Module 2: Culture in Moral Behavior and 5. Culture is symbolic communication.
Some
Developing Virtue as a Habit of its symbols include a group’s skills,
knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives.
The meanings of the symbols are learned
Culture in Moral Behavior and deliberately perpetuated in a society
through its institutions.
To understand the role of culture in moral
behavior, it is important to first understand what Defined broadly therefore, culture includes all
culture is and its necessary relationships with man. the things individuals learn while growing up among
It is commonly said that culture is all around us. particular group: attitudes, standards of morality,
Practically, culture appears to be an actual part of rules of etiquette, perceptions of reality, language,
our social life as well as our personality. notions about the proper way to live, beliefs about
how females and males should interact, ideas
The term culture is so complex that it not
about how the world works and so forth. We call
easy to define. In one sense, culture is used to
this cultural knowledge.
denote that which is related to the arts and
humanities. But in broader sense, culture denotes Culture’s Role in Moral Behavior
the practices, beliefs, and perceptions of a given
society. The following are other definitions of the Based on the definitions of culture above, it
term culture: is not hard to pinpoint the role of culture in one’s
moral behavior. A culture is a ‘way of life’ of a group
1. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of of people, and this so-called way of life actually
knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, includes moral values and behaviors, along with
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religions, knowledge, beliefs, symbols that they accept,
notion of time, roles, spatial relations, ‘generally without thinking about them, and that
concepts of the universe, and material they are passed along by communication and
objects and possessions acquired by a imitation from one generation to the next.
group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving. Culture is learned as children grow up in
2. Culture consists of patterns, explicit and society and discover how their parents and others
implicit, of and for behavior acquired and around them interpret the world. In our society, we
transmitted by symbols, constituting the learn to evaluate what is (morally) good and bad
distinctive achievement of human groups, and to judge when an unusual action is appropriate
including their embodiments in artefacts, the or inappropriate (Manebog & Pena, 2016).
essential core of culture consists of
Many aspects of morality are taught.
traditional ideas and especially their
People learn moral and aspects of right or wrong
attached values, culture systems may, on
from transmitters of culture: respective parents,
the one hand, be considered as products of
teachers, novels, films, and television. Observing or
action on the other hand as conditioning
watching them, pole develop a set of what is right
influence upon further action.
and wrong and what is acceptable and what is not.
3. Culture is the sum total of the learned
behavior of a group of people that are Even experientially, it is improbable, if not
generally considered to be the tradition of impossible, to live in a society without being
that people and are transmitted from affected by its culture. It follows too that it is hard to
generation to generation. grow up in a particular culture without being
4. Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated impacted by how it views morality or what is
behavior; that is the totality of a person’s ethically right or wrong. Social learning is the
learned, accumulated experience which is process by which individuals acquire knowledge
socially transmitted, or more briefly, from others to which they belong as a normal part
behavior through social learning. of childhood. The process by which infants and
children socially learn the culture including morality, 1. Although there differences between the moral
of those around them is called enculturation or ideas of one time or another country and those of
socialization. another, the difference are not really very great.
Moral Standards as Social Convention and the 2. We affirm that the morality of one people is
Social Conditioning Theory better or worse than that of another which means
that there is a moral standard or rule by which we
Among the popular notions which attempt to measure both moralities and that standard is real.
give account for basic concepts in Ethics, such as
the existence of moral rules, the senses of moral Culture Relativism in Ethics
obligation, and the moral accountability, are the so-
called social conventions and social conditioning Cultural Relativism is the most famous
theories. These views are upshot of the fact that we and dominant form of moral relativism. Moral
can learn from morality culturally or through Relativism fundamentally believes that no act is
socialization. good or bad objectively. It also submits that
different moral principles apply to different persons
Theories Explained. The things we regard as or group of individuals.
moral laws (moral standards or rules) some purport
are nothing but just social conventions. By Cultural Relativism defines ‘moral’ as what
convention, they mean those things agreed upon is ‘socially approved’ by the majority in a particular
by people like through their authorities. Convention culture. It maintains that an act is ethical in a
also refers to the usual or customary ways through culture that approves of it, but immoral in one that
which things are done within a group. disapproves of it.
Since it is observed that morality is Cultural relativists claim the following:
something that is handed down to us primarily by 1. Different societies have different moral codes.
education or socialization, either through parents
and elders or though teachers, some believe that 2. The moral code of a society determines what is
moral standards are merely a human invention., right or wrong within that society.
like those other inventions we learn from school or
home. Essentially, to theorize that moral law is a 3. There are no moral truths that hold for all people
social convention is to say that it is something at all times.
which human beings had just made up for
4. The moral code of our own society has no
themselves and might have been different had they
special status; it is but one among many.
liked.
