ETHICS

Exercise # 1 (For Chapter I)

Name: Collera, Shanne D.

Course and Section: BSAR 2B

I. Fill in the blank

1. Ethics is the science of the morality of human conduct.

2. Practical Science is a science which directly implies rules or directions for thought or
action.
3. Dictates of Reason refer to laws, precepts, good customs and traditions, and conscience.
4. The morality of human acts or the rectitude of human conduct is the formal object of
ethics as a science.
5. Acts of Man is an act done by a human being without advertence and motive
6. An act is Good if it is an agreement with the dictates of reason.
7. Morality is the agreement or disagreement of human acts with the dictates of reason.
8. Ethos is the Greek term for “characteristic way of acting.”
9. ‘’A characterized way of acting or custom’’ means “mor” or “mos” in Latin.
10. Merit and Demerit is the characteristic of an act as worth rewarding or punishing.

II. Explanation

1. Explain the distinction between Human Act and Act of Man.

 According to the book presented from Chapter II Page 4, Human Act is an act
defined in which is deliberate and free, on the other hand, Acts of Man is an act done
by a human being without advertence and motive, however, to explain these further,
Human acts are actions that we perform using our free will and intellect. They are
carried out freely, consciously, and voluntarily, whereas acts of man are defined as
activities committed without deliberate thought or knowledge and in the absence of
free will. Act of man are both intuitive and involuntary.

2. What is Science and why is Ethics considered a science?

 The systematic study that investigates the structure and behaviour of the physical and
natural worlds through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories
against the data collected that is known to be true. Thus, ethics is a science because it
is a complete and systematically organized set of data relating to the morality of
human conduct; and it gives the arguments that prove these data to be true.

3. Explain Morality and why an Act of Man cannot be an object of morality.

 Dictates of reason refer to the law, percepts, good customs and traditions, and
conscience. Morality refers to the relation of human conduct to the dictates of reason.
Such acts which are beyond the control of humans and that they share in common
with animals are referred to as "Acts of humans," and they cannot be an object of
morality because they are involuntary and hence not morally responsible for them. A
 'Human Act,' on the other hand, is one that is the result of knowledge and consent of
free will.

4. Explain the distinction between Ethical and Moral.

 Morals are the customs created by a community of people, whereas ethics define an
individual's character. Ethics are the guiding principles that assist an individual or
organization in determining what is good or evil. Both morality and ethics are
concerned with distinguishing between "good and bad" or "right and wrong." Many
people consider morality to be something personal and normative, whereas ethics is
the standards of "good and bad" distinguished by a specific community or social
setting.

5. Discuss the importance of ethics.

 On the supremely crucial topic of what an upright existence is and must be, ethics
exploits the magnificent faculty of human reason. It is therefore a notable and
important science. Ethics provides rules by which human relationships (juridical,
political, professional, and social) are governed. Thus, ethics is crucial to the science
of law, medicine, politics, and so on.

Exercise # 2 (For Chapter II)

I. Fill in the blanks

1. Human Act is an act which is deliberate and free.

2. Elicited Acts are acts that begin and are perfected in the will itself.
3. Commanded Acts are acts that begin in the will but are perfected by the faculties under
the command of the will.
4. Wish means the simple love of anything.
5. Fruition is an elicited act which is the will’s act of satisfaction in intention fulfilled.
6. Internal Acts are acts performed by the internal powers under the command of the will.
7. External Acts are acts effected by the bodily powers under the command of the will.
8. Mixed Acts are acts that involve the employment of both bodily and mental powers.
9. By its relation to reason, an act is good when it is in harmony with the dictates of reason.
10. By its relation to reason, an act is evil when it is not in harmony with the dictates of
reason.

