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UNIT ETHICS, MORALITY AND ITS FEATURES

I

I. LEARNING OUTCOMES

* Discuss the meaning, elements and importance of Philosophy, Ethics and features
of
Morality. (U)
* Compare and contrast the two Ethical Systems. (U)
* Provide concrete examples of valuables possessed at present. (AP)

II. INPUT

LESSON I: WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

Philosophy can be defined in two ways:
 
1. Etymological (Word Origin) Definition
- Philosophy comes from two Greek words, philo and sophia
philo – means love
sophia – means wisdom
 
Therefore, philosophy means love of wisdom.
A philosopher is a lover of wisdom.

(Wisdom – is the accumulated knowledge of life)

 
(Accumulate means to collect or obtain a large amount of something over a period of
time)

2. Its Real Definition

- Philosophy is a search for the meaning of life
“search” - means to look, to find, to seek (ordinary meaning)
- something more serious, more intense, more of a quest
(philosophical meaning)

THREE ELEMENTS FOUND IN PHILOSOPHICAL SEARCH

 
1. The object (goal, aim) is of real value to the one who searches for it.
E.g. Your parents are working very hard and are spending big amounts of money just
for you to graduate in college. They do this because their object (goal, aim) is of real
value or very important to them.

2. It “consumes” the whole person – his attention, concentration, interest,

effort
(Consume means to fill somebody's mind or attention fully)

3. It is continued without backing out until

(a) the answer to his search is found, or
(b) the answer is not yet found, but the conviction is reached that for the moment at
least this is the best possible although still imperfect answer.
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(Conviction is a belief or opinion that is held firmly)

This is why man is known as homo viator (traveler). He travels not only physically but
also intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and behaviorally.
 
To philosophize is to ask questions. Since every one of us asks questions, then we
are philosophers.
FEATURES OF MORALITY

1. People experience a sense of moral obligation and accountability

2. Moral values and moral absolutes exist

It’s hard to deny the objective reality of moral values—actions like rape, torture, and
child abuse are not just socially unacceptable behavior but are moral abominations. [William
Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway
Books, 1994, p. 124.]

Even Darwinist Michael Ruse admits, “The man who says it is morally acceptable to
rape little children is just as mistaken as the man who says 2+2=5.”[Michael Ruse,
Darwinism Defended. London: Addison-Wesley, 1982, p. 27.]

Some actions are really wrong in the same way that some things like love and respect
are truly good.

There are moral absolutes—truths that exist and apply to everyone, like that “you
ought not to torture babies for fun on feast days.”

3. ‘Moral law’ therefore exists

When we accept the existence of goodness, we must affirm a moral law on the basis
of which to differentiate between good and evil.

C.S. Lewis (The Case for Christianity) demonstrates the existence of a moral law by
pointing to men who quarrel-- the man who makes remarks is not just saying that the other
man's behavior does not happen to please him but is rather appealing to some kind of
standard of behavior that he expects the other man to know about. [C.S. Lewis, The Case for
Christianity. New York: MacMillan, pp. 5-6.]

4. ‘Moral law’ is known to humans

Moral law is also called Law of Nature because early philosophers thought that
generally speaking, everybody knows it by nature. [C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity.
New York: MacMillan, pp. 5-6.]

Different civilizations and different ages only have “slightly different” moralities and not
a radically or “quite different moralities”.

One cannot present a country where a man feels proud for double-crossing all the
people who had been kindest to him.
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Men may have differed as to whether one should have one wife or four wives but
people have always agreed that one must not simply have any woman he likes.

Will and Ariel Durant: “A little knowledge of history stresses the variability of moral
codes, and concludes that they are negligible because they differ in time and place, and
sometimes contradict each other. A larger knowledge stresses the universality of moral
codes, and concludes to their necessity.” [Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History. New
York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968, p. 37.]

5. Morality is ‘objective’

Morality is absolute—there is a real right and real wrong that is universally and
immutably true, independent of whether anyone believes it or not.

Since almost all people assume certain things to be wrong—such as genocide,

murder of babies for feast, and rape—the best explanation is that such things really are
wrong and morality is objective. [Lowell Kleiman, Philosophy: An Introduction Through
Literature. New York: MacMillan, pp. 317-324.]

How could anyone hold that the truth that “torturing a baby is wrong” is not a moral
absolute but a relative judgment?

Moral relativism is self-defeating—the statement “there are no absolutes” itself implies

a claim for an absolute principle.