5. It is arrogant for us to judge other cultures. We
However, just because something is learned
should always be tolerant of them.
at home or school does not necessarily mean that it
is a social convention. Mathematical operations, It is concluded that morality differs in every
geographical facts and scientific laws are also society as concepts of right and wrong vary from
taught in those institutions, yet they are never culture to culture.
considered as mere human fabrications. Meaning,
whether or not people know and like them, they are Cultural relativism: an analysis
as they are.
1. Valuable lessons from ethical relativism
The philosopher C.S. Lewis offers two
In proposing that there is no independent
reasons for saying that morality belongs to the
standard in Ethics, moral relativism does
same class as mathematics:
encourage tolerance. Without a doubt, tolerance is
necessary for people of different cultural origins to
co-exist and live peacefully in a society.
The theory also teaches us to be open minded, Different cultures have different moral codes.
thereby being more open to discovering truth. Therefore, there is no objective “truth” in morality.
Cultural relativism warns against being judgmental Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and
as it reminds us that some of our beliefs and opinions vary from culture to culture.
practices are mere conventional, and thus not
absolutely and exclusively correct. Rachels call these cultural differences
argument. It is nonetheless unsound because its
2. The theory’s ethical faults conclusion does not follow from its premise.
Cultural relativism discourages analytical Against cultural differences argument, this
thinking and independent decision-making in counter-argument could be submitted:
Ethics as it requires unsuspecting compliance and
subscription to social norms. The theory teaches People in some societies (e.g., Primitive
that to be ethical, folkways and cultural norms Tribes) believe that the Earth is flat,
should be followed uncritically. whereas Europeans hold that truth that the
Earth is spherical. This argument is
Cultural Relativism is inconsistent in obviously unsound because some societies
promoting tolerance while teaching that no culture might simply be wrong in their beliefs.
is morally superior or more progressive than others. Cultural Relativism goes wrong in drawing a
conclusion about an issue from the mere
The theory is practicable only if people do
fact that people disagree about it.
not belong to more than one institution.
The Disagreements among Cultures
Moral relativism is fundamentality self-
defeating. There are many factors, Rachel further
explains, which work together to produce the
3. Rachels’ evaluation of cultural relativism
customs of a society. Since the difference in
Philosophy professor James Rachels (1941- customs may be because of some other aspects of
2003) made a compelling assessment of Cultural social life, then it is wrong to conclude that there is
Relativism. a disagreement about values and morality just
because customs differ. Therefore there may be
The Cultural Differences Argument less ethical disagreements that there appears to be
(1997, p. 27).
Rachels explained that cultural relativists’
approach is to argue from facts about the The Case of Eskimos and Callatians
differences between cultural outlooks to a
conclusion about the status of morality. In sociology and Anthropology, the
Eskimos are popular for killing normal infants,
Thus, we are invited to accept reasoning like these: especially girls. This makes them appear to
possess significantly different values from ours.
The Greeks believed it was wrong to eat the
dead, whereas the Callatians (an Indian It is not that Eskimos have less affection for
Tribe) believed it was right to eat the dead. their children or less respect for human life. An
Therefore, eating dead is neither objectively Eskimo will always protect its babies if conditions
wrong. It is merely a matter of opinion, permit. But they live in a harsh environment where
which varies from culture to culture. food is in short supply that “life is hard, and the
The Eskimos see nothing wrong with margin of safety is small” (1999, p. 28).
infanticide, whereas we believe infanticide is
In Eskimo’s very special case, Infanticide is
immoral. Therefore, infanticide is neither
thus a recognition that drastic measures are
objectively right nor objectively wrong. It is
sometimes needed to ensure the family’s survival.
merely a matter of opinion, which varies
from culture to culture.
The Bad Consequences of Cultural relativism 2. Hiya is described as a feeling of lowliness,
shame or embarrassment, and inhibition of shyness
If we took cultural relativism seriously, we which is experienced as somewhat distressing.
would be necessitated to deal with the following
corollaries enumerated by Rachels (1999, pp.25- 3. Amor propio has been characterized as the high
27) degree of sensitivity that makes a person intolerant
to criticism and causes him to have an easily
1. We could no longer say that the customs of other wounded pride.
societies are morally inferior to our own.
4. Utang na loob is likewise a fundamental aspects
2. We could decide whether actions are right or of upholding group harmony and relationships that
wrong just by consulting standards of our society. demand the balancing of obligation and depts.
3. The idea of moral progress is called to doubt. 5. Filipino hospitality refers to the innate ability and
trait of Filipinos to be courteous and entertaining to
Asian and Filipino Understanding of Moral
their guest.
Behavior
6. Respects for Elders. Filipinos are not only
Because culture has an impact on morality,
respectful to elders, but also have unique ways of
people from different cultures appear to have
expressing this respect.
seemingly, but not essentially different sets of
ethics. This is particularly apparent in ethics of These Filipino social values are important to
groups of people from the Eastern or Asian Culture maintain harmony in Filipino relationships in social
as compared to those from Western culture. institutions such as family, school and community.
