THE ENDS OF HUMAN ACTS
intermediate ends that least to it.
1. CLASSIFICATION OF ENDS
The end of act, and the end of the agent
 The end of the act is the end toward which
the act of its own nature tends. Thus, the act
of giving food and shelter to destitute
persons tends of its nature toward the relief
of distress, and we say that the relief of
distress in the end of act. –
 The end of agent is the end which the agent
intends to achieve by his act.
Proximate and remote ends
 Proximate End is the end intended as the
immediate outcome of an act.
 Remote End is that which the agent wishes
to achieve later on, and toward the
attainment of which he employs the present
act as a means. Thus, while publicity is his
proximate end, votes and election to office
are remote ends.
Intermediate and ultimate ends.
 Ultimate End. if it is willed for its own
sake.
 Ultimate End is both objective and
subjective. The objective ultimate end is that
thing, that object, which, in last analysis,
motivates a human act. The subjective last
end is the possession of the objective end
and the satisfaction or happiness that is
apprehended as belonging to that possession.
 Intermediate End. if it is willed as a means
to a further end
To illustrate:
A man gives money to the poor.
1. He gives the money to gain favorable notice in
the newspapers (proximate and intermediate
end)
2. He wills publicity as a means to votes (remote
and ultimate end).
 This example shows us a chain or series of
ends; and, since the ultimate end of the
series is not the general or unconditioned
end of the man’s whole life and all its
human acts, but
 Relatively Ultimate End- ultimate only in
relation to the present series of ends, the
ultimate end of the series
 Absolutely Ultimate End- here must also
be an end which is unconditionally and
unlimitedly the ultimate end of all human
acts; and this we call the.
 Ultimate end gives meaning to the
 Intermediate ends are subordinate to the
ultimate end, just as the steps of a stairway
are subordinated to the top step. And as a
man who wishes to reach the top of a
stairway must take many intermediate steps
before reaching the top, but would not take
any of them except to reach the top, so in a
series of ends, the agent must attain
intermediate ends before achieving the
ultimate end, but he would not try to attain
any of them except on account of the
ultimate end.
 Thus, we repeat, the ultimate end of a
series of ends gives meaning and motive to
the whole series.
2. THE ULTIMATE END OF HUMAN ACTS
 The ultimate end of human acts is that
which, in the last analysis, serves as a
sufficient reason and motive for the acts.
 Objective ultimate end is considered as an
objective thing toward the attainment of
which the acts are directed
 Subjective ultimate end of human acts is
the possession of this objective end and the
happiness which the agent seeks in that
possession
 Ultimate end is the drive that moves a
person to act and undertake even difficult
and dangerous tasks. A series of diverse
actions finds meaning in relation to the
ultimate end. Our routine daily activities, for
instance, are related to our ultimate desire to
live.
Action and Motivation
1. The following principles describe human
activity: Every action is performed for the
sake of a definite end or purpose.
2. Every action is intended towards an
ultimate end..
3. Every doer moves himself towards an end
which he thinks suitable to him.
THE END AS GOOD
 Man acts in order to obtain something good
to himself.
 The Concept of Good is synonymous to
that of end or purpose.
 Man does not desire evil for its own sake.
 Only what is good could be the end or
purpose of an act, either the ultimate end or
the intermediate end.
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Aristotle defines "Good" as "anything which fits or
suits a function".
 Food is good either because it suits one's
taste, or the need for nourishment.
 Clothes are good because they fit the
personality of the user, or they provide
comfort.
 In a higher level, actions are good when
they fit the moral integrity of a person.
GOOD are those acts which fit human nature.
They are "maka-tao".
EVIL are those acts which are unfit to human
nature. They are "hindi maka-tao".
Aristotle teaches that because it is the soul which
constitutes the essentiality of rational nature, the
good that truly fits man is that which fits the
function of the soul. This means that human acts are
good when they are consistent with reason.
Accordingly, we speak of actions as being in
accordance or not with the "dictate of reason".
 Apparent good- Evil which is presented to the
mind as something good is called an.
 For example, stealing is desired as good
because it is an opportunity for the thief
to have something of value for himself.
Crimes are committed, because the
criminals regard their evil acts as
instrumental to getting something good.
 Thus, a student would cheat during an
examination in order to pass the subject.