6. Moral judgments must be supported by reasons

Moral judgments are different from mere expressions of personal preference—they

require backing by reasons, and in the absence of such reasons, they are merely arbitrary.
[James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy. USA: McGraw-Hill College, 3rd ed.,
1999, pp. 16-17.]

WHAT IS MORALITY?

The first step in any study of Christian morality is to understand what is meant by the
terms’ morality and ethics. Most people use these terms interchangeably, but they mean
different things.

Morality refers to the standards or norms that an individual or group holds concerning
good and evil, what constitutes right and wrong behavior.

Ethics is the inquiry into, or the investigation of, the subject matter of morality, or the
study of how we are to act in morally good ways. Ethics is the discipline that critically
examines the moral standards or norms held by a particular society, and then applies these
standards or norms (assuming they are reasonable) to life.

The goal of ethics is to develop a body of moral standards on which we can draw to
help us respond to the many moral challenges we face.
While morality refers to the standards or norms held by a particular group of people, it
is not static. Different cultures have different standards or norms of acceptable behavior as
do different religious traditions, social classes, and age groups. It should come as no surprise
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that the morality of the generation that lived through World War II is very different from that of
“Generation X.”

Ethics is derived from the Greek word ‘Ethos’ which means “characteristic way of
acting”. Its Latin equivalent is mores, mos, meaning “tradition or custom”. Ethos includes
cultural mannerisms, religion, politics, laws, and social aspirations of a group of people.

-In our study, ethos refers to those characteristics belonging to man as a rational
being, endowed with intellect and free-will.

Ethos of man as man is revealed in the following:

1. He is able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral.

2. He feels within himself an obligation to do what is right and to avoid what is evil.

3. He feels himself accountable for his actions, expecting reward or punishments for
them.

What is Ethics?

Is defined as the science of the morality of human acts.

It is said to be the study of human behavior, and ultimately, of human rational
behavior.

Note: Man is expected to conduct himself according to the “dictates of reason.”

Ethics as Value Education

In classical tradition, ethics is moral philosophy which relies solely on human reason
to investigate truths. Moral theology on the other hand, employs reason insofar as it is
enlightened by faith or divine revelation.

In contemporary curriculum, ethics takes the form of Value Education.

A value is something a person prizes, cherishes, and esteems as important to him. It

includes ideas, things, or experiences.

The aim of value education is to guide the individual in choosing wisely his values and
in acting upon them.

 Ethics as art of correct doing

Art in general, is the appreciation of beauty. It implies order and harmony of parts in a
given whole.

Importance of Ethics
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It is an indispensable knowledge. Without moral perception, man is only an animal.

Without morality, man as rational being is a failure. Moral integrity is the only measure of
what ought to be. The most powerful king, or the most successful professional is nothing
unless he too is morally upright. Rusell, observes that “without civic morality, communities
perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.”

Read more about this topic from this link

(March 28, 2017). Why do we need Ethics? The pathway to principle-based decision making.
Retrieved from https://www.ethicssage.com/2017/03/why-do-we-need-ethics.html

LESSON II: TWO ETHICAL SYSTEMS

A. ATHEISTIC APPROACH
1. Matter is the only reality.
2. Man is matter and does not have spiritual dimension.
3. Man is free and must exercise his freedom to promote the welfare of the society.
4. There is no life after death.
5. Man is accountable only to the State

B. THEISTIC APPROACH
1. God is the Supreme Creator and Lawgiver.
2. Man is free and must use his freedom to promote his personal and social interests
along with his fellowmen.
3. Man has an immortal soul which cannot die.
4. Man is accountable for his actions, both good and evil.
 

Ethics in its relationship with other disciplines:

Ethics and Religion

Ethics is a science and depends upon rational investigation of its truths. It teaches the
value of religion, presenting it as a duty to the Almighty.

Religion is a system of beliefs and practices based on faith or revelation. It provides

both the direction and motivation for the moral life of people.

Ethics and Law

Ethics studies human motivation. It goes deeper than the study of external actions. It
explores thoughts and feelings.

Law requires that we perform the required action regardless of our feelings towards
such action.

The law is concerned with the externality of the act. For law is definitely concerned
with what we do, not with what we feel.” (Acc. To Mortimer J. Adler – Ethics: The study of Moral Values)

IMPUTABILITY OF HUMAN ACTS

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A human act is done by a person who is in control of his faculties: intellect and will. In
this sense, a person is like a captain of a ship who assumes full responsibility and
accountability for his actions.

The imputability of a human act means that the person performing the act is liable for
such act. It involves the notion of guilt or innocence.

