Values

Nature, meaning & purpose of Values.

Dr. Jay A. Garcia

CHAPTER 1
The Meaning, Nature and Purpose of Values
• Values refer to the major priorities that man chooses to act on, and that creatively
enhances his life and the lives of those with whom he associates with.

The Essence of Values

• Etymologically, the word values comes from the Latin word valere which means
to measure the worth of something.
• Axiology is defined as the philosophical science of values. Max Scheler is the
foremost exponent of axiology.

According to Scheler:
“Acts reveal the person’s value preferences. Like a prism that reflects the invisible
spectrum of colors, a person’s acts manifest his invisible order of values.”

The Meaning, Nature and Purpose of Values

• Values is being itself or the richness of being in as much as it has power to attract
the cognitive and appetitive potentials of men.
• Values refer to the major priorities that one chooses to act on. – Brian Hall

The Meaning, Nature and Purpose of Values

Values means whatever is actually liked, prized, esteemed, desired, approved, and
enjoyed by anyone at anytime. - Brightman

Phenomenology of Moral Values

1. A description of moral insights into a moral experience shows the following:
• There is awareness of the difference between right or wrong.
• Moral experience cannot be reduced to other human experiences.
• There is a “must” quality, i.e., it is expected & demanded that anyone be moral.
• We experience an “ought” in doing good & avoiding evil.
• Yet we are free to do good or evil.
2. From phenomenon of dialogue, when we speak of & judge others.

Characteristics of Moral Values.

1. A value becomes moral because it is recognized as reasonable & freely chosen by
a human person.
2. Moral values are pro-eminent over the other human values.
3. Moral values are absolute: i.e., independent of other values & preferred for their
own sake.
 4. Moral values are universal & necessary for everyone; i.e., friendship remains a
value to all even if the friend is a rascal.
5. Moral values are obligatory; i.e., they ought to be realized & cannot be postponed.

Characteristics of Values
Max Scheler, in his theory of values, gives 4 characteristics or properties of values.
1. They are pure valuable essences or qualities.
2. They are objective & transcend the sentimental perceptions to which they appeal.
3. They are hierarchically given, dependent & relative among themselves & with the
perceiver.
4. They are always given in pairs, i.e. the positive value has always its corresponding
counter value.

Tomas Andres, outlines other properties of Values.

 Value is relative. Any value or good may be viewed as: a) good for what? or b)
good for whom?
 Value is subjective. If all values or good are relative, then, in any relation, there
are 3 things to consider:
1. That which is related to some other thing. Taken from the Latin word a quo
meaning “from which”.
2. That to which the former is related or referred. Taken from the Latin word ad
quem meaning “to which”.
3. The basis of relationship between the two terms, i.e., the reason why the term a
quo is related to the term ad quem.

• Value is objective. Value has an absolute character since it has an objectivity

independent from human appreciation or judgement.
• Value is bipolar. In its deepest structure, value never goes alone but is
accompanied by a countervalue.
• Value is hierarchical. Within the realm of value & among the different classes &
groups there exists a hierarchy, a scaled gradation of values.

Classification of Values
According to ancient philosophers, there are three fundamental classification of values:
• Useful or utilitarian good. A thing is useful when some other things are obtained
from & through it.
• Pleasurable or delectable good. A thing is pleasurable when it provides pleasure
to the subject.
• Befitting or becoming good. A thing is befitting when it develops, completes, or
perfects the subject.

Other authorities classify values as either intrinsic or instrumental.

• Intrinsic – for its own sake.
• Instrumental – for the sake of some other good.
 Values
Towards Being Human
Dr. Jay A. Garcia
Professor
CHAPTER 2

What does it mean to MAN?

 By nature, man is a worldly being: he cannot be conceived and be born; he cannot

live and die, except in the world he lives on.

