system, the conduct of an individual is rule-governed, i.e, that all actions of a similar kind are considered in the same way. Consistency and reciprocity mark the attitude of a moral agent towards his own action, and that of another person - justice, honor and temperance.

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The importance and functions rules of society

• Improve the standard of living of the people.

• Develop the intellectual capacity of the people so that the function more effectively.

• Protect human life• Defend human rights and

people’s welfare• Prevent degradation in

behavior and morals of the society

• Stabilize condition in the society

• Create and preserve social order

• Maintain peace in the society

• Preserve social harmony, and

• Save time and effort when making decisions for oneself or other people

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• Nevertheless, it is difficult for all the people to follow all the rules of the society and we cannot force anyone to do so. Therefore, when some people do not follow a certain rule, but oppose it, we can only hope that they can quickly find a way to settle the matter by forming a new rule that is acceptable to everyone.

• In conclusion, the aims of rules of the society in preserving peace and in ensuring harmony are of equal importance. As moral individuals we cannot overlook this.

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ADAT PERPATIH

•The name 'Adat Perpatih' is derived from Datuk Parapatieh Nan Sebatang, a nickname used by Sutan Balun. Adat Perpatih was introduced in Negeri Sembilan subsequent to the migration of the Minangkabau in the 14th century.

• The custom is practised by twelve clans (the biggest family unit) which are Biduanda, Batu Hampar, Paya Kumboh, Mungkal, Tiga Nenek, Sri Melenggang, Sri Lemak, Batu belah, Tanah Datar, Anak Melaka, Anak Acheh and Tiga Batu.

RULES & REGULATION

•Adat Perpatih has its own unique rules regarding the matrimonial ceremony, divorce and inheritance

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For example,

• a man is prohibited from marrying a women of his clan

•MAN is required to live at his wife's place and be part of his wife's suku.

• marriage between maternal first cousin are also prohibited

• Wealth in Adat Perpatih is divided into four; harta pembawaan (wealth owned by the wife before marriage), harta dapatan (wealth owned by the wife after marriage) , harta carian (wealth gained by the couple after marriage) and harta pesaka (inherited wealth).

•   Property acquired during marriage is shared

•  Property inherited is set to one side

• Personal property is taken back when a wife passes away.

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GROUP DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES

 Imagine that a visitor from a different culture is coming to your country. You are going to draw up a list of eight tips

about social behaviour. Make a list of ideas under the following headings:

•Addressing people

•Meeting and greeting

•Gestures

•Public behaviour

•An invitation to someone’s house

•At a meal

•Dress code

•Other important do’s and don'ts

 

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HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS

• An individual should have virtuous characteristics that distinguish him as a moral person.

• This statement is important and supported by many philosophers.

J.D WALLACE (1978) says that virtuous characteristics is important to a person and to his tranquility in life in the society.

Z.FENG (1993) says that the development of a virtuous character in a pupil during lesson in school should be the main aim of the curriculum of Moral Education.

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• Richard B.Brandt (1979) in his book “A theory of the Good and the right “ calls this system is moral code or ethical code of an individual or a society.

• “Babies and small children do not have an ethical code because ethical code is not something natural, but is learnt by an individual, as are virtuous characteristics.”

• An individual has to be exposed to his environment and be thought through various approached, such as religious education, moral instruction or parental upbringing before he acquires a character that is virtuous.

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Brandt recommends six qualities or traits in moral code or ethical code

1. Intrinsic motivation

An individual has intrinsic desires or aversion to do, or not to do something in a certain way.

Eg: Reluctance to break a promise, reluctance to hurt a person and reluctance to help someone in need.

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2. Feeling of guilt and disapproval

When an individual acts in a manner contrary to his own intrinsic motivation, he feels uncomfortable, sinful and remorseful.

However the disapproval of others will improve the ethical code and make it more effective in preventing action not liked by other people.

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3. Believed importance

Conduct brought about by intrinsic motivation is considered very important to an individual, to the extent that he feels it should become part of his nature.

Eg: an individuals may believe that rendering first aid to an accident victim (intrinsic motivation) is so important (because it saves life) that he may want to include that as one of his personal characteristics.

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4. Admiration or Esteem

Opposed to the negative attitude one has for people lacking in moral motivation is the feeling of admiration and esteem for someone who has done something extraordinary in the moral sense.

