GEC -E Notes 2 9/30

GENERAL ETHICS

REVIEW

 Morality refers to that quality of goodness or badness in a human act.

 Morality is not an imagined quality merely supposed to be found in human acts.

 Saying: “What he did is right. What he did was wrong, he behave well, he should not have done
it, he is not morally justified in doing the act, etc.”

 there is difference in opinion as to the nature of morality, we all agree that

 Norms of Morality

= is the basis of distinction between right and wrong in human actions.

HUMAN ACTS VS ACTS OF MAN

 Human Acts = are actions which man perform knowingly, freely, and voluntarily

= these actions are the results of conscious knowledge and subject

to the control of the will.

ex. Singing when happy, watching movie

reading your favorite books/magazine, etc.

 Acts of Man = are actions which man does knowingly but not freely and voluntarily.

ex. Breathing, dreaming, hunger, thirst, etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN ACTS

• Human acts may either be considered rational or irrational based on man’s conformity or non-
conformity to the dictates of reason.

 Dictates of reason = refers to man’s common ideas about

the decency or indecency of a certain act or manner of behavior.

 The three classification of actions based on the conformity or

non-conformity to the norms or standard of morality.

1. Moral actions = are those which conform to the norms of

morality. Ex. Honesty, Respectful, etc

2. Immoral actions = are those which are not inconformity to the

3. Ammoral actions = are those which stand neutral in relation to

the norms of morality. Ex. Sleeping, seating etc.

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS

• The three essential elements of Human acts are the following:

1. Knowledge = refers to awareness of one’s actions

2. Freedom = refers to one’s liberty, being free from

any external force impelled us to act, he is in control of his actions.

3. Actual choice or voluntariness = refers to the actual consent from the one doing an act. An action is
willed.

 The amount or degree of voluntariness present in an act determines the amount or degree of
responsibility and in turn determine the amount of punishment, or reward maybe.

 Kinds of voluntariness:

1. Perfect voluntariness

1. = with full knowledge & consent

ex. Eating when hungry in the canteen

2. Imperfect voluntariness

= no perfect knowledge nor consent, both knowledge and consent are partial.

ex. Pulling a trigger while hands are being tied with weights

tied in your index finger in front of another person.

• We distinguish between:

1. Direct Voluntariness = (also called as voluntary “in se”)

= when an act is intended for its own sake, either as a means or as an end.

ex: “He who intends to go to a party in order to drink with friends wills both the going to the party
and the drinking with friends. Both acts, therefore, are directly willed.”

2. Indirect Voluntariness = (also called as voluntary “in causa”)

= is an act which is not intended for its own sake but which merely follows as a regrettable

consequence of an action directly willed.

 A human act comes from the will directly or indirectly.

 This distinction of direct and indirect willing (or direct and indirect voluntariness) raises a
notable issue, and we have here two of the most important principles (that is, fundamental
guiding truths) in all ethics.

1. The Principle of Indirect Voluntariness

 1. when he can readily foresee the evil effect, at least in a general way;

 2. when he is free to refrain from doing what causes the evil effect; and

 3. when he is bound to refrain from doing what causes the evil effect.

 But is the agent (that is, the doer of an act) not always bound to avoid what causes an evil
effect? Is not the fact that the effect is evil a sufficient reason for rendering the act which leads
to it unlawful? Not always, for sometimes the act has two effects, one good and one evil. In this
case, the following principle applies:

2. Principle of Two Effects:

to do certain actions from which good as well as bad effects follow.

 ex: “Should a man be restrained from saving his honor because the reputation of a high
government official will be destroyed from disclosure he has to make in his defense?” or…

“To put to jail your own son who was observed dealing drugs to young students in school.

“Is it morally right to do an act which entails bad as well as good consequences?”

The answer to these questions is: YES

 Yes..under the following conditions:

 a. The act itself should be good, or at least morally indifferent (unconcerned)

 b. The evil effect should not be directly intended, but morally allowed to happen as a regrettable
side issue;

 c. There should be a reason sufficiently grave in doing the act;

d. That evil effect should not outweigh the good effect

 An end is a purpose or goal. It is that for which an act is performed. It is the final cause of an act.
 ENDS OF HUMAN ACTS
Kinds of end of Human Acts:

1. Intermediate End = an end intended as a measure or means of gaining a further end.

= also known as remote end.

ex. Studying a subject, passing a subject, etc.

2. Ultimate End = An end intended for itself.

= is ultimate in a certain series of ends, or it is the

crowning end of all human activity.

= also known as proximate/final end.

ex. Become a professional agriculturist

3. Absolutely Ultimate End = the completely satisfying end or good.

ex. Complete Happiness, Eternal Life

“Summom Bonum” = greatest/infite good

DETERMINISM OF MORALITY
 The act performed is technically known as the object. Human acts that have intrinsic morality
are good or evil by reason of the object, that is the act itself. Such acts, if evil, are never
permissible. If good, and if circumstances do not stain them, they are lawful. Some of them
are not capable of being stain by circumstances, and these are always lawful, and also of
obligation.

 for example, is the duty of professing the truth, of working justice to all men.

The circumstances of an act performed determine its morality when the object does not do so.
Circumstances are various, but the most important are those of person, of the intensity of the
act, of place, of time, of helping influences in the act, of manner, and of intention. The last
named (that is intention of the agent or doer) is the most notable circumstance.

*ANALYSIS (BY GROUP)

NORMS OF MORALITY

 A norm

- is a rule;

-it is the measure of a thing.

o The norm of human acts is the rule which shows whether theymeasure up to what they should
be, and indicates the duty of bringing them up to full standard of what they ought to be.
 The norms of human acts are law and conscience. More precisely, the one norm of human acts
is law applied by conscience.

 Law is an ordinance of reason promulgated for the common good by one who has charge of
society.

Law is for the common good. Special regulations for individuals or groups are called precepts. A
precept is like a law inasmuch as it is a regulation or an ordering unto good. A precept is unlike a
law inasmuch as it is rather for private than for common good.

 Conscience is the practical judgment of human reason upon an act as good, and hence
permissible or obligatory, or as evil, and hence to be avoided.

 Conscience is the reasoned judgment of the mind.

 It is not…

…an instinct,

…a sentiment, no

… a prejudice born of custom or what moderns call mores;

… a "small voice“

… a "little spark of celestial fire”

 It is…

 pronouncement of reason

 correct or true = squares with facts

 Certain = wholly assured and unhesitant