ETHICS AND CULTURE

Understanding the Moral Agent

At the end of the lesson, the
students should be able to:
• Define the notion of culture from the 3
perspectives: personal, subconscious, and
universal.
• Identify specific cultural characteristics of
Filipinos and Asians.
• Evaluate these characteristics in relation to
values.
FEATURES AND CHARACTERISTICS
OF CULTURE
Changing
Shared Accumulative
Learned Integrated
Social
Transmitted
Gratifying
Linked with other society
Continuous
Responsive
 Culture, Defined…

It refers to that complex whole

which includes knowledge,
belief, art, law, morals, custom,
and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a
member of society

- Edward Tylor
It refers to an appreciation of good
literature, music, art, and food.
For a biologist, it is likely to be a
colony of bacteria or other
microorganisms growing in a nutrient
medium in a laboratory Petri dish.
For anthropologists and other
behavioral scientists, culture is the full
range of learned human behavior
patterns.
Culture is a powerful human
tool for survival, but it is a
fragile phenomenon.
It is constantly changing and
easily lost because it exists only
in our minds
CORE LAYERS OF CULTURE
 LAYERS OF CULTURE
Dennis O’Neil

First, the body of cultural traditions

that distinguish your specific
society.
When people speak of Italian,
Samoan, or Japanese culture, they
are referring to the shared language,
traditions, and beliefs that set each
of these peoples apart from others.
The second layer of culture that
may be part of your identity is the
subculture.
This occurs in a complex, diverse
societies in which people have
come from many different parts of
the world, they often retain much
of their original cultural traditions
As the cultural differences
between members of a subculture
and the dominant national culture
blur and eventually disappear, the
subculture ceases to exist except
as a group of people who claim a
common ancestry.
The third layer of culture consists of
cultural universals. These are
learned behavior patterns that are
shared by all of humanity
collectively. No matter where
people live in the world, they share
these universal traits.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/culture/culture_1.htm
Examples of Universal Cultural Traits
of Human Beings

Communicating with a verbal language

consisting of a limited set of sounds
and grammatical rules for constructing
sentences.

Using age and gender to classify people

Classifying people based on marriage
and descent relationships and having
kinship terms to refer to them
Raising children in some sort of family
setting
Having rules to guide and regulate
sexual behaviour.
Distinguishing between good and bad
behaviour
Having some sort of body ornamentation
Making jokes and playing games
Having art
Having some sorts of leadership roles and
models for the implementation of
community decisions.
Language, politics, and even values do
not make sense if they are not
transmitted or communicated with
others.
Cultures necessitate… peoples.
FILIPINO CULTURE AND
ETHICS

Joe’s tricab Juan’s traysikel

 FILIPINO S VIEWS ON
ETHICS
• Propriety (Hiya) versus Troubled
(Pagkabagabag)
• Personal versus Duty/Obligations
• Family solidarity versus universal
principle and general good
• Pakikipag kapwa tao versus Pakikisama
THE FILIPINO CHARACTER
 Strengths Weaknesses

Pakikipag kapwa tao Extreme personalism

Extreme family
Family solidarity
centeredness

Joy and humour Lack of discipline

Flexibility, adaptability, Passivity and lack of

and creativity initiative

Hard work and industry Colonial mentality

 Strengths Weaknesses

Lavishness, outright
Hospitality
display of generosity

Stereotyping; role-gender
Gender specific values
assignment

Faith and religiosity Kanya kanya syndrome

Lack of self analysis and

Ability to survive
self reflection
 Asians
versus
Westerners
 Asian Culture
Collectivistic (community and
family)
Risk avoidance
Asian men do not compete directly
against women, and vice-versa
Attitude: Holistic views
Suppresses one’s opinions
Time orientation: Cyclical
Western Culture
Individualistic
Willing to take risk
Gender free competition
Attitude: Analytical and
detailed
Expresses one’s opinions freely
Time orientation: Linear
CULTURAL
RELATIVISM
 The Two Opposing Views

List down 3 arguments from each of the

opposing views.

