A moral value is a universally accepted principle that governs the day to day living of life. These principles are important in maintaining unity, harmony and honor between people. Moral values are usually communal and shared by the public in general, thus if there is no agreement among community members no moral values will be established.

The universal moral values are those accepted by the international community. These are:

•Peace;

• Freedom;

•Social progress;

•Equal rights;

•Human dignity.

Other moral and ethical values are:

•Accept responsibility for personal actions and for the consequences of these actions;

•Accept a duty of care;

•Affirm the individual's right to self-determination;

•Put the truth first;

•Never use a person as merely an unconsenting means to an end, even if the end benefits others;

•Be honest;

•Honor agreements;

•Conduct relationships with integrity;

•Leave a positive legacy to future generations.

With respect to ethics the following are the principles to be considered:

Principles of Personal Ethics

Personal ethics might also be called morality, since they reflect general expectations of any person in any society, acting in any capacity. These are the principles:

Principles of Personal Ethics include:

•Concern for the well-being of others;

•Respect for the autonomy of others;

•Trustworthiness and honesty;

•Willing compliance with the law (with the exception of civil disobedience);

•Basic justice; being fair;

•Refusing to take unfair advantage;

•Benevolence: doing good;

•Preventing harm

Principles of Professional Ethics

Individuals acting in a professional capacity take on an additional burden of ethical responsibility. For example, professional associations have codes of ethics that prescribe required behavior within the context of a professional practice such as medicine, law, accounting, or engineering. These written codes provide rules of conduct and standards of behavior based on the principles of Professional Ethics, which include:

• Impartiality; objectivity; openness; full disclosure;

• Confidentiality;

• Due diligence / duty of care;

• Fidelity to professional responsibilities;

• Avoiding potential or apparent conflict of interest

Even when not written into a code, principles of professional ethics are usually expected of people in business, employees, volunteers, elected representatives and so on.

Principles of Global Ethics

Global ethics are the most controversial of the three categories, and the least understood. Open to wide interpretation as to how or whether they should be applied, these principles can sometimes generate emotional response and heated debate.

Principles of Global Ethics include:

•Global justice (as reflected in international laws);

•Society before self / social responsibility;

•Environmental stewardship;

•Interdependence and responsibility for the ‘whole’;

•Reverence for place

The Elements of Moral Philosophy by James and Stuart Rachels.

Oliver I have a number of threads on ResearchGate which touch on this topic. Some of them have a huge number of respondents. Check these links out and see if you find anything you can use:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Bedrock_ethical_values-any_suggestions

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_Objective_Moral_Values_OMVs_exist_If_so_what_is_their_nature_If_not_why_are_we_so_inclined_to_act_as_though_they_did

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_there_a_compelling_secular_way_to_underwrite_claims_of_human_rights_and_dignity_such_as_we_find_in_the_UNs_Universal_Declaration_of_Human_rights

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Are_moral_values_invented_or_discovered

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_entities_have_moral_status_and_to_what_degree_do_they_have_it

Cheers,

Bill

A moral value is a universally accepted principle that governs the day to day living of life. These principles are important in maintaining unity, harmony and honor between people. Moral values are usually communal and shared by the public in general, thus if there is no agreement among community members no moral values will be established.

The universal moral values are those accepted by the international community. These are:

•Peace;

• Freedom;

•Social progress;

•Equal rights;

•Human dignity.

Other moral and ethical values are:

•Accept responsibility for personal actions and for the consequences of these actions;

•Accept a duty of care;

•Affirm the individual's right to self-determination;

•Put the truth first;

•Never use a person as merely an unconsenting means to an end, even if the end benefits others;

•Be honest;

•Honor agreements;

•Conduct relationships with integrity;

•Leave a positive legacy to future generations.

