MORAL AGENT

Q: What's the connection between ethics and

man?
• Man is the one who performs the actions or the
act – moral or immoral/ ethical or unethical
• Moral agent is a person who makes decision or
choice between doing what is right and doing
what is wrong and doing what is good and what
is evil.
• Man as a moral agent
– Means man is rational and free
 Man: Rational and Free Agent
• As human beings we are endowed with rationality. Because
of our reason, we can deliberate and make conscious
decisions.
• Man is endowed with rationality (can think, reason,
analyze, evaluate), thus man deliberate and make a
conscious decision
• We are also endowed with free will, through which we
determine our own action, its course and objectives.
Ex. People may give us advice but we are the ones who make the decision
•
.
Since we are rational and free agents, we are responsible for
our actions, and our responsibility is not only for our
actions, but also for the consequences of our act/ actions,
and the quality of the choice we make.
• Remember, every time we make a decision out of our
rational capacity and freedom, we become responsible for
them including the consequences.
With great power comes great responsibility – Spider Man
• power - (rationality)
• responsibility ( freedom)
• The extent of our knowledge and freedom determine the
extent of our responsibility, hence the greater the freedom
and knowledge, the greater the responsibility.
• Don’t forget: The twin brother of freedom is responsibility.
When you think of freedom automatically you have to think
of responsibility
• Because of human freedom and responsibility, people are
always concerned with what is right and what is wrong. We
contemplate on what is the right thing to do and what is the
bad thing to avoid.
– Whatever we do, right or wrong there's always consequences.
• The end of all these is our desire to live a well lived life. As
human beings we do not just want to live our lives, we
wanted to live it well, as the saying goes.
• A well lived life is a happy life.
• A good life is not just having all the comforts in life. A well
lived life means a meaningful life. A life done for the good
things
• Happiness and living well is related to good and those
things that we value in life.
• What is value?
• The will is the one that drives us to do something. Like, if
you see something good, you move towards it, but if you see
something evil, you move away from it. The good really
motivates us to do or to act.
• The good could either be real or objectively good. Or just
apparent good.
• real or objectively good means, good in itself. It does not
depend on what people think Ex. Knowledge, health
• Some things or objects which we consider to be good are
only apparent good, which means that they may appear to
be good, but in reality are not. Vices for example may appear
to be good to some people but in reality they are evil.
 Good and Value
• Good is objectively the goal or fulfillment of being man. It
is the end or the object of the will- faculty of volition.
– Good is connected with happiness because if you
attained what is good, you are happy. It’s the object of
our desire.
– One of our capacities/faculties is reason, and the
object of reason is to search the truth.
• The good as the object of the will is considered to be
the driving force of human action and human
endeavors. The will when it recognizes the good drives
or motivates us to act.
• It‘s only our subjective valuations or feelings that
make vices good but in reality they are not.
• The good could either be a real and objective
good or just an apparent good. What we
consider to be good could be real or genuine
good, like health, or knowledge, which are
objectively good.
.
 Value
• We tend to associate value with good.
• What is value?
• VALUE comes from the Latin word ‘VALERE’ which means ‘to
be of worth.’
• Value is an assessment of worth. It is what an individual or
group deems to be useful, significant or desirable
Filipino – halaga
Ex. Parents, food, friends, career, money, knowledge,
education
• Values is our assessment of worth of something. It could be an
idea, an occasion, an object which we consider to be valuable
• Value constitutes a large part of who we are and
how we live. People, objects, places, events,
situations or occasions have values. The things
that we value they define who we are, and they
also define how we live. How we conduct our
lives, how we behave, everything.
– Ex. If you value your studies, it will define who you
are, you will prioritized it
• Values could either be objective or subjective.
• Objective value is independent of the assessment of men, such
value does not depend on the valuation or estimation of
individuals or group of individuals. Whether such value is
recognized or not it remains to be a value.
– The worth or value of something does not depend on the
valuation or estimation of individuals
– It has value in itself.
Ex. Health
human person - since they are people they have objective
value. A human person has an intrinsic value even if some
people do not recognize it. The human person is always
valuable because its value is intrinsic. The basis for this is that
man is created in the image and likeness of God.
• The value of objective good is independent of the
recognition or appreciation of man, good health and
proper knowledge have objective values.
• Subjective values are those that are conferred by
individuals on certain objects or situation.
– it is people/ us who make it valuable.
– It has no intrinsic value .We conferred value to it.