 A politician would wish his rival
candidate murdered because he wants to
win the election.
KINDS OF GOOD
Essential and Accidental
 Essential good satisfy the need of person as
a human being. Food, clothing, shelter, tools
and education are essential goods.
 Accidental good is that which satisfies the
want of a person because of his particular
situations. Expensive clothes, big house, a
flashy car are personal wants of a rich man.
Real and Apparent.
 Real good is anything which has intrinsic
value. These could be things, activities,
relationships, or persons.
 Apparent good is an evil which is viewed
subjectively as something of value, such as
cigarettes, prohibited drugs and vices.
Perfective and Non-perfective.
 Perfective good is that which contributes to
integral growth or development of a person,
such as education, virtue, food, sports, and
medicines.
 Non-perfective good is anything which
merely contribute to the external
appearance or convenience of a person,
such as expensive clothes, money, title, or
car.
Perfect and Imperfect.
 Imperfect is anything lacking in some
qualities. All material things are imperfect.
 Perfect is a real good endowed with all
essential qualities needed to satisfy a need.
Perfection is either absolute or relative.
 absolute perfection means complete
in all aspects, which is what we mean
when speaking of a perfect circle or a
perfect score.
 relative perfection is complete only
in some aspects.
THE GREATEST GOOD
 Every human activity is a tendency towards
the attainment of something good.
 Not only individual actions are tending towards
the acquisition of good, but human life itself,
which is the sum of all activities, is a movement
towards the possession of the greatest good.
 The greatest good, or the "summum bonum" in
the words of Scholastic philosophers, is that
which is perfect in itself and capable of
satisfying all human desires.
 It is also the ultimate good, because it is the
absolutely final thing which is sought for its
own sake.
The purpose of human existence is the
attainment of the greatest good.
 Happiness is the greatest good, according to
Aristotle. He writes: "By absolutely final, we
mean that which is sought for its own sake, and
never as a means to something else.
 Happiness seems to be something of that sort,
we also pursue that for its intrinsic value, never
as a means; whereas we pursue honor, pleasure,
wisdom, and all the virtues, both for their own
sakes (we would want them even if they lead to
nothing further) and for the sake of happiness,
since we think we shall attain happiness by
means of them.
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 But no one wants happiness as a means to these
other things, or indeed as a means to anything
else at all (ibid: 292).
THE MEANING OF HAPPINESS
Happiness is either objective or subjective.
 Objectively, happiness refers to something
having intrinsic value and capable of
satisfying a human need.
 Subjectively, it is the psychological state of
feeling contented resulting from the
attainment of that which is good in itself. The
toy (objective) makes the child happy (subjective).
Happiness contributes to the perfection of a person.
 Hence, happiness is not just an emotion or
something of value but a state of being.
 It is the state of perfection arising from the
possession of what is good. Just as the
possession of wealth makes an individual a rich man,
the possession of the greatest good makes a person
perfectly happy.
KINDS OF HAPPINESS
 Happiness is natural when it comes of
man’s possession of that which he finds
achievable by his unaided natural powers, or
which is not beyond the reach of his nature.
o Natural happiness is a man’s
happiness in the possession of sound
health.
 Happiness is supernatural when it consists
in the possession of that which is of a value
surpassing all that natural powers can
achieve unaided.
o Supernatural is a man’s happiness
in possessing the grace of God .
 Infinite is man tends toward the limitless
good.
 Finite powers is man tends toward
something which is beyond the reach of
unaided nature.
 Man tends towards supernatural, eternal
happiness.
 The appetite of man’s very nature is for the
supernatural. Still, this tendency and
appetite for the supernatural is only
indicated in Ethics.
 As a purely rational science, independent
of divine revelation, Ethics cannot
investigate the matter of supernatural
happiness, nor describe the manner in
which it is to be attained. But this science can and
does show that man’s tendency is to the limitless good, the
infinite good, and we know that natural powers can achieve
only limited things. Yet, to confine our study within its
proper limits, we must consider the limitless good, and
happiness in its possession only insofar as this is achievable
by natural powers, that is, by the perfect natural life, by a
life which fully agrees with the dictates of right reason.
Natural and Supernatural Happiness
 Natural happiness is that which is
attainable by man through the use of his
natural powers.
