Chapter II THE MORAL AGENT

Focus Questions
Man is moral agent. What doesit mean?
a
How does the moral character of the moral agent develop?
What are the stages of moral development?

Lesson1
Man as a Moral Agent

Intended Learning Outcomes:

To explain what moral agent means
To discuss the meaning of fundamental option

INTRODUCTION
After learming the basic concepts of morality and ethics, let us now
turn our attention to the in moral agent who is expected to develop in moral
and ethical character.

ACTIVITY
1. Can a dog be a moral agent? Why or why not?
2. Can a robot be a moral agent? Why or why not?

Q)ANALYSIS
1. Why can't a dog and a robot be moral agents?
2. What must a moral agent have for him/her to be a moral agent?
 59

ABSTRACTION
The Human Person as a Moral Agént Amoral agent
"Moral" comes from the Latin is one who
"mores," referring to society's patterns,
standards, rules of doing things. "Agent" comes from Latin "agere," to do, performs an act
act. A moral agent is one who in accordance
performs an act in accordance with moral with moral
standards. A moral agent is the moral actor, one who acts morally.
standards. A
A moral agent is "a
being who is capable
of those actions that have moral agent is
moral quality and which can be properly denominated good or evil in a the moral actor,
moral sense." (Edwards, 1754) Only a moral agent is capable of human one who acts
acts. That's why "morality is for persons." (Haring, 1971) As will be morally.
discussed later, human acts are "those of which a man is master, which he
has the power of doing or not doing as he pleases" or "those acts which
proceed from man as a rational being" (Edwards, 1754).

Only a moral
What is a sufficient condition for moral agency? agent is
i t will suffice if the agent has the capacity to conform to some
capable of
of the external requirements of morality. So if certain agents can
human acts.
obey moral laws such as 'Murder is wrong' or 'Stealing is wrong,'
That's why
then they are moral agents, even if they respond only to prudential
'morality is for
reasons such as fear of punishment and even if they are incapable
persons.
of acting for the sake of moral considerations. According to the
strong version, the Kantian version, it is also essential that the
agents should have the capacity to rise above their feelings and
passions and act for the sake of the moral law... (Haksar, V.,
Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
A moral agent
Capacity to conform to moral standards, to act for the sake of moral should have
considerations, that is, for the sake of moral law, qualifies one to be a moral the capacity to
rise above their
[Link] absence of that capacity to conform to moral standards, as in the
case of an insane person, excludes you from moral agency. feelings and

A dog is not, therefore, a moral agent because it doesn't have the passions and
act for the sake
capacity" to conform to moral standards. It cannot knowingly, freely and
of the moral
voluntarily act. It does not have a mind and freewill. The same things apply
law..
to a robot that is why like the dog, it cannot be a moral agent.

The Purpose-driven Moral Agent

Where do you go (quo vadis), moral agent?

For this old question we find an old answer from the textbook written

by Rev. Charles Collens, S.J. (1924). It is based on the principles laid down
 by St. Thomas Aquinas. "Every human act is directed toward an end". An
end may be
Every human pursued merely as a another end, that is, merely an
means to
instrumental end. As Aristotle put it, that end which is sought for its own
act is directed
Sake, that is, it is no longer sought for the sake of another end, is the
toward an
end." summum bonum, the highest good. That highest good is happiness. For St.
Thomas, the highest good or end is happiness but the absolutely final end is
. the summum God.
bonum, the Alfredo Panizo (1964) cites the three Thomistic principles regarding
highest good is the end or purpose of the moral agent: "First Principle: Every agent that
God Himself.
performs an action acts for the sake of the end or purpose to be attained. In
other words, a moral agent is
purpose-driven. Second Principle: Every agent
acts for an ultimate end. Third
Principle: Every agent has the power of
moving for an end which is suitable or good for him." Among the various
"From the
ends or purposes of the actions of the moral
Christian point agent, there is an ultimate end,
and this is happiness. "From the Christian
of view, a point of view, a human person's
human person's destiny in the world is not only to achieve cultural and moral perfection,
destiny in but to attain the eternal happiness of the soul after death of the body. To
the world is know, to love, and to serve God is our present duty. To see God Himself,
not only to Uncreated Splendor, face to face, to be united to Him by an unbroken and
achieve cultural everlasting operation of the mind, shall be our eternal destiny." (Panizo,
and moral 1964)
perfection, Such direction of the moral development of the human person is
but to attairn
derived from the nature or essence of man as contemplated in the works
the eternal
of Aristotle, Plato, and St. Thomas Aquinas. His moral life is evaluated
happiness of
or assessed in the light of his ultimate destiny. His destiny depends on all
the soul after
death of the the God-given potentials he is born with. His act is moral if it realizes his
potentials and brings him nearer to this goal in life, immoral if it deviates
body.
from it.

