KEY CONCEPTS

IN ETHICS AND
THE SENSE OF
MORALITY
Morality and Freedom as its Foundation
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Explain why only human beings can be ethical;

• Relate freedom as foundation of moral acts in
relation to *ensuring public access to information
and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance
with national legislation and international
agreements.;
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Discuss main points on Philosophical Insights of

Freedom;
• Elaborate the three elements of moral acts.
MAN AS
PERSON
• Ethics is the study of
man as moral being.
• According to
Socrates, the starting
point of wisdom is
“to know oneself”.
FILIPINO BELIEFS

Filipinos believe that…

• Man is a creature of God.
• Man has an immortal soul.
• Man has an assigned destiny in life.
• Man must do good or else be punished by God.
• Man by nature is good but is morally weak.
FILIPINO BELIEFS

Regarding morality, Filipinos believe that…

• Morality is “batas ng Diyos”.
• A person should respect his/her humanity, “pagkatao”.
• A person should love and care for his/her family.
• A person should strive to live peacefully with others.
• A person should fear God and His punishment.
RATIONAL
ANIMAL
Man is an organism
composed of a material
body and a spiritual soul.
HUMAN NATURE
• Made up of man’s biological, psychological, and
rational powers.
- Biological Powers: nutrition, locomotion,
growth, and reproduction.
- Psychological Powers: senses and acts of
emotions
- Rational Powers: intellect and will
NATURAL
LAW
• All human powers or faculties
are operational tendencies
towards what is good to man
as rational animal.
• Human Nature is the natural
law because it directs man in
all his/her activities.
A MORAL BEING
• Three characteristics reveal man’s moral nature:
- Man by natural insight is able to distinguish
between good and evil, right and wrong, moral
and immoral.
- Man feels himself to obliged to do what is good
and to avoid what is evil.
- Man feels himself accountable for his actions so
that his good deeds merit reward.
TABULA
RAZA (RASA)
• a theory that suggests human
nature as a blank sheet or slate on
which culture writes its text so that
man is merely the product of
social interaction and his behavior
nothing more than “a reflex of
social conditioning”.
MAN AS PERSON

• Man v.s. Person

• Person – comes form the Greek word “prosophon”
which is the mask worn by stage actors.
• In Latin, “personare” – refers to the mask which is
constructed so as to project forcefully the voice of
the actor.
PERSON
(SELF OR EGO)
• “An individual, existing
separately and independently
from others, capable of
knowing and loving in an
intellectual way, and of deciding
for himself the purpose or end
of his actions” (Brennan, 1966).
PERSONALITY
AND CHARACTER
• Personality – the sum of
those physical attributes and
tendencies which define a
person’s distinct behavior
such as talents, abilities, and
habits. It is an aspect of the
body.
PERSONALITY
AND CHARACTER
• Character – refers the
person’s voice of values and
his intelligent exercise of his
freedom. It is an aspect of
the human soul.
MORAL CHARACTER

• Character is the will of the person directing him

towards a recognized ideal.
• It is a disciplined tendency to choose the right thing
in any given circumstance.
• It is adherence to what is true, beautiful, and good in
us.
REVIEW
• Human acts are those performed by a person who is
acting knowingly, freely, and willfully.
• An act which lacks any of the essential attributes is
either imperfect voluntary and involuntary.
• Actions are products of our thoughts and desires.
• What we are and what becomes of us as persons
depends on our choices and actuations.
KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS

Elicited acts are those performed by the

Will but are not bodily externalized.

Commanded acts are the mental and

bodily actions performed under the
command of the Will, either internal or
external actions.
EXAMPLE

• Lablab has the will-act of going

to the court to play basketball
(elicited act). To carry out, he
walks to the court with the ball
in hand and shoot
(commanded acts).
KINDS OF
ELICITED ACTS
• Wish – the tendency of
the Will towards an object,
without considering
whether it is attainable or
not.
KINDS OF
ELICITED ACTS
• Intention – the
tendency of the Will
towards an object
which is attainable,
without necessarily
committing oneself
to attain it.
KINDS OF
ELICITED ACTS
• Consent – the
acceptance of the Will
to carry out the
intention.
KINDS OF
ELICITED ACTS
• Election – the
selection of the
Will of those
means necessary
to carry out the
intention.
KINDS OF
ELICITED ACTS
• Use – the
command of
the Will to make
use of the
means elected
to carry out the
intention.
KINDS OF
ELICITED ACTS
• Fruition – the
enjoyment of
the Will due to
the attainment
of the intention.
KINDS OF
COMMANDED ACTS
• Internal
actions – those
performed
mentally
KINDS OF
COMMANDED ACTS
• External
actions – those
performed
bodily
Internal External
Acts Acts
MORALITY

• Practice of Ethics
• Refers to principles of right and wrong behavior or
rightness and wrongness of human actions ---- in
determining the morality of human actions, the
moral agent is guided by the broader rules or
principles of ethics
MORALITY

• “characterized as an end-governed rational

enterprise whose object is to equip people with a
body of norms that make for peaceful and
collectively satisfying coexistence by facilitating their
living together and interacting in a way that is
productive for the realization of the general benefit”
(McConnell, 1994)
MORALITY
the quality of human
acts by which they are
constituted as good,
bad, or indifferent
MORAL DISTINCTIONS

• moral – those actions which are in conformity with the

norm of morality
• immoral – those actions which are not in conformity
with the norm of morality
• amoral – those actions which stand neutral in relation
to the norm of morality
IMMORAL ACTS

• their nature is defective either

INTRINSICALLY
by excess or by lack of certain
EVIL attributes

• certain factors attached to

EXTRINSICALLY them by way of circumstances
EVIL render them opposed to the
norm of morality
VOLUNTARINESS

• Comes from the Latin word “voluntas”, referring to the Will.

