Lesson 7: NORM OF MORALITY

Moral Norms Are The Criteria for Judging:

This Is What We Have Learned about
the human act: 1. The quality of character, what sort of
person one ought to become.
1) They are voluntary. 2. The quality of an act, what sort of action
2) They are accountable acts. ought to be done.
3) They are motivated acts.
4) They are either moral, immoral, or It is significant that in the definition
amoral. the quality of character takes precedence
over the quality of actions, because actions
This chapter examines the rational basis are only the product of character. The kind
of morality of human actions. of person we are determine the kind of
action we do. An evil-minded person will do
Objectives: what is wrong. A well-intentioned person will
At the end of the chapter, the learner do what is good. In this sense, action
is expected to: reflects character.
1. Describe the norms of morality.
2. Identify the basis of moral The word “OUGHT”- implies a duty
judgments. or obligation. It means that a person or his
3. Listen to the promptings of one’s action should possess a certain quality or it
conscience. falls short of the standard.

Input 1: The Meaning of Norms The phrase “CRITERIA OF

JUDGMENT”- implies the use of reason in
A NORM is a standard of measurement. determining the quality being measured.
We measure the size, the weight, the The norm of morality is not a blueprint for
length, the duration, the intensity, the action, nor a set of laws, like the Ten
quantity and the depth of something. We Commandments. It is a rational assessment
measure objects, events emotions, and of the worthiness or unworthiness of a
persons. person or an act on the basis of the given
standard or criteria.
We make a value judgement when we
measure the quality of a thing. The physical Input 2: Basis of Moral Judgment
qualities of objects are measured with the
use of a device such as clock, ruler, Moral judgment is based on of
speedometer, or thermometer. The moral norms of morality- the eternal law, natural
qualities of human acts are measured with law, and conscience. Eternal law is the
the use of a norm or standard to support a ultimate norm, Natural law is the remote
judgment. The judges of beauty contest, for norm, and Conscience is proximate norm of
example, uses a criteria for scoring the morality. Since both natural law and
contestants as to their physical appearance, conscience are derived from Eternal Law,
stage presence, costume and intelligence. there is only one and ultimate basis of
morality- GOD who created all creatures.
The Norms of Morality
1. The Eternal Law
The norms of morality “are the
criteria of judgment about the sorts of Eternal law is the plan of God in
person we ought to be and the sorts of creating all creatures, both animate and
actions we ought to perform” (Richard M. inanimate, giving to each of them its
Gula:1).
respective nature. The Book of Genesis tells fulfillment. Accordingly, anything
the story of creation. contributing to the actualization of man’s
potential is morally good; and anything that
St. Thomas Aquinas refers to contradicts the self-realization of a person
eternal law as “the exemplar of divine as person is morally evil. While the morally
wisdom as directing all actions and good act contributes to the integration of a
movements.”(I-II, 93:1). person, the morally evil act causes its
disintegration.
St. Augustine defines it as “the
divine reason or will of God commanding Characteristics of Natural Law
that the natural order of things be preserved
and forbidding that it be disturbed.” (Contra 1. It is universal - because it is the
Faustum Manicheum,22:27) human nature which is shared by
all men, though realized
The concept of Eternal Law is differently according to their
inferred from the order and harmony in the respective cultures.
created universe. The Ancient Greeks
referred to the universe as “cosmos” 2. It is obligatory - because the
(beauty) and spoke of “cosmic order.” We tendencies of our human nature
use the term natural order to refer to the are the laws of our desires and
harmony present in the material universe. In actuations which we cannot
the natural order, every creature acts and ignore without dire
reacts according to the demands of its consequences.
nature.
3. It is recognizable - because man,
2. The Natural Law being self-reflexive, is aware of his nature,
of what he is and what he is capable
Natural law refers to the operational of and what is expected of him by
tendencies of the human nature- the his own kind.
chemical, biological, physiological,
psychological, and rational properties of 4. It is immutable and unchangeable
man as an organism. - because, although change is a rule of life,
human nature in its essentiality and
St. Thomas Aquinas says that “the substantiality remains permanent
natural law is nothing else than the rational and unchangeable.
creature’s participation of the eternal law”
and “provides the possibilities and 3. Conscience
potentialities which the human person can
use to make human life truly human.” While natural law is the tendency
towards good in general, conscience is the
Paul Tillich refers to the natural law choice of a particular good in a given
as “the inner law of our true being, of our situation. People refer to conscience as “the
essential created nature, which demands voice of GOD” – a whisper of admonition.
that we actualize what follows from it.”
Pointing to it as the “will of God,” he Conscience is the practical
explains it to be – “the command to become judgment of reason telling us what should
what one potentially is, a person within a be done because it is good, or what should
community of persons.” be avoided because it is evil. The judgment
is “practical” because it leads to a course of
Natural Law is the tendency of action.
human nature towards growth and self-
 Conscience is “judgment of reason” Compulsory Conscience
because it derives from our understanding
of what ought to be done as good and what “Our bond with the natural moral
ought to be avoided as evil. This is how law” write Bernard Haring, “is an exalted
actions are said to be in accordance with participation in the eternal law of God
dictate of reason. manifested by our conscience whose
natural function it is to reveal our likeness to
Moral decisions may sometimes GOD. (Law of Christ: I-147)
requires serious study and deliberation. But
the urging of conscience is considered as When conscience operates in the
the “voice of God.” realm of truth and sound reason, it is
compulsory to listen to it. It is only when
Conscience has two functions. conscience urges us to act according to our
Before the commission of an act, rational insights that it is aptly the “voice of
conscience directs towards that which is God”. But when conscience deviates from
good. After the commission of an act, the norm and urges us to do what is
conscience either approves or reproves the unreasonable, it is “our own evil work” (ibid:
act. A reproaching conscience punishes the 148).
doer with remorse. An approving
conscience rewards the doer with ”peace of
mind.” Input 3: Conformity and Non-conformity
Types of Conscience
The conformity or non-conformity of
As an intellectual faculty conscience a human act with the norms constitutes
needs education and training. morality. We recall the definition of Aristotle
of the good as that which fits the function.
1. Correct conscience sees the good For example, it fits the function of a talented
as good, the evil as evil. Correct singer to sing well. Similarly, it fits the
conscience comes from function of a decent and honourable person
enlightenment, from refined moral to do what is honourable.
sensibility, or from the habit of doing
good. The correct conscience is the The same may be said of evil
result of sound upbringing, actions. Some actions do not fit the dignity
education, good habits and, and nobility of man as man. Like the junk
intelligent laws. food does not fit the health of a person,
immoral acts do not fit the human soul.
2. Erroneous conscience sees evil as
something good. Erroneous Formal and Material Norms
conscience comes from malice,
ignorance, bad habits and bad We distinguish two aspects of the moral
influence. norm: the formal and the material norms.
1. Formal Norms - relate to
3. Doubtful conscience is a vacillating formation of character, what
conscience, unsure of itself. kind of person we ought to
be. These consist of such
4. Scrupulous conscience is overly directives towards character
cautious, meticulous, and fearful of development, such as “be
committing a mistake. honest”, “be direct”, “be
5. Lax conscience is indifferent, respectful”, etc.
unmindful of right or wrong.
 2. Material Norms - relate to he does not want to be done to him is
actions, what actions we another universally accepted truth. That
ought to do. Material norms man deserves to be punished for his evil
determine are whether an act deeds is yet another universally accepted
on account of its nature truth. The trouble is that people may not
conforms or does not agree how these truths apply.
conform with the formal
norms. Physical vs. Personalism