The Fundamental Option

A person's act The road of life may have many diversions. Hence, the decision and
is moral if it choice to take one way, like Robert Frost's "one less traveled by," one that
realizes his/ proceeds to the end expected of men, the determination to abide by such
her potentials end, is referred to as adopting the "fundamental option," a free choice to
and brings him/
say "yes," like a "yes" to God, an afirmative response to God's invitation
her nearer to
to follow His way. In an article published in the SLU Research Journal, Fr.
this goal in life,
Emmanuel R. Fernandez (1988) explained clearly the theological concept
immoral if it
of responding to the call of God "by making a fundamental option for
deviates from it.
Him and ordering one's life accordingly." The fundamental option is "the
stance or position I decide to take vis-à-vis the Absolute Value (God) which
then influences ultimately all my other individual actions and decisions.
(Fernandez 1988) Fernandez quotes Janssens (1966):
We understand as a
consequence the essential importance
of the
fundamental judgment of conscience; The
it determines in our
actual life the measure of knowledge that we attain undamental
moral good, by concerning option is
pursuing, that is, in the total meaning of existence,
the ideal of me to be "the stance
realized. At all events, if this
conditions what we consider judgment orposition
right to be the content of our
fundamental choice, our first obligation is to form it sincerely and decide to take
to perfect it vis-à-vis the
assiduously by trying to scrutinize in a better way the Absolute Value
ohjective requirements of our destiny. Considering, moreover, that
it is impossible to realize God) which
the ideal of moral
perfections only in the then influences
light of this judgment, we are compelled to follow it faithfully. uitimately
all my other
One theologian says that if one is used to a life in accordance with the individual
fundamental option, at the moment of death, he/she would be actions and
asked by God
what his/her option will be, and he/she decisions."
definitely will say yes to God. An
insight is provided by Troisfontaines
(cited by Dy, 2001) what
at the moment of death:
on happens
..atthe moment of
dying, the being takes measure. He chooses
his degree of intimacy with
others..., or
the contrary his
on
centering on self which seems preferable to him. He adopts
for eternity the attitude which pleases him... The fundamental
orientation of the soul towards communion or towards isolation,
will have significance. Every man, whatever his state in life, his
heredity or the conditions of his existence, has gradually adopted
his orientation for himself... The person oriented towards ...f one is
charity, Used to a life
who all his life has sought a more profound union with God
and with others, will open with full spontaneity the moment this in accordance
with the
communion is proposed to him... Finally, it can happen that, in
fundamental
spite of the entirely new condition of choice, the completed and
option, at the
egoistic person remains obstinate in refusing charity, and elects to
moment of
be separated for eternity in hell. (Dy, 2001) death, he/she
In other words, onc's choice of his way of life, may be gradually wOuld be asked
established and may be difficult to change it, except by God's grace, at the by God what
moment of death. his/her option
will be, and he/
she definitely
No Pre-fixed Plan for Man
will say yes to
According to some 20 Century thinkers there are no pre-existing God
directions. "There are no signs in the heavens." There are no pre-designed,
pre-fixed design, plan, purpose of man's being according to some 20h
century thinkers. For the existentialist, ike Jean Paul Sartre, a human
 person is or becomes what he/she makes of
himself/herself by choice.
He/she is nothing, no "essence", until he/she starts his/her "existence"
by making choices. (Sartre, 2007) In other words, one who lives a
life of
blindly following what others think, say, and do, is nothing, zero; he/she
A human lives a hollow, empty or
person is or
meaningless life. To the process philosophers like
Teilhard de Chardin (1948) and Alfred North Whitchcad,
becomes what a human person is or will be a result of a
(1996) whatever
creative process. In other words,
he/she makes for all these thinkers, a human person has to create his/her
of himself end, purpose,
or directions. He/she has to invent his/her
herself by destiny. Since there is no goal
or end designed for him/her, he/she would
choice. He/ completely be the author of
she is nothing, what he/she turns out to be. He/she will be totally responsible for what he/
no "essence", she will be. The existentialists and process philosophers do not want
any
until he/she other being to be co-responsible with them for what they decide to do. In
starts his/her other words, the fundamental option for these thinkers is to remain open to
existence" what they are able to create, discover, or invent which will guide them to
by making the next chapter of their lives, to choose whatever their self-invention leads
choices. them to, which, of course, is difficult to imagine.