\ Universal Values
By Universal values, we mean those values
generally shared by cultures. The existence of the
so-called universal values is a strong proof that
cultural relativism is wrong. If certain values exist
both in Western and Eastern cultures (including
Filipino culture) despite the distance, then cultural
relativism’s claim that culture’s moralities radically
differ from each other is mistaken.
Going back to the contention that Eskimos
Filipino Moral Character: Strength and are also protective of their children, Rachel submits
Weakness the following sound argument (1999, p.29) Human
infants are helpless and cannot survive if they are
Filipino cultural morality, especially that which not given extensive care for a period of years.
concerns social ethics, centers on ideally having a Therefore, if a group did not care for its young, the
‘smooth interpersonal relationship’ (SIR) with young would not survive and the older members of
others. The definition of SIR in Philippine culture is the group would not be replaced. After a while, the
principally supported by and anchored on at least group would die out. Therefore, any cultural group
six basic Filipino values. that continues to exist must care for its young
infants that are not cared for must be the
exceptions rather than the rule.
Six Basic Filipino Values
The same argument could be used to
1. Pakikisama is having and maintaining good reasonably show that other values must be
public relation. generally shared by many cultures. Given value on
1) truth telling, for instance is indispensable in the outcome of that trait. Hence, a certain moral
existence of a society, for without it there would be character trait is a trait for which the agent is
no reason to pay attention to what anyone morally responsible.
communicates with anyone.
The Circular Relations of Acts and Character
Rachels also mentions of the case of 2)
valuing or respecting life which necessitates the There are some ACTS THAT BUILD
prohibition of murder. In a society where no one character and moral characters itself. But not all
thought there was anything wrong with killing at will, acts helps to build moral character. A person’s
everyone would have to be constantly on guard. actions determine his/her moral character, but
moral character itself generates acts that help in
A. Developing Virtue as A Habit developing either virtue or vice. Habitual practice of
moral and intellectual excellences, or ‘virtues.’
1. Moral Character and Virtues
For Aristotle, the function of human being
The term “character” is derived from the consists in activities which manifest the best states
Greek word “charakter”, which was initially used as of his rational aspects, that is, the virtues. To
a mark impressed upon a coin. It means a distinct determine regularity and reliability, what individual
mark or qualities by which one thing was acts are appropriate and reasonable in certain
distinguished from others. At the beginning of Book situations. It is not easy to define in rules which
II of the Nicomachean Ethics, the Greek acts deserve moral praise and blame, and that,
philosopher Aristotle tells us that there are two these matters require the judgment of the victorious
distinct of human excellences: person, that is, someone with good moral
character.
Excellences of Thought
Excellences of Character Moral Characters as Dispositions
Excellences of Character The moral characters that constitute a
person’s moral character are characteristically
Excellences of character is often translated
understood as behavioral and affective
as ‘moral virtue(s)’ or ‘moral excellence(s)’.
dispositions. Generally speaking, dispositions are
‘Ethikos’ (ethical) is the adjective cognate with
particular kinds or characteristics that objects can
‘ethos’ (character). So, when we speak of ‘virtue’ or
possess. Among human beings, moral character
excellence of moral character, the highlight is on
traits-either virtue or vices are also considered as
the blend of qualities that make a person the sort of
dispositions. Moral character traits are those
ethically admirable individual that he/she is.
dispositions of character for which it is suitable top
Moral Character hold agents morally responsible. A moral character
which a person is deserving of a positive reactive
Moral character refers to the existence or attitude such as praise, or gratitude is a virtue. On
lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, the other hand, a vice is amoral character trait for
honesty, and loyalty. If one lacks virtue, he/she may which the agent is deserving of a negative reactive
have any moral vices, or he/she may be marked by attitude such as resentment or blame.
a condition somewhere in between virtue and vice.
Moral character means that you are a good person
and a good citizen with a sound moral compass.
Six Stages of Moral Development
Moreover, philosophers usually think that moral
character traits, unlike other personality or The American psychologist Lawrence
psychological traits have an irreducibly evaluative Kohlberg is best known for his theory of stages of
dimension; that is, they involve a normative moral development. In Heinz dilemma, Kohlberg
judgment. The agent is morally responsible for found a pattern in how people justified whether or
having the moral character trait itself or for the not they would steal the drug as people age. By
analyzing the answers from various children,
Kohlberg discovered that the reasons tend to
change as the children got older.
Six Stages of Moral Development
Level 1 – Pre-Conventional Morality
Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment
Orientation
Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange
Level 2 – Conventional Morality
Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships
Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order
Level 3 – Post- Conventional Morality
Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual
Rights
Stage 6. Universal Principles