With respect to ethics the following are the principles to be considered:

Principles of Personal Ethics

Personal ethics might also be called morality, since they reflect general expectations of any person in any society, acting in any capacity. These are the principles:

Principles of Personal Ethics include:

•Concern for the well-being of others;

•Respect for the autonomy of others;

•Trustworthiness and honesty;

•Willing compliance with the law (with the exception of civil disobedience);

•Basic justice; being fair;

•Refusing to take unfair advantage;

•Benevolence: doing good;

•Preventing harm

Principles of Professional Ethics

Individuals acting in a professional capacity take on an additional burden of ethical responsibility. For example, professional associations have codes of ethics that prescribe required behavior within the context of a professional practice such as medicine, law, accounting, or engineering. These written codes provide rules of conduct and standards of behavior based on the principles of Professional Ethics, which include:

• Impartiality; objectivity; openness; full disclosure;

• Confidentiality;

• Due diligence / duty of care;

• Fidelity to professional responsibilities;

• Avoiding potential or apparent conflict of interest

Even when not written into a code, principles of professional ethics are usually expected of people in business, employees, volunteers, elected representatives and so on.

Principles of Global Ethics

Global ethics are the most controversial of the three categories, and the least understood. Open to wide interpretation as to how or whether they should be applied, these principles can sometimes generate emotional response and heated debate.

Principles of Global Ethics include:

•Global justice (as reflected in international laws);

•Society before self / social responsibility;

•Environmental stewardship;

•Interdependence and responsibility for the ‘whole’;

•Reverence for place

Oliver,

Describing the research and preparation behind his Shared Values for a Troubled World: Conversations With Men and Women of Conscience (1994), Rushworth Kidder speaks of a process of “global interviewing,” in which he met with 24 people from 16 countries. (Kidder, 2003, pp. 91-92 and 2005, pp. 43-44) Kidder intentionally interviewed people whom he felt were “ethical standard bearers” for their countries, referring to each of them as “a centre of moral gravity.” (Kidder, 2005, p. 43) Kidder asked each interviewee to provide a list of values towards a global code of ethics which they personally felt to be representative of their culture and background. Kidder then compiled a list of common values which he says is a composite of those which were identified in his interviews. They are as follows: love, truthfulness, fairness, freedom, unity, tolerance, responsibility, and respect for life. (Kidder, 2003, pp. 91-92 and 2005, pp. 43-44) Kidder describes his listing as “a piece of journalism which makes no claims to socially scientific validity.” (Kidder, 2003, p. 92) Kidder holds that his work helps substantiate the claim that there is a theoretical basis for a universal ethical code which could be set forth for the 21st Century. (Kidder, 2003, p. 91) Kidder’s work is not small in scope or trivial. He estimates that since the early 1990’s his Global Ethics Institute has taken close to 18,000 people from 26 countries through a similar process.

Once you have collated your data I would highly recommend Steven Lukes' little volume entitled simply "Moral Relativism" as a helpful filter through which to read your results.

My doctoral work was towards a global or coalition ethic, and the thought process which I personally found most helpful was that of H.L.A. Hart , when he spoke of “universally recognized principles of conduct which have a basis in elementary truths concerning human beings, their natural environment, and aims” (Hart,1997, p. 193). Inasmuch as humans only have a certain degree of plasticity to their basic needs, it would seem that identifying universal values is a matter of identifying universal needs.

Oliver, when and where will your book, Matters of Life and Death: The Worldview from Evolutionary Psychology, be available? I looked on Amazon and didn't find it.

Hi Bill. Thanks for all of the above - I look forward to digesting it all. Meanwhile, you can find all of my publications (including Matters of Life and Death) on my Academia.edu page. Thanks, Oliver

Oliver,

I got to thinking about a rather all-encompassing cross-cultural study of human sexuality as regards moral values. It is a bit dated, but it was said of Susan Frayser's "Varieties of sexual experience: an anthropological perspective on human sexuality" that:

"This study is the most comprehensive anthropological investigation ever made into the topic of sex. As such it is essential reading for all scholars interested in human sexual attitudes and behaviours ; and the author is to be commended for her meticulous research, which has produced an empirically excellent study in which data from so many diverse sources have been woven into a clear and enthralling interpretation of cross-cultural sex." (Hicks, 1988)