 Supernatural happiness is that which is
attainable by man through his own powers
aided by the infusion of grace from God.
 Aristotle does not go beyond earthly life in his
dissertation on the ultimate end of man.
 Christian philosophers, notably St. Augustine
and St. Thomas Aquinas, teach that since
man's desire and tendency towards happiness is
unlimited, nothing short of the Absolutely
Perfect Good can satisfy it fully.
 Therefore, only God in his infinite goodness is
the greatest good, the "summum bonum" of man.
 Man's heart is restless until it rests in God, says
St. Augustine. But perfect or supernatural
happiness is possible only in the afterlife.
"Natural happiness", says Joseph Buckley,
"consists in the perfection that can be attained
by man through the employment of his body and
soul and the powers inherent in them: intellect,
will, internal and external sensory powers, sense
appetites, locomotion, nutrition, and growth"
The Nature of Man’s Desire for Happiness
Man’s desire for limitless good, and
consequently for perfect happiness, is not
illusory; it is not a deceitful and vain desire. It
is a desire capable of fulfillment; it is realizable.
We may, with St. Thomas, reason to this
conclusion in the following manner: Nature
does nothing in vain. Now, nature has implanted in
man the desire for perfect happiness. Therefore, this
desire is not vain; in other words, this desire is realizable.
– Again, Ethics may prove the same truth by assuming as
demonstrated the facts which are scientifically evidenced
in the science of Theodicy. Theodicy proves that
there is one God, the Creator, who is all-wise,
and all-good. But neither an all-wise Creator could not
implant in His rational creature a fine and worthy desire
that cannot be realized; else the all-wise God would be
the author of a futility nor could the all-good God mock
man by causing him inevitably to desire the unattainable.
Hence, we conclude that man’s desire for
perfect happiness in not illusory, but is
realizable in very fact. We cannot assert that each
man will actually attain to perfect happiness; we only
declare the scientific truth that each man may attain that
happiness. Certainly, this perfect happiness in not
attainable in this world here and now; then – since its
3
 attainment has been shown possible – it must be
attainable in another world hereafter.
The Manner in which Happiness is to be
Possessed
Man’s absolutely ultimate subjective end is
the act of perfect happiness. Powers or faculties are
that by which action is accomplished; the act is the crowning
fact, the perfection of the faculty. Now, how is the act of
happiness to be exercised?
Man has the following faculties: the senses,
intellect, will.
o Senses are not man’s highest faculties,
but serve the intellect during bodily life.
o All knowledge begins somehow in
sensation for man in bodily life; but
sensation is not, in itself, essential to
intellectual knowledge as such.
o Perfect Happiness is the act of man’s
highest and best faculties.
o The essential act of happiness is not an
act of sensation. Nor is it an act of will:
for the will either tends towards an end) and then
the end is not yet attained) or, by fruition,
delights in the end (and then the end
already attained).
o The act of attainment, the act of
happiness, is, in consequence, neither a
sense-act nor a will-act. It remains that
it must be an act of intellect.
o But here again, we must consider a
twofold act of intellect:
1. Practical Intellect
-the intellect either knows a
thing to and this must be
knowledge that leads to an end
to be achieved;
2. Speculative Intellect
-is the intellect knows a thing to
hold in contemplation.
-This latter act is the crowing
perfection of man’s highest
faculty of knowledge. The
ultimate act of perfect happiness
is an act of the speculative
intellect.
-It is an act of contemplation of
the limitless good; and this act of
the intellect will be
accompanied by the delight of
the will, and by the perfect
satisfaction of the senses
according to their proper place,
order, and capacity.
The Ultimate Purpose
The ultimate purpose of human life is the
possession of the absolutely greatest good. For
Aristotle the object of natural happiness is not
a single good, but an aggregate of all the goods
that fit the nature of man as such. The greatest
good in this earthly life consists of all values,
both material and spiritual, which contribute
to man's development as a human being.
Intellect is the highest good, according to
Aristotle.
Contemplation Of Truth is the ultimate
purpose man in life.
Fullness Of Knowledge is attainable through
the practice of virtue.
Aristotle states that "Even if happiness is not
sent from heaven, but comes through virtue and
learning or training, it seems that it is one of the
most godlike things.
