ETHICS

BRIAND R. DAYDAY
Reflection Paper 2
1. What is society?
2. What is good of Philippine society?
3. What ails of Philippine society?
According to the short article, What is a Society? by Jordi Shoan, !hich is also the first
"#estion to be tac$led in this paper, a society is siply the place !e li%e in. &ore intrig#ingly, he refers
to society as a "#ality ore than a thing or syste. Why is this so? 'e says that it is a %ery broad
concept that is often bro$en do!n into different segents or facets of life. Within a society, there are
saller societies !ho ha%e partic#lar goals or abitions. And these societies are separated by other
factors s#ch as( c#lt#re, lang#age, race, religion, etc. Siply p#t, all these societies interact !ith one
another, bringing ne! ideas and !ays of doing things.
)nitially, ) tho#ght of society as a syste, a syste that h#an beings follo! to aintain control
and order, or a !ay of life that gi%es h#an beings direction. *#t after reading the abo%e+entioned
article, ) no! thin$ that there is also soe tr#th to this definition since indeed society dictates the life of
h#an beings. '#an beings nat#rally confor to society that !hate%er society iplies ,beliefs,
%al#es, traditions- gets absorbed by h#ans and percei%ed as the #ni%ersal tr#th. '#ans get so
engrossed in these iplications, that they are no! categori.ed accordingly by other fello! societies
!ith different beliefs, %al#es, and traditions. Slo!ly the society that !as once a syste that controls
the life of h#ans transfors into a "#ality that h#ans are $no!n for. A perfect e/aple !o#ld be,
ho! the !orld percei%e #s 0ilipinos, a faily oriented society that also e/#des hard !or$, fle/ibility,
adaptability, and hospitality. 1rgo the high deand for 0ilipino n#rses, teachers, and other bl#e+collar
2obs abroad.
Which no! leads e to the second "#estion, !hat is good of Philippine society? ) belie%e the best
"#ality of the Philippine society is its concern for others, or its ability to recogni.e others !ith respect
and epathy, !hich can be attrib#ted to the strong faily ties of 0ilipinos. 3ario#s traditions and
characteristics of 0ilipinos strongly sho! this s#ch as the bayanihan tradition, and the debt of gratit#de
characteristic or #tang na loob. 4hese chracteristics are !hat ade #s 0ilipinos pop#lar, opening the
doors for %ario#s 2ob opport#nities in different fields here and abroad. Another strong "#ality of o#r
society is that, !hen it is threatened, people sees to #nite #nder one ca#se and fight for !hat they
belie%e in or for !hat is ta$en a!ay fro the. )t doesn5t display patriotis b#t ore of reflects ho!
0ilipinos really %al#e one another, despite their different lineages, beliefs, or social stat#s. Soe
e/aples of !hich are( the historical !ars o%er o#r freedo ,Spanish, Japanase and Aerican
6e%ol#tions-, and the ore recent 17SA re%ol#tions.
'o!e%er, if there are good traits there are also bad ones, !hich leads #s to the third "#estion?
What ails the Philippine society? ) personally belie%e that presently the real proble of o#r society is
o#r go%ernent. 'o! o#r go%erning body is infl#enced by corr#ption and lies reflect on #s 0ilipinos. )t
affects o#r econoy and ho! other societies percei%e o#r co#ntry and people as a !hole. 8#r
probles in society can be attrib#ted to specific negati%e "#alities presently affecting 0ilipinos today.
Soe of !hich are( the aaya na habit, crab entality, and at ties, pride. *y ha%ing these traits
people tend to do act iproperly ca#sing tro#ble and friction in o#r society. 4he aaya na habit
sho!s ho! 0ilipinos can be la.y and irresponsible at ties. 4ho#gh this ay be coon aongst all
societies, ) belie%e this is one of the reasons !hy ost of o#r chosen leaders today are not that
prod#cti%e. Sae goes for crab entality, d#e to o#r deocratic syste !hich pro%ides freedo and
%oice to e%eryone. &ost 0ilipinos belie%e that !hat that person has ) sho#ld ha%e to, and %ise %ersa.
4hat5s !hy ost of o#r leaders fight and ha%e arg#ents on ho! to effecti%ely r#n the co#ntry ,!hy
does he ha%e that pri%ilege and ) don5t-. 9astly pride, beca#se !e 0ilipinos %al#e o#r pride to #ch
and as #ch as possible !o#ldn5t !ant to e/perience shae and ebarrassent, !e often refer to
inappropriate ethods to aintain o#r social stat#s in society, ergo corr#ption, cries, etc.
:e%ertheless, despite all the positi%e and negati%e traits of a specific society, no society is perfect.
4here !ill al!ays be fla!s displayed by people in it. Which ) belie%e is a #st for a society to s#r%i%e.
4he negati%e traits pro%ide balance to it, !itho#t it no one !ill be right or !rong, !hich !ill also create
probles as !ell.
References:
Jodi Shoan, What is Society?, http;<<e.inearticles.co<?What+)s+A+Society?=id>1?@AB@
http;<<!!!.philippineco#ntry.co<philippineCc#lt#re<philippineCsociety.htl
7on 'errington, )ntrod#ction to Philippine D#lt#re,
http;<<!!!.li%inginthephilippines.co<philc#lt#re<filipinoCsocietyCc#lt#re.htl