BICOL STATE COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

ETHCoo1: ETHICS
BEED 1A&1B, BTLED-HELE 1A&1B, BETECH-MAET 3A and BTVTED FSM 1A & GFDT 1A

Overview

The Virtue Ethics of Aristotle paved the way for the development of the Natural
Law Ethics developed by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-7 March 1274), a prominent
theologian and philosopher of the Medieval Period. One of the great achievements of St.
Thomas was that he was able to bring together into a formidable synthesis the insights of
classical philosophy, particularly the philosophy of Aristotle, and the Christian theology.
Aquinas adopted the ethics of Aristotle but transformed it by introducing the two
fundamental notions: the notion of God as the Creator and the Source of the beingness
of man and the world, and the notion of the synderesis. More specifically, Aquinas
Christianized the philosophy of Aristotle.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Define the Natural Law Ethics by St. Thomas Aquinas

2. Analyze the Three Determinants of Moral Actions
3. Understand the Moral Principles as Basis of Human Action
4. Value the Rights and Duties of a Human Person
 Preliminary Activity

Self-Evaluation/Pre-assessment:
Genesis Chapter 1: 1 In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[c] 2 The earth
was formless and barren, and darkness covered the abyss while the Spirit of God
hovered over the waters.
20 God said, “Let the waters be filled with living creatures and let birds fly above the
earth in the firmament of the heavens.”
27 Godcreated mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and
female he created them.
Question: Based on these verses above, God is the Creator. Do you believe that God
really exists? If yes, please tell us what your proofs of God's existence based on your
experiences in life.

Learning Tasks

Task 1. Read and study the succeeding lessons:

Lesson 1: The life of St. Thomas Aquinas

-Born in 1225 at Roccasecca.

-Seventh son of Teodora and Landolfo, count of Aquino
- Went to school at the Benedictine Monastery of Monte casino
-At the age of 5, Thomas was already sent to monastery.
-Wet to university of Naples at the age 14
-In Copleston 1993,302. Thomas was kidnapped at Roccasecca and help for more than
a year.
-Later 1245, he escaped and made his way to Paris.
-He entered University of Paris and met a prodigious scholar (Albert the great)
- The appearance and personality of St. Thomas was well described by G.K Chesterton
(1955, 8-9)
-Aquinas was ordained a priest about 1250, after which he began to teach at the
University of Paris in 1252.
-At the age of 27, Thomas took a master’s degree and began to lecture on theology.
- In 1259, he was summoned to serve as professor and advisor at the court of the Pope.
- The remaining 15 years of his life were mostly spend in Rome or its vicinity.
-In 1259-1268 he returned to Paris and became involved in the celebrated controversy
with the Averroists headed by Siger De Brabant (1240-1284).
-On March 7, 1274, Pope Gregory x called him to Lyons in France to participate in a
council.
- At the age of 49 he died in Fossanova, a Cistercian abbey south of Rome.
- St. Thomas was later on canonized in 1323.
-Thomas most renowned literary achievements are his two major theological works, the
Summa Contra Gentiles and the Summa Theologiae(Stumpf & Fieser, 165).

Lesson 2: The Philosophy and Theology of St. Thomas

Aquinas was a primarily a theologian but he made a point that philosophy and
theology would play complementary roles in the human persons quest for truth. Indeed,
Aquinas held that there are still differences between theology and philosophy.
Philosophy
– Reason

- Begins with the immediate objects of sense experience and reasons upward to
more general conceptions; and eventually to the conception of God.
Theology
- Faith
- Begins with the faith in God and interprets all things as creation of God.

Lesson 3: The Five ways of Proving God’s Existence

First Way
- is about man’s experience of motion or change in the universe. According to St.
Thomas, omnem autem quod movetur, ab alio movetur, which means that
whatever moved is moved by another. The first mover is understood by everyone
as God.

Second Way
-is from the nature of the efficient cause. There cannot be anything in this world
of senses that is caused by itself since this will be impossible. It is more
admissible to have an Efficient Cause or the First Cause of everything which is
called God.
Third Way
-is taken from possibility and necessity. There are things in this world that are
possible not to exist, moreover we experience that there are things which come
into existence and eventually pass out of existence.

↳ Contingent Being is being that passes out of existence.

Due to the existence of contingent beings, it becomes a must that there should
be a necessary being, which brings the contingent being into existence.
↳ Necessary Being is God.

Fourth Way
-is taken from the gradation of perfection that is to be found in things. It can be
observed that in this world, there are things which are better than others, and
there are also things which are less good than others. There must also be
something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every
other perfection. The cause of goodness and every other perfection is called
God.