• The subjective value is dependent on the estimation or
valuation of individuals, so that something maybe valuable
to one but not valuable to others.
– Something maybe valuable to one, but not to others.
• Sentimental values are subjective values because
it is conferred by us.
• Values have hierarchy
• There is an objective ranking of values, this
ranking is not dependent on the preference of
individuals.
• Material values are necessarily lower in rank as
compared to spiritual values . Ex. Family vs.
wealth
• God vs. material possessions
• It is also possible that personally, we have our
own subjective ranking of values.
– the value of persons is higher than money, the
value of education and knowledge is higher than the
value of physical properties
• The more spiritual the value is, the higher it is in
the ranking of values and the more material the
values is, the lower it is in the ranking of values.
• Only man can formulate and express values which are
generally shaped and formed by his experiences.
• Values are inseparable from the endlessly changing
experiences of man‘s life. A value may be material value,
societal, aesthetic, religious or moral.
• What we value in the realm of human conduct is called
moral values, like justice, honesty, generosity,
compassion, respect love, etc.
• In ethics, we are interested in moral values not physical
values
• VALUES or good moral values once they are habitually
practiced, they turned into virtues.
 The Role of Human Experience
• Philosophers talked about human experience
• Two kinds of experience
1. sense experience – experience of our senses-
sight, hearing, taste, sound
2. lived experience is the awareness on the part of
the individual that when he performs or does a
certain action, he is aware that he is the author of
the act; that he is the agent of action. This
awareness or experience brings with it a sense of
responsibility or the moral value of the action.
– is a personal experience
• Ex. 2 persons entered a church, one is a tourist, the other one is a
church goer. The tourist will have a visual experience of the beauty
of the church's architecture, but the church goer will experience the
Divine.
• How do we connect lived experience with actions?
– Lived experience makes us aware that we are the author of a
certain action, the agent of the act.
– Because this personal lived experience, made me realized that I
am the agent/author of the action. Hence, it allows me to focus
on self, not on the object experience by the senses( Ex. beauty
of church's architecture). The self is the agent. This awareness
of being the agent makes us aware of the value of human action.
– Experience allows us to realize we are responsible for what we
do.
• Since one experience himself and his own person as the
agent or cause of the act, then he also experiences himself
as the efficient cause of the moral good or evil associated
with the action.
– If you do something good, and you are praised for it, you
are proud of what you did.
– But, when people do something bad, they hide, deny and
hide. They know they will be responsible
– Ex. Murder, corruption
– Human experience is very important in ethics because it
makes us aware that we are responsible for our action.
• HUMAN VALUES are the virtues that guide us to
take into account human element when one
interacts with one other human being. They are
our feelings for the human essence of others. It’s
both what we expect others to do to us and what
we aim to give to other human beings. These
human values give the effect of bonding,
comforting and reassuring
MORAL VALUES
a. Acceptance: having an objective attitude toward
others’ ideas and practices that differ from your
own.
b. Compassion: understanding the suffering of others
or self and wanting to do something about it.
c. Courage: willingness to do difficult things.
d. Equality: believing everyone deserves equal rights
and to be treated with respect.
e. Fairness: acting in a just way, sharing appropriately.
f. Generosity: willingness to give resources, help or
time to others.
g. Honesty: being truthful and sincere.
h. Integrity: sticking to your moral and ethical
principles and values.
i. Kindness: being considerate and treating others
well.
j. Perseverance: persisting in a course of action,
belief or purpose.
k. Politeness: using good manners, acting in socially
acceptable way.
l. Respect: showing consideration for the worth of
someone or something.
m. Responsibility: being reliable in your obligations.
n. Self-control: staying in control of your words and
behavior.
CARDINAL VIRTUES
a. Prudence is the virtue of knowing what to do
under peculiar circumstances which enables one
to see the best means to approach a given
situation.
b. Justice is a virtue of giving anyone his/her due
under no condition.
c. Temperance is the virtue of curbing or managing
the sensitive appetites.
d. Fortitude is a virtue of keeping resolute in the
face of overwhelming odds.
THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES
a. Faith is the virtue of believing in God’s word
without seeing.
b. Hope is the virtue of keeping trust in Divine
Providence.
c. Charity is the virtue of loving God and His
creatures.
 Sources
• Lectures in Ethics 1, Introduction: Man as a Moral
Agent by Jove Jim S. Aguas, Philosophy prof., UST,
Manila