Day 18 – Q 1.Is it necessary to have the stamp of societal approval for a value to be termed as ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Critically examine.

1. Is it necessary to have the stamp of societal approval for a value to be termed as ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Critically examine. 

 क्या किसी मूल्य के लिए ‘अच्छा‘ या ‘बुरा‘ कहलाने हेतु सामाजिक स्वीकृति की मोहर आवश्यक है? समालोचनात्मक जांच करें।

Introduction:

Values are Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable. Values have major influence on a person’s behaviour and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in all situations.

Body

Is it necessary to have the stamp of societal approval for a value to be termed as ‘good’ or    ‘bad’?

Values are essential to ethics. Ethics is concerned with human actions, and the choice of those actions. Ethics evaluates those actions, and the values that underlie them. It determines which values should be pursued, and which shouldn’t.

• What makes an act of killing morally good or bad is not that the act causes loss of life or consciousness but rather that the act causes loss of all remaining abilities. This account implies that it is not even pro tanto morally wrong to kill patients who are universally and irreversibly disabled, because they have no abilities to lose.  But in matters of Capital Punishment, Abortion, Euthanasia the act becomes morally correct when the respected societies approves it.
• Values help shape a society by suggesting what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sought or avoided. Consider the value that the United States places upon youth. Children represent innocence and purity, while a youthful adult appearance signifies sexuality. Shaped by this value, individuals spend millions of dollars each year on cosmetic products and surgeries to look young and beautiful. The United States also has an individualistic culture, meaning people place a high value on individuality and independence. In contrast, many other cultures are collectivist, meaning the welfare of the group and group relationships are a primary value.
• When people go against a society’s values, they are punished. A boy who shoves an elderly woman aside to board the bus first may receive frowns or even a scolding from other passengers. A business manager who drives away customers will likely be fired. Breaking norms and rejecting values can lead to cultural sanctions such as earning a negative label—lazy, or to legal sanctions, such as traffic tickets, fines, or imprisonment.
• Values are not static; they vary across time and between groups as people evaluate, debate, and change collective societal beliefs. Values also vary from culture to culture. For example, cultures differ in their values about what kinds of physical closeness are appropriate in public. It’s rare to see two male friends or coworkers holding hands in the United States where that behavior often symbolizes romantic feelings. But in many nations, masculine physical intimacy is considered natural in public. This difference in cultural values came to light when people reacted to photos of former president George W. Bush holding hands with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in 2005. A simple gesture, such as hand-holding, carries great symbolic differences across cultures.
• Some values stand up well over the test of time and they don’t need societal approval to be good or bad; they are always good or rightful behavior. Honesty and kindness, compassion are two such examples. It is difficult to imagine having a satisfying relationship without them because they build trust in relationships.

Conclusion

Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.