BASIC CONCEPT OF VALUE

MORAL EDUCATION 1 MR 1351 D PROGRAM PERSEDIAAN IJAZAH SARJANA MUDA PERGURUAN PENGAJIAN CINA AMBILAN JULAI 2010 7 AUGUST 2010 by Tengku Zahiri Tengku Abdul Wahab

Basic Concept Of Value

The dictionary defines value as something or some matter that can be gauged firstly from the point of view or price which can be counted and secondly from intrinsic quality, i.e something that can be felt internally or in our thoughts Hence value exist in many aspects It is found in morality In fact morality is a type of value even though not all values are moral

Example 1 : On our red currency notes, Bank Negara Malaysia makes the declaration Wang Kertas ini sah diperlakukan dengan nilai sepuluh ringgit With this, we use the note to the value of RM 10 just as it is fixed and legalised by BNM This means that we can buy something that costs RM10 with this note This is the example of value from the materialistic aspect From the aspect of morality, there is no difference between a theft of RM10 and of RM 100 though certainly difference in monetary value Commiting theft whether of ten ringgit or of thousand ringgit is an act that is unacceptable

Example 2 : In society if a person has a lot of money he is considered rich and if he does not have much money he is considered poor However we should not assess a person solely on the basis of his wealth or the amount of his wealth or the amount of money he posseses Instead we should appraise him from the point of view of his quality of living, his character and the moral values that he posseses Such intrinsic values can only be felt by the person concerned, or are noticed or taken into account by people who observe them Such a situation explains why there are people who are rich and yet do not feel happy in life and are constantly living in fear

 In terms of value and quality of life, poor people do sometimes find themselves in a better situation than their richer counterpart This raise the issue of people who place more impotance on non-moral values than on moral values There are people who strive to own valuable property but neglect moral and religious values There are also individuals who cling on to certain moral values to the extent that they miss out on opportunities to obtain wealth in the form of money etc There are also people who place importance on both types of values and lead lives that are physically and spritually well-balanced

 Hence the values of a person may differ from those of another and the perception of an individual towards a certain value may also differ from that of another individual For instance we refrain from doing anything that may cause us to be infected with AIDS because we value life and do not wist to die There may be people who consider other values more important in this instance values like honesty, faithfulness, fairness, gratefulness to God, patience etc Nevertheless, all these values are capable of preventing an individual from engaging in practices that may infect him with AIDS

 This examples show that value can be considered in various aspects Values also has several characteristics In humans value can be seen, appraised and felt through the subjects speech, movements, conduct, attitude and actions For instance, a child who is taught the value of politeness or courtesy will speak politely and behave properly only if that child understands and appreciates the value that he has been taught The childs behaviour will be noticed and appraised by people around him, and he might be labelled as a polite boy, a boy who lacks politeness or an impolite boy

TYPES OF MORAL VALUES COMPARED

 Human beings are not only intelligent and can speak, but they also like to evaluate and can differentiate between good and evil, beautiful and ugly, valuable and invaluable As a result, evaluating and making choices are main human functions which are carried out most of the time Roughly the term value is used in three different contexts

 Value as an atrribute. The English saying, Time is Money or Malay proverb Masa itu emas both depict time as being precious value Value as a measure of price or of marks assigned to something, i.e quantity. In the question , what value did the head of department give you for your work perfomance?. Value here means the total marks that is quantity given to the officer by the head of department when the later assessed your work perfomance in the Work Perfomance Assessment Form of the civil service in Malaysia

 Value in axiological context, i.e pertaining to moral or aesthetic value judgements. Consider this Malay pantun : Jangan ditangkap burung yang terbang Turun hinggap di tepi paya Jangan diharap kepada orang Usaha sendiri hingga berjaya Personal effort is an important factor in realising the things we hope for in life, not dependence on other people In short, value funtcions as a yardstick or a standard for anything that humans do, desire and wish for, whether it can be seen, heard or felt by our senses

Instrumental (Extrinsic) Values and Intrinsic Values

Instrumental or Extrinsic Value Quality received or rejected as instrument to achieve certain objective Dependent on other values to achieve certain objective Second order values, e.g bravery, diligince, respect for others Intrinsic Value Quality received or rejected solely because it is good or bad without considering its effect Not dependent on other values to achieve certain objectives. The value mentioned is itself the final objective First order values, e.g kindness,love

Example Bombing Hiroshima to end the war Imposing the death penalty for drug traffickers to stamp out drug trafficiking activities

Example A judge passes a death by hanging sentence on a person found guilty of trafficking drug purely because it is obligatory for the judge to do so because of the lawnot because the judge himself wishes to stamp out drug

2. Subjective Values and Objectives Values

Subjectives Values Quality accepted or rejected by someone who gives his views Accepted or rejected on the basis of an individuals opinion Example : The USAs desire to attack Iraq Britain said that the US should attack Iraq for the sake of long term peace in the world so that Iraq could not continue to produce weapons of mass destruction. France on the other hand said that US should not attack Iraq because such an attack would sacrife the lives of many innocent people General Quality that may be valuable or not valuable but free from personal choice Accepted or rejected on the basis of a set of criteria agreed upon by all or a majority of people Example : War is horrible tragedy Slavery does not reflect humanitarian values Child labour is a cruel practice which must be abolished

Relative Values and Absolute Values

Relative Values Value accepted or rejected by regulations in a society in order to achieve certain societal objectives It is arbitrary, not perfect and differs in other societies Can change with times Absolute Values Value the worth of which is not related to the custom of a certain society Generally accepted and tested or proven to be good or bad Constant at all times and in all places and in almost all norms of society Living as a legally married couple is a good practice

In Kuala Lumpur, a family can develop only through an official marriage of a couple. On the other hand, in California, a family can be formed without an official marriage

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