Module 6 - k. coloma

The articles in Module 6 concentrate on moral principles, determinism and virtues. The first article talks about determinism and how we assume that there is a reason and a cause for the things that happen to us in our daily lives. The second talks about questions of ethics such as how we treat one another and the moral principles we apply. The readings tied in well with the film for this week called Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa.

The film follows the life of Lea, a mother of two, who has made some mistakes in her life. She has two kids by two different men. One of which was out of wedlock the other out of extramarital affairs. Through the course of the movie Lea is pulled between her career (a worker for the women’s crisis center) and her family. She finds herself being attracted to her ex-husband, her boyfriend whom she left her ex-husband for and her co-worker who just wont give in to her allure. Her children are confused and dazed about their lives and their fathers. Lea finds herself working constantly and her family has to fight for her attention. Her children then thrown in the middle of the bickers and fights between their mother and their fathers when they have to chose whom they will live with. She later finds that she has been so engulfed with other things that she did not know her boyfriend had been married and living with someone else.

In the end she may, like the article states, have regretted some things that happened, have been angry that it happened, preferred that it hadn’t happened but there is nothing she could do now to undo it. The good thing that resulted form Lea almost losing her children was that she was almost enlightened to the world around her. The idea of losing her children put things into perspective for her. She contemplated why and how things have turned the way they have and then found ways to make the situation better for her children by allowing them to make their own decisions.

After having watched the film I did not blame Lea for wanting to work and for being so confused and disillusioned by the men in her life. It just goes to show some things cannot be controlled and that human determinism really exists. But when you apply Immanuel Kant’s saying “everyone is obligated to do whatever will achieve the greatest good for the greatest number” to Lea’s situation you forget about the little people. In this case the little people happened to be her children. In order to do good for others (the women at the crisis center) she had to divert much if not all her attention from her family to the women. He also said that everyone must act in ways that respect the human dignity and moral rights of all persons. This is a good example of why I don’t believe or agree with Kant. Not all situations allow for everyone to be treated equally and right.