Eg: a person who has done something extremely praiseworthy, like a soldier sacrificing his own life to save a colleague from being killed in a hand-grenade explosion. In this case, the soldier has done something beyond what is required by basic motivation. Acts like this are sometimes called acts of supererogation.

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5. Special Terminology

It is difficult for the ethical code to control the actions of a person if that person does not know how to conceptual framework that is rather complex.

Only through knowing special terminology for motivation and moral action can a person understand and appreciate this complex moral concept.

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6. Believe justification An individual must have justification for his motivation, sinful feeling, disagreeable attitude, admiration etc.

An example of such a justification concern religion: If a person hold strongly to the teaching of a religion and considers its moral principles as god’s demands, he will satisfied with his morality and feels rational to act in a way that may be opposed to his own interest in the long run.

According to the Brandt, if a person possesses all these, he definitely has ethical code. However, if he possesses fewer than six of these qualities, he may, or may not, have ethical code. It depends on who evaluate him.

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Several educationist also gave their views about the importance of virtuous characteristics in improving the quality of morality in the society.

G.J WARNOCK (1976) stresses justice, love and the reluctance to hurt others physically and mentally.

R.B ASHMORE (1987) explains in detail how virtues eventually become habits.

Eg: doctor who is an expert uses his knowledge of medicine to carry out duty that are immoral.

*a person who has virtuous character will benefit himself and the people around him. Rules in the society alone cannot ensure that the people live in peace and comfort.

*Happiness and welfare rules + virtuous qualities

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MORAL FORM

• Principle of ethics is “The decision you take must be determine by moral principles, especially justice and altruism which are basic values and mother to other values.

• The development of science and technology (IT), has resulted in closer communication among the people of the world.

• The world has become more complex - many countries with people of various nationalities, races and ethnic groups.

• This plurality means that there are many types of laws, various rules, ethical codes, customary practices, cultures and administrative systems.

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• As a result, people in each society cannot run from their own morality questions, and have to solve their own moral problems, especially the moral dilemmas that constantly disturb their thinking and emotions.

• Eg: a desperate housewife/family –women cannot work!• an individual who lives in the modern society but is still

influenced by the rules of his traditions and customs there is possibility that he cannot resolve the problems he faces in his modern life with the rules that are quite out-dated but still influential in his community – unless if you are brave enough to oppose and make decision without concern for the views of his community.

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R.A WESSERSTROM (1979) says, only with virtuous characteristics that he has within him can an individual deal with this moral problem because there is no guide to which he can refer in this complex situation.

V.GRASSIAN (1981) says, to resolve a moral dilemma, apart of using your intelligence (virtuous characteristics)and referring to societal rules, an individual needs to consider the moral principles which he consistently uses.

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GRASSIAN suggestion two of the ethical forms

Principalistic ethics form (this ethical uses moral principle (basic and derivative) to resolve problems

Situational ethics form.

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Principalistic Ethics Form

• When we make a decision in a moral dilemma, we can use the most basic moral principles, especially “the justice principle” or “the altruistic principle” which are basic values and mother to other values. Because of these, these two principles will be used as examples in the discussion of ethical forms.

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•The term “justice” comes from the Latin word “Justus” which means “law, right”. Today justice is used in the sense of “the quality of being righteous, rectitude in partiality, firmness”.

Kamus Dewan: justice is quality that is fair and impartial. Hence the concept of justice concerns all actions and conduct of a person that are fair to himself as well as to other people.

In other words, an action that is unfair (injustice) does not benefit certain people because such actions cause dissatisfaction and anger against the person who performs injustice.

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The principle of “altruism: is also an important ethical principle used as a reference in making moral decisions.

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• THOMAS NAGEL (1970) in his book “ The possibility of Altruism” explains altruism as an attitude or action which pleases or benefits other people. Hence, an altruist is a generous person, a philanthropist.

• He also says that to have an altruistic quality, a person must be empathetic , open minded and tolerant.

• W.K. FRANKENE (1973) says, that sometimes an individual claims satisfaction not for himself, but for other people., i.e., self-sacrifice. An altruism believes that there is altruism in people, i.e. that people just want to do some good for others.

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Justice and altruism are main principles in ethical form, but there are two differences between it.

Justice: matter (an action, behavior, conduct) that is rational

Altruism: a quality that is not just noble, but very noble -sometimes considered a noble characteristics that is super human extraordinary.

