The influence of society over the life of a person

                                           NIMFA C. CATBAGAN

                                      Divine Word College of Laoag

The key to the mysteries of human nature is to be found in society.

Anonymous

Abstract

No one can discount the role of society in the development of every human being, because as soon as an individual is born, he or she becomes automatically part of the society. Every person’s thinking and lifestyle reflects the society which furnishes the person with the conditions of existence and development which he or she needs. The human person cannot achieve his fullness alone, but only through receiving certain goods in various forms essential to him from society. Although many would counter that the individual person does not dissolve into society, rather he or she retains his unique and independent individuality and makes his contribution to the social whole.  In other words, “just as society itself shapes human beings, so human beings shape society”. Such contention clearly depicts the important role of society in a person’s life and the person’s innate ability  to perceive and give meaning to his or her own life himself or herself ,  which serves as the focal point of the discussions  in this paper.

Keywords

 Society, person, life, perspectives, influence,  role, challenge, original  person

Introduction

   “The human person is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the object of every social organization”.  Such statement captures the essence of the relationship between society and the life of a person. Similarly, according to a pleasant simile from a source written by an author who chose not to be identified, “society carries the individual as a river carries a boat”, which could really be true but as per further elaboration, it is indeed in certain instances, and not exactly the case because  “an individual does not float with the river, rather, he or she is the turbulently flowing river itself”.  It can therefore be implied that the events of a person’s social life do not come about by themselves, instead they are made, just as stated by the same source,   “historical events are not charted in advance by superhuman forces, but rather they are made by people”. It is within these perspectives, that society’s influence over a person’s life can be viewed although generalization cannot be made solely from these ramifications (Spirkin, A. n.d.)                                    The society molds the person which can be manifested in the claim of some philosophers  that, the key to the mysteries of human nature is to be found in  society, which implies that what a person is and would become,  depends a lot on what the society could offer and how well it is lived by the person. Hence, it can also be stated that every human being is a person’s embodiment of social relations, a product of the existing social system.  Undoubtedly, a person bears the clear imprint of the life of society as a whole, but as to the extent to which is manifested vary from person to person.   

The Meaning of Life from Different Perspectives

            Even when looking at the same object, people may not always notice the same thing, as everyone has his or her own way of looking at things, occurrences or events.  This commonplace observation can be interpreted that every person possesses something that is strictly his or her own, one that sets him or her apart from others.  In other words, “people are not alike, and will never be alike, considering the fact that every human being is indeed a unique individual.  One could be a “look-alike” of someone else, as identical twins do, but there will always be distinguishing marks that enables one to pinpoint who is and who is not. This contention provides the premise that people tend to view life in varied ways upon which individual perspectives are developed.                                                                                                                       

          Viewing life from different perspectives is like placing oneself in different settings or different milieu. This reality can be traced to man’s gift of wisdom, a gift which enables two people to look at the same thing, the same scenario from entirely different angles revealing that every person can claim that there is something in him or her that  is entirely his or her own.    It is this uniqueness or person’s individuality that brings dynamism in a society.                                                                                                       

          As what an old wise monk claims, “one of the key secrets of life is to change oneself and the world changes around you,”  in other words, changing one’s focus about life would change life itself. Hence, whether the world can be more exciting or become so simple for someone, it would really be up to her or him. One’s whole personal world can be turned upside down and inside out and look at things differently from others.   Life therefore can take on countless meanings and implications for every person.                      For most people, life is perceived as some sort of a linear process. Something is started,  it is done and ultimately finished. Thus, it can be so disastrous if the universe did not really work as expected.  If for instance, the universe worked in parallel instead of series, or if everything would happen at the same time, it would really be extremely difficult to handle,  more so when one fails to create a perception of what he or she would like reality to be.                                                                                                           

         Stephen Hopson, who despite being deaf since birth, became a motivational speaker, author, pilot and an award-winning stockbroker, pointed out many different means of looking at life from different perspectives.  He said that one way is by believing that “it's not what happens to you but how you perceive it that determines how you will deal with the situation”.  Another perspective, is holding on to the thought that “behind every difficult person you meet, there's a lesson to be learned”, and thirdly, is to say, “what can I learn from this ?, instead of saying, “why is this happening to me ?” (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Hopson ).