But other groups, like Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel and Martin
Buber see themselves as being-with-others, inseparably related to their
fellow man. By placing their biases and prejudices between brackets, that
is, by suspending their obstructive effects on their vision, they realize
A human who the other being is in their presence. The other is another subject like
person has to them; the other is emitting signals communicating a. message calling for
create his/her their creative response. The other is saying, "let us learn to live together",
end, purpose, to affirm each other's being. Together we go through life, designing our
or directions. end and purposes, guided by messages unveiled in a life of dialogue with
He/she has
ourselves, with other selves, and with the world. Consequently, the end,
to invent his/ discover
purpose, or direction of beings-with-others, is what they
her destiny. is
as they learn to live together. Says Buber, (1957) "All real living
Since there
meeting", a life of dialogue.
is no goal or
end designed
*World to Come" Means "World to Come Out of this World"
for him/her,
Louis
he/she would Fr. de Brabander, CICM, former professor in St.
Rene
in the
completely University, Baguio City, wrote an article entitled, "Christianity
ModemWorld." The modern Christian departs from the view that earthly
be the author
abandoned for the
of what he/ life, the world of flesh, is a sinful thing and has to be
sake heavenly life. But "(h)eaven and earth are one and the same thing
she turns out
to be. He/she you cannot love oneand despise the other." The world to come, that 1s,
will be totally the heavenly world that every Christian desires to direct their
life to, can
responsible for should direct
only come out or emerged from this world of flesh. A person
what he/she of this
his/her ife toward this end, the making of the world to come out
will be. world. What does it mean making the "world to come" out of "this world"
It means, instead of avoiding "this world" as a sinful world of flesh, we
involve ourselves in it, improving it, refining it, constructing and developing
it, perfecting it to bring out the world to come. As Buber was saying, "if
you hallow this world, you meet the living God." The modern saint is ...instead
out there fighting for justice, building schools and hospitals, clothing the
of avoiding
naked, and feeding the hungry, instead of spending most of his time in "this world"
contemplation.(Brabander 1970) as a sinful
In Robert Francocur's Perspective of Evolution, the future world world offlesh
toward which a person should direct his/her life is this same material world we involve
ourselves in
but spiritualized, that is, material world spiritualized, a world devoid of its
it, improving
material limitations, a world liberated and freed from its spatio-temporal
it, refining it,
conditions. To contribute to the making of this future world the human
constructing
person has to participate through his/her creative acts of unifying, ordering and developing
synthesizing things. it, perfectingit
to bring out the
world to come.

APPLICATION
"A person
1. Is a permanently insane person considered a moral agent?, What is a being-
about a person with some psychological trauma, psychiatric illness with-other
episode, or medical condition that rendered him insane at the time he inseparably
committed the crime. Is he a moral agent? related
to his/her
fellowman".
2. Here is a question often raised in relation to fundamental option.
The end
"What if a good person who has dedicated his life to people and
purpose of
God turns away from goodness and from God at the last minute of
the human
his life. Will he go to hell?" On the contrary here is a person who
person is living
has opted to live a life for himself disconnected from others and
together..
from God but in the last minute of his life opts for God, will he go
to heaven? Are these likely to happen considering the concept of
fundamental option?
3 If you see a bad habit begin to develop, try to nip it in the bud so that
it does not become ingrained.
4. If your fundamental option is yes to goodness and God, does this
mean there will never be times when you digress or deviate from
what is good?
5. God himself or a life that is good is your fundamental option.
But once in a while you may deviate from what is good despite
your basic choice of goodness. Are these the venial sins referred
to by Catholic Christians? What must you do to be true to your
fundamental option'?
 KEY TAKEAWAYS
A moral agent is one who performs an act in accordance with moral standards.
A moral agent should have the capacity to rise above his/her feelings and
passions and acts in accordance with the moral law.
A moral agent has the capacity to conform to moral standards, to act for the
sake of moral considerations, that is, for the sake of moral law.
An insane person, who does not have the capacity to think and choose, cannot
be a moral agent.
A dog is, therefore, not a moral agent because it doesn't have the capacity to
conform to moral standards. It cannot knowingly, freely and voluntarily act. t
does not have a mind and freewill.
Like the dog, a robot cannot be a moral agent.
The moral agent is purpose-driven or end-driven. That end is sought for its
own sake, an end no longer sought for the sake of another end, the highest
good which is happiness.
From the Christian point of view, a human person's destiny in the world
is not only to achieve cultural and moral perfection, but to attain the eternal
happiness of the soul after death of the body. As a moral agent his duty is to
know, to love, and to serve God, his ultimate end.
Fundamental option is a human person's basic choice or inner orientation
either for a good life (directed towards others and God) or for a bad life
(directed towards himself/ herself and cut off from others and God.
Man as a moral agent adopts the "fundamental option," a free choice to say
"yes" to God's invitation to follow His way.
There is no pre-fixed plan for the human person as a moral agent.
For the existentialist, like Jean Paul Sartre, the human person, the moral agent,
becomes what he/she makes of himself/herself by choice. Helshe is nothing
no "essence" until helshe starts his/her "existence" by making choices.
To the process philosophers like Teilhard de Chardin and Alfred North
Whitehead, whatever a human person, the moral agent, is or will be is a result
of a creative process. The moral agent has to create his/her end, purpose, or
directions. He/she has to invent his/her destiny. Since there is no goal or end
designed for him/her, he/she would completely be the author of what he/she
turns out to be. He/she will be totally responsible for what he/she will be.
Other groups, like Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber see the
moral agent as a being-with-others, who is inseparably related to his/her fellow
man. Together with other moral agents, the human person goes through life,
designing his/her end guided by messages unveiled in a life of dialogue with
others and with the world.
For Brabander, the moral agent directs his/her life to improve, refine, develops
this world in order to bring out the world to come.
R. Franceur likewise claims that the moral agent should direct his/her life to the
spritualization of this material world.
 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

