Understanding the

Moral Agent
Prepared by: Mr. Jayvee C. Cebu, RPm
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment

HUMAN?
Human is a
biological term.
You’re human if you
have human DNA.
Beings who are a
part of our moral
community.

PERSON?
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment

PERSONHOOD

The status of being a person.

IS IT POSSIBLE
The way that people
understand and relate to
TO BE HUMAN,
each
towards
other contributes
the
YET NOT A
acknowledgement or
development and PERSON?
maintenance of personhood.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
PERSONHOOD If I/you need to be a
person is human DNA,
What must one for instance your
possess to be part of mouth sells DNA and
our moral even corpses.
community, to be
deserving of our
moral consideration?
Genetic Criteria
You are a person if you
have human DNA and
you’re not a person if
you don’t.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Mary Anne Warren proposed five criteria
PERSONHOOD of personhood:
What must one 2. Reasoning (the 3. Self-motivated
developed capacity to activity (activity which
possess to be part of
solve new and is relatively
our moral relatively complex independent of either
community, to be problems); genetic or direct
deserving of our external control);
moral consideration? 4. The capacity to
5. The presence of
communicate, by
self-concepts and self-
Five Criteria of Personhood whatever means,
awareness, either
messages of an
individual or racial, or
1. Consciousness (of indefinite variety of
both.
objects and events types, that is, not just
external and/or with an indefinite
internal to the being), number of possible Cognitive Criteria
and the capacity to contents, but on
feel pain; indefinitely many
possible topics;
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
PERSONHOOD
What must one If no one happens
possess to be part of to care for a
our moral This would mean
particular being,
community, to be that fully rational,
that being simply
deserving of our functioning adult
is not a person.
moral consideration? humans might not
have personhood-
Social Criterion just because no
one happens to
You are a person care about them.
whenever society 
recognizes you as
a person, or
whenever someone
cares about you.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
PERSONHOOD
Peter Singer
It’s wrong to cause
unnecessary pain
The key to to anything that
personhood is can feel, but if it
sentience. can’t feel, well we
do no harm by For example, a
The ability to feel excluding it from fetuses who is
pleasure and pain. the group of beings younger than 23
that matter. weeks are not
person
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
PERSONHOOD
Yes, killing
Some people think people is
wrong they
that personhood is a
might say
right. A sort of ticket
to the moral
community that you
forfeit whenever you
violate the laws of BUT if the criminal
has surrendered
society in a major their personhood
way. though their
actions. So, they’re
no longer person
anymore
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
PERSONHOOD
Gradient Theory of A fetus would grow A fetus who has
Personhood slowly in less personhood
personhood during than a newborn
pregnancy as baby
Personhood comes
cognition
in degrees, and
developed.
you can have more
or less of it. All
throughout
the
development
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
PERSONHOOD A moral agents
have a moral
Moral Agents responsibility not
to cause
A moral agent is a unjustified harm.
person who can
discern right from
wrong to be held
and to be held Traditionally,
accountable for his moral agency is
or her own actions. assigned only to
those who can be
held responsible
for their actions.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development
Three Stages of Stage 1: Preconventional
Moral Reasoning: Morality

Level 1: Obedience Level 2: Individual

and Punishment Interest
Orientation

Obey rules and Behavior driven by

avoid being self- interest and
punished rewards.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development
Three Stages of Stage 2: Conventional
Moral Reasoning: Morality

Level 3 : Level 4: Authority

Interpersonal Level

Behavior driven by
Behavior driven by obeying authority
social approval. and conforming to
norms.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development
Three Stages of Stage 3: Post-
Moral Reasoning: Conventional Morality

Level 5 : Social Level 6: Universal

Contract Ethics

Behavior driven by
Behavior driven by internal moral
balance of social principles.
order and
individual rights.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Ethical Egoism
Egoism- is the
philosophy
concerned with the
self’s role, or ego,
as motivation and
goal of one’s own
action.

Psychological Egoism Rational Egoism

Ethical Egoism
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Ethical Egoism
Ethical Egoism- Is
an ethical position
which claims that
it is always right to
Psychological do what would Rational Egoism-
Egoism- people are benefit you the an action is
always motivated most. It is morally rational if and only
by self- interest, good to do if it maximizes
even if what seems whatever will give one’s self- interest.
to be acts of the best outcome
altruism. for you. It is
morally obligatory
that you act in
your own self-
interest.
The Concept of Personhood: Basis of Moral Judgment
Ethical Egoism
Personal – this is Universal-
Individual- what
not a moral system everyone ought to
is moral is what is
and does not serve his or her
in my interest
provide moral self- interest.
prescriptions,
rather it is
unconcerned with
what is right or
wrong. Can be
thought of as
simple selfishness.
Thank you, any
questions?
Prepared by: Mr. Jayvee C. Cebu, RPm