Similarly, a person can have a different way of looking at life when he or she “trusts that everything in life is temporary and that going through different cycles is part of the process. In other words, “Life will get better if one just have enough faith to get through a situation not happening according to his or her own wish. As many would believe that every individual has a blueprint for his or her life, that there is such a thing as destiny and it is up to an individual to discover what it is. Although this can be contested by those who believe in an ultimate power which directs everything in this world, even a person’s own life, thus no one can really have a control of what and how events would take their course.                                                                                             

 

The power of visualization cannot be ignored in defining life. Every person has the ability to visualize what he would wish to have or do in life, hence, can be painted in a canvas according to the colors and images created and reflecting one’s very  own feelings and aspirations, which are truly one’s own creation.                                                           For others, life is subscribing to the premise that without adversities or challenges, a person will never get to know what a person is truly made of. This perspective of life is anchored on the belief that it is through toughest times that one learns that he or she is capable of accomplishing something, thereby acquiring strength and confidence in the process. Individuals who draw strength from difficulties, failures and weaknesses manifest this view of life.

Another perspective is that of believing that life is a “perpetual training ground”, preparing everyone of what is to come. Experiences, both good and bad, are all meant to train one to be ready to face whatever forthcoming challenges and eventualities. Thus one should never to refrain from learning from whatever experience one gets into.

Similarly a common perspective of life  states that “everything that happens in one’s life and everyone that one meets in this life is for a PURPOSE”.   This is the view  of individuals who say that there are no “accidents” in this life,  rather, everything is meant to happen and why they happen is for a reason. In like manner, that there is always a reason and purpose for everything that one does.  Corollary to this perspective is the contention that everyone does matter, that by just being oneself, an individual could make a difference in small and large ways.  It can therefore be deduced that making the most of life is more of believing in one’s own capabilities or refusing to make comparisons and understanding that one can be as good as another for everyone is at different stages in their lives.  Again this is in view of the fact that every person is unique with special qualities, talents and skills, thus there is and will never be one like the other.

 

The Role of Society in the Life of a Person

         The role of society in a person’s life is well pointed out in Durkheim’s Theory,  which conceives of an individual person as being born into an ongoing social system independent of the individual and determines his behavior or model of thinking which characterizes a given society.  Each person therefore becomes a product of the society.  Said theory is described as a deterministic theory (Travis, 2001).

Moreover, Jacques Maritain as cited by Schall (1998),  avers that, the human person cannot achieve his fullness alone, but only through receiving certain goods essential to him from society, thus, a person’s life is shaped by society itself.  Indeed, society is part and parcel of a person’s life as expressed in the sociological deduction that  the person, by virtue of his dignity, as well as of his needs, requires to be a member of a society.

Social psychologists point out that the wealth and complexity of the individual's social content are conditioned by the diversity of his links with society.  This is why the level of individual development is an indicator of the level of development of society, and vice versa. But they also claim that the individual does not dissolve into society, rather, he or she retains his unique and independent individuality and makes his contribution to the social whole, which implies that just as society itself shapes human beings, so human beings shape society.

The quote, I know that the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23), clearly implies the need for any person to be connected, or associated whether directly or indirectly to a society defined by a system of laws drawing the line between what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable to all.