Fifth Way
-Is taken from the governance of the world. We observe that things in the world
act towards a certain end. There should be an intelligent being that should exist
by whom all natural things are directed to their end; this being is called God.

Lesson 4: The Nature of God

The given proof of God's existence does not exactly tell us positively what God is.

↳ From the idea of the First Mover, God is seen as powerful in order to cause
everything to move.
↳ From the idea of the First Cause, God is seen uncaused and eternal.
↳ From the idea of the Necessary Being, God seen as pure actuality.
 ↳ From the idea of the ultimate truth and goodness, God is seen as the Perfect
Goodness., and:
↳ From the idea of the Orderer or the Designer of the universe, God is seen as
the supreme intelligence directing things.

According to St. Thomas, the imperfect goodness and wisdom of God’s creatures
may be taken to represent or mirror the perfection of these qualities in God as their
Creator. The term “good” and “wise” cannot be wholly out of place in statements about
God, these terms cannot be understood to mean precisely the same as what they mean
in statements about His creatures.

Good and Wise are not equivocal terms. Entirely different meanings when
applied to both God and His creatures, nor are they univocal terms with exactly the
same meaning when applied to both. Rather, they are analogical terms, the terms are
both the same and yet different up to certain extent.

Human beings are effects of God’s creative activity. Perfection should also be
found in an effect. Goodness and Wisdom can somehow be found in the human person,
must be found manners to God, who is the cause of the existence of the human person.
Goodness and wisdom must pre-exist transcendentally in God.

Lesson 5: The Relationship of God with His Creatures

St. Thomas held that God is the first cause of everything which He, Himself is
uncaused. According to St. Thomas, God’s purpose in creation is to communicate His
perfection, which is His goodness, by bringing into existence outside of Himself a world
which is best as a whole.

St. Thomas strongly upheld that the universe would not be perfect if only one grade of
goodness were found in things. In this case, the universe should be acting as one single
entity.

The universe contains both the corruptible entities. It is for this reason that both
happiness and pain, as well as life and death, would exist simultaneously with one
another. St. Thomas believed that suffering and death occur not because God wills
these evils but because of the “privations” inherent and unavoidable in creatures of
different grades of goodness.

Just like St. Augustine, St. Thomas believed that God created the world ex nihilo.

↳ Ex nihilo is the belief that the universe and the various forms of life were
created by God out of nothing.

St. Thomas held that God does not have a relationship with His creatures. God’s
existence does not have any reference to the existence of His creatures, because God
is a Necessary Being. His essence is His own existence. The creatures would have a
real relation to Him because if not for the creative work of God, the creatures would not
exist. Hence, creatures are considered contingent beings, without God, they would not
have come into existence.

Lesson 6: The Nature of the Human Person

St. Thomas Aquinas believed that human nature has both its source and ultimate end
in God. He believed that God is not only the final end of human beings, but He is also the
very ground of the existence of both the human beings and the world.

• Following the Neo-Platonic view one God is that of which everything is but a
participation and imitation; from whom all things proceed and to whom all things
return.

• The moral end of a person is not simply a natural end which he by nature tends. It
is the good in which a person, in his innermost being, yearns for and made
manifest to him in synderesis and conscience.

Conscience- The concrete particular judgment by which, in a given situation, a person

knows what he out to do.
Synderesis- The intellectual habit or disposition by which, the human person, in any
given situation, is in a possession of the fundamental principles of morality- do good and
avoid evil.
 • God created the human person in His own image and likeness, it follows that the
human person is also to be considered good because the Creator is the Summum
Bonum or the Highest Good.
➢ In this case, it is necessary that the human person should be following his
nature as good in order to achieve the real purpose of his existence. Doing
evil, therefore, is not in accordance with the real nature of the human
person.
➢ The real meaning of one’s existence can only be obtained when the human
person would be able to do good deeds and follow his nature as good.
➢ If the human person goes against his nature of goodness, then he is going
against the moral law.

Moral law- the dictate of the voice of the reason. This dictate is expressed in the moral
principle: “the good must be done, and evil must be avoided.” To determine whether a
person is acting rightly or wrongly, he must see to it that he is following the voice of
reason.
➢ A person will know that he is acting wrongly if he heeds against it.
➢ When a person is faced with a particular situation, the voice of conscience will
serve as the natural guide in making a moral decision.
➢ A human person will be able to know if he is doing the right thing if and when he
follows the voice of his conscience.

• For St. Thomas Aquinas, morality is not an arbitrary set of rules for behavior.
➢ If an act is suitable to human nature, then the action is good or moral; if it is
not, then the action is bad or immoral and, for this reason, it must be
avoided.
➢ A person will be able to know that a particular act is good if it is in
accordance with the human nature. Therefore, human nature can be
considered as the proximate norm of morality.