Thus, actions are either praiseworthy or blameworthy. Actions are attributed to the
doer as their principal cause.

SANCTIONS AND PENALTIES

Imputability implies that the doer is either deserving of reward or punishment. This is
basic requirement of justice.

The penal laws of our country provide for a system of punishment for crimes, ranging
from simple fines to imprisonment. The capital punishment, that is death penalty or life
imprisonment, is reserved for “heinous crime.”

Bible, however, speaks of death as the punishment for “sins.” Though the Old
Testament interprets this as death by execution, it refers more to spiritual death or suffering.
A form of spiritual death is the loss of peace of mind, the only genuine happiness possible in
this life.

Medical science and psychiatry also show that many diseases, both mental and
physical, are caused by spiritual disorientation. Indeed, many of the human sufferings we see
and experience are the direct results of immoral situations.

For example, an immoral person risks losing his honor, his job, and his family. He also
runs the risk of being ostracized. On the other hand, the world looks up to a man of integrity.
Peace, contentment, and honor are but some of the rewards coming to an upright person.

REFERENCES

Fernandez, A. (2006). Ethics for today’s inquiry. Philippines, ADDU

Glenn, P. (1968). Ethics. Herder Book Co. Philippines

Hinacay, M. (2006). The human person. Iligan City

Montemayor, F. (1981). Ethics: The science and art of life. Metro Manila

Padella, R. (1999). Ethics. Rex Book Store

Reyes, R. C. (1997). Ground and Norm of Morality. Manila, ADMU Press

Notes in ethics: 6 Features of morality (2010). Retrieved

from https://ourhappyschool.com/philosophy/notes-ethics-6-features-morality

The foundations of Christian morality (n.d). Retrieved from

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catholicethicsintodaysworld%20short.pdf

UNIT HUMAN ACTS, DEGREES OF VOLUNTARINESS, ENDS & GOODS

II

TARGET GOALS FOR THE UNIT

* Conduct an interview about the different principles. (C)
* Create a story that will illustrate in an orderly manner the elicited acts. (C)

I. LEARNING OUTCOMES:

* Discuss the meanings, kinds, elements, moral distinctions of

Human Acts, Degrees of Voluntariness, Ends and Goods. (U)
* Provide an example showcasing one’s understanding of the elements of elicited
acts.
(AP)

II. INPUT

LESSON I: HUMAN ACTS & ACTS OF MAN

Human acts are those actions which man performs knowingly, freely and voluntarily.

Elements of Human Acts

1. Knowledge. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is aware of what he is

doing and of its consequences.

2. Freedom. It must be performed by an agent who is acting freely, that is, by his own
volition and powers.

3. Voluntary. It must be performed by an agent who decides willfully to perform the act.

Acts of man are those actions happened in man. They are instinctive and are not
within the control of the will. Such actions are the biological and physiological movements in
man such as, metabolism, respiration, fear, anger, love and jealousy.

KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS

Elicited acts are those performed by the will and are not bodily externalized.

Elicited acts are the following:

A. Wish is the simple love of anything; the first tendency of the will towards a thing,
whether this thing be realizable or not.
B. Intention is the purposive tendency of the will towards a thing regarded as
realizable, whether the thing is actually done or not.
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C. Consent is the acceptance by the will of the means to carry out intention. It is a
further intention of doing what is necessary to realize the first or main intention.
D. Election is the selection by the will of the precise means to be employed
(consented to) in carrying out an intention.
E. Use is the employment by the will of powers (of body, mind, or both) to carry out its
intention by the means elected.
F. Fruition is the enjoyment of a thing willed and done; the will’s act of satisfaction in
intention fulfilled.

Commanded acts are those done either by man’s mental or bodily powers under the
command
of the will.

 Kinds of Commanded Acts

A. Internal actions are conscious reasoning, recalling something, encouraging

oneself, controlling aroused emotions
B. External actions are deliberate walking, eating, dancing, dancing, laughing,
C. Mixed actions involve the employment of bodily powers and mental powers.

MORAL DISTINCTIONS

Moral actions are those actions which are in conformity with the norm of morality.
They are good actions and are permissible.

E.g. * Always tell the truth.

* Do not destroy property.
* Have courage.
* Keep your promises.
* Do not cheat.
* Treat others as you want to be treated.
* Do not judge.

Immoral actions are those actions which are not in conformity with the norm of
morality. They are bad or evil and are not permissible.

E.g.
 Lying to your spouse about how much money you spent.
 Lying to your parents about where you were for the evening.
 Stealing money from the petty cash drawer at work.
 Lying on your resume in order to get a job.
 Talking about a friend behind his back.
 Taking credit for work you did not do.

