MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Ethics 213/313 – Module 6

MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Ethics 213/313 – Module 6
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Ethics 213/313 – Module 6
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Ethics 213/313 – Module 6
Human Acts and Morality
Ethics 213/313 – Module 7

References:
 Ethics and the Filipino: A Manual on Morals for Students and Educators by Ramon B. Agapay
 Ethics: the Philosophical Discipline of Action by Eddie R. Babor
 Aquinas on Human Action by Ralph McInerny
 Human Action in Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham by Thomas M. Osborne
Jr.

Human Acts: Definition

Human acts are actions performed by man, knowingly and freely, deliberate or intentional.
Human acts are what human agents do.

Acts of man are instinctive or involuntary.

The Cause of the Act

A cause is something that plays an explanatory role in the effect’s production and is in some sense a
source of the effect’s existence.

Aristotle’s Four Causes

1. Material Cause - the stuff out of which something is made.
2. Formal Cause - the defining characteristics of (e.g., shape) the thing.
3. Final Cause - the purpose of the thing.
4. Efficient Cause - the antecedent condition that brought the thing about.

Human acts are free and contingent, they cannot be necessitated by their causes.

Classification of Human Acts

1. Human Acts in Relation to the Will
A. Elicited Acts
Started by the will, performed by the will and completed by the will as the sole agent

B. Commanded Acts
Begun by the will, performed by the will but are completed by the will through another medium which is
under the control of the will

Seven Elements of Elicited Acts

1. Wish
The primordial desire, like, or inclination of the will to a thing conceived by the will as good and is
known by the intellect.
2. Intention
The purposive tendency of the will towards a thing regarded as realizable, whether the thing is
actually done or not.
3. Counsel
The series of thoughts and judgments concerning the most suitable means towards the attainment
of the desired good or end.
4. Consent
 A definite decision as to what means should be used.
5. Choice
The active commitment of the agent to follow what means the intellect has finally opted and
accepted by the will as the “right pick.”
6. Command
The active interplay between intellect and will.
7. Fruition
The actual attainment of the desired good.

Three Kinds of Commanded Acts

1. Internal Acts
Actions done by man by way of his internal mental powers under the command of the will
 Remembering
 Reasoning
 Controlling feelings
 Imagining

2. External Acts
Actions affected by bodily powers of man under the control of the will
 Walking
 Eating
 Swimming
3. Mixed Acts
Actions that include mental and bodily powers
 Painting
 Writing
 Singing

Human Acts in Relation to Reason

Good Acts
Actions done by man “in harmony with the dictates of right reason.”
Evil Acts
Actions done by man “in contradiction with the dictates of right reason.”
Indifferent Acts
Actions that are neither good nor evil.

Voluntariness of Human Acts

Voluntary Act is the act that which proceeds from an intrinsic principles with knowledge of the end.

Human act is synonymous to Voluntary act since a human act is essentially the product of the will acted
upon in the light of freedom and intellectual knowledge.

Freedom consists not only in this ability to “not will,” but also in the ability to will something else.
Whereas the freedom to will or not is based on the subject of willing, namely the will itself, this other
kind of freedom, namely the freedom of specification, is based on the objects that are presented to the
will by the intellect.
DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
ETHICS 213/313 - MODULE 8

References:
 JMC: Moral Philosophy / by Charles Coppens, S.J.
 DIMMOCK, Mark; FISHER, Andrew. Chapter 4. Aquinas’s Natural Law Theory In: Ethics for A-
Level: For AQA Philosophy and OCR Religious Studies [online]. Cambridge: Open Book
Publishers, 2017 (generated 03 January 2021). Available on the Internet:
<http://books.openedition.org/obp/4422>. ISBN: 9791036500787.
 https://maritain.nd.edu
 https://www.catholicculture.org
 https://www.scribd.com
 https://www.slideshare.net
 https://thinkingthroughthesumma.wordpress.com
 https://people.wku.edu/
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHBwxC8b8I
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_UfYY7aWKo&t=153s

Determinants of Morality
Definition
 The factors in human conduct that determine whether it is good or bad.
 They determine how human act is rendered good or bad on the basis of its relation with
the norm

“BONUM EX INTEGRA CAUSA, MALUM EX QUOCUMQUE DEFECTU”

Characteristics of Human Act

1. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is aware of what he is doing of its
consequences.
2. It must be performed by an agent who is acting freely, that is, by his own violation and
powers.
3. It must be performed by an agent who decides willingly to perform the act.

Determinants of Morality
1. Act itself or object
• the free will chooses to do--in thought, word, or deed-or chooses not to do
• that which is actually done

2. End or Motive or Intention

• the purpose for which the act is willed
• may be the act itself or some other purpose for which an agent acts
While a wrong intention can make a morally good act subjectively wrong and cause culpability
in the agent, a good intention can never make an objectively evil act to be good.

The end does not justify the means.

3. Circumstance/s
• all the elements that surround a human action and affect its morality without belonging to
its essence
• some circumstances so affect the morality of an action as to change its species
• other circumstances change the degree of goodness or badness of an act

For a human act to be morally good, it must agree with the norm of morality on all three
counts: in its nature, its motive, and its circumstances. Departure from any of these makes the
action morally wrong.