The prize and end of virtue appears to be the
best thing, something godlike and blessed.
Happiness will also be within the reach of everyone, since
through learning and exercise, it can be obtained by all
who are not totally corrupt\ed as regards virtue (Ibid.,
296).
It follows that perfect happiness which is
absolute and lasting is not possible in this life,
since man's natural powers are inadequate to fulfill
his needs.
The power of the human intellect fails to
grasp the glory of God. But man may approximate
and anticipate perfect happiness by keeping faith,
by loving God and by neighbor, and by practicing
virtue. Doing good is happiness in itself.
ETHICAL THEORIES
1. Hidonism
 is based on the teachings of Epicurus who
regards pleasure as the ultimate good of
man.
 Pain is an evil to be avoided.
 Epicurus does not recommend indulgence
in sensual pleasures.
 "Hedonist" is descriptive of a pleasure-
seeking individual, "a low-life".
2. Aristotelianism
 proclaims the supremacy of reason over
man's lower appetites.
 Contemplation Of Divine Truths is the
highest good of man is the
 The reasonable life is that which is in
accordance with temperance, nothing by
excess and nothing by defect.
 It is the Golden Mean.
3. Thomism
4
  is based on the teachings of St. Thomas 6. Some people would consecrate themselves to
Aquinas. the religious life.
 It holds that the ultimate purpose of  Practice of religion and the cultivation of
man consists in the Beatific Vision of virtues are aimed at attaining spiritual
perfection.
God which, however, is possible only in
the next life and only with the aid of
supernatural grace.
THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS:
4. Utilitarianism MORALITY AND ITS NORMS
 defines pleasure as that which gives the
greatest happiness for the greatest DESCRIPTION OF MORALITY
number of people. Morality is that quality of human acts
 John Stuart Mill, for example, says that which leads us to call some of them good
pleasure itself is good, but even better when and some evil.
it experienced by the most number of people.
A thing is good inasmuch as it can answer
5. Evolutionism a tendency, appetite, desire.
 proceeds from the biological theories of Objectively, God is the Summum Bonum,
Charles Darwin. the Limitless Good.
 The greatest good is the rearing of the Subjectively, the last end of human acts is
greatest number of individuals, with perfect perfect happiness in the possession of the
faculties, under given circumstances. Summum Bonum.
 Moral values are factors of survival, either
of the individual or that of society. DEFINITION OF MORALITY
 Communism looks forward to the evolution Morality is the relation of human acts to
of a "classless society". their norm.
6. Existentialism Morality measures up to what it should be
 Laments the inadequacy of reason to guide as a step towards the objective last end of
man in the complexities of life. human action, or fails so to measure up.
 The attainment of personal fulfillment which is the End of the agent is something that belongs
ultimate purpose of one's life depends largely on inevitably to the human act as such, either to the
one's faith and personal conviction. act considered objectively as a deed performed, or to
 Existentialism is either theistic or atheistic. the act considered as characterized by its
 Notable existentialists are Blaise Pascal, Soren circumstances, particularly the circumstance
Kierkegaard, Karl Jaspers, and Jean Paul Sartre.
DIVISION OF MORALITY
WHAT PEOPLE DESIRE 1. Material and Formal
1. Some people regard money or the acquisition  A human act considered in itself as a
of wealth as the ultimate aim of their life. deed performed stands in relation to the
 Wealth is a cause for worry for them who fear losing it. Norm of Morality as materially good or
2. Some people regard health and physical evil.
beauty as foremost in importance.  Conditioned by the agent’s
 Health is a prerequisite to a productive life. Health And understanding and will, stands in
Physical Beauty are easily lost to illness and age.
relation to the Norm of Morality as
3. Some people indulge themselves in worldly formally good or evil.
pleasures. 2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic
 Pleasures in themselves are limited and do not last for long
 Material or objective morality is
and often lead to unhappiness.
intrinsic stands by reason of its very
4. Some people seek fame and power. nature in relation to the Norm of
 Fame and popularity can easily be tainted by a rumor of
indiscretion.
Morality as good or evil.
 Power change hands as quickly and as often as the direction  Material or objective morality is
of the wind. extrinsic stand or relation of an act to
5. Some people would want to dedicate the Norm of Morality is determined, not
themselves to the cultivation of science and by the nature of the act itself, but by the
arts. prescription of positive law.