II. Discussion

1. Is it possible for an act of man to become human act? Explain how, if possible.
 Not every act that a human being does is a distinctively human act. Some acts that
human beings do are performed also by animals, such as vegetative acts and acts of
perception and emotion. When a human does such behaviours, they are referred to as
acts of man rather than human acts. Man's actions are done without knowledge,
without consent, and involuntarily, and hence cannot be considered human acts.
2. Explain the distinction between elicited act and commanded act.
  Elicited Acts are essentially will-acts that begin and end in the will. For example,
wish is the simple love of anything, intention is the will's purposive tendency towards
a thing, consent is the acceptance by the will of the means necessary to carry out
intention, election is the will's selection of the precise means to be employed in
carrying out an intention. Commanded acts, on the other hand, are actions carried out
by the mind and body that are ordered by the will. Those acts that, while originating
in the will, are carried out by other internal or external powers of man directed by the
will. Internal Acts, for example, are performed by the MIND under the command of
the will. External Acts - performed by the BODY under the command of the will.
Acts performed by both the body and the mind are referred to as mixed acts.

3. What are the constituent elements of human act and explain the importance of each
element to human act.
 The underlying causes or constituting factors that cause a human person to perform a
specific act are referred to as constituent elements of the human act. The idea of the
human act implies that there are two key aspects that comprise a human act:
knowledge which refers to human act that proceeds from the deliberate free will; it
requires deliberation. Freedom where human act is determined as (elicited or
commanded) by the will and nothing else. It is an act, therefore, that is under control
of the will, an act that will can do or leave undone. And lastly the voluntariness,
human act must be voluntary or must have voluntariness simply mean to say that it
must be a will-act.

4. Discuss the distinction between direct and indirect voluntariness. Give an example.
 Direct Voluntariness is an act is directly voluntary when it is performed for its own
sake, either as a means or an end. For instance, a person has direct intended influence
over whether he or she is thinking about a favourite song at any given point in time.

 Indirect voluntariness is defined as an act that is not meant for its own sake but
rather occurs as an undesired result of a willed action. For example, an untrained
musician has indirect voluntary control over whether he or she would perform a song
on a violin.

5. Explain why the five modifiers of human acts are considered “impairments of human acts.”
 Modifiers of human acts are also known as obstacles. are also called as barriers.
These impediments affect people's understanding of and freedoms associated with
their actions; thus, modifiers of human acts are the factors that affect the essential
qualities and thus lessen the moral character of a human act, and thus diminish the
agent's responsibility, namely knowledge, freedom, and voluntariness.

6. Explain and illustrate with examples, the distinction between End of the Act and End of the
Agent.
 The end of the action is the natural purpose of an act; or that is which the act in its
very nature terminates or results, thus, the end of the action of studying is learning.
 For example, some people read a book for enjoyment, while others read it for
instruction, and yet others read it to practice obedience: the act is the same, but the
goals are different.

 The end of the agent is the intention or aim of the doer of the action. This should be
distinguished from the conclusion of the action. The end of the agent varies depending
on the individual, although the conclusion of the act is always the same. For example,
knowledge; it is called an extrinsic end when its benefit is felt outside the agent, such
as the doctor's healing felt in the patient.

7. Distinguish Objective Ultimate End and Subjective Ultimate End. Give an example
 The objective or material end is the object aimed at; the subjective or formal end is
the achievement of that object. The term subjective is given to this aim to signify its
possession by a subject (one who has it/strives to have it). The absolute final end of
human acts with regard to their subject is perfect happiness, which consists in the
possession of the boundless good.

9. What is Conscience and explain the states of Conscience?

 The concept of "conscience," as commonly used in its moral sense, is the inherent
ability of every healthy human being to perceive what is right and what is wrong and,
on the basis of this perception, to control, monitor, evaluate, and execute their actions.
Our level of awareness of internal events and external surroundings is known as a
state of consciousness.

10. Explain why “a doubtful law does not bind”.

 A doubtful law is not legally binding. But the law against which a substantially
probable view militates is a questionable law. However, a legislation is questionable
when there is a solidly probable view opposing it. As a result, it is legal to follow a
solidly probable opinion in favour of liberty.