Man as a Being at the World

 Man’s existence is not a passive existence in the world. He does not only live in
the world. He is also an actor, adding his labors to the world.
 Man exists as a being at work in the world. And the world becomes the fruit of his
labors.
Man as a being Through Others
 Man is a being through others. He cannot grow up; he cannot work completely
and efficiently except through others. His sickness, his recovery, his work, and
even his death will become meaningful only when considered in reference to
others like him.

Man as a being with others

 This is his sociability. No man can ever be regarded as an island.
 However, Every individual has a hierarchy of needs, as given by Abraham
Maslow.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 Physiological needs.
 Safety needs.
 Social needs.
 Esteem needs.
 Self Actualization

Physiological Needs
These are the primary needs of an individual. Food, clothing, and shelter.

Safety Needs

 These includes freedom from threat, protection from physical harm, and security
of the surroundings.
Social Needs
 Needs to love and to belong

Esteem Needs
 These needs include self-respect, respect for others, recognition, self-confidence
and prestige.

Self Esteem
 A person’s feelings of his/her own worth based on knowing one’s importance,
abilities, knowledge, and achievements.

Esteem of Others
 Being recognized and appreciated as a person, respected and considered important
by others.

Self Actualization
 This is also known as the need for self-fulfillment and self-realization. It involves
maximizing one’s abilities, skills, and potentials to fulfill one’s goals.

Man as Being for Himself

 Love for oneself is a prerequisite to loving others. As a saying goes “Charity
begins at Home”, however it should not stop there. It must be extend to others
since man is also a being for others.

Man as Being for Others

 One the basic needs of man is the need to be love & to be loved.

Robert H. Schuller outlines a series of reminders to people. He says:

1. Even if you have lost everything – someone, somewhere needs your love.
2. Even if you failed in love – someone, somewhere can give you courage to try
again.
3. Even if you have failed in life – someone, somewhere, cares.
4. Even if you are ridiculed & rejected – someone, somewhere, accepts you.
5. Even if life has been unfair to you – someone, somewhere, needs you the way you
are.
6. Even if you are poor – someone, somewhere, will treasure you.
7. Even if you are trapped – someone, somewhere, can liberate you with love.
8. Even if you are grief-stricken – someone, somewhere, can fill the void.
9. Even if you are dying, someone, somewhere, loves you forever.

Let us consider the following as the element of love:

 Knowledge of the person.
 Faith or trust in the person.
 Hope
  Care/concern for the good of the other

Values
Nature & Human Nature
Dr. Jay A. Garcia
Professor

CHAPTER 3
Journeying Back to the Self
 It is important for anyone to understand himself & his nature from psychological
point of view.

According to Coleman and Hammen:

 Human nature is anything a group of people share, certain emotions and feelings:
love, hate, honesty, dishonesty, peace, war, working, loafing, all can be dubbed
with the name human nature.
 To men, human nature means just that- being human, with the ability to
experience great joy, sensual pleasure, sorrow, etc.

Oneself, Free or Determined

 Some philosophers believe that human beings are pawns of fate. The great
dramatic tragedies of Aechylus and Sophocles are pervaded by the ancient Greek
belief that men and women are pawns of fate.
 The calvinist doctrine of predestination, which holds that at birth every individual
has already been elected to salvation or condemned to damnation, is a later
example of philosophic or religious determinism.
 According to this, carried to its logical extreme, strict determinism is essentially
predetermination-events are determined by what has happened before. “What will
be will be” and are only puppets who play our part as it is written with no chance
of altering the script.
 The irreconcilable paradox of determinism versus freedom has been well pointed
out by Carl Rogers in relation to the therapeutic situation.

“In the therapeutic relationship, some of the most compelling subjective experiences
are those in which the client feels within himself the power of naked choice.”

Different Psychosocial Models

 Psychoanalytic Model
 Based on the pioneering works of Sigmund Freud.

