Lesson 1- CHRISTIAN MORALITY Conscience is a practical judgment of reason

deciding upon an individual act as good as to be

CATHOLIC MORALITY
performed and evil as to be avoided.
It is a Christian Morality guided by the teachings
This is our ability to make practical decision in
of the Church.
light of ethical values and principles.
“ A Catholic faithful believes that Jesus
The voice of conscience is always guiding us to
entrusted his teaching authority to the Church
always do good and avoid evil.
and that the Church has the responsibility to
offer guidance, help and direction in the solving The Jesuit priest: Fr. Michael Moga outlines the
of moral problems.” basic purpose or importance of Morality.

Foundations of Christian Morality For him, Morality is:

Freedom - To do always what is good, not to do 1. a guide to the fullness of freedom

always what you like
2. the entrance of the eternal into the life of
God created us in the state of freedom. We are man
at liberty to choose, (based on reason and will),
3. a guide to the fullness of human
whether to act in a specific situation. We are
development
responsible for our choices. With these choices,
we choose our own ultimate destiny: that of 4. a guide towards reality
eternal life with God or that of death.
5. a guide toward meaning
Truth- Truth based on the Values and Teachings
of Jesus

We believe that moral truth is objective, and 1. A guide to the fullness of freedom
not relative to the subjective whims of culture Morality reveals the ultimate purpose of human
and taste. It is valid at all times and everywhere. freedom. The ultimate meaning of freedom is to
God is the ultimate source of all moral truth. live in accord with natural law. Human is
Natural Law - Law derived from God’s oriented towards the development of mature
commandment that that guides all men to do responsibility and commitment. Man grows as a
the right thing free individual when he gradually becomes
committed to persons and causes. Man is meant
The natural law, the Catholic Church teaches, is to use his freedom in order to grow to this state
the basis for legitimate human or positive law. of mature responsibility, a state of full
The moral law presupposes the rational order, development.
established among creatures for their good and
to serve their final end, by the power, wisdom, 2. The entrance of the eternal into the
and goodness of the Creator. It is the foundation life of man
of universal ethic. Morality plays an important role in raising man’s
Conscience - “Always do good and avoid always life to the level of the eternal, that is, man can
what is evil” discover eternity by raising his life above the
passing needs of time by living in terms of
eternal values. Values such as bravery, justice,
love, truth, beauty etc., rose above time and • Persons as images of God
forever. • Persons as the likeness of God
• Persons as fundamentally good
• Persons as God’s partner
3. A guide to the fullness of human
NEW TESTAMENT source
development
1. Persons are redeemed by Christ
Morality is not just a matter of external
restrictions or prohibitions but an inner law God never abandons man, and sends Jesus for
which leads man and communities toward man’s redemption. God never ceases to call
growth. every person back to Himself
I grow, as a human individual, I become mature 2. Persons are sanctified by the Holy
and responsible in life, functioning fully as a Spirit
member of the family and community and
moving towards this realization. The sanctification of man is made possible
through the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God
4. A guide towards reality brings the human person to a closer
relationship with God. The presence of the Holy
Morality reveals to man his identity as limited,
Spirit in the human person sanctifies the human
dependent and a being related to others.
person and makes him the temple of the Holy
5. A guide toward meaning Spirit.
Morality leads man into a more meaningful 3. Persons are called to be children of
existence. Man can possibly try to exist only to God
satisfy his own hunger, to eat, drink, and be
God is our Father and we are his children. As
merry but such style of living and existence will
children of God, we have to place our complete
ultimately lose its meaning. It is only when man
trust and confidence in Him. Like Christ, we
recognizes the needs of others and the call of
have to submit our will to the Father.
God and responds to these that his life becomes
fully meaningful. 4. Persons are destined for eternal life
Lesson 2: HUMAN PERSON The first man and woman destroyed their access
to God when they sinned against Him. In spite
The HUMAN PERSON (The Moral Agent and
of this, He offered man salvation through Jesus
Object)
Christ who reconciled us with the Father. The
• The Christian View of Man destiny of the children of God is the glorious life
• The Natural/Experiential View Of Man of blessed salvation with Father, Son and the
• Non-Christian View of Man Holy Spirit.