I found Frayser to be a big help in identifying transcultural sexual values. Here is a short excerpt from my thesis about this topic:

"Surprisingly, most of the peoples of our planet can actually agree on a large number of basic understandings and values regarding sexual ethics: “Scholars have pointed out that many societies around the world share common normative attitudes toward sex, including the incest taboo, condemnation of adultery, and a general concern for regulating sexuality, particularly outside wedlock.” (Widmer, Treas, and Newcomb, 1998, p. 349) A 1998 cross-cultural study of sexual attitudes regarding marital fidelity found: “Across 24 nations, only 4% report that it is not wrong at all for married people to have sex with someone besides their husband or wife.” (Widmer, Treas, and Newcomb, 1998, p. 350) A 2002 study in the journal entitled Ethnology refuted what it called “a kind of folklore of professional anthropologists,” which held that in many societies infidelity on the part of the male is considered acceptable (Janowiak, Nell, and Buckmaster, 2002, p. 1). The study went on to demonstrate that statistically there is no empirical verification of that perception and then stated: “For both sexes adultery is an unacceptable act that demands negative consequences that can range from emotional withdrawal to physical confrontation.” (Janowiak, Nell, and Buckmaster, 2002, p. 10)

This would seem to indicate that there are some veritably universal perceptions of adultery. I don't know if this is of any use. Thanks for the information about where to download. I accessed those which I could through Academia.edu and intend to read them.

Hello all,

Good discussion - however, Oliver, I tend not to agree with your comments on 'basic understanding...'

This subject specifically relates to culture and religion ... which is different even within the same country.

Regards

Theodora Issa

Hi Theodora,

I'm not sure which comments you're referring to. You can find my 'basic understandings' here:

http://www.thisviewoflife.com/index.php/magazine/articles/profiles-in-evolutionary-moral-psychology-oliver-scott-curry

Best,

Oliver

Whilst we may identify common moral 'absolutes' we mist not forget that these are influenced by historical contexts in which they are produced. The practices of globalisation have tended to homogenise and legitimise thought - something we argued in terms of education and research ethics (Parker, J. and Ashencaen Crabtree, S., 2011. Isomorphism and Hegemony: the Bologna process and Social Work Education in the UK. Social Policy and Social Work in Transition, 2 (1).

Parker, J., Penhale, B. and Stanley, D., 2011. Research ethics review: social care and social science research and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Ethics and Social Welfare. 5 (4), 380-400.)

In legitimising certain thoughts these globalising tendencies also exclude and create imperatives for people to subscribe to if they are to have a place at the table. This tends to construct a universality but I believe this to represent an unspoken, assumed subscription to hegemonic thought, something which will be criticised over time.

Read Bernard Gert's Common Morality

John, in a somewhat similar vein to Gert I would suggest John Kekes' The Morality of Pluralism, and also Moral Wisdom and Good Lives.

But do these works provide any data?

Thanks for the reference John

I really agree with Bill Johnson

I believe that moral values are universal!

Moral Value

I think moral values may be universal. I think most people in this world aim to be a good person by helping others and to create an environment full of trust. There may be some differences as cultural issues make it impossible to create an homogenous environment for every issue. However, my believe is that in terms of moral values all in all differences aren't that significant and most people aim to construct their own values, in a positive way.

I think one can start with something like "First do no harm" and work from there. If one thinks of various religions throughout the ages, the gist of most regarding moral behaviour all have a component of benevolence towards others.

Though the moral values to be universal.but most people in this world aim to be a good person by helping others and to create an environment full of trust.Habits and habitat influence the behavior of a person.Goodluck

Caring for others and getting rid of selfishness seem to be quite universal. This means you take the interests of others to be more important that those of yourself.

That an excellent idea. We hope that it will happen. As Ramachandra said that most people in this world aim to be good and willing to help others.