 Knowledge is not useful unless it becomes an
instrument for helping other people.

5
THE NORM OF MORALITY
A norm is a standard of measurement.
We measure the size, the weight, the length,
the duration, the intensity, the quantity, and
the depth of something. We measure objects,
events, emotions, and persons.
We make a value judgment when we
measure the quality of a thing.
The physical qualities of objects are
measured with the use of a device such as
clock, ruler, speedometer, or thermometer.
The moral qualities of human acts are
measured with the use of a norm or
standard to support a judgment.
The norms of morality "are the criteria of
judgment about the sorts of persons we ought to be
and the sorts of actions we ought to perform"
 Moral norms are the criteria for judging
1. The quality of character, what sort of
person one ought to become
2. The quality of an act, what sort of
action ought to be done.
 An evil-minded person will do what is
wrong.
 A well-intentioned person will do what
is good.
 ACTION REFLECTS CHARACTER.
Criteria of judgment implies the use of reason in
determining the quality being measured.
The norm of morality is not a blueprint for action,
nor a set of laws, like the Ten Commandments. It is
a rational assessment of the worthiness or
unworthiness of a person.
Basis of Moral Judgment
Moral judgment is based on of norms of
morality -- the eternal law, natural law, and
conscience. Eternal law is the ultimate norm,
Natural law is the remote norm, and
Conscience is proximate norm of morality.
Since both natural law and conscience are
derived from Eternal Law, there is only one
and ultimate basis of morality - God who
created all creatures.
1. LAW St. Thomas defines law as an ordinance
of reason, promulgated for the common good by
one who has charge of a society.
1) A law is an ordinance
2) A law is an ordinance of reason, and not an
arbitrary or whimsical decree of the
legislator’s will.
3) A law is promulgated
4) A law is promulgated for the common good.
5) A law is promulgated in a society.
6) A law is promulgated by one who has
charge of a society.
CLASSIFICATION OF LAWS
1) According to their immediate author, laws
are distinguished as divine laws, which
come directly from God and human laws,
which are the enactments of Church or State.
 Ecclesiastical laws is the human
laws enacted by the Church
 Civil laws is the human laws
enacted by the State
2) According to their duration, laws are
temporal or eternal.
 Eternal Law is God’s plan and
providence for the universe.
 All human laws are in themselves
temporal, although some of them give
expression to requirements of the Eternal
Law.
3) According to the manner of their
promulgation, laws are distinguished as
the natural law and positive laws.
 Natural law directs creatures to their
end in accordance with their nature,
and it coincides with the Eternal
Law.
 Natural law moral law which is
apprehended by sound and matured
human reason.
 Physical laws is the laws that govern
irrational creatures in their being and
activities.
 Positive laws are laws enacted by
positive act of a legislator, and these
fall under the classification already
made as divine and human.
1) Divine Positive Laws is the Ten
Commandments.
2) Human Positive Laws is the laws
of the Church and State
4) According as they prescribe an act or
forbid it, laws are affirmative or negative.
6
  Negative laws are also called
prohibitory laws. It is the natural
order bind always and at every
moment
 Affirmative laws bind always, but
not at every moment.
5) According to the effect of their violation,
laws are distinguished as
 Moral is the violation of which
renders the violator liable to an
established penalty
 Mixed is the violation of which
involves both fault and penalty).
IMPORTANT CLASSES OF LAWS
1. THE ETERNAL LAW is God’s eternal
plan and providence for the universe. God,
decreeing from eternity to create the world
for an end, eternally plans and directs all
things toward that end.
 St. Augustine defines the Eternal
Law as the Divine Reason and Will
commanding that the natural order of things
be preserved and forbidding that it be
disturbed.
2. THE NATURAL LAW is the Eternal Law
as known to man by his reason. Natural law
refers to the operational tendencies of the
human nature the chemical, biological,
physiological, psychological, and rational properties
of man as an organism.
 St. Thomas Aquinas says that the
natural law is nothing else than the
rational creature's participation of the
eternal law" and "provides the possibilities
and potentialities which the human person
can use to make human life truly human".
