FRAMEWORKS AND

PRINCIPLES
BEHIND OUR
MORAL
DISPOSITION
 DECISIONS ABOUT RIGHT AND
WRONG PERMEATE IN EVERYDAY
LIFE, AND IT CAN BE VERY
DIFFICULT TO DO. MAKING
ETHICAL DECISIONS REQUIRES
SENSITIVITY TO THE ETHICAL
IMPLICATIONS OF PROBLEMS AND
SITUATIONS. IT ALSO REQUIRES
PRACTICE. UNDERSTANDING THE
FRAMEWORK FOR ETHICAL
 VIRTUE ETHICS
IS THE GENERAL TERM FOR
THEORIES THAT PUT EMPHASIS ON
THE ROLE OF CHARACTER AND
VIRTUE IN LIVING ONE’S LIFE
RATHER THAN IN DOING ONE’S
DUTY OR IN ACTING TO BRING
 MORAL CODE OF
ETHICS
"Act as a virtuous person would act in your
situation."
ARISTOTLE
He has know works that
are related to moral
philosophy and these are,
Nicomachean ethics,
Eudemian ethics and the
Magna Moralia.
 TELOS
UNDER THE ETHICAL FRAMEWORK OF
ARISTOTLE, HE MEANS A LOT THAT WE NEED TO
BE AWARE OF EVERY ACTION WE MAKE. FOR
HIM, WHAT WE DO, ENTAILS A DIRECTION. THIS
DIRECTION IS WHAT WE FORESEE AS THE
OUTCOME OF OUR ACT. CONVERSELY, WE ACT
IN ORDER TO GET US TO THE INTENDED
DIRECTION. IN SHORT, WE MAY NOT GET TO OUR
We always pursue the good because
it makes us feel good. No one
pursues a bad end.
TWO THINGS ABOUT
THE END AS GOOD:

• Any good end is achievable

2. Every action that aims in achieving the

good is the telos/end of human action.
(means the result of our ethical decision-
making is good.
 VIRTUE AS A
HABIT
EVERY ACTION THAT AIMS IN ACHIEVING THE
GOOD IS THE TELOS/END OF HUMAN ACTION.
( MEANS THE RESULT OF OUR ETHICAL
DECISION-MAKING IS GOOD.
TWO KINDS OF VIRTUES

MORAL VIRTUE INTELLECTUAL

Honesty, courage,
compassion, generosity,
VIRTUE
Intellectual courage, intellectual
carefulness, intellectual tenacity,
fidelity, integrity, intellectual fair-mindedness,
fairness, self-control, intellectual curiosity, intellectual
and prudence honesty, and intellectual humility
 We have to take note that the
exercise of the moral virtues differs
from one person to another person.
 HAPPINESS AS
VIRTUE
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD HAPPINESS
IS SOMETIMES SUBJECTIVE SINCE WE
INTERPRET ACCORDING TO OUR OWN NEED. FOR
ARISTOTLE, HAPPINESS IS NOT ABOUT EMOTION
AS ONE IS BEING CONTENTED WHEN ONE GAINS
HEALTH OR POSSESSES A LOT OF MONEY.
 HAPPINESS AS
VIRTUE
FOR HIM, HAPPINESS IS A PLEASANT ACTIVITY
OR EXCELLENT RATIONAL ACTION WHEN ONE
JUDGES HIS WHOLE LIFE AS SUCCESSFUL AND
WORTH LIVING. IT MEANS THAT HAPPINESS IS
NOT AN IMMEDIATE RESULT OF A CERTAIN
HUMAN ACTION, BUT CONGLOMERATION OF
HUMAN VIRTUOUS ACTS SO AS TO ACHIEVE A
EUDAEMON LIFE.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
He is known as the
Doctor of the Church
because of his immense
contribution to the
theology and doctrine of
the Catholic Church.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
His important works are the "Summa
theologica" where he expounded on the five
proofs of the existence of God and the
"Summa contra Gentiles"or the "Book on the
truth of the Catholic faith against the errors of
the unbelievers.
 NATURAL LAW

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS BEGINS HIS EXPLANATION

OF VIRTUE ETHICS BY GROUNDING ON NATURAL
LAW. HE DISCUSSES THE NATURAL LAW ALONG
ETERNAL LAW.
 NATURAL LAW AND
ITS TENET
AS WE ALL KNOW THAT HIS PHILOSOPHY IS
GROUNDED ON THE BELIEF THAT THE GOD
EXIST. GOD IS KNOWN AS THE HIGHEST BEING
WHO ESTABLISH EXTERNAL LAW WHERE HIS
DIVINE PLAN FOR HIS CREATURES HAS BEEN
INSCRIBED.
 HAPPINESS AS
CONSTITUTIVE OF
MORAL
THE MORAL AND CARDINALAND
VIRTUE OF AQUINAS
HAS SPECIAL MEANING IN THIS MORAL
CARDINAL
PHILOSOPHY. VIRTUES VIRTUES
CONSIST OF HUMAN
ACTIONS THAT ARE FREQUENTLY CARRYING
OUT, SO MUCH SO THAT SUCH HUMAN ACT
BECOMES EASILY EXECUTED.