7.

Approaches to the Study of Morality

Morality

Morals are a person's or a group's social, cultural, and religious beliefs that guide us toward what is right
and wrong. These are the norms and guidelines established by the society or culture that we are
expected to abide by while determining what is proper.

Where does Morality come from?

 Some people believe that it is innate, something we are born with or known as the natural law.
 Others believe that it is something that is learned through experience and socialization.

Morality Vs. Ethics

 Morals are often based on religion or culture, while ethics are based on logic and reason. This
means that you can have different ethical systems even if you share the same morals.
 Ethics are a formal system of beliefs that guide our behavior, while morality is more personal and
can vary from individual to individual.
 Ethics are usually based on logical reasoning and a shared set of values, while morality is often
based on gut instinct or religious beliefs.
 Morals usually deal with personal conduct, while ethics deal with professional conduct. For
example, a doctor may consider euthanasia to be morally acceptable but ethically unacceptable
because of their position as a doctor.

Two Major Approaches to the Study of Morality

1. Descriptive approach emphasizes observation of human behavior and conduct, and the posting
of conclusions based on those observations.
Descriptive Approach – Is an empirical study that is most commonly used in the social sciences
field in understanding the nature of humans and their behavior.

The First approach is also known as “Scientific Approach” as it involves a process in obtaining an
understanding on how certain phenomena occur, or why people or other living things behave in
some ways.

Example:
Through the observation of countless people in several kinds of circumstances, psychologists
have come to the conclusion that individuals frequently act in their own self-interest.

2. A philosophical approach is a way of doing examination that looks at and makes sense of
complicated events using philosophical ideas and values.

Two Parts of Philosophical Approach

a) Normative Ethics -The study of normative ethics focuses on the moral behavior that is expected
of us. It concerns topics like good versus evil and right versus wrong.
 Normative Ethics- Normative ethical theories fall into three primary categories:
- Virtue Ethics
- Deontology
-Consequentialism

b) MetaEthics - Within the field of analytical philosophy, metaethics studies the nature, status, and
limitations of moral concepts, features, and interpretations.
8. NORMS OF MORALITY

Norm is something by which an act or conduct is measured as good or bad, right or wrong, moral or
immoral; rule or standard; criteria for judgement.

Norms of Morality

 are the standards that indicate the rightfulness or wrongfulness, the goodness or evilness, the
value or disvalue of a thing (Richard M. Gula).
 the criteria of judgment about the sorts of person we ought to be and the sorts of actions we
ought to perform.

2 Types of Norm:

ETERNAL DIVINE LAW

 OBJECTIVE
 The ultimate and absolute norm of morality
 Independent of any standard

HUMAN REASON

 SUBJECTIVE
 As related to the person’s conscience

LAW AS THE OBJECT NORM OF MORALITY

 GENERAL NOTION OF LAW

LAW is a norm which governs nature and actions of things.

Law of Nature
o
 Principles that governs the natural phenomena of the world.
o Natural Law
 Refers to the free acts of rational beings.
 MORAL LAW DEFINED

LAW is an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by one who has the care of the
community.

LAW is a kind of imposition which necessities obedience on the part of the subjects.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR A LAW TO BE REASONABLE

 It must be just
 It must be honest
 It must be possible of fulfillment
 It must be relatively permanent
 It must be promulgated
 It must be directed to common good
 It must be promulgated by one who has the care of the community
DIVISIONS OF LAW

Eternal Law - It is promulgated to creatures by God being embedded in their nature.

i. Eternal law is eternal (endless) and unchangeable

ii. Eternal law is absolutely universal

The Natural Moral Law (Law of Conscience) - It is the eternal law itself which man understands through
the light of his natural reason (conscience).

i. Attributes of the Natural Law

 Obligatory
 Universal
 Has its proper sanctions
 Knowable or recognizable
 Unchangeable
ii. The Contents of Natural Law
 Formal norms - Those that relate to our character to what kind of persons we ought to
be
 Material norms - Ought to be done
 ✓Outlines of Natural law:
 Fundamental principles in their general applications
 General moral principles which sustain and preserve the basic relations of man
to God, to himself and to neighbors
 Applications of the general principles of morality to specific situations in life and
society
 Remote conclusions derived by a process of reasoning

Human Positive Law and the Moral Law Human positive law

Is derived from the natural law and promulgated for the common good by a human agency which has a
charge of a society, particularly of a sovereign one; juridical order of the society (e.g. law of the state or
civil law; law of the church or ecclesiastical law)

CONSCIENCE

 "Cum” (together) and "Scientia " (to know)

 Second norm of morality
 An inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one ' s
behavior
 Conscience as an ACT OF INTELLECT (Judgement of Reason)
 Conscience as a PRACTICAL MORAL JUDGEMENT
 Conscience as the PROXIMATE NORM OF MORALITY