Dear Oliver nice PDF. Good look in your endevour

Hi Oliver,

I suggest you to read a paper by James Rachels, "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" (1993):

http://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phl306/Rachels1.pdf

Nice, but the same old anecdotes, with no data!

Please don't forget that ethics is not mathematics. It has a degree of uncertainty like all sciences relating to human behaviour. There is no moral geometry allowing you to proceed with deductive certainty from pure "data" to moral truths. If you are looking for such data, you will never find them.

But if you want one example of a universal moral principle you have the Golden Rule ("don't do to others..."), which is extraordinary similar in very different cultures.

I know. But I'm looking for *evidence* that X is universal. What is your evidence that the Golden Rule is universal? I agree that it probably is, but where's the evidence?

You will find the Golden Rule in all major religions and philosophies (the Kantian imperative "Act according to the maxim by which you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law" is a form of the Golden Rule). If by "evidence" you mean empirical data proving that all people around the world and living in different times have agreed with the Golden Rule, of course, there is no such an evidence. But I don't think this is not necessary, because we experience this "ethics of reciprocity" in everyday life, all the time (even small children do).

Yes, I think you're probably right. But I'm trying to compile a literature review here, and I can't just make assertions or quote blogs. Do you have a reference / citation for the claim that "You will find the Golden Rule in all major religions and philosophies"? Has someone actually looked?

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule

There is even a specific book on this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Golden-Rule-Reciprocity-Religions/dp/1847062962

Who makes good deeds will receive good retaliation, and who makes evils deeds will receive bad retaliation.

If someone makes evil deeds and then receive good retaliation, the meaning is a tricky and in the day of resurrection will be punished justly

I would suggest reading literature on the Moral Foundations Theory (Graham, Haidt, et al.), which subscribes to the view of intuitive ethics, i.e. morality that largely bypasses cognitive processing, and is based on intuitions about right and wrong. It's a robust model with excellent psychometric measures as well. It proposes five basic moral foundations that permeate culture and country: Harm/Care, Fairness/Cheating, Authority/Subversion, Loyalty/Betrayal, and Purity/Degradation. Hope this helps :)

Dear Oliver, I think you should take a look at some of the frequently quoted contributions by Richard Shweder, Joan Miller and others. Just a few hints:

Miller, J.G. (1997). Cultural conceptions of duty: Implications for morality and motivation. In J. Schumaker, D. Munro & S. Carr (Eds.), Motivation and culture

(pp. 178-193). New York, NY: Routledge.

Miller, J. G. (2003) Cultural diversity in the morality of caring: Individually oriented versus duty based interpersonal moral codes. Cross Cultural Research, 28, 3-39.

Shweder R. A., Mahapatra M., & Miller, J. G. (1987). Culture and Moral Development. In J. Kagan & S. Lamb (Eds.), The Emergence of Morality in Young Children. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Shweder R. A. & Menon, U. (2014). Old questions for the new anthropology of morality: A commentary. Anthropological Theory, 14, 356-370.

Hope this is useful. - Good success!

Hi Elizabeth,

it is always most reassuring when philosophers and empirical researchers come to the same conclusions. I look forward to looking at your paper. Do you know Bernard Gert's book, written with two others, on bioethics might be of interest to you if you are not already familiar with it.

Joh n F

Thank you Pradeep and Elizabeth! O

Dear Oliver,

we (Institute of Philosophy of the Hungarian Academy of Science) held an International conference with the title: Is a Universal Morality Possible? The link of the FB event isd here: https://www.facebook.com/events/462905397188356/?ref=22

We are going to publish the English language conference volume this year, possible in spring 2015.

Best,

Ferenc

Dear All, our book Is a Universal Morality Possible? is out now, published by L'Harmattan Publishing House together with The Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It is endorsed by William Desmond with the followin g words: "The editors are to be warmly commended for putting together such an admirable book". We and the publisher both can send you copies on order.

Kind Regards,

Ferenc

Hi Oliver,

Two writings on this (difficult) topic that I greatly enjoyed:

-Rachels, James (1993) ‘The Challenge of Cultural Relativism’ in: J. Rachels (ed.), The Elements of Moral Philosophy, New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 22-36.