Psychoanalytic Model
 Id – contains the innate, primitive, biological drives such as hunger, thirst, &
aggression. These primitive drives are seen as being of 2 types:
  Constructive drives, primarily of a sexual nature, which provides the basic
energy of life or libido.
 Destructive & aggressive urges which are more obscure but tend toward
self-destruction & death.

Psychoanalytic Model
 Ego – mediates between the demands of the id & the realities of the external
world. This requires the use of reason & other intellectual resources in dealing
with the realities of the external world.
 Superego – refers to the outgrowth of learning taboos & moral values of the
society – Conscience.

Humanistic Model
 This model is characterized more by its positive growth than by coherent set of
principles of personality development & functioning. It assumes that human
behavior cannot be understood in terms of external stimulus conditions alone;
internal psychological structures & processes also have causal influence on
thought, feeling, & action.

Carl Rogers gave important contribution to the development of this theory in

delineating the self concept.
1. Each individual exists in a private world of experience of which he – the I, me, or
myself – is the center.
2. The most basic striving of the individual is toward the maintenance, enhancement,
& actualization of the self;
3. The individual reacts to the situations in terms of his unique perceptions of himself
& his world.
4. Perceived threat to the self is followed by defense
5. The individual’s inner tendencies are toward health & wholeness, & under normal
conditions.

Behavioristic Model
 Originated from the early work of John Watson. This model makes allowance for
behavior which is good or evil, rational or irrational, depending upon the
individual’s conditioning.

The existence Model

This model has its origin from philosophy and literature than from science. It is more
concerned of the predicament of man in the 20th century. It emphasizes the breakdown of
traditional faith, the depersonalization of the individual in a standardized mass culture,
and the loss of meaning in human existence.

 According to Morris;
1. “I am choosing my way through life”

2. “I am a free, agent, absolutely free to set the goals of my life.”

 3. “ I am a responsible agent, personally accountable for my free choices as they are
revealed in how I live my life.”

A Systems Approach to Understanding Human Behavior

 Structural properties- Each living system possesses parts or subsystems which are
independent and whose combined action enable the system to function as an
integrated unit.
 Integrative properties- Living systems have built-in tendencies to maintain their
organization and functional integrity.
 Field properties- Each lower-level system is part of a higher-level system. They
are in constant transaction with the field and this constant interaction modifies
both system and field.

Human system possesses other special characteristic

 Self awareness- Only the human race seems to have evolved to a high level of
reflective consciousness or self-awareness.
 Modifiability of action- Man’s mental ability enables him to learn, reason out, and
imagine with unlimited flexibility to cope with prevailing new situations.
 Use symbols- Man’s unique mental endowment enables him to deal with ideas,
symbols, particularly of those absent, or imaginary objects, events and concepts.
 Concern with information, values and meaning- Man is given the chance to make
choices as to what goals to adopt and what means to use.
 Complexity of transactions with field- Man is always in contact with his
environment.
 Self-direction- These various properties of human beings—reflective self-
awareness, modifiability of action, use of symbols, concern with information,
values and meaning, and complexity or transactions with the environment—make
possible a high degree of self-direction.
 Values
The Self & Its Development
Dr. Jay A. Garcia
Professor

CHAPTER 4
Significance of the Self
Who Am I ?
Who am I? Who am I?
My clothes? My work? My mode?
Am I just a thing? No!

Am I my parents? Brothers? Friends?

Am I They?

I think I am different from them.

Just who am I? Am I my name?

My face? My bones? My breath?
My feelings? My thoughts? & Memory?
Each of them is a part of me,
But not me.

Who am I really? What is the truth?

I’m alive, enthusiastic, free & unique.

Above all, like God, I loved.

All this, I am – my innermost being
Who am I? Who am I?
I AM A PERSON

Heredity, Environment, & the Self

 Heredity – human life really begins at conception when the egg cell of the female
is fertilized by the sperm cell of the male. At this point, the human being receives
a genetic inheritance which provides the basic potentialities for his development
& behavior.
 Environment – man’s physical & socio-cultural environment heavily influence
the extent to which his genetic potentials are realized.
 Self – each of us is like all other persons, like some other persons & like no other
persons.
Nature of the Self
 According to George Herbert Mead, to have a self is to have the capacity to
observe, respond to, & direct one’s own behavior.