Lesson 7: The Threefold Natural Inclination of the Human Person

St. Thomas held that the human person has three natural inclinations:

1. Self-Preservation
➢ A person is under a basic natural obligation to protect his or her life and health.
Hence, putting one’s life in danger and harming one’s self must be considered
wrong.
➢ We have the natural inclination to preserve ourselves, we, therefore, have the duty
not to put ourselves in unnecessary jeopardy as this is unnatural and immoral.
➢ Any act that promotes health, vigor, and vitality is considered to be natural and to
be considered by nature as morally good.
 2. Just dealing with others
➢ The capacity of the human person to reason out leads him to treat others with the
same dignity and respect that he accords to himself.
➢ Subjecting others to indignities, degradations and inhumanities is against human
nature.
➢ All forms of inhumanity to human beings are by nature evil.

3. Propagation of species
➢ The basis of the union of both the husband and wife.
➢ The reproductive organs are, by their very nature, designed to reproduce and
perpetuate the human species.
➢ Any act of intervention that will frustrate and stifle the very purpose for any form of
contraceptives would defeat the very purpose of reproduction inasmuch as it
destroys the reproductive organs reason for existence.

Lesson 8: The Happiness of Human Person

All things are directed to one good as their last end. In this case human beings,
each and every individual human being are always geared towards the happiness as his
goal. Such happiness is that which is considered by the human being as good. But how
can a human person obtain this goal?
• Happiness cannot be obtained in wealth because wealth is only sought for the
sake of something else; since wealth is good only when human person uses it.
• Wealth is not the human person’s supreme good.
• Thomas held that the human person’s ultimate happiness consists in
contemplating God and not in the goods of the body.
• The human person’s ultimate happiness consists only in wisdom and not in any
other sciences. Therefore, evident by way of induction that the human person’s
ultimate happiness consists solely in the contemplation of God.

In the contemplation of the Divine Being, the human person must also find ways
and means in order to be with this Divine Being in order to obtain the ultimate
happiness.
• Human person’s action should always be geared towards God.
 • Each and every human person will have the responsibility to channel his action in
view of his nature as human being. Every human person should always be aware
of the morality of his action.

Lesson 9: The Three Determinants of Moral Action

Three Determinants of Moral Action

1. Object or the end of an action (finis operas)

➢ If the objects conform to the norm of morality, then the object is
considered to be good.

2. Circumstances (circumstantiae)
➢ This is the condition which, when super added to the nature of moral act,
will certainly affect its morality.

3. Intention of the agent (finis operantis)

➢ It Is the reason why the agent acts. When a human person does certain
action, he has to make it sure that the action will go for a good end. For St.
Thomas, a good act with bad motive makes the moral action bad. He
believed that human acts are good if they promote the purpose of God
and His Honor. For this reason, an act is considered evil if it deviates from
the reason and the divine moral law.

From the ethical principle of Aristotle, Aquinas took the idea that a thing should
act in accordance with its nature. Thomas upheld the principle: agree sequitur esse
(action follows being). Therefore, if a thing is serving its purpose based on the reason
for its creation, then that object is considered to be a good object. In this case, if a
human being would act in accordance with its nature as a human person, then he is
considered to be moral person. Moreover, because the human person is endowed with
reason, he should, therefore, incline himself towards goodness. In this case, the
rationality of the human person makes him responsible for the effect of his action.

Lesson 10: The Moral Principles as Basis of Human Action

According to St. Thomas, there are different moral principles that may serve as
the basis for moral action. These are:

1. The principle of the double effect. This principle is applied to a situation in

which a good effect and evil effect will result into a good cause.
2. The principle of totality. In this principle, an individual may be given the right
to cut off, mutilate, or remove any defective or worn-out non-functioning part
of his body if it is for the general well-being of the whole body.
 3. The principle of stewardship. This principle declares that human life comes
from God and no individual is the master of his own body. As caretakers,
human beings have the duty to take good care of their body. This principle
involves taking good care as well of the body of others because God has
placed this responsibility on us, and we will also have the responsibility of
caring for others.
4. The principle of Inviolability of life. This principle states that life is God’s
and has been loaned to us. The duty of every individual person is to take care
of this life until God takes it back from us.
5. The principle of Sexuality and procreation. This principle underscores the
two-fold purpose of sexual union. It states that part of every person’s duty of
taking good care of the body is duty to be united to another (to the opposite
sex) in order to bear fruit so that the life that comes from God may be
generated.

