The Development of

Moral Character of
the Moral Agent
What is the defining moment in one persons life?
 What is the defining moment in one persons
life?
It is an occasion where your life's path has undeniably change, or it refers to a significant
life-changing event or moment that reverberates throughout your career and personal life
and so changes everything.

*You make thousands of decisions every day. Each choice shapes what is to come in some
small way, but occasionally, a decision has the magnitude to be life-changing*
 What are the example of life changing events?
• Driving alone for the first time
• Having children
• Moving from your family’s house
• Miscarriage
• Relationship issue
• Falling in love
• illness and injury
• Getting married
• Divorce
Lain Hensley
• Chief operating officer at Odyssey Teams, recalls the fear and
loneliness he felt when he was diagnosed with cannot Se example.
His illness exposed weaknesses in his leadership and as result, he
writes, he has become a better man, husband, father, employer,
speaker and friend
• Even Saints also have defining moments of their lives just like St.
Paul and St. Augustine
THE MORALITY OF HUMAN
ACTS
• As had been presented, morality refers to the goodness and the
badness of an act. Formally, morality "may be defined as the quality of
things (or acts] manifesting their conformity or non-conformity with
the norm or criteria.
 THE NORMS OF MORALITY
• Eternal Law of God;
"is the ultimate norm of morality,“
The Divine Wisdom of God which oversees the common good and governs everything.
God's plan to lead all creation towards God's eternal salvific plan to be holy and blameless before him
through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5)
The ten commandments
• Conscience;
"the proximate norm of morality.“
It is the immediate source of information guiding human actions. It directs human actions so that a person
can transcend his animal instincts and human inclinations.
 THE DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
-By the determinants of morality is meant the factors that ink human acts with their norms. refer to the
sources of the goodness or badness (morality) of human acts.
• three determinants of morality
the object, the end, and the circumstanoes
• Object of Morality
- refers to the object of the will act, that which the will chooses to do, and this is nothing else but the act
itself, which is deliberately

- the object of morality is the essence of the act since it refers to the human act itself as performed.
- there are good and bad actions. Murder, rape, robbery, cheating, abortion, and the like are in themselves (or
objectively) bad while honesty, respect, prudence a mong others are in themselves good acts. This is
objective morality.
• End of Morality
good, evil and indifferent acts are by their very nature independent of any law, regulation, or command. The
morally good acts are not good because the law requires that they should be observed instead, the law
prescribes them because they are good.In the same fashion,morally evil acts are not evil because the law
forbids them, instead the law forbids them because they are evil.
 THERE ARE FOUR PRINCPLES TO BE
CONSIDERED
a. An indifferent act can become morally good or morally evil depending upon the intention of the
agent.

- Asking a money to your Parents is an indifferent act. It becomes good when you used the money to
buy food and thing that you need. It becomes bad when you used the money in gambling.

b. An objectively good act can become morally evil.

- A new friend asks you to go to her party, it is good. it becomes evil when she asks her older brother
to rape you.
 THERE ARE FOUR PRINCPLES
TO BE CONSIDERED
c. An intrinsically (objectively) good act can receive added goodness.

- Asking for a food is good. it receives extra goodness when you share your food to the others.

d. An intrinsically evil act can never become good even when it is done with good intention.

- Robbery is intrinsically evil. It can never be good even if your intention is to give the money to the
orphanage
Circumstances
-are defined as conditions that affect human acts by increasing or decreasing
the responsibility of the agent.
-it must be properly noted that circumstances are the only one.
 7 kinds of circumstances
Who, What, Where, by what means, How, When, and Why.

WHO- is called circumstances of the agent.

-This circumstances can increase or diminish the responsibility of the agent depending
upon who the agent is and what is the object of the act.

WHAT - is called the circumstance of the object or the act itself. It refers to the quality
or quantity of the object of the act.

Example:
The agent has graver responsibility, if he steal P500.00 from the farmer while the same
has lighter responsibility if he steals the same amount from a businessman.
 7 kinds of circumstances
WHERE- Is called the circumstance of the place where the act is performed.

Ex. If the agent steals inside the Church, he has graver responsibility, however if he steal
inside a supermarket, he has lighter responsibility.

By what means- Is called the circumstances of the means employed by the agent

Ex. To get a perfect score during examination through cheating is evil, while to get the same
through serious studies is good.
 7 kinds of circumstances
HOW- is called circumstance of the manner or mode when the act is done. This points as how
the agent performs the act.
- How involves manifold conditions when the act is performed, consent, voluntariness, fear,
ignorance, and violence.

Ex. An insane person killed somebody; the agent, in this case is not responsible. However, if
this insane person kills somebody during lucid interval, then he is responsible for the act.

WHEN- is called the circumstance of time.

-At this point as to how long does the agent keep evil intentions or thoughts.
-To keep anger with someone forever calls a graver responsibility for the agent while be angry
with someone in passing calls a lighter responsibility for the same.
 Principles involved in circumstances
a.An indifferent act can become good or evil through circumstances.

Ex. Eating meat: indifferentEating meat on Good Friday intentionally: evil (circumstance of time)

b. A good act can become evil through circumstances.

Ex. Giving money to indigents: Good Giving money to indigents for votes: evil

c. An intrinsically good act can become better or an intrinsically evil act can become worse through
circumstances.

Ex. Visiting a sick person for earlier recovery: Good Not visiting one's sick father in a hospital out of
hatred: worse (circumstance of end)
 Principles involved in circumstances
d. An evil act an never become good through circumstance.

Ex. Stealing money in order to buy food cannot make stealing good
(circumstance of object)

e. A good act done with evil means destroys the entire objective goodness of
the act.

Ex. Giving money to the poor: GoodGiving money to the poor through
robbery: Evil (circumstance of means)