Ethics

• Culture


  Knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom, and other acquired capabilities and habits by individuals as members of society
• Culture


  The handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his ends
• Culture


  An organized body of conventional understandings manifest in art which, persisting through tradition, characterizes a human group
• Culture


  The collective knowledge and schemes generated by a group of people to perceive, view, convey, and react to the social realities around them
• Culture


  The characteristics and awareness of a specific community of people, including language, religion, food, social behavior, etiquette, fashion, music, and the arts
• Tangible Culture


  The physical expressions of culture, such as technology, architecture, and art
• Intangible Culture


  The principles of social organization (including practices of political organization and social institutions), mythology, philosophy, literature (both written and oral), and science make up the intangible human heritage of a society
• Culture


  • It is always social and communal by which the relationship of the people towards one another and their experience as people are the culture's meadow
  • It defines the normative principles and behaviors of society
  • It develops restrictions and sets boundaries and limitations as people live and relate with one another
  • It generates the character and identity of its people, including their moral character
  • It identifies the authorities or the governing individuals or groups
• Characteristics of Filipino Culture


  • Filipinos are very resilient
  • Filipinos take pride of their families
  • Filipinos are very religious
  • Filipinos are very respectful
  • Filipinos help one another
  • Filipinos value traditions and culture
  • Filipinos have the longest christmas celebration
  • Filipinos love art and architecture
  • Filipinos are hospitable people
• Weaknesses of Filipino Culture


  • Extreme Personalism
  • Extreme Family Centeredness
  • Lack of Discipline
  • Passivity and lack of Initiative
  • Colonial Mentality
  • Kanya-Kanya Syndrome
  • Lack of Self Analysis and Reflection
• Cultural Relativism


  Culture theory suggests that a culture's concepts and values cannot be fully understood in other languages, and that a specific cultural artifact, like a ritual, must be understood within the larger symbolic system it is part of
• Cultural Relativism


  Cultural relativists argue that a person's beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of their own culture, and any practice should be judged based on the standards of the culture to which it belongs, rather than by any other standard that might appear superior or inferior to the other
• Cultural Relativism


  Asserts that no one is neutral, and all biases stem from our cultural backgrounds
• Ethnocentrism


  The belief that one's own culture is the "right" or "only" way of viewing the world, primarily from their own cultural perspective
• Claims of Cultural Relativists

  • Different societies have different moral codes
  • The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society
  • There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society's code better than another's
  • The moral code of our own society has no special status, it is merely one among many
  • There is no "universal truth" in ethics; that is there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times
  • It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other people. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures
• Consequences of taking Cultural Relativism seriously


  • We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own
  • We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society
  • The idea of moral progress is called into doubt
• Dr. Rachels suggests that cultural practices should be judged based on their impact on the welfare of those affected by them, and that a culture-neutral standard of right or wrong can be used, considering whether the practice promotes or hinders the welfare of those affected