Characteristics of the Self

1. The self is not an entity, but a process.
2. The self is reflexive
3. The self is comprised of attitudes
4. The self is the means whereby social control becomes self control.

Origin of the Self

1. Infant engages in imitative but meaningless behavior.
2. Once the child begins to functions symbolically, play activities become important
in the development of the self.
3. Then, organized game follows.

Development of the Self

1. Self-identity – his perceptions of who he is.
2. Self-evaluation – his feelings of worth & adequacy.
3. Self-ideal – his picture of the person he could be & should be.
Our Frame of Reference
1. Assumptions concerning reality.
2. Assumptions about values.
3. Assumptions concerning possibility.

The Self According to Different Authors

1. William James – the self incorporates feelings & attitudes along with a principle
of causality.
2. G.A. Allport – He calls the ego – which has the appropriate function in the
personality – the self.
3. Sigmund Freud – the ego decides what instincts to satisfy as well as in what
manner to satisfy them.
4. George H. Mead – he claims that the persons responds to himself with a certain
feelings & attitudes as others respond to him.
5. K. Lewin – the self-concept is represented by a life space region which determines
present belief about the self.
6. H. Lundholm. – he distinguished a subjective self from an objective self.
7. Sherif and Cantril. – they asserted that the self is an object and the ego is the
process.
8. P.M. Symonds. – he sees the ego as a group of processes and the self as the manner
in which the individual reacts to himself.
9. R.B. Catell. - he distinguished the real self from the ideal self.
 Real self – that which a person must rationally admit to be the actual.
 Ideal self – that which a person would aspire to become.
10. G. Murphy. – he defines “self” as the individual as known to the individual.
11. Carl Rogers. – he believes in the discontinuity of the unconscious and the
conscious.
12. D. Snygg and A.W. Combs – A person behaves as a result of how he perceives
the situation and himself at the moment of his action.

Children learn what they live

If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement,

He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval,

He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.

Self-Esteem
 Man experiences his desire for self-esteem as an urgent imperative, as a basic
need. Self-Esteem has two interrelated aspects: it entails a sense of personal
efficacy and a sense of personal worth. It is the integrated sum of self confidence
and self respect.

Self-Confidence
1. a man can achieve and maintain a sharp mental focus.
2. a man can differentiate between knowledge and feelings.
3. a man perform an independent act of analysis.

Self-Respect

This refers to the sense of worthiness. A

man’s character is the sum of the principles
and values that guide his actions in the face
of moral choices.

Self-Esteem and Pride

 Self-Esteem pertains to a man’s conviction of his fundamental efficacy and worth,
while pride pertains to the pleasure a man takes in himself on the basis of his
response to specific achievements, or actions.
Factors Affecting Self-Esteem
1. Attitudes of adults towards the growing infant and child
2. Emotional disastrous experience of the individual, considered as a threat to self,
which affects his stability.
3. Self-attitudes are also affected by the status of the group to which a person belongs
4. The individual’s role and status in the group.

Plural Participation of the Self

 Social distance. It measures the degree of intimacy or remoteness, of acceptance
or rejection, in social relations.
 Identification. In this process, the individual takes over the ideas, belief, and
habits of the members of a group and makes them his own.
 Assimilation. This is the final stage in the imperceptible transmission from
cultural hybrid to cultural fusion

Perceiving and Experiencing

According to Carl Rogers as new experiences are encountered by the individual, they
either:
1. Categorized and organized into some relationship with the self.
2. Ignored because they are not perceived as having significance to the self.
3. Perceived in a distorted way because they are incongruent with individual’s self-
concept.