. Why can't the lower forms of animals be considered as moral agents?

2. For a person's fundamental option either he/she chooses between

two. Who or which are these two options?
33. Study the picture in the cover of this book. Does the picture suggest
fundamental option?' How?

REFLECTION
From the innermost of your being, whom have you chosen
core
been to
God (goodness) or not God (the' evil). How true have you
life one of communion with God or
your fundamental option? Is your
one of isolation?
 Lesson 2
The Development of Moral
Character of the Moral Agent

Intended Learning Outcomes:

State defining moments in your moral formation

Explain the relationship between moral acts and
character

INTRODUCTION
How does the moral agent, the human person, develop his/her moral
character This is the concern of this Lesson.

ACTIVITY

Share an experience that shaped your values and moral formation. It

determined your career, an event that changed
may be a conversation that
the course of your life or anything else that you believe has determined

what you have become.

ANALYSIS
What you shared is called defining moment in one's life. What is
meant by defining moment?

Defining moment
ABSTRACTION
is a significant
life-changing Meaning of Detining Moment
event in a What is meant by the defining moments in one's life. Detining moment

person's life refers to a significant life-changing event or moment that reverberates

throughout your career and personal life and so changes everything.
further:
The following quotation explains defining moment
You make thousands of decisions every day... Each choice

shapes what is to come in some small way, but occasionally,

be life-changing. This kind
a decision has the magnitude to
 of moment can change who. we are and what we value, with
reverberations throughout our careers and personal lives.
While it's still up for debate exactly how much of our morality
comes from personal experiences, many of us can think of at lcast
one experience that has defined us and our belicfs.
Lain Hensley, chief operating officer at Odyssey Teams, recalls St. Paul's
the fear and lonelincss he felt when he was diagnosed with cancer, defining
moment was
for example. His illness exposed weaknesses in his leadership and
when suddenly
as a result, he writes, he has become "a better man, husband, father,
a light from
employer, speaker and friend." heaven flashed
Other infiuential moments can come down to a around him
conversation... on his way to
Damascus.
The Defining Moments of the Saints
St. Paul's defining moment was when suddenly a light from heaven
flashed around him on his way to Damascus. When he and his men were
very near the city, they were suddenly surrounded by a light so bright
that it knocked Saul to the ground. "They heard a voice from heaven that
said: 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" And Saul said, "Who are
you, Lord?' And He said, "I am Jesus,
Whom you are persecuting; but rise
and enter city, and you will be told what you are
the to do.' (Acts of the
Jesus to all men, the
Apostles, Chapter 9). From that time on, Paul preached
one whose followers he persecuted and became one of greatest disciples of
Jesus.
moment came while spending time in Milan in St. Augustine's
St. Augustine's defining
386 A.D. Here is the story of his conversion: defining
child moment was
While outdoors, he heard the voice ofa song, singing a
when while
it up and read it. Pick it up and
the words of which were, "Pick outdoors he
that the song was related to some kind
read it. He thought at first,
"

heard the
remember ever having heard such
of children 's game, but could not voice of a child
a song before Singing a song,
might be a command from God the words of
Then realizing that this song
Scriptures, he located Bible, picked it up,
a which were,
to open and read the
passage he saw. lt was from the Letter Pick it up and
opened it and read the fist read it. Pick it
the Romans, Augustine read:
of Paul to
not in sexual excess and up and read it."
and drunkenneSs,
Not in carousing
and jealousy. Rather put on the Lord Jesus
lust, not in quarreling
proviSION for the desires of the flesh. (Romans
Christ, and make no

13:13-14)
While he read the scripture,
Augustine felt as if his heart were
with light. He
turned totaly from his life of sin. He was
flooded
 baptized by Bishop Ambrose during the Easter Vigil, April 24, 287.
Later St. Augustine wrote his famous
prayer: "You have made
as for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in
you, '"