Amoral actions are those actions which stand neutral in relation to the norm of
morality. They are neither good nor bad in themselves.

Amoral (adjective) is someone who does not care if his actions are right or wrong, or
actions that show a lack of care about what is morally right. It is not to be judged by criteria of
morality; neither moral nor immoral. Without moral sense or principles; incapable of
distinguishing between right and wrong.
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Ex. A person who has no conscience, and a very young child are called “amoral”
because such people have no feeling or understanding of the concepts of right and wrong.

Read more about this topic from this link

(n.d.). Voluntariness of Human Acts: Degrees of voluntariness. Retrieved
from https://quizlet.com/516931886/b-voluntariness-of-human-acts-flash-
cards/#

LESSON II: VOLUNTARINESS

Voluntariness: Its importance to ethics

Ethics deals with the study of human acts (voluntary acts of man)

It is the amount or degree of voluntariness present in an act which determines the

amount or degree of responsibility and this in turn will determine the amount of punishment, if
any, to be meted out.

DEGREES OF VOLUNTARINESS

Perfect voluntariness is present in a person who fully knows and fully intends an act.

E.g. A man, wanting to get even, takes a gun and shoots his enemy.

Imperfect voluntariness is present in a person who acts without fully realizing what he
means to do, or without fully intending the act.

E.g. A drunken man might act irrationally without fully realizing what he is doing; or, a
woman in terror, might jump out of a window without fully intending to kill herself.

Conditional voluntariness is present in a person who is forced by circumstances beyond

his control to perform an act which he would not do under normal conditions.

E.g. A person gives up his money to the robber

Simple voluntariness is present in a person doing an act willfully, regardless of whether he

likes to do it or not.

Positive voluntariness is when an act requires the performance of an activity.

Negative voluntariness is when an act requires the omission of an activity.

Interpretative voluntariness is that voluntariness which, in the judgment of prudence and

common sense, would be actually present if opportunity or ability for it were given.

Direct voluntariness accompanies an act which is primarily intended by the doer, either as
an end in itself or as a means to achieve something else.

Examples:
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1. Eating lunch is carried on with direct voluntariness. The same directness

accompanies many of our daily activities such as, going to school, inviting a friend to a
movie, reading a book, or writing a note.

2. He who intends to go to a party in order to drink with friends wills both the going to
the party and the drinking with friends. Both acts, therefore, are directly voluntary

 Indirect voluntariness accompanies an act or situation which is the mere result of a directly
willed act.

It is an act which is not intended for its own sake but with merely follows as a
regrettable consequence of an action directly willed.

It also refers to an act which is desired not as an end in itself but as a foreseen effect
or consequences of an act.

Examples:

1. Getting a failing mark is indirectly voluntary on the part of the student who has
willingly neglected to study.

2. Throwing precious cargoes from a sinking boat to save lives of passengers. Here
the throwing and losing of the cargoes is not desired or intended. It comes as a
consequence of saving lives of passengers.

3. Going to a party to enjoy with friends but making trouble when drunk. The making
of trouble may have been foreseen and foreknown but it may have been intended;
in which case, the act of making trouble is only indirectly voluntary.

Note: Why is an indirect voluntary act still voluntary when it is not intended and
follows only as a regrettable side issue?

It is when we will to do an act, we will the whole act including its consequences; and
since we place the cause, we also indirectly will the effect, although this is in itself
regrettable. We are therefore responsible for the consequences of our actions even if these
are not intended.

THE PRINCIPLE OF INDIRECT VOLUNTARY ACT

Principle:
A person is accountable for his actions and their consequences. But is he
also accountable for results not directly intended?

According to Paul Glenn, a person is accountable when the following are present:

1. The doer is able to foresee the evil result or effect, at least, in a general way.
2. He must be free to stop from doing the act which is the cause of the evil effect.
3. He must be morally obliged to stop doing the act which is the cause of the evil
effect.

Examples:
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1. A person committed suicide by throwing himself down from the 14th floor of a
building. However, instead of falling on the ground, he fell on an old man and the
old man died instantly. Is the person who wanted to commit suicide responsible for
the death of the old man?
Did he directly intend to kill the old man?
Did he foresee the evil effect of the act (suicide) i.e. the death of the old man?
Can the person refrain from committing suicide – which Is the cause of the
death of the old man?
Is the person morally responsible for the death of the old man?

