MORALITY AND THE HUMAN EXISTENCE AND KEY CONCEPTS

Man as the Sole Moral Agent

Man is the only moral being by virtue of the following reasons:

1. Man is a being of action.

Man acts and knows his act. Because he knows his acts, he knows he is responsible for his actions.

2. Man has intellect.

His intellect enables him to know, to know what is right or wrong and good or bad actions.

3. Man has will.  

Man is free to act or not to act. Man's will equips man with the power to choose either good or bad and right or
wrong actions. It is his will that enables him to enjoy freedom to act or not to act and freedom to choose what
course of action to perform.

People who are not capable of rationality are not moral agents.

Rational being is the only moral agent

A. Man as an animal

Brutes do acquire knowledge through the senses. Their senses, undoubtedly, are their indispensable medium of
knowledge. As an animal, man also acquires knowledge through his senses.

By appetency, we mean the drive to seek or to strive for something. Brutes are driven to seek for something out of
their instincts. Instincts are natural biological drives of animals. Thus man, being an animal is also subject of these
drives.

B. Man as a rational animal

It is being rational that makes man a man. It is only in this context that man is to be understood as a moral being or
agent. Being rational, man’s knowledge does not stop in the senses since his sensual knowledge (perception) is
further processed by his intellect in the form of abstraction.

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INTELLECT and WILL

INTELLECT and WILL are correlative faculties that are intrinsically endowed in man as the moral agent.

To understand the difference between the two, let's consider another diagram:

 Because man is a moral being, man possesses intellect and will. Through his intellect, man knows and can
know right or wrong actions.

 Through his will man can choose between good or bad actions.

 Man's intellect makes him capable of understanding right or wrong actions;

 When man is in possession of truth, then, he can practice what he knows (wisdom) while his exercise of
good makes him virtous (Roman's "vir" which means "man,") thus, the term virtus means "what is proper to
man.“ (Pagpapakatao)

 Man is will-bound to choose what is right and what is good - which is the moral imperative demanded in
ethics.

Intellect Description Will

Wisdom Highest goal Virtue

Truth Goal Good

Thinking Function Doing

Knowing Purpose Choosing

Moral and Non-Moral Standards

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• One culture may impose its own cultural standards and others which may result in clash in cultural values
and beliefs when this happens as we may already know violence and crime may ensue such as religious
violence and ethnic cleansing.

• So how can we address this cultural conundrum/problem? This is where the importance of understanding
the difference between moral standards and non-moral ones comes in.

Moral Standards

• Moral standards are norms that individuals or groups have about the kinds of actions believed to be morally
right or wrong, as well as the values placed and what we believe to be morally good or morally bad.

• Moral standards normally promote the good that is the welfare and well-being of humans as well as animals
in the environment.

• Moral standards therefore prescribe what the humans ought to do in terms of rights and obligations.

• Moral standards are the sum of combined norms and values.

Norms + values = moral standards

• On the other hand, values are understood as enduring beliefs or statements about what is good and
desirable or not for example, we may say helping the poor is good or cheating during exams is bad.

Non-Moral Standards

• Refer to rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations. Either these standards are not
necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical sense. Basic examples of non-moral standards include
rules of etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and various house rules.

six (6) characteristics of moral standards

a. Moral standards involve serious wrong or significant benefits.

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b. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
c. Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
d. Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
e. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
f. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary.
Rules - Meaning and Importance of Rules

 ETIQUETTE—standards by which we judge manners to be good or bad; normally dictated by a socio-

economic elite

 LEGAL—standards by which we judge legal right and wrong; in a democracy, formulated by representative of
the people

 LANGUAGE—standards by which we judge what is grammatically right or wrong; evolve through use

 AESTHETICS—standards by which judge good and bad art; usually dictated by a small circle of art
connoisseurs

• ATHLETIC—standards by which we judge how good or bad a game is played; usually formulated by governing
bodies.