Adjustment and enhancement of the self

1. Self-defense and Self-enhancement – these techniques have been derived from
the psychoanalytic mechanism.
2. Repression – psychologically, this is a form of selective forgetting.
3. Fantasy – this techniques is used by the individual in his earliest attempts to
adjust himself to changes in his environment.
4. Compensation- It is a mechanism of adjustment that all people resort to in the face
of frustration, failure, and other threats to the self.
5. Rationalization – as a mechanism of adjustment, rationalization is a technique of
self-concealment and self-justification.
6. Projection – it is closely related to rationalization. One’s weakness is not in
himself but in another.
7. Fixation and Regression – fixation is the arrest of development at an immature
level.
8. Identification and Sublimation – identification consists, to a large extent, in
erecting a model for the self to imitate. While sublimation refers to the need of the
socialized individual to redirect forbidden urges into socially acceptable forms of
behavior.
9. Self-enhancement – the tendency of every organism is to return to a condition of
repose or equilibrium when its needs are satisfied.

Self-Esteem and Pleasure

• Pleasure is a metaphysical concomitant to life, the reward and consequences of
successful action, just as pain is the symbol of failure, destruction and death.

Authenticity and Becoming

• The greatest needs of man today is a true and deep love of self, a genuine and
joyful self-acceptance, an authentic self-esteem, which results in an interior sense
of celebration: “It’s good to be me… I am very happy to be me.”
 Values
Journeying Back To One’s Family
Dr. Jay A. Garcia
Professor
CHAPTER 5
What is a Family?
 Family is the basic social institution & the primary group in any society, which
public policy cherishes & protects.
 According to Murdock – family is a social group characterized by common
residence, economic cooperation, & reproduction.
 Burgess & Locke defined the family as a group of persons united by ties of
marriage, blood or adoption.
 The family may be viewed as a subsystem with interacting personalities.
 Family may be also viewed as an agency playing a vital role in the development
of one’s personality.

Classification of the Family

 Nuclear Family – composed of husband, wife & their children.
 Extended Family – composed of two or more nuclear families related to each
other economically & socially.
 Two types of extended families may be derived from this classification:
 Consaguineal Family
 Conjugal Family

Consaguineal Family
 Which considers the nucleus of blood relatives as more important than the
spouses.

Conjugal Family
 Which considers the spouses of their children as prime importance.

According to Place of Residence

 Patrilocal Family – Residing near the parents of the groom.
 Matrilocal Family – Residing near the parents of the bride
 Bilocal Family – Free to select where to reside.
 Neolocal Family – Permits the newly wed couple to reside independently of their
parents.

According to Descent
 Patrilineal descent
 Matrilineal descent
 Bilateral descent

According to Authority
 Patriarchal Family – Headed by the Father
 Matriarchal Family – Headed by the Mother
 Equalitarian Family – Both Husband & Wife exercise a more or less equal
amount of authority.
 Matricentric Family – Where the absence of the Father gives the Mother an
authority.

Forms of Marriage
 Monogamy – Permits the man to have only one spouse at any time.

Forms of Marriage
 Polygamy – Plural Marriage
– Polygyny – Refers to the marriage of one man to two or more women.
– Polyandry – Refers to the marriage of one woman to two or more men.
– Group Marriage – Marriage of group of men to group of women.

Functions of the Family

 The Family is the unit of reproduction.
 It performs the function of biological maintenance.
 The family socializes the members.
 It provides the status of the members.
 It serve as an important mechanism for social control
 The family serves as the first & foremost school where every children learns the
major lessons in life.
 It performs such other functions to meet the material & economic, religious &
social needs of the child.

Family Developmental Tasks

 Physical Maintenance
 Allocation of resources.
 Division of Labor
 Socializing the family members
 Reproduction, recruitment & release of the family members.
 Maintenance of order.
 Placement of members in the larger society.
 Maintenance of motivation & morale.