2. A woman is pregnant with her three-month-old fetus suffers from severe cough
due to tuberculosis. She knows that if she takes medicine, her fetus may be
aborted. Nevertheless, to free herself from the illness, she takes a considerable
dose of medicines.
Is the woman morally responsible of the death of the fetus?
Yes, because she foresees the evil effect of her intake of medicine.

THE PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECT

Principle:
An agent is allowed to do an act having two effects, one good and the
other evil if the following conditions are fulfilled:

1. The act must be good in itself or at least morally indifferent.

 Requires the act to be good in itself

 The end does not justify the means.
We should not employ bad means even, in order to attain a good end.
We may not do evil that good may result.
 The morality of an act primarily depends on the nature of the act itself and
not on the intention of the agent, nor on the consequences of the act.

2. The evil must not come first than the good effect. At least, they should
happen simultaneously.
 Requires that the evil effect be not intended. The reason behind this is that
if the evil be directly intended, the act would be done for the sake of evil,
and this is forbidden directly by the moral law.

3. There must be a sufficient reason for doing the act. A sufficient reason for
doing the act exists when:

a) the good effect is more important or at least equally

important with the bad effect.
b) the act is the only means of achieving the good effect.

4. The intention of the agent must be honest.

Example:
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A doctor who believes abortion is always morally wrong may still remove the
uterus or fallopian tubes of a pregnant woman, knowing the procedure will cause the
death of the embryo or fetus, in cases in which the woman is certain to die without the
procedure (examples cited include aggressive uterine cancer and ectopic pregnancy).
In these cases, the intended effect is to save the woman's life, not to terminate the
pregnancy, and the effect of not performing the procedure would result in the greater
evil of the death of both the mother and the fetus.

LESSON III: ENDS AND GOODS

END – an end is that towards which an action tends. Every human activity tends towards the
direction of an end which in the last result, is the good that perfects some faculties.

1. End of the act – it is the natural termination of an activity.

2. End of the agent – it is the purpose that the agent has in mind.

KINDS OF END

PROXIMATE - it is an immediate end on account of which an action is immediately

performed.
REMOTE – it is that which the agent wishes to achieve later on, and toward the attainment of
which he employs the present act as a means.

INTERMEDIATE – it is a subordinate end sought for the attainment of another end.

ULTIMATE – it is on account of which other ends or means are sought. It is willed for its own
sake.

ACTION & MOTIVATION

Principles concerning human action: (Alfredo Panizo)

1. Every agent that performs an action act for the sake of an end or purpose to be attained.

2. Every agent acts towards an ultimate end.

3. Every agent has the power to move himself towards an end which he finds suitable for
him.

(An end then is synonymous with the concept of “good”)

End as something GOOD

What is good? It has varied shades of meaning.

- It is that which fits a function. (Aristotle)

KINDS OF GOOD
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1. Essential goods are those that fit the natural needs of man as man. Such goods include
food, shelter, health, life.

2. Accidental goods are those that fit the wants of an individual because of his
circumstance. Such include money, car, good name, degree, power, luxury, etc.

3. Real good is something which has an intrinsic value. We call it “value” because it
possesses qualities rendering it fitting or desirable.

4. Apparent good is actually an evil thing but is viewed as “good” under certain
circumstance. Examples are: diseases, sadness, death, worry, crimes, etc.

5. Perfective good is that which contributes to the integral perfection of a person, such as:
education, virtue, food, exercise, medicine.

6. Non-perfective good is that which merely contributes to the external appearance or

convenience of a person such as: clothes, wealth, social status, political power, etc.

7. Perfect good (unlimited goods) has the fullness of qualities enabling it to fully satisfy
human desire. Example is God.

8. Imperfect good possesses only certain qualities so that it does not fully satisfy human
desire except in a relative or limited sense. Example is all earthly goods.

St. Thomas Aquinas defined “ABSOLUTE LAST END” as the end for the sake of which all
other things are desired, and which is not itself desired for the sake of anything else.

Read more about this topic from this link

Ocampo, S. (June 29, 2015). Modifiers of Human Acts. Retrieved from

https://prezi.com/jghdvptk3lef/modifiers-of-human-acts/?fallback=1

REFERENCES

Fernandez, A. (2006). Ethics for today’s inquiry. Philippines, ADDU

Glenn, P. (1968). Ethics. Herder Book Co. Philippines

Hinacay, M. (2006). The human person. Iligan City

Montemayor, F. (1981). Ethics: The science and art of life. Metro Manila

Padella, R. (1999). Ethics. Rex Book Store

Reyes, R. C. (1997). Ground and Norm of Morality. Manila, ADMU Pr