According to an online information hub, there are four major roles of society, that of social responsibility, religious responsibility, financial responsibility and political responsibility. Clearly, the affairs of a person are not formed and regulated only by himself or herself but rather subject to certain social standards which are established  through well-defined process.  This is so because as a person enters into the society, he becomes a part of a whole and like the rest forming the social whole, depends on the complements provided for him to be able to become fully integrated into the system so to speak. Social life therefore imposes upon a person’s life constraints and sacrifices if necessary for him to be truly serving the part he is made to assume in the society. In other words, being inferior to the social whole, a person must serve the common cause of the society (Mida, 2009).

The role of society in a person’s life therefore constitutes the totality of a person, his being a part at the same time an individual whole because such individuality is ultimately transformed into an essential component which society derives to provide for the common good of its members.

 

The Challenge to be an Original Person

As quoted from an article, ”being an original person can be an eccentric person”. But what does it really mean to be an original person ?  People act according to their comfort pocket, so any social interactions is completely original, therefore one will not be talking of one or two million twins that imitate thoughts and behaviors as one strives to move on with their lives.

Just as every person would want to feel and be special, and not become the same monotonous "thing" as everybody else, he or she would assert a uniqueness making him or her stand out and be an entirely different person setting him apart from others, becoming his real self instead of becoming the person because of the influence of conditions from the world outside the domain of his or her own self.

Deciding to be what he or she thinks he or she is can be considered engaged in a pointless pursuit of being an original person, something that may not become a reality considering his or her imperfections despite being endowed with the primordial rights which could be invoked and must be respected by society. Sadly though, such rights coupled with the gifts of intellect, logical reason,  will and freedom, breaking up from the social to have a claim of oneself may prove to be a gargantuan task but really impossible to realize because man has been constituted first as a person, an original creation  of God gifted with the individuality setting him or her apart from the rest, before being part of the human society.

 

Possibility to Live Without Society

For a bigger number of people, the concept of living without society is regarded as an absurd concept since, Aristotle, the great Greek thinker, as cited by Sherzai (2012), pointed out, human beings are by nature social animals. Man lives in a society and within a society where he is bound to be in the so-called chains of relations and dependencies, tied with social responsibilities.  Thus, many argue that it is indeed impossible to live without society which would mean without a code of laws and order. However,  this can be disputed by those who say that man can live without a code of values and norms which governs human society, and that even if man so decides to severe his or her ties with an established institution, like for instance not having any religion,  he or she would maintain some standard of value.                                                      

In his book, “The Social Contract”, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presented the contention, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." It is almost unavoidable to live in a society without social interactions and to have established relations. Every necessity, from a very tiny one to the largest one, is attained through the support of the society, which denotes that living without society is and will never be a possibility (eBooks@Adelaidehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/).              However, many human beings do not feel this dependence over the society as universal and there are those who, intentionally or unintentionally, strive to leave alone, isolated from social life,  detached  from the society and choose to have a life outside of it instead.  Thereby, he or she loses social interactions and as a result suffers what is known as social isolation which refers to a complete or near-complete lack of contact with society  (Sherzai, 2012).

Conclusion

Admittedly, the influence of society is so vast and essential such that a person’s thinking and lifestyle reflects that society where he or she belongs and this influence is important not only to man’s development, but also to a nation and more so to the entire world. Persons provide the foundation upon which a society would function well and survive, thus every society must have as its members, persons who will act, almost automatically, in the way that particular society requires.  Thus, it is man’s  person which enters into society; and it is  by reason of such individuality that the person is in society as a part where transformation and becoming take its course.

 

References

Hopson, Stephen. 20 Ways of Looking at Life From a Different Perspective, retrieved      November 6, 2011 from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Hopson

 Maritain, Jacques (2010). The Human Person and Society

http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/04/01/the-human-person-and-society-%E2%80%93-jacques-maritain/The Jacques Maritain Center, University of Notre Dame.

Mida, Andro (2009). Role of Society - The Key Roles Society Should Play For Social Stability 

             http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andro_Mida

Sherzai, Dilawai (2012). Can Men Live Without Society? Retrieved from   http://outlookafghanistan.net/topics.php?post_id=5361

Spirkin A. (n.d.) Dialectical Materialism: On the Human Being and Being Human @             http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/spirkin/works/dialectical-            materialism/ch05-       

Travis, M. (2001) http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ttpbst/me/writing/durkheim.htm    retrieved October 26, 2011.