The formal norm about being There are two viewpoints on how
respectful of parents is explicit and relevant moral acts are to be judged on the basis of
at all times. But it may be asked whether a Natural Law:
child does wrong by disobeying an unlawful 1. Physicalism suggest that
command of the parents. To answer this the physical and the
question the materiality of the act of biological nature of man
disobedience needs to be examined with determines morality. Morality
regards to its nature, motive, and is in accordance with the
circumstances. The basis of this evaluation natural order in the universe.
is provided by the formal norm, but once the Anything opposed to man’s
materiality of an act is determined as physical, physiological, or
intrinsically evil, such an act cannot be biological tendencies is
justified by whatever reason. Hence, an act wrong and immoral. It
which is declared “a murder,” “genocide,” “a maintains that the criteria for
rape,” or “an adultery” –can never be good moral judgment are written in
under any circumstance. man’s nature and all that is
required is for man to read
The directives of formal norms are them off (Gula:35).
permanent and unchangeable because they
are the requirements of natural law. The
directives of material norms are temporary
and changeable because they are the result 2. Personalism suggest that
of rational evaluation. reason is the standard for
moral judgment. Right
Moral Relativism reason, or “recta ratio” is the
dynamic tendency in the
Moral relativism is possible because human person to know the
the human mind, being finite and limited, truth, to grasp the whole
does not always grasp the moral reality as it is. Morality is in
significance of certain acts or events. Thus, accordance with the order of
debates would continue on whether death reason, or the dictate of
penalty, divorce, abortion, gay marriage, or reason.
euthanasia is morally permissible. Moral
relativism is also descriptive of cultural
differences. While seemingly opposed, these
theories are not irreconcilable. Reason, if it
However, the differences in the must be “recta” has to accept the reality of
moral practices of people do not prove that man’s biological tendencies. Physicalism,
there are no absolute truths and principles
on the other hand, has to submit that
of morals. That man seeks the good that fits
his nature is a universally accepted truth. biological tendencies needs to be regulated
That man ought not to do to another what by reason. In fact, man “can creatively
intervene in a reasonable way to direct the
order of nature in a way that would be truly
human.” (Gula:41).

The Order of Reason

Every living thing acts in accordance

with its nature. Man acts in a way proper to
him through the use of reason. “In a
morality based on the order of reason”
writes Richard Gula, “the human person is
not subject to the God-given order of nature
in the same way the animals are. The
human person does not have to conform to
natural pattern as a matter of fate. Rather,
nature provides the possibilities and
potentialities which the human person can
use to make human life truly man. The
given physical and biological order does not
provide moral norms; rather, it provides the
data and the possibilities for the human
person to use in order to achieve human
goals (Ibid. 41).

In the encyclical Populorum Progressio

(1967), Pope Paul VI states:

In the design of God, every man is

called upon to develop and fulfill himself, for
every life is a vocation. At birth, everyone is
granted, in germ, a set of aptitudes and
qualities for him to bring to fruition. Their
coming to maturity, which will be the result
of education received from environment and
personal efforts, will allow each man to
direct himself toward the destiny intended
for him by his Creator. Endowed with
intelligence and freedom, he is responsible
for his fulfillment as he is for his salvation.