 Paul Tillich refers to the natural law
as "the inner law of our true being,
of our essential created nature, which
demands that we actualize what follows
from it". Pointing to it as the "will of God”,
he explains it to be the command to become
what one potentially is, a person within a
community of persons".
Characteristics of Natural Law
1. It is universal - because it is the human
nature which is shared by all men, though
realized differently according to their
respective cultures.
2. It is obligatory - because the tendencies of
our human nature are the laws of our desires
and actuations which we cannot ignore
without dire consequences.
3. It is recognizable because man, being self-
reflexive, is aware of his nature, of what he
is and what he is capable of and what is
expected of him by his own kind.
4. It is immutable and unchangeable -
because, although change is a rule of life,
human nature in its essentiality and
substantiality remains permanent and
unchangeable.
3. HUMAN POSITIVE LAW is law enacted by
Church or State. It derives its binding force from the
natural law, and so ultimately from the Eternal Law,
from God. We may define a human positive law as
an ordinance of reason, derived from the natural law, or
making a concrete and determinate application of the natural
law, promulgated for the common good by a human agency in
charge of a society.
PROPERTIES OF A JUST LAW
1. A human law must conform with divine
laws.
2. A human law must promote the common
good.
3. A human law must not discriminate
against certain individuals or groups.
4. A human law must be practicable.
5. A human law must be flexible.
6. A law must be amendable.
2. CONSCIENCE
Natural law is the tendency towards good
in general, conscience is the choice of a
particular good in a given situation.
Conscience is the practical judgment of
reason telling us what should be done
because it is good, or what should be
avoided because it is evil. The judgment is
practical" because it leads to a course of action.
Conscience is “judgment of reason" because
it derives from our understanding of what ought to be
done as good and what ought to be avoided as evil.
This is how actions are said to be in accordance with
dictate of reason.
Moral decisions may sometimes require
serious study and deliberation. But the urging of
conscience is often spontaneous and
instantaneous. Thus, conscience is considered
as the "voice of God".
Conscience has two functions.
 Before the commission of an act,
conscience directs towards that which
is good.
7
  After the commission of an act,
conscience either approves or reproves
the act.
Reproaching conscience punishes the doer
with remorse.
Approving conscience rewards the doer
with "peace of mind”.
1. It is a judgment of reason,
2. Conscience is a practical judgment.
3. Conscience is a judgment upon an
individual act.
States of Conscience
When conscience is a judgment in accordance
with fact
 Erroneous is not a true Conscience
 Invincibly Erroneous or Inculpably
Erroneous is erroneous without the
knowledge or fault of the agent.
 Culpably Erroneous is aconscience that is
erroneous through the agent’s fault.
Certain conscience a conscience that is an
altogether firm and assured judgment, in
which the agent has no fear whatever of
being in error.
Doubtful or dubious conscience a
conscience that is not certain, hesitant,
judgment in which the agent is aware of the
possibility of error.
 Speculative doubt if the doubt
concerns the existence or
applicability of a law or moral
principle
 Practical doubt if the doubt
concerns the lawfulness of an
individual act to be performed or
omitted.
Types of Conscience
As an intellectual faculty conscience needs
education and training.
1. Correct conscience sees the good as good, the
evil as evil. Correct conscience comes from
enlightenment; from refined moral sensibility, or from the
habit of doing good.
2. Erroneous conscience sees evil as something
good. Erroneous conscience comes from malice,
ignorance, bad habits, and bad influence.
3. Doubtful conscience is a vacillating conscience,
unsure of itself.
4. Scrupulous conscience is overly cautious,
meticulous, and fearful of committing a
mistake.
5. Lax conscience is indifferent, unmindful of
right or wrong.
Compulsory Conscience
"Our bond with the natural moral law", write
Bernard Haring, "is an exalted participation in
the eternal law of God manifested by our
conscience whose natural function it is to reveal
our likeness to God"
Conformity and Non-conformity
The conformity or non-conformity of a human
act with the norms constitutes morality. We recall
the definition of Aristotle of the good as that which fits
the function. For example, it fits the function of a talented
singer to sing well. Similarly, it fits the function of a
decent and honorable person to do what is honorable.
Formal and Material Norms
 Formal norms relate to formation of
character, what kind of person we ought
to be. These consist of such directives towards
character development, such as "be honest", "be
direct", "be respectful", etc.