Rosseau, Jean Jacques. A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the        Inequality        Among Mankind http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1106/000Title.html

Rosseau, Jean-Jacques.  The Social Contract @eBooks@Adelaide          http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Brain and Moral Relativism and Universalism in Business

By S.Belen

         Education Consultant, Department of Education, Jakarta

Introduction

I already read Damianus Abun’s article entitled Moral Relativism, Universalism / Absolutism and the Teaching of the Church on Catholic Morality in AERA Research Journal, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 2010.

Dami’s analysis is profound and systematic leading to a clear conclusion about his stand to defend moral universalism, specifically from Catholic Church’s point of view. He starts his writing by illustrating discussion with his students about whether morality is universal or relative. He then points out the definition of descriptive morality and normative morality and classifies moral relativism into three categories, i.e. descriptive relativism, meta-ethical relativism and normative relativism. He shows the history of opinions on this issue, from Protagoras (as mentioned by Plato, 1591 B.C.), Herodotus (484 – 420 B.C.), David Hume and Edward Westermarck.

 He then criticizes moral relativism based on four different flaws existing within the arguments. Based on all the analysis, he then emphasizes points to be learnt from Catholic encyclical doctrines / teaching, i.e. Veritatis Splendor (Pope John Paul II, 1993) referring to Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI, 1969) about the teaching of birth control and the analysis of Pope Benedict XVI. Eventually, he comes to a conclusion that moral universalism is not against freedom of an individual or a group but is inclined to protect and promote freedom in our efforts to reach perfection. The perfection is salvation according to the teaching of church. The morality cannot be perceived as relative depending on pure reasons and feelings. The morality depends on the natural law, i.e. God’s law which was taught by Jesus Christ. There is only one truth; there are no two truths or many truths on an issue. Slavery, death penalty and rape for example are against universal law of morality. There is no room for exception or circumstances to be deliberated in order to judge a wrong action as a good moral action as indicated by Humanae Vitae. There is only one truth. There is no relative truth which depends on context, situation, culture or person.

Allow me to comment this issue from other perspectives to enrich Dami’s standpoint. Those perspectives are the relation between morality and human brain, the need for rational analysis and the problem of executing moral values in business.

Morality and human brain

 Basic needs of human brain are oxygen, nutritional food, information and love. Without sufficient supply of each need, brain will die and consequently an individual will die. Because moral values are predominantly based on love, it is clear that the life of a human being cannot be separated from practicing love and its basis, i.e. moral values. As a basic need of brain, love guarantees the survival of brain and consequently the survival of the owner of that brain, i.e. an individual. (Tony Buzan, 2003. Cf. Tony Buzan 2001).

 Additionally, neuroscience researches suggest a number of working principles of human brain:

1. Success principle: every human being is designed to reach success, not failure.
2. Imitation principle: every human being likes to imitate every thing, including language, motions, elder brother or sister, animal, machine sound, a variety of natural sounds, friend, teacher and parents.
3. Synergy principle: human brain is synergic, continuously develops. Illustration: 1+1=2+. In this system ”2+” can be equal to 3, 5, 224, some millions or unlimited. Human brain has unlimited potentials. From baby to old person, an individual can continuously develop his / here spiral thought and learn in a synergy along his / her life.
4. Trial and success principle: an individual is inclined to follow these following steps in achieving success, i.e. trial – event – feedback – check - adjust – succeed.
5.  Perseverance principle: perseverance is a vital intelligence, a learning machine, thinking and creativity.
6. Radial thinking principle: human brain thinks to all directions like a light bulb shines rays to all directions.
7. Brain as a mechanism of truth seeking: human brain does this for the survival of an individual.