Moral
character is
necessary Relationship Between Moral acts and Character
for moral
behavior. The following essay serves as good
Moral
explanation of the relationship
between moral acts and character:
character This essay examined the question of whether moral
facilitates character
is necessary for moral behavior. I
doing the argued that moral character is
relevant to moral behavior in two important
moral action. ways. First, that given
I already aware of what I ought to do (i.e. of what the "moral"
am

action is), moral character

facilitates doing that action. The person
who has moral character does moral actions more readily -

more
easily and more willingly than one who does not. I also argued that
moral character matters in a second, much more fundamental way:
the person who has moral character is able to recognize whatis
moral and occasions for moral behavior in a
way that those who
lack moral character cannot. Those who lack moral character
often
fail to act morally because they simply fail, in many instances, to
recognize the morally relevant aspects of the situations they find
themselves in (Knobel, 2019)

APPLICATION

I. Illustrate this with a diagram. Do you agree with this?

Watch your thoughts;
they become your words.
Watch your words;
they become your actions.
Watch your actions;
they become your habits.
Watch your habits;
they become your character
Watch your character;
they become your destiny. -

La0-Tzu
 Show the
relationship of
individual acts and moral character
by means of
mathematical formula. c.g. individual moral act
a

+individual moral act individual moral +

actinoral character.
Improve on the given formula.

Based on the narration of St. Paul's and St.

can we
Augustine's conversion
say one's defining moment is one's moment of conversion?

KEYTAKEAWAYS
Defining moment refers to a significant life-changing event or moment of
conversion in a person's life.
A person who has moral character does moral actions more readily and
more willingly than one who does not. Therefore, it is good to develop
moral character.
it is, therefore, best for all persons to develop moral character. Moral
character is formed by repeatedly doing moral acts.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

. Define defining moment in a person's life.

between moral acts and moral character.
2. Explain the relationship

R EFLECTION
moment in your ile? What do you
do to form
What was a defining
your moral character?
 Lesson 3
The Stages of Moral Development

Intended Learning Outcomes:

Describe each stage of moral development
Evaluate one's personal growth against the stages of personal
development

INTRODUCTION
If human person has developed a moral
a
character, the facility to
act morally and
ethically is in his/her hands. What are the stages of moral
development that the human person as a moral agent undergoes?

ACTIVITY
1. Answer this
question:
What makes you come to school
everyday? Check that/those which
applies /apply to you
Teachers tell me so (school policy)
I am afraid to be
dropped and fail.
To show to my parents and teachers that I
I promised my
am a good student
parents never to be absent.
It is the right thing to do; school rules
say so.
I want to become a
2. Share your answers with
professional.
your partner.

ANALYSIS
1. Among the reasons given, agree as partners on the best reason for
coming to school everyday and why.

2 What are very adequate reasons? What are not

very adequate
reasons?
 ABSTRACTION
As previously explained, the moral agent, the human person, is a being
capable of acting "with reference to right and wrong," that is, one who is
capable of being moral, having a moral character.
Social psychologists look at the moral
agent as he is, where he is,
in the society where he lives. From birth, he/she is cared, nurtured and
influenced by the world around him/her. He/she grows up in a family,
develops in a society, and thus he/she is exposed to all the do's and dont's
of his/her family and his/her society. His/her moral life, his/her norms and
moral standards, are shaped by the prevalent cultural influences. In other
words, as disclosed and unveiled as he/she is, the moral agent undergoes
development.
Moral development refers to the "process through which a human
Moral
person gains his/her beliefs, skills and dispositions that make him/her a
development
morally mature person. William A. Kay (1970) has the following to say refers to the
regarding the nature of moral development. process through
which a human
Just as the pattern of intellectual growth can be simply described person gains his/
as passing through stages of animal behavior, pre-logical thinking, her beliefs, skills
and dispositions
thought governed by empirical logic and finally by formal logic,
that make him/her
so morality can be described as passing through stages of behavior a morally mature
controlled first, by tab0o, then second, by law, third by conscience person.
i.e. irrational, intrajected values); fourth, by reciprocity; fifth, by
social consensus and finally by personal moral principles, though
not necessarily in that order.
Stated differently, the five stages may be reduced to three as Growth in morality
follows: can be described
The amoral stage egocentric, hedonist and prudential as passing through
stages of behavior
considerations. controlled first,
The pre-moral stage authoritarian, ego-idealist, social and by taboo; then
reciprocal considerations. second, by law;

.The moral stage-personal, autonomous, altruistic, rational, third by conscience

considerations [Link]
independent and responsible intrajected
values); fourth, by
Lets analyze your answers in the Activity phase of this lesson. If your
reciprocity: fth, by
reasons to go to school are "I am afraid to be dropped and fail" and "to social consensus
show to my pårents that I am a good student" you are in the a-moral's ego- and finally by
personal moral
idealist stage. If you go to school everyday because "I promised to my
parents I will never be absent" that is illiam Kay's pre moral stage (social
principles, though
not necessarily in
and reciprocal consideration.) If your reason is "it is the right thing to do." that order.
you have reached Kay's moral stage personal, autonomous, rational,
 independent and rational considerations.

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral

Development
Moral Moral developmentrefers to the "process through which a
human
development person, gains his/her beliefs, skills and dispositions that makes him/her a
refers to the morally mature person". Kohlberg (2013) describes the stages of moral
"process development in 3 stages, namely: LevelI-Preconventional morality, Level
through which a 2 Conventional morality, and Level 3 - Post-Conventional
human person,
morality. Each
level has two stages cach so that there are six stages of moral
gains his/her development.
They are described in detail below:
beliefs, skills
and dispostions Level 1- Pre-conventional morality
that makes him/ This is the lowest level of moral development in Kohlberg's theory. At
her a morally the
mature person"
pre-conventional level children don't have a
personal code of morality.
Instead, their moral code is controlled by the standards of adults and the
consequences of following or breaking adults' rules. Authority is outside the
individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions.
There is no internalization of moral values.
Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual
does good in order to avoid being punished. If he/she is punished, he/
she must have done wrong. Children
obey because adults tell them to
At the pre- obey. Moral decisions are based on fear of punishment. It is a matter
conventional of obey or you get punished. e.g. Josef does not cheat because he is
level children afraid of a punishment, a failing grade and "I go to school because I am
don't have a afraid to be dropped and fail.
ersonal code of
Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation. Right behavior is defined by
morality. Instead,
their moral code whatever the individual believes to be in his/her best interest. "What's
in it for me?" In this stage there is limited interest in the needs of
is controlled by others
the standards of only to the point where it might further the individual's own interests. It
adults and the is a matter of "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours"mentality. An
consequences example would be when a child is asked by his parents to do a chore.
offollowingor The child asks "what's in it for me?" and the parents offer the child a
breaking adults' reward by giving him a treat.
rules.
In this stage, right involves cqual exchange. e.g. Mario sees Juan get
Miguel's pen. Soon he sees Miguel retaliate by taking Juan's favorite
Throughout the pen. Mario does not report the incident to the teacher because they
conventional involve equal exchanges
level, a child's
sense of Level 2: Conventional
morality is tied
Throughout the conventional level, a child's sense of morality is
to personal
and societal tied to personal and societal relationships. Children continue to accept
the rules of authority figures, but this is now due to their belief that this
relationships.
is necessary to ensure
positive relationships and societal order. Adherence
to rules and conventions is
somewhat rigid during these stages and a rule's
appropriateness or fairness is
seldom questioned.
Stage 3: "Good Boy,
Nice Girl" Orientation
In stage 3, children want the
approval of others and act in ways to avoid
disapproval. Emphasis is placed on
good bchavior and people being
nice to others. The individual is
good in order to be being a seen as
good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of
others. The individual values
caring and loyalty to others as a basis for
moral judgments. E.g. if a
politician is around in times of calamities
primarily because he wants to appear "good boy" or "good gir to
electorates, he displays stage 3 moral developmental stage.
"To show to my parents and teachers that I am a good student" and "I
promised by parents never to be absent fall under this stage of good boy,
nice girl orientation.

Stage 4. Law and Order Orientation. The child/individual becomes

aware of the wider rules of society, so judgments concern obeying the
rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt. It is a matter of I
have to do this because the law says so." It is still blind obedience to
the law so morality still lacks internalization. "It is the right thing to do;
school rules say so" as reasons for going to school are in stage 4.

Level 3 Post-conventional Morality

In post-
This is the level of full internalization. Morality is completely
Conventional
internalized and not based on external standards. Individual judgment is
stage, morality
based on self-chosen principles and moral reasoning is based on individual
is completely
rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as internalized
1ar as most people get. and not based
Stage 5. Social contract orientation - The child/individual becomes on external
aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest standards.
number, there are times when they will work against the interest of Individual
judgment is
particular individuals. In this level, individuals reason out that values
based on
transcend the law.
rights and principles self-chosen
Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than rigid orders. Those that principles and
do not promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to moral reasoning
meet the greatest good for the greatest number of people. is based on
Stage 6. Universal,, ethical, principle orientation. Individuals at this dividual rights
and justice.
 stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or
may not fit the law. They have developed moral judgments that are based
on universal human rights The principles apply to
everyone.
c.g., human rights, justice, and cquality. The person will be prepared to
act to defend these
principles even if it means going against the rest of
socicty in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval
and/or imprisonment.
When faced with a dilemma between law and
conscience, the person follows his conscience.
Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage. (MclLeod, 2013)

Development of conscience-based moral decision

Conscience Moral development includes development of conscience-based moral
based moral
decision. This is in the post-conventional level of
decision is Kohlberg's stages of
moral development. Panizo defines conscience as "an act of the
"an act of practical
the practical judgment of reason deciding upon an individual action as good and to be
judgment performed and as evil and to be avoided." It is metaphorically referred
to as the "inner little voice of God." Panizo
of reason or
(1964) quotes St. Thomas
deciding upon regarding the obligatory force of conscience: "Every conscience, whether
an individual right or erroneous, whether with regard to acts which are evil in themselves
action as good or acts which are
indifferent, is obligatory, so that he who acts in opposition
and to be to his conscience, does wrong."
performed and Rev. Thomas V. Berg, (2012) defines conscience as follows:
as evil andto
In the NL (natural law) tradition, conscience is understood
to be a judgment emanating from human reason about choices
and actions to be made, or accomplished, or already opted for and
performed...
Aquinas held that conscience, in the strict sense, was as an
act of human reason-called a judgment-following upon, and
concluding, a time of deliberation. In this sense, conscience is the
interior resounding of reason. Conscience is reason's awareness
of a choice, or an action's harmony or disharmony, with the kind
of behavior which truly leads to our genuine well-being, and
flourishing.
If choice or action is not in accord with the judgment
our

of a rightly formed and active conscience, then that judgment

will linger in our conscious awareness, presenting itself as a
Jelt disharmony between the choice, and the moral norm (and
corresponding virtue), being violated. While such felt disharmony
is indeed of an emotive nature (e.g. a healthy emotional guilt), the
judgment of conscience remains something distinct and irreducible
 to the negative feeling which happens to accompany it.

The formation of conscience

Corresponding therefore the prior discussion on moral

to
is the formation
development
of conscience. What then is mcant when it is said that the
conscience must be *formed"?
First. conscience formation
begins with the deep-seated
decision to seck moral truth. One
adopts, as a way of life, the
habit of seeking out answers to
questions
about right and wrong
persevering in that quest until one arrives at a state of moral
certainty, atter having made the most reasonable effort possible to
arrive at those answers. Second, a sound conscience must
stand
on the firm foundation of
integrity, sincerity and forthrightness.
Duplicity, personal inconsistency and dishonesty undermine
any hope of forming a properly functioning conscience. Third,
conscience formation is sustained by the habit of
consistently
educating oneself by exposure to objective moral norms and the
rationale behind those norms.
Conscience needs a guide.... The Church's moral teaching,
while certainly enlightened by divinely revealed law, is, at its
core, the application of what this tradition has discovered over the
centuries about the kinds of behavior that lead us to live genuinely
fulnling, human lives. You do not place yourself at odds with such
a tradition lightly.

Consequently, conscience formation requires a habit of on-

going self-formation (what we might call moral information
gathering) through study, reading, and other types of inquiry. This
includes consultation with persons whose moral judgment we know
to be sound and in accord with the Church's moral tradition. Finally
conscience, if it is to be correct, needs the assistance of the virtue
of prudence. By "prudence,"we mean the virtue as understood within
the NL (natural law) tradition. This should not be confused with
timidity, "covering one's back""or dissinmulation (hiding the truth).
Berg, 2012.
It may be added, as clarified in Fr. Vitaliano Gorospe (1974), that
getting to the highest-level, conscience-based moral decision can mean the
widening human consciousness. It is a growth or development from family

Consciousness to clan consciousness, community consciousness, town

consciousness, provincial, regional, national, and international or global
consciousness. As one's consciousness Widens, the moral parameters
or standards of one's decision making widens, one's moral conscience
widens, one matures.

APPLICATION

1. The Heinz dilemma

A woman was on her deathbed. There was one drug that the
doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist
in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive
to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost
him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for
a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to
everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together
about $1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his
wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later.
But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to
make money from it."So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's
laboratory to steal the drug for his wife. Should Heinz have broken into
the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?
From a theoretical point of view, it is not important what the
participant thinks that Heinz should do. Kohlberg's theory holds that the
justification the participant offers is what is significant, the form of their
response. Below are some of many examples of possible arguments.
Based on the given arguments, identify the stage among Kohlberg's
six stages of moral development:
Heinz should not steal the medicine because he will consequently
be put in prison which will mean he is a bad person.
Heinz should steal the medicine because he will be much happier if
he saves his wife, even if he will have to serve a prison sentence.
Heinz should not steal the medicine because prison is an awful
place, and he would more likely languish in a jail cell than over his
wife's death.
Heinz should steal the medicine because his wife expects it; he
wants to be a good husband.
Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is bad and he is not
a criminal; he has tried to do everything he can without breaking
the law, you cannot blame him.
.Heinz should not steal the medicine because the law prohibits
stealing, making it illegal.
 Heinz should steal the drug for his wife but also take the
prescribed
punishment for the crime as well as paying the druggist what
heis
owed. Criminals cannot just run around without
regard for the law;
actions have consequences.
Heinz should steal the medicine because everyone has a right to
choose life, regardless of the law.
Heinz should steal the medicine, because saving a human life life
is a more fundamental value than the
property rights of another
person.
.Heinz should not steal the medicine, because others may need the
medicine just as badly, and their lives are equally significant.
2. Give reasons why students cheat /don't cheat. Classify the given reasons
based on Kohlberg's six stages.
3. Longitudinal data on studies of Kohlberg's theory show a relation of
the stages to age, although a few people ever attain the two highest
stages. Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking
necessary for stage 5 or 6 (post-conventional morality). That is to say,
most people take their moral views from those around them and only a
minority think through ethical principles for themselves. What should be
done in values education/character education classes to help students
advance in their moral development and reach the 2 highest stages?
4. Which level of Kohlberg's moral development did the Greatest Teacher,
Jesus Christ, reach? Explain your answer
5. Acting in accordance with the dictates of your conscience is in which
developmental stage of Kohlberg.
 KEY TAKEAWAYS
According to William Kay, human persons go through three stages of moral development: 1)
the amoral stage-egocentric, hedonist and prudential considerations; 2) the pre-moral stage
authoritarian, ego-idealist, social and reciprocal considerations, and 3) the moral stage -

personal, autonomous, altruistic, rational, independent and responsible considerations.

According to Kohlberg human persons go through three levels of moral development: 1)
preconventional, 2) conventional, and 3) postconventional. Each level has two distinct
stages and so Kohlberg has six stages of moral development.
.During the preconventional level, a child's sense of morality is externally controlled.
Children accept and believe the rules of authority figures, such as parents and teachers, and
they judge an action based on its consequences.
During the conventional level, an individual's sense of morality is tied to personal and
societal relationships. Children continue to accept the rules of authority figures, but this
is now because they believe that this is necessary to ensure positive relationships and
societal order.
During the postconventional level, a person's sense of morality is defined in terms of
more abstract principles and universal values which are now internalized
For William Kay and Kohlberg, every person is meantto grow into moral maturity. Moral
maturity is evident in a person who acts based his conviction rooted on universal ethical
on

principles not because his act will bring him/her pleasure or pain, or that his/her act is in
accordance with the laws or expectations of his/her particular group or society as a whole.
Genuine moral development,which is attaining the post-conventional stage, the highest
stage in Kohlberg's, is essentially development of conscience.
Conscience formation begins with the deep-seated decision to seek moral truth. It must
stand on the firm foundation of integrity, sincerity, and forthrightness and must be sustained
by the habit of consistently educating oneself by exposure to objective moral norms, and
the rationale behind those norms.
For conscience to be formed, it needs a guide, for Christians, the Church's moral teaching
and persons whose moral judgments are sound and in accordance with the Church's moral
tradition.
Conscience formation requires a habit of on-going self-formation (moral information
gathering) through study, reading and other types of inquiry.
Conscience-based moral decision means the widening of human consciousness
from family consciousness to clan consciousness, community consciousness, town
consciousness, provincial, regional, national and international or global consciousness.
As one's consciousness widens, the standards of one's decision making widens, one's
moral conscience widens, one matures.
Moral development is internalization of moral norms. One acts morally based on his/her
convictions not because the law says so or a person in authority orders so.
 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDINGG

1. Do a tabular comparison of the stages of moral development from the

points of view of William A. Kay and Lawrence Kohlberg. Two items
are done for you.

Stages of Moral Development

William Kay
Kohlberg
Taboo Pre-conventional obedience and
punishment orientation
Law Conventional - maintaining the
social order

2. What is the ideal stage of moral development in Kohlberg?

REFLECTION
Based on Williams Kay's and Kohlberg's stages of moral development
point, in which stage are you?
What are you doing for genuine conscience formation to reach post-
conventional level of moral development, the full internalization of
universal ethical principles?

ENDOF
END-OF-THE-CHAPTER ACTIVITIES

moral development of a group of

Conduct a research on the level of
of moral
millennials of your choice. Base your tool on Kohlberg's stages
checked by your teacher.
development. Have your questionnaires

class
Share your findings in