WHAT ARE MY MORAL VALUES?
You have many values-the guiding principles that you consider to be most important-that you have acquired over the course of your life. Your values deal with every aspect of your experience. The following questions are designed to elicit some of your values. Think carefully about each of the questions, and record yourresponses along with the reasons you have adopted that value. In addition, describe several of your moral values that are not addressed in these questions. A sample student response is included below.
- Do we have a moral responsibility toward less fortunate people?
- Is it wrong to divulge a secret that someone has confided in you?
- Should we eat meat? Should we wear animal skins?
- Should we try to keep people alive at all costs, no matter what their physical or mental condition?
- Is it wrong to kill someone in self-defense?
- Should people be given equal opportunities, regardless of race, religion, or gender?
- Is it wrong to ridicule someone, even if you believe it's in good fun?
- Should you "bend the rules" to advance your career?
- Is it all right to manipulate people into doing what you want if you believe it's for their own good?
- Is there anything wrong with pornography?
- Should we always try to take other people's needs into consideration when we act, or should we first make sure that our own needs are taken care of?
- Should we experiment with animals to improve the quality of our lives?