Valencia Colleges (Buk)

Inc. L

Hagkol, Valencia City A

Valencia_colleges@yahoo.com
N

GE 8: ETHICS
T

Second Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021 M

A Introduction
MODULE 1
Morality it must be noted, is present only in humanity.
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.

Rationale
R

This module will allow you to have a better

O

understanding in the moral standards and human

P

freedoms
Intended Learning Outcomes
G

S
1. To understand moral standards in relation to
S
N

human life 2. To learn the issue of voluntariness in

I

C human acts
R

Activity
E

What are moral standards?

T

E
Discussion
S
1 Crafted by Mrs. Leah T. Orizal
MODULE 1
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 intellect and

M

c) man has free will. Being capable of action man can employ his bodily activities to A

perform actions. With man’s intellect he can discern the good or evilness of R

G
his actions and at the same time equate the repercussions of his actions once asked to
O

justify them. Free will is present and inherent in men unless they are idiots
and with R

P
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 N

for him although their desires are the same with brutes such as hunger, thirst, pain and
N

sensual needs; man moves based on reason while their lower counterparts have only I

instinct. Sentient beings like animals rely on instinct which are natural biological drives,
R

T
while men can decide whether an act is moral or not.

E
C
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 I

the power of abstraction – this is his ability to correlate ideas previously based on his
mind V

as well as his understanding of the situation at hand, thereby giving him a logical or
correct E

S
decision.

4. The intellect and the will – they are correlative with each other because the intellect is
A

N
the agent of knowing while the will is the agent of choice. From intellect – knowledge is
O
stored this will then guide the will to decide which is basically “good”. They co-exist and
I

T
from their partnership “virtue” is born.
A

Voluntariness of Human Acts

A voluntary act is under the control of the intellect and the will and must be answerable for

2
Crafted by Mrs. Leah T. Orizal
MODULE 1
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

M 2. Imperfect voluntariness – when a person acts without full understanding and no A

R
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

to his O

liking or not – this may be positive or negative. The former is by making him to do R

P
something while the other is to prevent or stop him from doing things.

N
4. Conditional voluntariness - it is the situation when the person was forced by
I

circumstances or under duress which he would not do under normal circumstances. N

Example is being extorted money by a neighborhood toughie in exchange

for his R

T
“protection”. But what modifiers may cloud the intellect and the will that may either reduce

E
or increase accountability:
C

V
Modifiers of Human Acts:
R

1. Ignorance – this simply means absence of knowledge. A doer’s responsibility for his E

actions may be increased or decreased due to this. A person may have committed an
act S

L
for he is unaware of it. There are three types of ignorance and they are:
A

∙ Vincible ignorance that can easily be corrected such as calling a person with a N

O
wrong name or entering the wrong classroom. On the other hand,
I

∙ Invincible ignorance – cannot be rectified an example is a waiter who gave the T

A
wrong food to the customer or a killer that claimed the life of a wrong victim.

∙ The third is Affected ignorance – is the doer’s attempt to escape responsibility

such N

as a suspect denying his complicity in a crime he has done.

3
Crafted by Mrs. Leah T. Orizal
MODULE 1

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 example of negative

emotions. There are also two passions such as antecedent and consequent passions

M wherein the former are passions that occur before the stimulus such as accidentally A

meeting a special someone; while the other came after a stimulus we ourselves
caused for R

example, meeting a special someone that we are already aware of his arrival. O

3. Fear – it is the disturbance of the mind when confronted by danger to himself or a

loved R

one. Actions whether done with fear or out of fear may affect one’s action. Acts done
with

G
fear are voluntary while acts done out of fear are two different things. If one moves with
N
fear this means he has to decide and yet is afraid he might err an example is an amateur
I

N
singer performing in front of a large crowd or driving a vehicle with limited know-how in
I

driving. Actions out of fear are situations that needed immediate decisions such as
jumping A
 out of a plane about to crash land or run away from a violent situation. R

4. Violence – it is physical force given to a free person to coerce him to do or not to do E

I
something. Physical threats such as torture, starvation or mutilation are examples of C

violence but was free will impaired? No, the free will is still there for they can still resist V

R
making their moral integrity intact, in short, there is still a choice.
E

5. Habits – readiness to perform habitual acts. Habits are done mechanically that
thinking S

is no longer necessary may either be good or bad. It is second-nature to the doer and L

A
doing it is instinctt.
N

O
Exercise
I

1THE INTELLECT AND THE WILL.______________ they are correlative with each
other because the intellect is the agent A

N
of knowing while the will is the agent of choice.

2. HABITS__________ readiness to perform habitual acts.

3.SIMPLE VOLUNTARINESS ______________ it is the disposition of a person doing the
activity regardless to his liking or not – this may be positive or negative.

4
Crafted by Mrs. Leah T. Orizal
MODULE 1
4 IGNORANCE_________________ is the doer’s attempt to escape responsibility
such as a suspect denying his complicity in a crime he has done.

5 ______FEAR__________ it is the disturbance of the mind when confronted by danger to

himself or a loved one.
6IGNORANCE______ is the doer’s attempt to escape responsibility such as a suspect
denying his complicity in a crime he has done.
M

7.CONDITIONAL VOLUNTARINESS________________ is the situation when the

person was forced by circumstances or R

I
 acts are present.
N

2. Explain the moral standards.

R

SN

T
IA

N
HT

under duress which he would not do under normal

circumstances

8.PERFECT VOLUNTARINESS ______ when a

person acts with full knowledge and complete
freedom, we are fully aware of what we are doing

9.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
10.PASSIONS__________ Psychic responses that
may adhere or abhor them to either desirable or
5
undesirable tendencies. Crafted by Mrs. Leah T. Orizal

Reflection

Essay
1. Select one of the modifiers of human acts and
create an illustration where the modifiers of human MA
 6
R

Crafted by Mrs. Leah T. Orizal

G

MODULE 1