This document discusses distinguishing between moral and non-moral standards. It notes that moral standards deal with issues of human welfare while non-moral standards are matters of taste or preference. Moral standards are considered universally while non-moral standards can vary by culture. The document then examines characteristics of moral standards such as being impartial and promoting well-being. It also discusses types of moral dilemmas at the individual, organizational, and structural levels. Finally, it considers concepts of justice, love and freedom and argues these notions should not be discarded for a view that prioritizes only efficiency.

1. Moral and Non-moral
Standard: Concept and
Perspective
ETHICS
BSE-2
DOMINGO, JAMAICA
GARAMPIL, MARRIANE CLAIRE
CABBAB, JOHN MICHAEL

2. Why we need to distinguish moral and non-moral standards
ones?
It is important to note that different people of societies have different
moral beliefs and that our beliefs are deeply influenced by our own
culture and context. For this reason, some values do have moral
implications, while others don’t.
Now the danger here is that one culture may impose its own culture
standard on others, which may result in a clash in cultural values and
beliefs. When this happens, as we may already know, violence and
crime may ensue, such as religious violence and ethics cleansing.

3. Moral Standard
 Moral standard are norms that individuals or group have about the kinds of
actions believed to be morally right or wrong, as well as values placed on
what we believed to be morally good or morally bad.
 Moral standard normally promotes” good”, that is the welfare and well-being
of humans as well as animals and the environment.
 Moral standards, therefore, prescribe what human ought to do in terms of
right and obligation.
 Moral standards core from: Family-Friends-School-Medias.

4. Characteristics of Moral standards
 Moral standards deal with matters we think can seriously injure or benefit humans, animals, and
the environment, such as (child abuse, theft, murder).
 Moral standards are not established or changed by decisions of authoritative individuals or
bodies. Indeed, moral standards rest on adequacy of the reason that are taken to support and
justify them.
 Moral standards are overriding, that is, they take precedence over other standards and
considerations, especially of self-interest.
 Moral standards are based on impartial considerations. Hence, moral standards are fair and just.
 Moral standards are associated with special emotion (such as guilt and shame) and vocabulary
(such as right and wrong, good and bad).

5. Non-moral Standard
 Non-moral standard refers to standards by which we judge what is good or bad and
right and wrong in a non-moral way.
 Non-moral standards are matters of taste or preference. Non-moral standards also
call the law by which we judge something as legal or illegal, and aesthetics by
which we judge art as good or rubbish. Hence, a scrupulous observance of these
types of standards does not make one a moral person.
 Violation of said standards also does not pose any threat to human well-being.
Example of non-moral standards are standards of etiquette by which we judge
manners as good or bad. Also, athletic standards how well a game is being played.

6. Finally, as a way of
distinguish of moral and non-moral
standards says” Don’t harm innocent
people or don’t steal”, a non-moral
standard says “Don’t talk while the
mouth is full”.

7. Moral Dilemma
Moral dilemmas are situations in which the
decision-maker must consider two or more moral
values or duties but can only honor one of them;
thus, the individual will violate at least one important
moral concern, regardless of the decision.

8. Real Dilemma and False Dilemma
In a real dilemma, the choice is between a wrong
and another, roughly equal wrong. The latter are
situations in which the decision-maker has a moral
duty to act in one way but is tempted or pressured to
act in another way. In a false dilemma, the choice is
actually between a right and a wrong.

9. 3 Level of moral dilemmas
Individual
Organizational
Structural

10. Individual Dilemma
Conflict arrives when a person is asked to choose between two important
values for him or her for example, choosing between one’s duties to his or her
family and one’s love for another person. This refers also to personal dilemmas.
It is an individual’s damn-if-you-do and damn-if-you-don’t situation.
The second case in the readings is one of the best-known individual
dilemmas presented by Kohlberg (1958) Kohlberg’S dilemma question were as
follows: “Should Heinz have stolen the drug?” If he did not steal the drug that
would mean his wife’s death, He was torn between stealing the drug and saving
his wife. The dilemma is faced by an individual who is torn between two
obligation – to save the wife or obey the law.

11. Organizational Dilemma
Encountered by institutions, business, or organizations in their
decision-making process, at this level the dilemmas that the organizations’
experiences usually affect more than one person and they can be part of
the internal group or part of an external stakeholder.
Organizational dilemma is a puzzle posed by the dual necessities of a
social organization and members’ self- interest. It may exist between
personal interests and organizational welfare or between group interest
and organizational well-being.

12. The example
In the readings shows the dilemma between the goal of
the school to give quality education for the poor and so must
charge the lowest tuition fee possible and yet to keep quality
faculty the school must raise their salary and consequently,
must raise tuition. Organizational dilemmas may also in
business, medical and public sector.

13. Structural Dilemma
Affect a network of institutions and
operative theoretical paradigms like
universal care, juvenile laws, and
immigration. This type of dilemma can
affect a community and even a society at
large.

14. Kinds of Structural Dilemma
Differentiation versus Integration
Gap versus Overlap
Lack of Clarity versus Lack of Creativity
Flexibility versus Strict Adherence to
Rules

15. Differentiation versus Integration
This happens because different divisions have their own different
culture and so coordination between divisions or bringing them together
for become more difficult. Any attempt to introduce reform in society or
government create structural dilemma.
For instance, promoting or introducing universal health care, which
is tantamount to socialized health care, gives rise to a structural dilemma,
that is, a conflict of perspective of sectors, groups and institution that may
be affected by the decision.

16. Gap versus Overlap
There may be gaps and overlaps in roles and
responsibilities. If key responsibilities are not clearly assigned,
there may be gaps or overlaps in important tasks. If there are
gaps, organization ends up with no one doing the
responsibility. If there are overlaps, things become unclear and
may lead to more confusion and even conflict and worse
wasted effort and perhaps even resources because of the
unintended overlap.

17. Lack of Clarity versus Lack of Creativity
If employees are unclear what they are
supposed to do, they often tailor their roles around
personal preferences instead of system wide goals,
frequently leading to trouble.

18. Flexibility versus Strict Adherence to Rules
This happens if you accommodate by bending
rules to help someone or you stick strictly to rules no
matter what and so unable to help someone who is
thrown into helpless situation. Or you may become
too accommodating that all rules are no more.

19. On freedom as Foundation for moral Acts;
A critical study
Nowadays, our ordinary moral thinking is under a tremendous
strain, for 2 reasons.
 It is brought into a kind of competition with a mode of thinking that is
quite different in nature.
 While the main criteria of ethical thinking are good and evil or right and
wrong, technological thinking has as its main criteria efficiency and
consider only effectiveness in all our operations, how to make things
go faster, reduce cost, etc.

20. On other hand people today may have to face the fact that
their neighbors have quite different moral standards, that they may
nevertheless have to recognize to be as valid as their own. Even if
they find them repulsive and unacceptable for themselves.
They have to do so because we live in a pluralistic society
that seem to admit conflicting moral principles as being equally
valid, the same action being accepted as both right and wrong at
the same time. (abortion, same sex marriage)

21. Ethical nihilism is nothing new among those who
consider their personal power, fame, or wealth to be
the only things worth fighting for. But the fact that
many people believe that they can decide by
themselves what is right and what is wrong.

22. Justice, Love and Freedom
Justice, love and freedom are solemn, so loaded
with meaning, and used and misused to such an
extent. they are complex phenomena and may
seemingly be defined convincingly in various ways,
or to put it another way, there is no proper definition
of justice, love, or freedom.

23. Freedom
It is not strictly speaking wrong to say
that freedom is to be able to do what one wants, but it is
quite inadequate if we suppose that that is what
freedom is all about. On the other hand,
the significance of these ideals is different from one
society to another, and from one time to another,
depending upon social factors about which we may
know very little.

24. Love
Love does not seem to mean quite the same thing to the
Ancient Greeks, the Christian monks in the Middle Ages, and the
Romantic poets of the 19th century. And it probably has still
another significance today. Nevertheless, there is a central
meaning attached to the word love which presumably is always
the same. (Love always seems to have something to do with
both desire – Eros – and charity – Agape.)

25. Justice
Justice is desirable in all relationships
between living beings, because injustice
creates evil both for those who commit evil and
those who suffer it. Justice is thus the most
important factor in all relationships between
living beings.

26. Do we seriously want to get rid of these burdensome
notions of justice, love and freedom? If so, we only have to give
in to the tyranny of the technological mind, which is not only
ready to rule the external world of things and products, but also
the internal world of our thoughts and desires. A specialist on
commercials, tells that the ultimate dream in that technological
field will be attained when people’s dreams at night will be
interrupted every twenty minutes for a commercial break!

27. Technological Thinking
Technological thinking is indeed the greatest instrument of liberation at
our disposal and we can use it to build up as well as to tear down
whatever we fancy. There is no doubt that what is most needed today is
a commonly accepted moral system that people can use within modern
technological environments in order to organize and lead their life
together without meaningless fights and endless suffering. This is true
even from a strictly technological perspective, because technological
thought has no means of setting up its own goals.

28. Technological Thinking
It goes wild and does the most horrible things if it is not led
by ethical thinking. To say “this end is worth pursuing”, “this is
what ought to be done”, “this is certainly good for you”, requires
an ethical thought which evaluates and judges what is truly good
and right for living beings on this planet. If modern technology is
to be used properly, and we are not to be victims of the illusion
of a complete technological control over life, we must reject
ethical nihilism and try to see what matters in our morality.

29. “Ethics is knowing the difference
between what you have a right to do
and what is right to do”
- Potter Stewart