The seventh principle is related to moral values. According to this principle, a baby for example should know that fire can burn or a knife can cut finger. If the baby does not know, the chance for survival decreases or even the baby will die. When brain says about truth, the body becomes responsive and all senses work more strongly and stress decreases significantly. Truth is a necessity for the brain. Therefore, many popular genius figures see their life goal as a “truth seeker” in science, arts, philosophy, religion and technology. Unsurprisingly, many heroes and noble figures, saints, state leaders and community leaders frequently say that the goal of their struggle is to build or uphold truth, to protect and sustain life. (Tony Buzan, 2003; Cf. Tony Buzan 2001).

This research result shows that human being keeps striving to reach the truth. And, one of important truths is the universalism of morality. The history of humanity shows that people from generation to generation always develop moral principles and their implementation in real life in many spheres of life for the betterment of humanity. Long time ago slavery was accepted but now slavery is rejected. In the past racism was allowed but nowadays racism is rejected. More and more countries apply death penalty in state laws. Harder sanctions are taken to punish rapists in the countries all around the world. Those examples indicate the prevalence of moral universalism over that of moral relativism throughout the history of mankind.

Rational analysis is needed

Moral relativism has two components, i.e. the negative: “there are no universal moral rules” and the positive: “right and wrong is relative to the society in which the person lives”. On the other hand, absolutists or proponents of moral universalism argue that there are basic universal rules, e.g. “murder is wrong”. Let’s see one example.

The relativists say that the habit of killing an old parent who is very ill whilst healing cure is impossible by his / her child in Eskimo community is not wrong according to the moral value of Eskimo people. From moral universalism / absolutism point of view, murder is wrong. However, in this case we cannot judge this action as immoral because a seriously rational analysis will conclude that a greater value underlying this action is honor to parents as an obligation of a child. This value is morally right. This is a more important moral value. Thus, although from a simple perspective the murder action is immoral but this action can be accountable for the child to stop a long painful suffering of his / her parent in very cold temperature of North Pole. This action is motivated by a right and important moral value.

This case shows that to determine an action whether it is moral or immoral should be conducted by using reason, logic, concepts, rational explanation and public discussion to analyze problem and to find an answer.

 In order to solve the big debate on relativism or universalism of morality, it is important to discuss about the implementation of morality in business area. The reason for this is that the application of moral values seems to be more complicated and there is no easy answer or solution for solving moral problems in business practices, especially in international business interactions due to an increased number of multinational companies operating in many countries and cultures in this global world.

Moral values in business

In general and specifically in business there are at least four major sources of moral values, namely religion, philosophy, culture and law.
In reality it can be seen that there are global differences in moral practices or ethics. Pluralism applies. There are different ethical theories for guiding moral decision making. Additionally, it seems that culture and economic development drive global differences.
Because cultures of nations and ethnic groups are diverse, the implementation of moral values tends to be different. Regarding cultural effects on ethics, Geert Hofstede discusses about Individualist vs. collectivist approaches to deciding who to hire, ‘feminine’ vs. ‘masculine’ approaches to the environment, and high vs. low power distance approaches to responsibility for moral decisions.

Kohlberg also proposes a model of moral development across cultures, which shows a type of hierarchy from the bottom to the top, i.e. (1) obedience and punishment, (2) individualism and reciprocity, (3) interpersonal conformity, (4) social system / law and order, (5) social contract, and (6) universal ethical / moral principles. From observation in a variety of cultures, it can be concluded that stages 1 to 4 apply to various cultures whilst stages 5 and 6 apply only in a limited cultures.
In terms of economic development and how it affects ethics, the tendency is that there is a correlation between higher levels of economic development and the application of higher standards of ethics. This idea is based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Midgley argues against relativism by saying that it results in an inability to judge anything, including relativism, since relativism is a judgment against making condemnations of other cultures. It shows internal inconsistency because if one culture believes that it is all right to condemn other cultures, by relativist standards, there’s no way to tell them to stop immoral practices.
On the other hand, Tom Donaldson argues against absolutism or universalism by saying that it is not respectful, ignores local context and assumes one set of concepts overrides all others.
Donaldson’s Hyperrnorms emphasizes three human values, namely respect for human dignity, respect for basic rights and good citizenship. In terms of respect for human dignity, people should be treated as ends in themselves. For example, corporate culture that respects customers and suppliers and safe products, services and workplace.

