Value and Moral
Reasoning
Leonardo D. Buyan Jr. | GECC 104: Ethics
Value
A value is something of worth or something that is highly regarded. The
things that people esteem as
“good” influence how personal
character develops and how
people think and subsequently
behave.
Reasoning
Reasoning is the use of abstract actions and desired ways of foundations.
thought processes to think being. More specifically, moral
creatively, to answer questions, Reasoning involves thinking reasoning pertains to reasoning
to solve problems, and to for oneself to determine if focused on moral or ethical
formulate strategies for one’s one’s conclusions are based issues.
on good or logical
Moral throughout
Reasoning Western
Middle Ages, Age of
History Enlightenment,
Postmodern Era
Ancient Greece, The
Ancient
Greece
• In Western history,
much of what is
known about formal
moral reasoning
generally began with
the ancient Greeks,
especially with the
philosophers Socrates
(c. 469-399 B.C.E.),
Plato (c. 429-347
B.C.E.), and Aristotle
(384- 322 B.C.E.).
Socrates
• “The unexamined life is
not worth living.” • He
developed a method of
reasoning called the
Socratic method which is
still used today. • He was
accused of corrupting the
youth of Athens who,
under his tutelage, had
begun to question their
parents’ wisdom and
religious beliefs.
Plato
• His reasoning was based on his
belief that there are two realms of
reality: realm of Forms and world of
Appearances.
• The realm of Forms transcends time
and space. According to Plato, an
eternal, perfect, and unchanging
ideal copy (Form) of all phenomena
exists in the realm of Forms, which
is beyond everyday human access.
• The world of Appearances is the
everyday world of imperfect,
decaying, and changing
phenomena; this is the world in
which humans live.
the Cave
Aristotle
• He was guided in his reasoning
by his belief in the importance
of empirical inquiry.
• He also believed that all things
have a purpose or end goal
(telos) similar to Plato’s
proposition that the goal of all
things is to strive to be like their
perfect Form.
•During the Middle or Dark Ages, Christianity
became the dominant religion in Western
Europe as the Catholic Church took on the
powerful role of educating the European
people. •Christianity is a monotheistic (one
God), revelatory religion, whereas ancient
Greek philosophy was based on the use of
reason and polytheism (many gods).
St. Augustine
• Augustine’s belief in a heavenly
place of unchanging moral truths
is similar to Plato’s belief in the
realm of ideal Forms.
• People who live according to the
spirit live in the City of God (world
of perfection/Forms), while people
who live according to the flesh
live in the City of Man (world of
imperfection/Appearances).
• To move away from evil, one must have the grace of God.
St. Thomas
Aquinas
• Like Aristotle, Aquinas believed that people
have a desirable end goal or purpose and
that developing excellences of character
(virtues) leads to human happiness and
good moral reasoning.
• He expanded Aristotle’s conception of the
end goal of perfect happiness and
grounded the requirements for happiness
in the knowledge and love of God and
Christian virtues.
• He replaced Aristotle’s emphasis on the
virtue of pride with an emphasis on the
virtue of humility
• Natural law theory of ethics
Modern
Philosophy and
the Age of
Enlightenment
• The period of modern
philosophy began when the
major intellectual force
during the Middle Ages, the
Catholic Church, began to
have a diminishing influence
within society, while the
influence of science began to
increase.
• With these changes came a
new freedom in human moral
reasoning, which was based
on people being autonomous,
rational-thinking creatures
rather than primarily being
influenced and controlled by
Church dogma and rules.
Postmodern
Era
• Postmodernism often is
considered to have begun
around 1950, after the end of
World War II.
• Pence (2000) defined
postmodernism as “a modern
movement in philosophy and
the humanities that rejects
the optimistic view that
science and reason will
improve humanity; it rejects
the notion of sustained
progress through reason and
the scientific method”.
• Rejection of grand theories and
recognition of a pluralistic
view, or a diversity of
intellectual and cultural
influences
Learning
from History
• The varied historical
influences that have
affected moral
reasoning have
formed a pattern of
rich and interesting
values, perspectives,
and practices that are
evident in the globally
connected world that
people live in today.
