The Moral and Spiritual Aspects of our Personality Objectives:
1. Understand the moral and spiritual aspects of an individual’s personality 2. Enumerate and explain the different types of values
3. Discuss what philosophy in life is and how it affects in the action or behaviour of a person 4. Learn and discuss the five branches of philosophy
5. Enumerate and discuss the theories of philosophy MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUES:
There are different types of values and these include the following: Ethical/Moral Values
Doctrinal/Ideological (Religious/Political) Views Social Values
Aesthetic Values
A. MORAL VALUES are the guiding principles and standards that define and measure choices we make in life. It defines the right and wrong in the behaviour or conduct of man with his
fellowmen. These are the set of emotional rules we follow to help us in making the right decisions in life, at home, and in our personal relationships. When values are used in a professional setting, they are called ETHICS.
a. An individual may have moral values that are derived from the society and government, religion or self. When moral values are derived from the society and government, they may change as the laws and morals of the society.
b. Moral Values may also be derived from one’s self. This is demonstrated in the behaviour of children varying of ages.
c. Moral Values are personal choices based on beliefs that guide their life and decisions. This set of values must be consistent and sets the foundation where measures of integrity are based.
B. DOCTRINAL VALUES are based on beliefs that may find its roots on religious teachings. IT may also be based on law, and are defined through past decisions in history or traditions.
Values can be defined by their chosen religion. There are built-in lists of do’s and don’t’s, a set of rules or codes which should be followed by those who are members of a religion.
C. SOCIAL VALUES are integral part of the culture. Along with beliefs and assumptions on the view of the world, this would generate behaviour that would be the result when man is confronted with a situation. Culture is shared with people who have a common core set of values and this creates expectations and predictability. Without a common culture, a society would disintegrate and its members would lose their personal identity and sense of worth. D. AESTHETIC VALUES allows people to look at an object and recognize the art worth in terms of
its features, and call it “work of art”. This particular value is still being debated by many
philosophers as the nature of aesthetics and beauty varies from person to person. It deals with man’s appreciation with the nature of beauty, art, taste, that may be created or naturally present in the environment.
PHILOSOPHIES OF LIFE
Philosophy is a system of beliefs that is considered as acceptable by a group of people. It provides a rational explanation of man’s existence, knowledge, values, reasons, and ethics. Thus, when one talks of the philosophy of life, this refers to how an individual appreciates his life, at looking at things, rationalizing things that happen to him, and of dealing with people around him.
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy can be divided into five branches which address the following questions:
PHILOSOPHY STUDY Metaphysics Study of
Existence What's out there? It defines whether the world is real, or merely an illusion, providing a fundamental view of the world around us.
Epistemology Study of Knowledge
How do I know about it? It focuses on how we acquire knowledge, and how our minds are related to reality, and whether these relationships are valid or invalid.
Ethics Study of
Action What should I do? It deals with what is the proper course of action for man, the right and wrong in human activities. Politics Study of
Force What actions are permissible? This is ethics, applied to a community, setting it up, and how one should act within it.
Aesthetics Study of
Art What can life be like? It is the study of art, what it consists and the purpose behind it.
When one talks about personal philosophy, it simply means the way an individual looks at things and people around him. It is one of the most essential elements of his being, a part of his manner, emotions, thinking and reactions.
THEORIES OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Realism – This is a theory that some things have existence outside of the mind. E.g: Clothes, dresses, money
2. Nominalism – This theory provides that abstract or universal terms are words only, or denote mental states such as idea, beliefs, or intentions. E.g: Love and Hate
3. Rationalism – This theory focuses on the importance of the human reason. When someone undertakes an action, he tries to explain how he arrives at that action by undertaking a rationalizing stance.
4. Skepticism – This theory provides an attitude that questions the possibility of obtaining any sort of knowledge.
5. Idealist – The theory maintains that nothing can be directly known outside the minds of thinking beings.
6. Pragmatist – The statement is said to be true if it is a reflection of the actions taken. 7. Phenomenology – It is an attempt to lay foundations for an account of the structure of
conscious experience in general.
8. Existentialism – It lays a philosophical thinking that begins with the human subject, composed of his thoughts, his actions, feeling, and the entire living human individual.
9. Structuralism – It seeks to clarify systems of signs through analyzing the written or spoken communication.
Man’s philosophy can be defined and influenced by a number of factors as the following:
Culture – What influences and how one behaves in his personal and professional life is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution,
organization, or group.
Attitudes – Represents an individual’s degree of like or dislike for an item. It is generally positive or negative views of a person, place or thing, or event.
Emotions – Associated with personality, mood, and temperament, and disposition of a person. It affects cognitions, motivations, and behaviours in various situations. Mood, on the other hand, is a relatively long lasting emotional state.
Values – Is a set of consistent values and measures, upon which other values and measures of integrity are based.
Authority – Is imposed by superiors upon inferiors either by force of arms or by force of argument, either through compulsion and/or persuasion.
Rapport – One of the most important features or characteristics of unconscious human interaction. It projects commonality of prospective.
Genetics – Is a discipline of biology which refers to the science of heredity and variation in living organisms.
Having the explanations above, the tourism and hospitality worker must thus be very conscious of his philosophy in life as it will define the very essence of his work, his attitude, and how he handles his
