Midterms
1. Antecedent Conscience
Week 1 – Social Norms, Norms of
Morality Conscience
Social Norms
- the unwritten rules of
behavior that are practice in a
group or society.
Norms of Morality
- are standards on which
human acts are based to determine
their goodness or badness.
Proximate norm
- applicable to the acts.
These arises from human nature.
To find out if the action is good or
bad.
- Conscience
Conscience
- Comes from the latin
word Conscientia meaning “a joint
knowledge” or “Knowledge with”.
- practical judgement of
reason to recognize the moral
quality of an act.
- considered as God’s
voice.
2 moments of Conscience
Ante – Before
Consequent – After
- judge and act before it is
done.
2. Consequent Conscience
- judge an act after it is
done. Reckless or padalos-dalos.
Classified forms of Conscience
1. Correct conscience
- Judges a good act as
indeed good and bad act as indeed
bad.
2. False Conscience
- judges good act as bad
and bad act as good.
3. Scrupulous Conscience
- one is always afraid of
committing error. A person
becomes very legalistic (follow the
law literally)
Example: Obligation ang
pagpunta sa church, it is in the
third commandment but it does not
bind sick people. So, ang student
na may sakit nan ga pero nagsimba
parin kasi takot na mag commit ng
sin.
4. Lax Conscience
- He/She keeps on
excusing himself/herself from
every mistake committed. AS if - One’s Christian faith
she/he doesn’t commit any illumines, clarifies and deepens
mistakes at all. what is perceive as truly worthy of
being a person. It places moral
Example: Tumawid ka sa
striving as a personal call to
kalsada kahit red light sa
wholeness and holiness.
kadahilanan na wala naming
nakakita.
5. Certain Conscience General Norm:
- firm judgement that one Always follow your conscience
is not in error. He/She always
makes it sure that He/She will not
commit any mistake. Challenges to the Formation of
Conscience
6. Doubtful Conscience
Extreme Relativism
- judgement is always
suspended because of the - means everybody decides
uncertainty of the goodness and according to what he/she thinks to
badness of a human action. One is be the good one, without
not sure of what he/she is doing. consulting knowledgeable people
or other authorities.
Levels of Conscience
Misinformation
1. Instinctive Level
- everyone hears reaction,
- Dominated by fear of
comments and opinions from
punishment and desire for approval
people but it is not a guarantee that
or reward. Natural level, normal
it is the truth.
for children.
Individualism
Moral/Philosophical
- It is a drive towards one’s
- operates not just on what
own satisfaction while disregarding
is commanded by authority but
other people. ‘My world and mine
from the judgement or awareness
alone and outside of me is not
of the inner goodness or badness of
significant.
an act.
Formation of Conscience
Christian Level
1. Through Prayer
- one needs to develop and
practice a good prayer life, in this
way one’s moral conscience is
formed.
2. Through listening to the
preaching of the Gospel
- in this way, persons may
see and realize their actions in
relation to what Jesus is telling
them in the Gospel.
3. Through the Role of the
Christian Community
- this can help in looking at
issues from different angles, not jut
from one point of view.
To sum up the 3 factors in
formation
- the key obviously is
Christ and His Spirit, experienced
within Christ’s community the
Church.
4. Through Multi-disciplinary
approach
- other fields of science
such as psychology, economics,
civil laws, natural sciences etc. Are
considered in forming one’s
conscience.
Week 2 – Ultimate Norm
Ultimate norm
- it is objective, it comes in
the forms of laws, decree or
ordinances which are derived or
formulated based on higher orders
that are found in nature and the
divine aspects of reality.
The Norms Which Govern the
Human
Law
- enacted as standards of
life and to promote genuine human
development. For community
standards or guidelines to follow in
order to live a morally upright life.
For laws to achieve its noble
purpose, they must be based on
higher norms or orders: Eternal and
Natural
Eternal Law
- the divine reason and will
commanding that the natural order
of things be preserved and
forbidding it to be disturbed.
- God’s divine plan for all
Eternal Law Characteristics
a. Eternal – no beginning and no
end.
b. Immutable – not subject to
change
c. Absolutely Universal –
applicable to all creatures
Natural Law
- as the light of
understanding placed in us by God
so we know what to do and what to
avoid.
- discovered and
understood by people with the aid
of reason.
- the pattern or order of all
things which are discovered
through experience and reasoning
or even common sense.
- 4th to 10th commandments
are all natural laws
The Four Characteristics of Natural
Law
a. Universal – applicable to all
creatures
b. Recognizable – the person will
notice the existence of the Natural
law
c. Obligatory – human should obey
it, not obeying will lead in
sickness, calamities, and ultimate
death or total destruction.
d. immutable – not subject to
change
Positive Law
- positive means being
promulgated or published.
- specific laws derived
from natural law and the eternal
law.
- A positive law which
does not respect the Natural law
contributes to the damage on the
development of the human person
and of the whole creation.
Positive Law is categorized into
two:
1. Divine Positive law – God given
law which is promulgated for all
creatures or only for a specific
group of community. Ex. 10
commandments.
2. Human Positive Law