Weigh each argument and decide which

view is more appropriate, valid, and
logical as basis for moral decisions.
 Moral Relativism Defined...

Moral relativism is the view that ethical

standards, morality, and positions of
right or wrong are culturally based and
therefore subject to a person's
individual choice.
Hence, asserts there is no global,
absolute moral law that applies to all
people, for all time, and in all places.

Different cultures have different

moral codes. Thus, “universal truths
in Ethics are myths since, “moral
standards are culture-bound.”
Source: Standford of Encyclopedia of Philosophy
 Argument Against Cultural
Relativism
P1: Different cultures have different moral
codes
P2: A culture’s moral code is right or
correct relative to the people of that
culture.
Therefore: There are no such things as
universal moral standards or objective
truths in Ethics.
Relativism in and of itself is self-
defeating. Logically, there must be
some standards by which to
compare two different moral
statements to determine which is
the “more correct” one.
Moral relativists are also accused of
inconsistently claiming that there
are no universal moral norms while
appealing to a principle of tolerance
as a universal norm.
Note:

Cultural differences are real. But should

not be exaggerated.

There is always a “value” behind cultural

practices. Practices may vary and in
conflict to one another BUT the value
behind the practices remain constant,
thus, universally acceptable.
CITE THE VALUE FOR
THE FOLLOWING
CULTURAL PRACTICES
• Cremate the dead
• Male and female • Bury the dead
circumcision • No to circumcision
• Corporate gift giving is
• No to corporate gift
giving
a must • Stay with the family
• Leave the family after after marriage
marriage

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/7-bizarre-cultural-practices/7
 THE PROBLEM OF ATE
ABBY…
Ate Abby is a registered nurse assigned in the
Pediatric Ward in one of the premier hospitals in
New York City. Contrary to her profession, her
mother is a well-known “hilot” and an advocate of
natural and traditional medicines in the Philippines.
Ate Abby earned her degree through a scholarship,
though her mother never objected in her academic
pursuits.
Being the eldest in the family, Ate Abby was
exposed to her mother’s traditional medicine
practices. Her mother taught her the skills of “hilot”
which she learned with so much enthusiast as she
wholeheartedly accepted such“gift” without
objection. Even then she was in college, she
practiced already “hilot” and harnessed such skills
and “gift” as she studied her course. She
appreciated the traditional medicine more because
of her gained knowledge in her course.
Ate Abby was using a bottle of Vicks (in tin can) to
determine if a child has dislocations. She would slide
the tin can at the body parts and when it stops, that
is where she applies the “hilot”. Many children in the
community of Ate Abby (in the Philippines) sought
first her traditional medicine before going to a doctor
for consultation. Many parents did not bother to visit
a doctor after the “hilot” because their children
found already the relief and eventually got cured.
Being assigned at the Pediatric Ward in a hospital
with a western setting is “dilemmic” for Ate Abby.
Having 2 kids of her own, it is agonising for her to
witness kids suffer from the rudiments of hospital
SOPs upon admission. She knew that kids’ sickness is
not that serious and easy relief could be achieved
using her knowledge in traditional medicine. She was
tempted several times, in fact many times, to talk to
the parents and offer her help, but she is afraid to be
accused of medical malpractice and
unprofessionalism.
Let’s play roles…
If you were the parent of the child, would you allow a
nurse to apply traditional medicine to your child which
comes with it an explanation on how the procedure is
done?
If you were Ate Abby, would you offer your help
risking no less your precious job?
If you were the doctor of the patient and eventually
the patient recovered quickly upon the administration
of “hilot” would you report Ate Abby to the admin for
malpractice and unprofessionalism?
A medication from a professional point of view
and a medication from the traditional point of
view are both grounded on a universally
acceptable value…

life preservation.
Thank you

SOURCE:
Co, M. (2018). Ethics and Culture. [Powerpoint slides].