MORAL / IMMORAL

Good @ Right - pleasure,

happiness, excellence,lead to harmony and creativity.

Bad @ wrong - involve pain,

unhappiness, lack of excellence, lead to disharmony & lack of creativity.
- defined in the context of human experience and human relationship.
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Approaches to the study of morality

The Scientific / Descriptive approach
- how human beings do / behave (act in their own self interest).

The Philosophical approach

i. The normative or prescriptive - what should be or people ought to do (respect their elders) Value judgments (abortion is immoral )
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ii.

Application of Morality
Religious morality
human beings in relationship to the Supernatural being/s human beings in relationship to nature
human beings in relationship to themselves

Morality and nature

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Individual morality

Social morality
- human beings in relationship to other human beings. ( most importance category of all )
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INTRINSIC VALUES
not based on or concerned consequences. Consequences do not, and in fact should not enter into judging whether actions or people are moral or immoral. e.g: Divine Command Theory
If one believes that there is a God and that there are a series of moral commands handed down by God, then an action is right and people are good if and only they obey these commands, regardless of these consequences that might ensue.
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Instrumental / Extrinsic Value

Quality received or rejected as instrument to achieve certain objective. Dependent on other values to achieve certain objective. Second order values, e.g. bravery, diligence, respect for others. Example:
Bombing of Hiroshima to end the Second World War. Imposing the death penalty for drug traffickers to stamp out drug trafficking activities.

SUBJECTIVE VALUES
morality stems from within human beings; if there are no human beings, then there can be no values.

e.g. Gold - if rare, it becomes much

valued - in desert island without food, water, or companions ????. .
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OBJECTIVE VALUES
Three ways of looking at values as beings objective: they come from some supernatural being/s. they are moral laws that are somehow embedded and found in Nature itself. the world and objects in it have value with or without the presence of valuing human beings. e.g. The law of gravity
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RELATIVE VALUES
all values are relative to time, place, persons and situations. morality varies from culture to culture and from individual to individual and we ought to respect other peoples moral views.

e.g: Primitive culture & Modern culture / old & young.

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ABSOLUTE VALUES
traditional morality stresses absolute truths. they believe that there are absolutes in the world, especially moral absolutes, which one found must be adhered to.

e.g: Inter cultural similarities: survival, food, love, sex, sentiments, emotions and attitudes such as jealousy, love, respect and the need for it. 9

DEFINITIONS OF MORAL
NORMATIVE MORAL VALUES BASIC CONCEPTS OF VALUES a. Intrinsic Values b. Extrinsic Values c. Subjective Values d. Objective Values e. Relative Values f. Absolute Values
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