KINDS OF CONSCIENCE

1. Correct or True Conscience

2. Erroneous of False conscience

 a. Invincibly erroneous conscience
b. Vincibly erroneous conscience
c. Perplexed conscience
d. Pharisaical conscience

Firmness in its judgement of the morality of the act

a. Certain Conscience
b. Doubtful Conscience
c. Scrupulous Conscience
d. Lax Conscience

Principles Governing Conscience

1. A certain conscience must always be obeyed, whatever it commands or forbids. 1. The invincibly
erroneous conscience must
2. The invincibly erroneous conscience must be followed
3. The vincibly erroneous conscience cannot be followed as legitimate rule of action
4. A person who is of lax conscience has the general and grave obligation to reform this state of
mind
5. The person with a perplexed type of conscience, when making choices has to ' postpone any
action
6. If a person has a doubtful conscience, one may never act

Conscience vs. Civil Authority

Whenever there is a conflict between civil authority (state law) and divine law (natural moral law), the
person has to obey God rather than men
9. Virtue Ethics: Aristotle

Virtue Ethics: What sort of person ought I to be?

Introduction

People are often most remembered for their most significant character traits. These traits are the
product of a consistent display of a particular behavior. Some people are known to be courageous, some
as quick-witted, while others are remembered for their diligence and work ethic.

We build are characters through how we make choices in different situations we face in our lives.

For Virtue Ethics,

An ethical person is a virtuous person, that is, one who has morally good traits of character.

Virtues are characteristics or qualities that set a high moral standard.

The focus is on the development of character than following certain classifications of actions that is
considered moral or immoral. It is not a matter of what we do but rather who we are shown by what we
do.

“It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions”

-Aristotle

Aristotle considers that morality is not merely a matter of knowing good but doing or practicing the
good habitually.

However, virtue should also be partnered with wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to see what is right and the
ability to know when we apply it. Thus, wisdom must always be present in the application of virtue.

Ethics as the Art of Living Well

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of existence.” – Aristotle

Aristotle means the chief good for the human person as happiness of “EUDAIMONIA”.

For Him, happiness is the self sufficient, final, and attainable goal of human life. It is self sufficient
because to have it makes human life complete. It is final because it is desired for itself and not for the
sake of something else, and it is attainable because, as shall be explained later, it is not mere theoretical
construct but something that one does practically.

The Soul

The Soul is the part of the human body that animates the body. Body and Soul are inseparable for
Aristotle, but He emphasizes the role of the soul more than that of the body in elucidating his ethics.

The soul is composed of both rational and irrational elements.

Rational Part

o Speculative part is concerned with pure thought and is essentially the base of contemplation.
o Practical Intellect is in charge of the action and practical determination of the proper means to
attain a specific end.

Irrational Part

o Vegetative part is in charge of the nutrition and growth of the human being.
o Appetitive part shares in the rational element of the soul. It cannot reason in itself, but it does
share in the rational element in that it can be influenced by it.

Virtue, the Mean, and the Practical Wisdom

The Greek word for virtue is “erete” which means excellence. By excellence, the Greeks thought of a how
a thing fulfills its function “ergon” in accordance with it’s nature.

Moral Virtue has to do with excellence in the performance of decisions relation to moral and practical
activity while intellectual virtues have to do with one’s capacity to harness reason’s contemplative
capacity for arriving at knowledge.

 A virtuous character is a result of the proper combination of a practical wisdom (phronesis)

and habituation (ethos) in the pursuit of the mean (mesotes). Being ethical is all about being
excellent in being human, which is being excellent in fulfilling’s one’s essence as a rational being
that has cultivated an excellent character and is, therefore, capable of making the most prudent
decisions in all circumstances.

Contemplation and Philosophical Knowledge

 For Aristotle, the main functions of the intellectual virtues, namely, phronesis and Sophia, are
aid to human persons in matters concerning moral choice and attainment of knowledge and
principles or eternal truths, respectively. If practical wisdom serves as a guide for action in
everyday life, the act of contemplation is a pursuit of philosophical wisdom.
 For Aristotle, the contemplative knowledge of the good does not automatically translate to its
performance. Being virtuous in the practical sense is still cultivated through practice and habit
(ethos). Living well means having the conplementary disposition of intelligent conduct and a
thirst for philosophical wisdom.

Conclusion

o Ethics is a matter of living well through the habitual practice of virtue which essentially translates
in having a virtuous or excellent character.
o A person of virtuous character always finds a way to stay intact even in dire times. That person
does not compromise the dictates of reason in exchange for immediate fulfillment of his/her
passions. In other words, in being habituated to choosing the mean, he/she remains virtuous
and, therefore, happy in every circumstance.