All intentions should be in conformity to the objective truth, and again this is to be found in the
eternal law.

Aquinas on Law
Aquinas describes law as "a certain rule and measure of acts whereby man is induced to act or
is restrained from acting.”
Aquinas recognizes four main kinds of law: the eternal, the natural, the human, and the divine.
The last three all depend on the first, but in different ways.

Eternal Law - God’s purpose/plan for all things; identical to the mind of God

Divine Law – appeared mystery in history through revelation (Bible, 10 Commandments); divine
equivalent of human law

Natural Law – our partaking in the eternal law which leads to primary precepts (Pursue good
and avoid evil; preserve life); present/written in the heart of each man and established by
reason)

Human Law – humans making specific laws to fit and capture the truths of natural laws adapted
to particular geographical, historical and social circumstances.; secondary precepts (Follow
traffic rules, laws of the society)

Humans first of all find this “written in their hearts” and this participation of the rational
creature in the eternal law is called the natural law. Conscience is closely related to this, as it is
a judgment of reason. Our intentions, then, must be in conformity with our conscience. Besides
the natural law, we also have the revealed truths from God, and we are obligated to form our
conscience in accordance with both. Our culpability in this is only known perfectly by God.
MORAL THEORIES
ETHICS 213/313 – MODULE 9

References:
 Theories of Ethics An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with a Selection of Classic Readings by
Gordon Graham
 The Nature of Morality and Moral Theories
 plato.stanford.edu
 home.sandiego.edu
 concepts.effectivealtruism.org
 YouTube: Divine Command Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #33
 YouTube: Natural Law Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #34

Moral Theory
Definition
o Explains why a certain action is wrong
o A theory of how we determine right and wrong conduct
o Tells us what we ought to do morally
o Provide the framework upon which we think and discuss in a reasoned way, and so evaluate, specific
moral issues

Theories of Morality

Divine Command Theory

Natural Law Theory
Consequentialism
Virtue Ethics
Utilitarianism
Moral Subjectivism
Cultural Relativism
Ethical Egoism
Feminist Ethics
Kantian Theory
Contractarianism

Divine Command Theory

o The belief that what’s moral, what’s immoral – is commanded by the Divine.
o It solves the grounding problem that every Ethical System needs a foundation, which in this case it’s
God.
o Gods commands are good and his prohibitions are evil
o Also known as Theological Voluntarism
o To believe in the Divine Command Theory one must
 Believe that God exists
 Believe that God is all good and perfect
 Believe that God makes his will known to people
Divine Command Theory

The Dilemma
Euthyphro Dialogue
Euthyphro Dilemma
Are right actions right
because God commands them?
Are right actions commanded
by God because they are right?
Right actions are right because God commands them

Propositions
o Anything God commands will always be right.
o God makes goodness.
Antitheses
o What will be our basis? Bible?
o How about for other religions and beliefs?
o If god determines goodness and evilness, then the whole concept of goodness and value becomes
vacuous.
Antitheses
o God commands what is good.
o What God commands is good.
o God’s command = good.
o God commands what He commands.
o Goodness becomes meaningless.

Right actions are commanded by God because they are right

Propositions
o God is omniscient so he knows what is good for all.
o God wants what is good for us.
Antitheses
o God is not omnipotent because there is one thing that does not come from God – value.
o Someone else created it and God simply follows it.
o Goodness did not come from God.
Antithesis
o If God is simply bound to command these rules then why can’t we just go straight to the more
powerful being?
o God ceases to be God.

Divine Command Theory

The Problem
How do we know what God commands?
Natural Law Theory
Thomas Aquinas
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
“Telos” - end or purpose
o The key idea in Aristotle´s natural law is that there is an unchanging order (principle) to the changing
physical world and by understanding this we can learn what is normal or natural for someone or
something to do, or be, or become (its telos).
o Aristotle distinguished between efficient and final causes.
o For Aristotle the ‘inner principle’ of human nature is REASON. The human ability to reason is the
‘driving force’ of human development and action.
o Aquinas believed natural law was the moral code which human beings were naturally inclined
towards. God reveals specific commands but these do not go against natural law but rather further
and develop it. This reflected Aquinas´ approach to theology generally by which natural theology
(which was based on human reason) did not go against revealed theology (which was based on
revelation by God). Aquinas said that ´the moral life is the life which is lived according to reason.´
o How will people follow God’s commands if they didn’t even know the one who made the
commandments?
o God imprinted in us the intuitive desire for His plan and will (Natural Law).

Basic Goods
1. Self-Preservation
2. Reproduction
3. Educate One’s Offspring
4. Seek God
5. Live in Society
6. Avoid Offense
7. Shun Ignorance

We don’t need the Bible or religion to know that which is good. Our natural intuitive desire will lead us
to these basic goods.

Right acts are those in accordance to the natural law.

Natural Law Theory

The Problem
If God created us to seek good, then why do a lot of people violate the natural law all the time?

Answer: Ignorance and Emotion

Sometimes, we seek what we think is good, but we are wrong, because we are simply ignorant.
JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS
ETHICS 212/313 – MODULE 10