In terms of respect for basic rights, a business enterprise must support and protect rights of employees, customers and community and must avoid relationships that violate people’s rights to health, education, safety and adequate standard of living.

In terms of good citizenship, a company should support essential social institutions, such as economic system and education system, and works with other organizations to protect the environment.
According to Donaldson’s Hypernorms Model,  in reality it seems that there is still a moral free space. A corporate is obliged to allow local units to adapt to local standards and to support efforts to decrease corruption.

In implementing supernorms, corporate standards are accepted as absolutes and a corporate should deliberate conditions of acceptance of buyers and suppliers and the corporate should support efforts to decrease corruption. From another point of view, Donaldson’s arguments really show the prevalence of moral universalism. Although the implementation of moral norms or standards is not perfect, a corporate is demanded to rectify the implementation, such as by supporting efforts to decrease corruption.

 From international point of view, it can be stated that there is an evolution among business enterprises to reach universal principles which can be realized globally in various cultures. (Source: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/). One reason for this symptom is pointed out by Pojman. Because of limitations in resources, intelligence, knowledge, rationality and sympathy, the social fabric tends to become chaos. Morality is anti-entropic: it counters the set of limitations, expands our sympathies, and contributes to the betterment of the human predicament.

One important example of international efforts to implement moral universalism is UN Global Compact. This was founded by Kofi Annan in 1999 through international ethics guide which should be known by managers. At least there are 2900 firms in over 100 countries already signed this consensus.
This guide consists of ten universal principles within four categories, i.e. human rights, labor standards, environment and anti-corruption. The vision of this guide is a more sustainable and inclusive global economics. Company can use this as a platform to develop their own specific codes of conduct. In their annual reports, the companies publish how they are promoting the ten principles in their businesses.

Human Rights

•         Principle 1: Support & respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

•         Principle 2: Do not comply with others in human rights abuses.  

Labor Standards

•         Principle 3: Uphold freedom of association;

•         Principle 4: Eliminate forced labor;

•         Principle 5: Abolish child labor; and

•         Principle 6: Eliminate discrimination in employment. 

Environment

•         Principle 7: Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
•         Principle 8: Promote greater environmental responsibility; and
•         Principle 9: Encourage development & diffusion of environment-friendly technologies.  

Anti-Corruption

•         Principle 10: Work against all forms of corruption, including extortion & bribery. 

(Business 303   Sheppard, Business Society & Ethics, Week 10:  Global Ethical Dilemmas).

The big debate on relativism or universalism of morality or the question whether moral standards are universal or dependent on local norms results in three schools of thought, namely moral universalism, moral relativism and integrative social contracts theory. According to the school of moral universalism, same standards of what is moral and what is immoral resonate with people of most societies regardless of local traditions and cultural norms. Consequently, common moral standards can be used to judge conduct of personnel at companies operating in a variety of country markets and cultural circumstances.

Examples of universal moral principles or norms are, honesty, trustworthiness, treating people with dignity and respect, respecting rights of others, practicing the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Pojman), avoiding unnecessary harm to workers and users of a company’s product or service, and respecting the environment.

Moral universalism appeals to draw on collective views of multiple societies and cultures to place clear boundaries on what constitutes moral business behavior and immoral business behavior. A multinational company can apply a code of ethics more or less evenly across its worldwide operations.
On the other hand, according to the school of moral relativism, different societies/cultures/countries put more/less emphasis on some values than others, have different standards of right and wrong and have different social mores and behavioral norms. What is moral or immoral must be judged in light of local customs and social mores and can vary from one country to another.