However, both these principles are the bases for the formation of other moral values, such as fairness , intelligence, bravery, patience, industry and the like. these values allow a person to act more effectively when confronted with an unusual situation like moral dilemma.

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Situational Ethics Form

Occasionally, in certain situations, an individual has to make decisions and act based on the situation he is in.

FLETCHER opposes three approaches used to resolve problems and make moral decisions. The three approaches are “Legalism, Antinomianism and Situationism”.

According to Fletcher, A person who uses the situation approach enters into every decision-making situation fully armed with “ethical maxims” and he treats them with respects as illuminators of these problems. just the same he is prepared in any situation to compromise them or set them aside in the situation if love seems better served by doing so. Ethical maxims here are the ethical rules or principles used to deal with problems based on specific situations.

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For example, a case of SHERI FISHBERN who aborted a baby she was carrying in 1960.

“When a lady in Arizona learned, a few years ago, she might bear a defective baby because she had taken Thalidomide, how was she do decide? She asked the court to back her doctor and his hospital in terminating the pregnancy, and it refused, to the judge’s chagrin, since the law prohibits non-medically indicated abortion without exception. Her husband took her to Sweden, where love has more control of law, and there her pregnancy was aborted. god be thanked, since the embryo was hideously deformed. But nobody could know for sure it was a brave and responsible and right decision, even if the embryo had been all right.

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• In this case Fletcher refer to “loving concern” toward SHERI FISHBERN, but people who objected to Fishbern’s action also focused on “loving concern”, but this concern was on the fetus of the unborn baby.

• From this example, we can see that a decision that is based on a particular situation sometimes becomes controversial; it depends on whether the ethical principle used is appropriate or otherwise.

• Many moral educationist prefer the use of ethical principle over ethical situation. This is because, making a decision based on a situation is difficult and risky as it can result in major controversy.

• FRANKENA (1973) and GRASSIAN (1981) say “Decision from ethical principle will be more consistent and less controversial”.

• In conclusion, a person can make a decision and take moral action to resolve a moral problem by considering the situation that causes the problem with basic moral principles and values that he has in him.

• ….DISCUSSION ON THE CASE STUDY

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Moral Dimensions

We can break up ethics into three dimensions, viz. reasoning, feeling and performance.

Moral Reasoning

Moral Feeling

Moral action

EthicalDimensions

Thinking & Judging

Emotion & Feeling

Behavior & Action

Rational, Free, Normative, Accurate, Sharp, Creative, Innovative, Critical

Empathetic, Sympathetic, Generous, Loving, Compassionate, Altruistic, Sentimental, Energetic

Responsible, Dedicated, Caring, Co-operative.

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Analysis of the three dimensions :

• Moral Reasoning

To be able to make moral reasoning, i.e. to think and judge rationally and freely.

• Moral Feeling

To have moral emotions like conscience and sensitivity over feelings of what is wrong or shameful, of anxiety, sympathy, empathy, generosity, love, compassion, motivated by what is altruistic and correct.

- enable the individual to act morally - important to control one’s behavior and actions, and prevent one from doing anything that is anti-social.

Eg: sympathy and empathy cause a person to always help the poor or the handicapped without thinking about his own interest.

• Moral action

To be able to conduct oneself in a manner that is morally correct, i.e. to act in a fully responsible way, according to one’s ability, in making decisions based on careful reasoning and moral emotions.

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Moral Agent and Moral Recipient

• ASHMORE (1987) says that only humans can be moral agent as well as moral recipient.

• Human are different from animal because they have rational reasoning, free-feeling and emotions which can influence their behavior and actions; whereas animals lack reasoning and moral feeling.

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Relationship with Ethical DimensionsRelationship with Ethical Dimensions

• The reasoning, action and feeling of an individual allow him to exercise caution to ensure that whatever he does is according to the normative dictates of the people he is in.

• For example, if a person does something wrong or immoral, he may feel afraid, remorseful or guilty. if he is really bothered by such feeling, he will not want to act in this anti-normative and anti-social manner again.

• Therefore, moral emotions in this ethical dimension are very important in determining what will or will not be done.

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• Hence the three dimensions must interact and influence one another to build a moral

person.

• Generally, a moral person : autonomous, rational and free in his reasoning, feeling and actions

KUPPERMAN (1983) says that a person who does something that is immoral is not necessarily less stupid or less clever compared to an ordinary person.

However the person who is immoral is always insensitive to the suffering of his victim because it is difficult for him to have moral feelings.

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