Ethics

Moral Standards and Human Freedom 1

Module 3 Moral Standards and Human Freedom

At the end of this module, you are expected t0:

1. To understand moral standards about human life
2. To learn the issue of voluntariness in human acts

Moral Standards
Morality must be noted, is present only in humans. Meaning man can only be moral if he is
fully aware of his actions. Brutes have no morality for they are not guided by reason hence they
are not responsible for their actions and are not classified as human acts. Let us be guided based
on these principles:
1. Man is the only Moral Being – due to three things: a) man is capable of action, b) man
has the intellect and c) man has free will. Being capable of action man can employ his
bodily activities to perform actions. With man’s intellect, he can discern the good or
evilness of his actions and at the same time equate the repercussions of his actions once
asked to justify them. Free will is present and inherent in men unless they are idiots and
with that, they have the freedom of choice whether to perform or not the action at hand.
2. Man is the highest form of Animal – endowed with intellect, man can decide what’s best
for him although their desires are the same with brutes such as hunger, thirst, pain, and
sensual needs; man moves based on reason while their lower counterparts have only
instinct. Sentient beings like animals rely on instinct which is a natural biological drive,
while men can decide whether an act is moral or not.
3. Man is a rational animal – Ratio is the Latin term for reason that means man has the
power to discern things based on his previous knowledge of things. Unlike brutes, man
has the power of abstraction – this is his ability to correlate ideas previously based on
his mind as well as his understanding of the situation at hand, thereby giving him a
logical or correct decision.
4. The intellect and the will –are correlative with each other because the intellect is the
agent of knowing while the will is the agent of choice. From intellect – knowledge is
stored this will then guide the will to decide which is basically “good”. They co-exist and
from their partnership “virtue” is born.

Voluntariness of Human Acts

A voluntary act is under the control of the intellect and the will and must be answerable for
their actions. As mentioned in the previous module, only human acts are valid in ethics and at the
same time possess moral significance. There are four types of voluntary acts and they are:
 1. Perfect voluntariness – when a person acts with full knowledge and complete freedom –
we are fully aware of what we are doing
2. Imperfect voluntariness – when a person acts without full understanding and no
freedom – we are made to perform acts we did not like
3. Simple voluntariness – it is the disposition of a person doing the activity regardless of
his liking or not – this may be positive or negative. The former is by making him do
something while the other is to prevent or stop him from doing things.
4. Conditional voluntariness - it is the situation when the person was forced by
circumstances or under duress which he would not do under normal circumstances.
An example is being extorted money by a neighborhood toughie in exchange for
his “protection”.
But what modifiers may cloud the intellect and the will that may either reduce or increase
accountability:

Modifiers of Human Acts:

1. Ignorance – this simply means the absence of knowledge. A doer’s responsibility for his
actions may be increased or decreased due to this. A person may have committed an act
for he is unaware of it. There are three types of ignorance and are Vincible ignorance
that can easily be corrected such as calling a person with a wrong name or entering the
wrong classroom. On the other hand Invincible ignorance – cannot be rectified an
example is a waiter who gave the wrong food to the customer or a killer that claimed
the life of the wrong victim. The third is Affected ignorance – is the doer’s attempt to
escape responsibility such as a suspect denying his complicity in a crime he has done.
2. Passions – Psychic responses that may adhere or abhor them to either desirable or
undesirable tendencies. Positive emotions such as love, desire, or hope are
manifestations of the first while hatred, horror, and despair are an example of negative
emotions. There are also two passions such as antecedent and consequent passions
wherein the former are passions that occur before the stimulus such as accidentally
meeting a special someone; while the other came after a stimulus we caused for
example meeting a special someone that we are already aware of his arrival.
3. Fear – it is the disturbance of the mind when confronted by danger to himself or a loved
one. Actions whether done with fear or out of fear may affect one’s action. Acts done
with fear are voluntary while acts done out of fear are two different things. If one moves
with fear this means he has to decide and yet is afraid he might err an example is an
amateur singer performing in front of a large crowd or driving a vehicle with limited
know-how in driving. Actions out of fear are situations that needed immediate
decisions such as jumping out of a plane about to crash land or run away from a violent
situation.
4. Violence – it is physical force given to a free person to coerce him to do or not to do
something. Physical threats such as torture, starvation, or mutilation are examples of
violence but were free will be impaired? No, the free will is still there for they can still
resist making their moral integrity intact, in short, there is still a choice.
5. Habits – readiness to perform habitual acts. Habits are done mechanically that thinking
is no longer necessary may either be good or bad. It is second nature to the doer and
doing it is instinct.
References and Supplementary Materials
Books and Journals
1. Agapay, Ramon B.; Ethics and the Filipinos; Mandaluyong Metro
Manila, National Book Store Inc.
2. Babor, Eddie R.; Ethics – The Philosophical Discipline of Action; Manila,
Rex Book Store
3. Montemayor, Felix; Ethics the Philippines; Navotas Metro Manila;
National Book Store