Lesson 1: The Person as a Moral Agent

Learning Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should have been able to:

1. Explain the basic concepts of Ethics

2. State the importance of ethics in everyday life
3. Discuss the essential attributes of human acts

Be A Moral Judge of Your Action

Introduction
When we discuss ethics, we need to set aside the concept of ethics that originated from
religion. The ethics that we discuss here is not referring to any religion. The origin of ethics was
not from religion but it originated from philosophers, Greek philosophers who struggled to
regulate human behavior of their time. Thus, ethics from the beginning was about human
conduct. Since it is about human conduct, ethics is all about daily life in relation to others,
animals, and the environment.
Since morality is about our daily life, about what we do, about what we think, either it is
seen or not seen, however, we need to understand what are the things or what are the acts that are
under the scrutiny of morality. The concern here is that not everything we do is subjected to
moral evaluation. There are acts that are instinctively committed without the participation of
reason and there are acts that are calculated by reason with certain motives, means, and ends.
Therefore, we need to identify those acts that are subjected to moral evaluation.

Assumption of Ethics
Assumptions are the things that we take for granted as correct without any further
investigation. Now what are the things that we need to accept as correct in order to discuss
morality? This is important for us to know the main qualifiers if we want to evaluate certain acts
to be moral or not moral. It is the basis for our evaluation. There are two main important
assumptions of ethics:
a. That man is a rational being. It means that man is a thinking being. As a thinking
being, man acts with purpose and reasons behind it. He is aware of his intentions as
well as the consequences of his actions. He knows whether his actions are right or
wrong/good or bad and if such acts will lead to a good end or not. In this case, when
he/she pursues such an act, it is intentional. This makes a difference between human
and animal and human acts and acts of man.
b. That man is a free being. This indicates that man is a free being who acts according
to his will and volition. He has the capacity to exercise his choices and to choose and
do what is good. He acts in a certain way because he wills it, not because of external
forces that influence him to act a certain way.

These two assumptions are important to determine the morality of a certain act. To judge an act
whether is immoral or not, the act must be performed by a person who is aware of the moral
wrongness of his act and freely decides to perform the act even if he knows that it is immoral. If
we remove these two elements, it is no longer possible to judge an act to determine its morality.
Human Person and Human Act: Object of Moral Philosophy
Since the object of moral philosophy is the person or moral agent and the act, thus it is
important for us to understand who a human person is, before we understand or analyze his
action. This part will explain the human person and what human act is.

Human Person

Human Person is a Rational Being

Human person is an organism composed of material and spiritual or body and soul. Thus,
he/she is made of biological, psychological, and rational power or intellect. His actions are
directed by reason. This is an important element to be included in the assessment of the morality
of a certain act. A certain act can be evaluated as moral or immoral if the act is based on his/her
knowledge. It is only within such requirements we can evaluate the act of a child or a crazy
individual to be moral or immoral.

Human Person is a Moral Being.

Natural law theory will tell us that any rational adult person is capable of knowing what
is good and bad, right and wrong. It has been built in our mind and heart to know what is good
and bad, right and wrong. As a moral being, a man is able to distinguish between good and evil,
right and wrong, moral and immoral. By his natural insight, a person has an understanding of
what is right and wrong, of what is permitted and prohibited behavior. He/she knows what is
good “ought” to be done and what is evil “ought” to be avoided. This theory is contrary to the
theory of human nature as a blank sheet (tabula rasa) on which cultures write their text, so that
man is merely a product of social interaction and his behavior is nothing more than a “reflex of
social conditioning”.
Human Person is a Person
He/she is born as an individual or person. He is unique. One is not a copy of the other.
Thus, as a person, he/she exists separately and independently from others, not only in physical
terms but also in terms of psychological character, which is capable of knowing in an intellectual
way and of deciding for himself the purpose or end of his actions. His act is influenced by his
own decision, not by the influence of others.

Human Act and Act of Man

Not all acts can be judged morally. Thus, it is important for us to know the difference
between human acts and acts of man.