-Beauchamp, Tom, 'Universal Principles and Universal Rights', in: A. den Exter (ed.) Biomedicine and Human Rights, Antwerpen, Maklu, 2009. (I can send you the PDF of the book if you like).

I also have (in part) addressed this question in:

‘International policy and a universal conception of human dignity’, in: Nathan J. Palpant and Stephan Dilley (eds.), Human Dignity in Bioethics: From Worldviews to the Public Square, New York: Routledge, 2013, p. 127-141.

Best regards

Roberto

It may initially be difficult to get at the answer you are looking for when examining anthropological data since you might find that the question of "values" presents definitional  difficulties. if you get hung up, maybe start with the question of whether there are universal taboos, and the different responses to address transgressions or exceptions in various societies and then extrapolate from there.  It might be an easier place to start.  Just a suggestion.  

Feel free to read my article on the subject of European values: https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/llce/4/1/article-p3.xml

Cool! Have tweeted.

Hi Oliver, as you know i think most philosophical works tend to favour the conceptual over the empirical. I am fairly sure there are several works of interest in the field of anthropology though. As it is not my area, I've asked a friend with expertise to send on a short list to me. I will forward it on to you as soon as she gets back to me.

Thanks. Since posting this, I have had a go myself. See:

https://osf.io/9546r/

https://evolution-institute.org/the-seven-moral-rules-found-all-around-the-world/

Also interesting! And you might like this:

Preprint Mapping Morality with a Compass: Testing the theory of 'mora...

That's an interesting topic. I think Harry Triandis had a paper on universal values, I don't remember the title or publisher. Good luck with your endeavor!

This is certainly interesting Oliver Scott Curry . Some years ago I made some research on cross-cultural differences in moral intuitions, share just in case:

Article Effects of Suboptimally Presented Erotic Pictures on Moral J...

Best,

Antonio

Hi Oliver. I don't have an answer for you, more of a question, but your post just popped up on my feed seemingly 5 years too late and I was pondering as one does on a Sunday evening... You have a marvellous classification of morality as different domains of cooperation, such as kinship, reciprocity. This makes much sense. But (sorry, there's a 'but') it seems to me that many of these can be explained by individual adaptation and that by morality we often mean people seemingly/actually behaving for the public good (we like people to be moral because it's good for us, rather than them, seemingly). Bear with me... take reciprocity, for example. It may be immoral to 'cheat' but is it really moral to play tit-for-tat if that maximizes your individual gains? In thinking about morality are we not seeking to explain actions that are/appear selfless? Obviously I'm an evolutionary biologist so would like to see an adaptive explanation for morality but it seems to me that this may lie beyond reciprocity etc. In other words that morality is related to your classification but is actually the bits that your classification can't explain. My bias is to say it's to do with signalling. Really sorry if this is embarrassing rubbish or if to the extent that there is any sense in it, you have dealt with this years ago. All the best!

Hi Gilbert, good to hear from you. Well, I'd say: Do people think they (and others) ought to pay their debts, return favours, keep their promises... ? If so, then reciprocity explains some of what they call morality. Do people want others to do even more than that? Probably... but these are usually called 'supererogatory' acts, and there are explanations of these too (eg hawkish costly signals). Generally speaking, I don't think people identify morality solely with out-of-equilibrium behaviour, and I don't think it's helpful to do so. Mutualism is good enough. Does that help? O

In a recent paper we propose a novel approach to analyse data that highlights similarities between groups of people (e.g., countries). We found that similarities across over 70 countries exceed 80% for a range of values and attitudinal variables, including moral attitudes and self-transcendence values (Schwartz's 1992 model). Unlike previous research that focuses on mean differences (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA) we analyse all responses given by the members of each group.

Perhaps our approach offers another perspective in answering your question: http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-66320-001

Attitudes towards mental illness reflect a lot of moral values. Check the quality part in forms of open-ended answers in our study: