A moral agent is someone capable of discerning right from wrong and is accountable for their actions, with moral agency potentially limited in certain individuals. Culture significantly shapes moral behavior through distinct codes and systems of beliefs, influencing perceptions of right and wrong. The debate between cultural relativism and universal values highlights the tension between subjective and objective moral truths in varying cultural contexts.

1. The Moral Agent

2. Who is a moral agent?
 A moral agent is a person who has the ability to discern right
from wrong and to be held accountable for his or her own
actions. Moral agents have a moral responsibility not to
cause unjustified harm.
 Moral agency is assigned only to those who can be held
responsible for their actions. Children, and adults with
certain mental disabilities, may have little or no capacity to
be moral agents. Adults with full mental capacity relinquish
their moral agency only in extreme situations, like being held
hostage.

3. Role of Culture in Moral Behavior
 Culture is a manner of looking at reality (characteristic spirit =
ethos) by a certain group of people, in a certain place, and in
a certain time in history.
 Culture consists of the way people relate to the world
through basic assumptions and images which would more or
less give them a coherent view of reality they experience.

4. Role of Culture in Moral Behavior
Culture involves the following:
a) material living (dress, housing and architecture);
b) way of behaving (customary manners and conduct);
c) way of speaking (language use);
d) way of thinking (thought processes);
e) way of feeling (shared psychology);
f) way of meaning (arts and symbols);
g) way of believing, valuing and meaning (views of life and
attitudes).

5. Role of Culture in Moral Behavior
 Human culture is a unique meaning and information system,
shared by a group and transmitted across generations, that
allows the group to meet basic needs of survival, coordinate
socially to achieve a viable existence, transmit social
behavior, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive
meaning from life.
 Since every culture is a carrier of a community’s social
practices and beliefs, the moral behavior and values are also
passed on from generation to the next.

6. How does Culture shape Moral Behavior?
 Within culture are moral codes that are practiced through
social behavior.
 Culture has its own ideas of what is considered right or
wrong, and what is regarded as good or bad.
 Moral codes are a set of rules or guidelines that a person or
group follows in order to live a just and good life.
 Moral codes are heavily dependent upon culture.
 Moral codes dictate many aspects of our lives, from how we
act with different age groups, to how we dress, and even how
we treat other people.

7. How does Culture shape Moral Behavior?
Culture defines who we are as human persons. It is our identity.
Who we are can be seen through how we think, act, and behave,
and what we consider as right or wrong and good or bad. Who
we are is manifested through our behavior. One great factor that
shapes our behavior is our Culture.

8. Cultural Relativism vs. Universal Values
 Cultural relativism claims that ethical truths are relative. The
rightness of an action and the goodness of an object depend
on or consist in the attitude taken towards it by some
individual or group, and hence may vary from individual to
individual or from group to group.
 Cultural relativism suggests that the terms right and wrong
are completely dictated by the culture that they are being
used in. A person’s actions should be looked at with all things
taken into account, especially the religion and culture that
they grew up in.

9. Cultural Relativism vs. Universal Values
 Universal human values are those ideals that we
believe should be privileged and promoted in the
lives of all human beings regardless of the differing
cultures and societies where we grew up.
 All societies must embrace a universal set of moral
rules or standards that are necessary for society to
exist.
ulture that they
ould be looked
specially the
n.

10. Cultural Relativism
Morality/ethical
truths are
RELATIVE
&
SUBJECTIVE
ulture that they
ould be looked
specially the
n.
Universal Values
Morality/ethical
truths are
STANDARD
&
OBJECTIVE

11. CHARACTER = VIRTUE
 One cannot simply separate one’s character from one’s
choice of actions. Every action carries with it an imprint or a
stamp of his character. Character affects one’s maturity in
such a way that it determines the kind of moral choices one
makes and the kind of person he ought to be.
 One’s character is one’s identity. One’s identity is manifested
by one’s actions and choices.
 A human person’s character is defined by what is within and
not based on material and physical considerations (without).
ulture that they
ould be looked
specially the
n.