Ethics chapter01

Chapter OneHuman Value Development

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Human Behavior

• Human behavior is not random

• We are attempting to achieve something

• Beyond reflexes and instincts, we seem to be attending to: – Needs– Values


Hierarchy of Needs

• Abraham Maslow – motivation based on needs:– Physiological– Safety– Social– Esteem– Self-actualization


Motivation by Values

• The difference between “is” and “ought”: – Inner voice telling us what we ought to

do, even in the face of pressing needs– Consider the males on the Titanic –

what was their need? What did they feel they “ought” to do?


Value System

• Values:– Inner set of subjective feelings, attitudes,

beliefs, and opinions that guide our understanding of what ought to be

• Rank the following in importance to you:– Freedom from constraint – Privacy– Group identification– Freedom from disability


Human Values

• The case of Neanderthal Man

• What tells you he was a creature of values?


Value Theorists

• Jean Piaget

• Lawrence Kohlberg

• Carol Gilligan

• Morris Massey


Kohlberg Model

• Level One – Preconventional Morality– Stage 1. Reward and Punishment– Stage 2. Individualism and

Exchange

• Level Two – Conventional Morality– Stage 3. Good Boy/Good Girl– Stage 4. Law and Order

Orientation


Kohlberg Model (continued)

• Level Three – Postconventional Morality– Stage 5. Social Contract– Stage 6. Universal Principles


Gilligan Challenge

• Boys and girls may follow different developmental paths in gaining value systems – two separate paths that lead to different highest values

• Highest Value:– Legalistic equality for males– Personal responsibility for females


Gilligan Challenge (continued)

• If different paths, should this lead to differing value models?– Males – a model based on equality and

justice– Females – a model based on caring

• Can one truly function without the other?


Massey’s Value Cohorts

• “You are what you are because of where you were when.”– Significant emotional events happen to

the society as a whole– People within a historical time frame are

shaped by the same significant events– Time frame cohorts share similar values

based on shared experiences


Massey’s Value Cohorts (continued)

• Traditionalists– Great Depression – World War II

• In-betweeners– Post World War II America – Cold War

• Challengers– Civil Rights movement – Vietnam

• Synthesizers – Fall of Communism – Globalization


Value Cohorts

• How might significant emotional events shape society values? – World War II – Vietnam War – Cold War – Assassination of President Kennedy – Fall of Berlin Wall – Twin Towers attack


Personal Values

• What significant emotional events shaped your personal value system?

• Starting with “I feel a person should,” complete value statements for:– Privacy – Loyalty and trust– Abortion– Authority and social order


Key Concepts

• Values-based motivation is more subjective than that based on needs

• Humans have an innate capacity to acquire ethical beliefs taught by our culture

• Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Carol Gilligan are important value development theorists


Key Concepts (continued)

• The Kohlberg model provides for three general levels of value development: – Preconventional– Conventional– Postconventional

• Each of these general levels is divided into two stages



• Kohlberg’s highest level for value development is when the individual makes a personal commitment to:– Universal principles of equal rights– Social justice– Respect for the basic dignity of all

people as individuals



• Carol Gilligan:– Feminist value development

perspective, arguing that the Kohlberg model is biased toward young men

– Young women follow a different developmental path, placing personal responsibility and caring as highest values



• Morris Massey – shaping of generational values based on historical events that shaped the group as a whole:– Traditionalists– In-betweeners– Challengers– Synthesizers

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Ethics chapter01