ETHICS

Ethics – the study of rightness and wrongness of a human action.

CAUSISTS - adherent of applied ethics

TYPES OF ETHICS

1. NORMATIVE ETHICS (PRESCRICPTIVE)

 seeks to set norms or standards that regulate right and
wrong or good and bad conduct.
2. META ETHICS (DESCRIPTIVE)
 aims to understand the nature and dynamics of ethical
principles, and the way we learn and acquire moral
beliefs.
3. APPLIED ETHICS
 actual application of ethical or moral theories for the
purpose of deciding which ethical or moral actions are
appropriate in a given situation.

Human Acts & Acts Man

HUMAN ACTS or actus humani

• Are actions that proceed from insight into nature and purpose
of one’s doing and from consent of free will.
• These are rational and willed actions that are proper only to
man, which man does not share with the brutes, Actions that
requires man’s rationality.
• Is an act freely chosen in consequence of a judgement of
conscience and a human act can be morally evaluated as
either good or evil.

3 things/elements that must be present:

1. The action must originate from a person having wisdom or

knowledge or what we call discernment.

2. It should originate from a person having freedom. The person

must be free

3. The action must originate from person with voluntariness or

will.

FREEDOM - means you can choose whether to do it or not.

VOLUNTARINESS – it answers the questions; are you willing to do

it? Do you have the willingness to do it?
ACTS OF MAN

• Are man’s actions which man shares with the animals.

• These are the acts of perception or sensation, actions that
proceed without man’s deliberate free will.
• Are actions that proceed without man’s deliberate freewill.
This is why actions that happen within the body are not
human acts, because they occur without control of the will
and consciousness of the human mind.

3 Elements of Human acts

1. KNOWLEDGE

2. FREEDOM

3. VOLUNTARINESS

HUMAN ACT is any act, thought or word that is done with full
knowledge and deliberate.

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACT

1. IGNORANCE – as the absence of knowledge in a person who is

not required to know, to know what he does not know.

2. CONCUPISCENCE – they refer to the emotions and feelings of

man in relation to his actions. Since emotions and feelings
belong to man’s sensory appetites, they are in themselves
irrational. Concupiscence or what we call passion are derived
as appetites towards the possession of good and avoidance.

3. FEAR – it is the shrinking of the mind or account of anticipated

evil or threat. The emotion that catch impending or anticipated
evil and manifest itself to avoid or escape from an impending
threat.

4. VIOLENCE OR FORCE – the actual application of force to a

person by another for the purpose of compelling him to do
something against his will. If violence is threat, then it is not
violence at all but fear. So, when an agent does not act due to
threat of violence, the responsibility of the agent should be
judge according to the criteria of fear and not of violence.

5. HABIT – is defined as a constant and easy way of doing things

acquired by the repetition of the same act. Tendencies we have
developed in ourselves from repeated acts.This helps us to
determine the degree of responsibility.
 Human act VS Acts of man
Acts of man, therefore, are acts shared in common by man and other
animals, whereas human acts are proper to human being.

END- Ultimate goal in a series of steps.

What is the difference between voluntary and involuntary action? What bearing voluntary
and involuntary action does have on personal moral responsibility?

Voluntary actions are those that are undertaken by someone who has the
ability to choose whether or not to execute them. If an action is performed
voluntarily, it is free of coercion and ignorance, and we may hold the actor
morally accountable. Involuntary actions, on the other hand, are those that occur
without permission, such as reflexes and involuntary muscular contractions, and
if the conduct is involuntary, the person is not morally culpable since they act
under duress or in ignorance. In other words, voluntary activities may be
planned in advance, but involuntary actions cannot.

How does Aristotle define a final end? What is his conception of happiness?
Aristotle concludes that this final end, or "good,“ must be happiness and it utilizes the first book in the
series to not only outline his theory but also to serve as a guide for the reader to live a good life and gain
the final and self-fulfilling good on which all our acts are based. Happiness, according to him, is the
ultimate objective in a series of steps since it cannot be anything as simple as pleasure fulfillment
because we are superior creatures, and it must be something beyond each individual virtue because we
are not full goals in ourselves.

What is the highest form of happiness according to Aristotle? Is there any other form of
happiness?
Yes, there are other forms of happiness, such as joy, excitement, gratitude, and love, but according
to Aristotle, eudaimonia is the highest form of happiness. Aristotle believes that achieving a state of
eudaimonia is not achieved via the collection of individual pleasant episodes that, when totaled, would
correspond to having lived a fulfilling life, nor do material riches or money describe a well-lived life. He
thinks that happiness is "the final objective of every man" and that achieving it is "a means to a better
end." This is because happy occurrences may only provide short-term comfort and do not necessarily
enhance an individual's satisfaction.

Voluntary actions are those that are undertaken by someone who has
the ability to choose whether or not to execute them. Involuntary
actions, on the other hand, are those that occur without permission,
such as reflexes and involuntary muscular contractions. In other words,
voluntary activities may be planned in advance, but involuntary actions
cannot.