The Christian View of Man The Natural/ Experiential View of man

OLD TESTAMENT source 1. Persons are open and relational

• Persons are created in the image and God created man as a social being. God gave
likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27) man a companion, woman, in order not to be
• Persons as created by God alone. No man is an island, no man stands
alone. No man can live by and for himself.
 Man is considered an object whose purpose in
life is only to help others attain happiness,
2. Persons are conscious beings.
especially the physical type. He escapes total
God created man with intelligence and freewill: commitment which involves sacrifice or pain
to obey His commandments with faith and because it diminishes pleasure. Hedonism
understanding. Man is able to use his power of glorifies pleasure (in worst scenario, man makes
reasoning to distinguish good from evil. Man is pleasure as “god”) and the ultimate end of life.
conscious of his acts and is therefore (Greek Epicureans, Jeremy Bentham)
responsible for his action. Rationality is needed
Jeremy Bentham (1748—1832)- He famously
for human development in rejecting evil and to
held a hedonistic account of both motivation
choose what is good.
and value according to which what is
3. Persons are embodied spirits. fundamentally valuable and what ultimately
Body soul (anima) spirit (animo) motivates us is pleasure and pain. Happiness,
according to Bentham, is thus a matter of
God breathed life into man with body and soul. experiencing pleasure and lack of pain.
There is a unity between the body and soul of
man, While the soul gives life to man, the body 2. Humanism
is an instrument that can lead the soul after
Atheistic and materialistic in application,
death either to eternal damnation or everlasting
believing that there is no God and man is not a
happiness.
created being. He does not possess an immortal
4. Persons are historical realities. soul; he has no moral responsibility and no
eternal purpose. Man does not bear the image
Man undergoes the basic stages of human of God but only a mark of natural evolutionary
growth and development. Man’s fullness of forces. Man makes man as “god”. God is
being progresses as he journeys like a pilgrim dethroned and man is deified.
towards the Kingdom of God.
As the highest being, his thoughts and actions
5. Persons are unique, yet fundamentally are always right. They are but the means of
equal through which he seeks the creative realization
As a human person man is unique and distinct of human needs and pleasure. The humanists
from each other. No twin is exactly identical. advocate man’s maximum autonomy; man has
Man’s uniqueness is manifested not only in each the absolute freedom (freewill, free choice) and
man’s physical differences but also in man’s the removal of all restraints. It is man that
attitude, character, talent intellectual and moral determines moral responsibility. Humanism is a
capabilities. But inspire of these differences, all self-serving, self-centered religion and
men are fundamentally equal in dignity (as philosophy. (Proponent: John Dewey)
created in the image and likeness of God), origin
(we are created equal) and destiny (the same
divine calling to achieve eternal salvation) John Dewey (1859–1952)- Consistent with this
doctrine of atheism, God does not exist except
Non Christian View of Man as the projection by our imagination of those
1. Playboy Philosophy or Hedonism non-objective ideals which guide our human
conduct. While the idea of God is not real,
therefore, since it is created by the fantasy, it is
not illusory because it serves the purpose of destiny in life. The oriental sages Gautama
idealizing our hopes and desires. Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius were
proponents of this philosophy.
3. Marxian-communism
Confucius- The world is “centered on man, not
Man has worth only in so far as he helps the
on God. Confucianism is a mere system of
interest of the state. Man as an individual entity
humanism or a system of personal and social
is subordinated to the society. Thus, individual
ethics“.
rights such as rights to worship, life, work where
one pleases, private ownership, speech, Man’s nature was originally good but becomes
education, etc., can only exist if the state thinks degenerate because of ignorance and a
them useful. They can be limited or suppressed “clouded” mind which it tries to “clear” by self-
if they are found useless. (Karl Marx) cultivation.