1. Rules are instructions that tell you what you are allowed to do and what you are not allowed to do.

2. A rule is a statement telling people what they should do in order to achieve success or a benefit of some kind.

3. Rules are statements that describe the way things usually happen in a particular situation.

4. Rules tell you the normal state of affairs.

5. Rule influence or restrict actions in a way that is not good for a person.

6. Rules tell us something that is true or should happen and then the authority has officially decided that it is
true.

7. Rules are principles or regulations governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc.

Ethical Dilemma

• A dilemma is a situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting options,
neither of which is acceptable.

• The key here is that the person has choices to make that will all have results he/she does not want.

• *If a person is in a difficult situation but is not forced to choose between two or more options, then that
person is not in a dilemma. The least that we can say is that that person is just experiencing a problematic or
distressful situation.

• When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral implications, they are called ethical or moral
dilemmas.

• Moral dilemmas, therefore, are situations where persons, who are called “moral agents”, are forced to
choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the situation in a morally
acceptable manner.

three conditions that must be present for situations to be considered moral dilemmas

1. the person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about which course of action is best.
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2. there must be different courses of action to choose from.

3. no matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always compromised.

How to solve an ethical dilemma?

A. Refute the paradox (dilemma): The situation must be carefully analyzed.

B. Value theory approach: Choose the alternative that offers the greater good or the lesser evil.

C. Find alternative solutions: In some cases, the problem can be reconsidered, and new alternative solutions
may arise.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking plays a large role in ethics because it is the process by which we determine for ourselves whether or
not something is right or wrong. 

• Critical thinking is a form of analysis and determination of fact vs. fiction, identifying the unknown, coming to
an understanding, etc. By taking the path of a critical thinker, a person develops a mental process of
evaluation which helps to determine their ethical standards.

• By incorporating the critical thinking process into their mindset, it enables them to more effectively make
decisions based upon truths and verified information, rather than unknowns and variables. 

By eliminating the variables, you bring to view the plain truths which exist and make a decision based upon
that. Having a critical approach to ethical analysis is very important and remains one of the principle factors.

Reason and Impartiality

 Equal treatment of all rivals or disputants; thus, the mediator or judge must practice fairness.

 In some competitions, a rule states: “Entries had to be submitted under a pseudonym to ensure impartiality
in the judging process."

 Every stakeholder’s interests or people, thus in making every moral decision, each stakeholder interest
should be considered.

 One must not be arbitrary.

 Every person should be. treated the same way unless there is good reason not to do so.

Foundation of Moral Principle

• The word principle came from the Latin word, “princeps,” which means “a source or beginning. “A principle
is, that on which something is based, founded, originated or initiated.

• A foundational moral principle is, therefore, the universal norm upon which all other principles on the
rightness or wrongness of an action are based. It is the source of morality.

• Where is this foundational moral principle? It is contained in the natural law.

What is natural law?

 “It is the law written in the hearts of men.” (Romans 2:15)

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 For theists, it is “man’s share in the Eternal Law of God…” (A. Panizo)

 St. Thomas defines it as “the light of natural reason, whereby we discern what is good and what is evil… an
imprint on us of the divine light…” (A. Panizo)

 It is the law that says: “Do good and avoid evil.”

 To “do good and avoid evil” is the very foundation of moral principle that entails man’s responsibility:
freedom.

What is freedom?

 Freedom is human’s greatest quality and it is a reflection of our Creator.

 Freedom is the power rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that and so to perform
deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.

 “Having freedom means having responsibility. Every action you choose further determines our character.”

 To the degree that a person reaches higher level of freedom, he becomes capable of higher levels of
morality.

 External Freedom is a freedom from factors outside ourselves that limit or destroy our free will. Internal
Freedom is a freedom from interior factors that limit our free will.

 True Freedom is always oriented toward the good. We should not understand freedom as the possibility of
doing evil.