Lesson 11: The Rights and Duties of Human Person

1. The Right to Life. This is considered to be the highest right among any other rights of
a human person because, without this right to life, he would not enjoy the other rights.
Because this is the highest right, whenever this right is threatened, all the other rights will
have to give way in order to uphold this right to life. If, in order to save one's life, a person
resorted to stealing as the final solution to one's action, then said action will be considered
morally acceptable. According to St. Thomas, "in times of extreme necessity, the goods
of the world belong to everyone" (ST II-II, Q-32, A-7).
2. Right to Private Property. Thomas believed that a human person has the right to own
some property in order to live well so as to obtain a better life. Consequently, he needs
an adequate amount of property to pursue his life's work in a fruitful way. However, this
right has its limitations. For instance, if one's property causes the oppression of laborers
or has become the reason behind the massive poverty in a country, then this right
becomes usurpation (Quito, 148).
3. Right to Marry. Marriage is a right; not a duty. Therefore, one is held liable to submit
himself to marriage without the consent of the other person involved. This is why forced
marriage, or the so-called "shotgun marriage" is considered to be morally unacceptable.
4. Right to Physical Freedom or Personal Liberty. Every individual person has the
moral power to move around freely or to go to places where he wants to go. However,
prisoners or those who are under the authoritarian rule where citizens are virtually
imprisoned in their country cannot have this right. This human right gives an individual
person a physical liberty to seek refuge elsewhere if this is the means in order to protect
his life from a possible danger.
5. Right to Worship. This right suggests that no person will have the right to impose
religion on other persons. Even if a religion is prescribed for employment, no one can
really impose religion on another. This, therefore, implies that there should be religious
tolerance even in one's own family.
6. Right to Work. The right to work implies a right to a living wage. If a person has a right
to live and can only live by working, then he must have a right to work and to obtain a just
compensation for his work. Consequently, the government has the duty. to provide human
persons with jobs in order to assure them of the right to live. In this case, laborers have
the right to strike if they are not given just remunerations for their work.

The Natural Duties Taken from The Human Person's Natural Rights
1. Duty to Keep Healthy and to Take Care of Oneself. To the right to life, there is
the corresponding duty to improve one's self not only physically, but also
intellectually, socially, morally, and spiritually. In this case, one has the duty to
develop one's capacities and to consider also that the others have the same right
to life and, therefore, this right of life of others must be given due respect.
2. Duty to Take Care of one's Property and Respect the Property of Others. This
duty is included in the second natural inclination of the human person-the just
dealings with others. In this duty also includes the duty to assist those who do not
have anything in order to sustain their life. Hence, this duty invites the person to
perform an act of charity so as to help the others in order to sustain their life.
3. Duty to Support One's Family. The right to marry must lead the others to consider
the duty to support one's family. This includes the duty to bring up the children
properly and to uphold the family in order to obtain a respectable living. Because
the third natural inclination of the human person is the propagation of species, it
is, therefore, the duty of those persons who entered the married life to bear and
uphold a child in order to make the child a better person someday.
4. Duty to Respect Private Boundaries. This duty forbids everyone to enter the
premises of other persons without the consent of the owner of the said premises.
This duty includes the responsibility to recognize the limits of one's freedom and
the privacy of the other person.
5. Duty for Religious Tolerance. Every person has a duty to respect the private
relationship of others to God. In this regard, it is important to respect the other
person's religion no matter how absurd and how alien his manner of worship can
be. This is because the relationship of the person with God is between himself and
God alone. Therefore, nobody has the right to mingle with the affair between the
person and God except himself and God alone.
6. Duty to Perform at One's Best. Although the workers have the right to a decent
living wage, it is, however, their duty to render an honest day's work. In this duty,
therefore, both the employer and the employees should be given fairness and
justice in order to protect each other's rights (Quito, 149).
Lesson 12: Critique on the Ethics of St. Thomas

The ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas is based on the principle of synderesis and
conscience. Being created in the image and likeness of God would mean that every
human being will always be inclined towards goodness. This idea would be difficult to
accept especially that the world seems to be being filled up by evil people who are also
created by a good God. But for atheists, who could not accept existence of a Creator or
the Devine Planner, this Thomistic ethics may become absurd.

Task 2. Synchronous Activity.

Lecture/Discussion (with power point presentation) on The Natural Law Ethics.

Assignment/Assessment

Quiz on The Natural Law Ethics via Google form.

References

Unraveling the Absolute Moral Principle: Ethics for Filipino Students, page
93-105.

Prepared by:
Marie Stephanie Buenafe Abonal
msbabonal@astean.biscast.edu.ph

JELLY MAE BENITEZ AYALA

jayala@astean.biscast.edu.ph

RICA S.J CADORES

rcadores@astean.biscast.edu.ph

JOY DIANELA CORPUZ

joy@astean.biscast.edu.ph

ALMERA MAE VICTORIA EBRON

avebron@astean.biscast.edu.ph