Karl Marx (1818–1883)- For Marx, reality is No man is able to live up to the standards of the
concerned fundamentally with the material “True Gentleman” or God’s commands because
(especially economic) conditions of existence. man’s nature is sinful and in need of
Without being able to survive physically, the transformation.
question of whether life has any meaning does
6. Greek philosophy
not make much sense. In fact, the meaning of
life makes sense only in such materialistic Man is a knower (all-knowing) before his birth.
terms. His soul pre-existed his body. In his ideal
existence, man (a soul or pure mind) knows all
4. Atheistic-Existentialism
things by direct intuition and has all the
Man is radically and separated from others. knowledge stored in his mind. However,
Jean Paul Sartre believes that a person is born because of his banishment into the world of
into absurdity and feels nauseated as he realizes senses, he forgets almost all of what he knew.
this. This absurdity can be overcome only when The solution to his present problems caused by
an individual chooses to be himself. However, as ignorance can be achieved by achieving all what
he chooses, he feels alone and despairs. He sees he knew in his former self. Moreover, moral evil
no meaning in life. No one can help him even is mostly due to ignorance or the limitation of
God. Thus, he thinks no reason to help better man’s present knowledge. (Proponents:
the condition of humanity, such as cleaning up Socrates, Plato and Aristotle)
the surrounding, working for peace, justice,
7. Nihilism
equality etc. because life after all is devoid of
meaning and purpose. This view maintains that man and his life have
no meaning. (proponent: Friedrich Nietzsche)
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)- We have to
create our own essence. Nothing, not god or Human Acts and Acts of Man
evolution, created us for any purpose other
than the purposes we choose. Human acts are actions performed by man
(internally and externally) which proceed from
5. Oriental philosophy the deliberate freewill of man.
Man should try to live a gentle submission to HUMAN ACTS always render the person
the cosmic powers flowing in the universe --- responsible and accountable of the act that
powers that control man’s happiness and he/she is doing.
Acts of Man DO NOT proceed from deliberate CHRISTIAN FREEDOM
freewill of man. They are actions that man may
Is an essential Element of human Act. It is not a
perform without advertence and the exercise of
license to Do what wants to do.
free choice.
Is a power rooted in reason and will to act or
-These are actions that proceed from human
not to act , to do this or that, and so to perform
senses, Physiological activities, Actions
a deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.
performed by a Baby and natural bodily
The highest form of exercising one’s freedom is
Tendencies
the freedom to love.
CONSTITUTIVE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACT
Human Freedom Can be
1. Knowledge
INTERNAL (freedom to be all one can possibly
2. Freedom be) This is known as FREEDOM of BECOMING
HUMAN FREEDOM
3. Voluntariness
EXTERNAL (freedom to do all one can possibly
Knowledge
do) – FREEDOM of DOING.
It is an awareness of the act that man does. In
OBSTACLES to Authentic Freedom
order for an act to be become a human act , the
doer must have an awareness that he is doing 1. Biological factors (inherited handicaps)
something and he has the command of it and 2. Psychological (interior compulsions)
has it in his mind. 3. Social pressure (economic, political,
Cultural)
Freedom
4. Sin (the greatest obstacle to freedom)
A human act is always determined by the will. It
CHRISTIAN FREEDOM
means that the act is always a product of the
will that can do it or leave it undone. Every act Refers to the capacity of The will, aided by God’s
that comes from the will is called a free act. And race to decide, to do what is good and to avoid
for an act to be human, it has to be a free act. what is evil in every possible way.
Freedom therefore is an essential element of
1. The freedom that we enjoy as children
human act.
of God is simply God’s gift.
Voluntariness 2. The gift freedom Involves responsibility

It comes from the Latin word Voluntas which According to the GREEKS, there are four kinds of
means will-act So if we talk about the act as love:
Voluntary, this means that the human act must
1. Narcissism or self love (destructive self-
be a will-act.
love)
MORAL act = good 2. Eros (passionate love between sexes)
3. Philia or platonic love (love among
Immoral act = bad/ sinful
friends)
Amoral = neither good or bad 4. Agape (brotherhood, sense of
community)
Illegal = civil code violation
.
 5. If an act is morally indifferent (neither
good or evil) it would become good if
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACT
the purpose is good and it would
The Modifiers of Human Acts are conditions become evil if the purpose in doing it is
that may affect the three essential qualities of evil.
the human acts. Since they may affect the
The Circumstances, are conditions which do not
qualities of the elements of they may also
belong to the essence of the act but may affect
diminish the responsibility of the agent doing
it morally
the action under the influence of these
modifiers. The are seven circumstances:

1. Who
2. What
1. Ignorance – the mere absence of
3. Where
intellectual knowledge.
4. With what ally
2. Fear – it is defined as the shrinking back
5. In what condition
of the mind from impending danger.
6. When
3. Violence – it is an external force applied
7. Why
by a free cause (by man) for the
purpose of compelling a person to
perform an act which is against hi will.
1. Who – refers to the person who does
4. Habit – it is the lasting readiness and
the act or to whom the action is done
facility born of frequently repeated acts,
2. What – is the circumstance of quantity
for acting in a certain manner.
or quality.
Here are some rules of the influence of the End 3. Where – is the circumstance of place
of the act 4. With what ally – refers to the
circumstances of means or instrument.
1. If the act is objectively good and the
5. In what condition – refers to the
purpose is also good then the end or
circumstance of manner
the purpose gives the act a new
6. When – is the circumstance of time
goodness due to the good end.
7. Why- is the same as purpose or
2. If the act is objectively evil and the end
intention which had been discussed
is also evil then the end or the purpose
above.
gives malice to the act because of the
evil intention.
3. If an act which happens to be
objectively good is done with evil
intention then it is always evil if the
whole purpose of the act is to have the
evil intention.
4. If an act is objectively evil then it is
always evil even if the end or the
purpose is good. “The end does not
justify the means.