A most risky moral problem faced by multinational companies is payment of bribes and kickbacks as part of business transactions.
Therefore, moral relativism applies multiple sets of moral standards. The proponents of this thought maintain that there are only a few moral absolutes to judge a company’s conduct in various countries. Conversely, there are plenty of situations where moral norms are contoured to fit local customs and traditions, local beliefs about what are fair and local standards of “right” and “wrong”. They also note that moral problems in business cannot be fully resolved without appealing to the shared convictions of the parties in question. The rule of this school of thought is “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

The third school of thought is the concept of integrative social contracts theory. According to this school of thought, the moral standards a company should try to uphold are governed by both limited number of universal moral principles that are widely recognized as putting legitimate moral boundaries on actions and behavior in all situations and the circumstances of local cultures, traditions, and shared values that further prescribe what constitutes morally permissible behavior and what does not.

Integrative social contracts theory appeals that universal moral principles establish “moral free space” based on the collective view of multiple societies and cultures. Commonly held views about morality and moral principles are used to combine to form a “social contract” with society. It is appropriate for societies or companies to go beyond universal moral principles and specify local or second-order moral norms. Where firms have developed moral codes, the standards they call for provide appropriate moral guidance.

Social contracts theory maintains adherence to universal or first-order moral norms should always take precedence over local or second-order norms.
Relativism (individual, group & culture based notions of right & wrong) and absolutism (universal law of right and wrong) are at extreme ends of the moral spectrum. However, pluralism holds that there are different ethical theories for guiding moral decision making.
Both social contracts theory and pluralism, from another point of view, show that although the big debate on relativism or universalism of morality is not yet finished, mankind keeps striving to improve moral standard implementation. Moral universalism prevails and the perfection process of moral universalism in this global world still evolves. Love as a main menu of human brain and brain as a mechanism of truth seeking are a pillar of this evolution. Let’s be optimistic!

Readings:

 “Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative”, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), file powerpoint (ppt)

 

15, Managing Ethical and Social Responsibility Challenges in Bumper Sticker Ethics S Wilkens, file ppt

 Business 303   Sheppard, Business Society & Ethics, Week 10:
Business Ethics, file ppt

Buzan Tony (2001). Head First, 10 Way to Tap into Your Natural Genius, Bahasa Indonesia version by T.Hermaya: “Head First, 10 cara memanfaatkan 99% kehebatan otak Anda yang selama ini belum pernah Anda gunakan, Jakarta: Gramedia, 2003.

Buzan Tony (2003). Head Strong, Bahasa Indonesia version by Susi Purwoko, Memperkuat hubungan otak-tubuh untuk mendapatkan fisik dan mental yang fit, Jakarta: Gramedia, 2003.

Global Ethical Dilemmas, file ppt  http://www.unglobalcompact.org/

Introduction to Ethics, Comp. Ethics, Intro to Ethics/2, file ppt

Introduction to World Religions, RLG 201a, file ppt

Steines John F, Business, Government, and Society, Chapter 7, file ppt

Louis P.Pojman, Ethics: discovering right and wrong Marketing Ethics, file ppt

 Mistakes in Moral Reasoning, file ppt

Multinational Companies, file ppt.

Railton Peter, Normative Guidance and Moral Motivation, Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan, Oslo, October 2008, file ppt

Rejecting ‘cultural’ justifications for violence against women, A Consultation Paper by the Research Programme Consortium on
‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out’ (WEMC), file ppt

 Strategy, Ethics,  and  Social  Responsibility, Screen graphics created by Jana F. Kuzmicki, Ph.D., Troy University-Florida Region, The McGraw Hill Companies, 2007. file ppt

Week Three: The Morality of Human Rights, file ppt