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 Material norms relate to actions, what
actions we ought to do. Material norms
determine are whether an act on account of its
nature conforms or does not conform with the
formal norms.
FORMING ONE’S CONSCIENCE
To “form” one’s conscience is to get rid of
doubt and achieve certainty; it is to make up one’s
mind clearly and definitely on what is required in a given
individual instance; it is to reason out the right and wrong
of a given situation.
It is not always possible to have absolute
certitude in matters of conscience.
It is always possible, directly or indirectly, to
achieve moral certitude.
Moral certitude is sufficient and requisite for
the guidance of the conscience-judgment when
there is question of the lawfulness or
unlawfulness of an act here and now to be
determined upon.
It is practical doubt ct study and investigation
which clears away doubt and gives certain
knowledge, or this failing;
2) by application of the reflex principle: A
doubtful law does not bind.
THE DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
The determinants of morality are so called
because they are the basis for judging whether an
act is good or evil, moral or immoral. They are the
following:
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1. The End of the Act is the natural termination or
completion of an act. The end of the act of eating is
appeasing hunger, the end of playing basketball is scoring
a point, and the end of medication is curing illness.
 Actions which are intrinsically evil are
prohibited at all times.
 Actions which are extrinsically evil
may be permitted when the factors
which render them evil are removed or
corrected.
2. The End of the doer is the purpose or motive
which the doer wishes to accomplish by his
action. Without a motive, an act is accidental
and involuntary.
"The End does not justify the Means" is a
fundamental moral principle.
A human act which is good in itself may
still be evil by reason of the end (of the agent) for
which it is performed.
Motive and Action: The correlation between
motive and act is defined in the following principles
1. An evil act which is done on account of an evil
motive is grievously wrong.
2. A good action done on account of an evil
motive becomes evil itself.
3. A good action done on account of a good
purpose acquires an additional merit.
4. An indifferent act may either become good or
bad depending on the motive.
3. Circumstances of the Act are the historical
elements surrounding the commission of an act, such
as the status of the doer, the place, the time, or the intensity of
an act.
 Circumstances are conditions that affect an
act and may affect it morally – although they
do not belong to the essence of the act as
such.
 Circumstances are conditions without
which the act could exist, but which happen
to affect or qualify it is its concrete
performance.
The circumstances are hinted by the
interrogative pronouns who, what, where, with
whom, why, how, and where.
1. "Who” refers either to the doer of the act or the
recipient of the act. It has to do with the age, status,
relation, schooling, social standing, an economic
situation of those involved in an act.
2. "What” refers to the act itself, or to the quality
and quantity of the results of such act. In robbery,
for instance, what is stolen and how much is stolen are
aggravating factors. Likewise, the number of victims
determines the seriousness of the murder.
3. "Where” refers to the place where the act is
committed. A crime inside a church is more
scandalous than that committed in a secluded place.
Murder in a marketplace is more heinous than that done
in a mountain trail.
4. "With whom” refers to the companion or
accomplices in an act. The more people are involved
in the commission of an act, the more serious is the
crime.
5. "Why" refers to the motive of the doer, as
discussed earlier.
6. "How" refers to the manner the act is
perpetrated. Homicide committed with much cruelty is
a heinous crime.
7. "When "refers to the time of the act. A murder
committed when the victim is sleeping is more offensive
than the one done when the victim is wide awake.
Circumstantial factor:
1. Circumstance may either increase or
decrease the wrongfulness of an evil act.
2. Circumstances also may either increase or
decrease the merits of a good act.
 Helping another at the risk of one's life is an
act of heroism. Helping another in
expectation of a reward or fee is a business
transaction.
3. Circumstances may exempt temporarily
someone from doing a required act.
4. Circumstances do not prove the guilt of a
person.
The Morally Good Act
A Morally Good Act is that which sound in
all aspects - in its nature, motive, and
circumstances. In the Scriptures, the
morally upright is a just man, one who weighs
his actions in relation to what the law demands, to
what the circumstances would allow, and to what fits
his stature as a rational being.
A morally good action, therefore, is a just
act - "makatarungan".
We also speak of it as "maka-tao", or
"maka-Diyos", indicating that such action is fair to
the other person and in accordance with the Will of
God.
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