• Essential to an act
VOLUNTARINESS

• Perfect – present in a person who fully knows and

fully intends an act.
• Imperfect – present in a person who acts without
fully realizing what he means to do, or without fully
intending the act.
VOLUNTARINESS

• Conditional – present in a person who is forced by

circumstances beyond his control to perform an act
which he would not do under normal conditions
• Simple – present in a person doing an act willfully,
regardless of whether he likes to do it or not.
TYPES OF VOLUNTARINESS

Direct Indirect
• accompanies an act • accompanies an act
which is primarily or situation which is
intended by the the mere result of
doer, either as an directly willed act.
end in itself or as a
means to achieve
something else
INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
(Paul Glenn)
• The doer is able to foresee the evil result or effect,
at least, in general way
• The doer is free to refrain from doing that which
would produce the foreseen evil
• The doer has moral obligation not to do that which
produces an evil effect
INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
(Alfredo Panizo)
• A person is held morally responsible for any evil
effect which flows from the action itself directly
and necessarily as a natural consequence, though
the evil effect is not directly willed or intended.
INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
(Alfredo Panizo)
• A human act from which two effects may result, one
good and one evil, is morally permissible under four
conditions. If any of these conditions is violated,
then the action is not justifiable and should not be
done
INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
(Alfredo Panizo)
• The action which produces double effects must be
good in itself, or at least morally indifferent.
• The good effect must not come from the evil effect.
To do evil in order to achieve something good is not
justified.
INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
(Alfredo Panizo)
• The motive of the doer must be towards the
attainment of the good. The evil effect is permitted
only as an incidental result.
• The good effect must outweigh the evil result in its
importance
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS
Degree of doubt
or reluctance Emotions
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

Modifiers – these are factors that influence man’s

inner disposition towards certain actions

“the greater the knowledge and the freedom, the

greater the voluntariness and the moral responsibility
(Panizo, p. 38)”
MODIFIERS OF
HUMAN ACTS
1. Ignorance
2. Passions
3. Fear
4. Violence
5. Habit
IGNORANCE

• “Ignorance of the law excuses

no one”
• Ignorance – the absence of
knowledge which a person
ought to possess
IGNORANCE

• Either vincible or invincible

• Vincible ignorance – can be easily reminded
through ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts
• Affected Ignorance – the type which a person
keeps by positive efforts in order to escape
responsibility or blame
IGNORANCE

• Invincible Ignorance – the type which a person

possesses without being aware of it, or having
awareness of it, lacks the means to rectify it or
sometimes, too, a person acts without realizing
certain facts.
PRINCIPLES
Invincible ignorance
renders an act
involuntary
PRINCIPLES
• Vincible ignorance
does not destroy, but
lessens the
voluntariness and the
corresponding
accountability over the
act
PRINCIPLES
• Affected ignorance,
though it decreases
voluntariness,
increases the
accountability over the
resultant act
PASSIONS
• Or concupiscence, are either
tendencies towards desirable
objects, or tendencies away
from undesirable or harmful
things
• Psychic responses (neither
moral or immoral)
PASSIONS
• Antecedent Passion – those
that precede an act and
predispose a person to act
• Consequent Passion – those
that are intentionally aroused
and kept.
PRINCIPLES

• Antecedent passions
do not always destroy
voluntariness, but
they diminish
accountability for the
resultant act.
PRINCIPLES
• Consequent passions
do not lessen
voluntariness but
may even increase
accountability.
 the disturbance of the mind of a
person who is confronted by an
FEAR impending danger or harm to
himself or loved ones
FEAR

• Act done with fear – certain actions which by nature

are dangerous or risky are done with varying degree
of fear
• Act done out or because of fear – fear becomes
positive force compelling a person to act without
careful deliberation
PRINCIPLES
Acts done with fear are voluntary.
PRINCIPLES
Acts done out of fear,
however great, is
simply voluntary,
although it is also
conditional voluntary.
 Acts done because of intense
PRINCIPLES fear or panic are involuntary.
VIOLENCE

• refers to any physical

force exerted on a
person by another free
agent for the purpose
of compelling the said
person to act against his
will
PRINCIPLES

• External actions, or commanded actions, performed

by a person subjected to violence, to which
reasonable resistance has been offered, are
involuntary and are not accountable
PRINCIPLES

• Elicited acts, or those done by the will alone, are not

subject to violence and are therefore voluntary.
HABIT

“Lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently

repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner”. It is an
acquired inclinations towards something to be done.
They assume the role of a second nature, moving one
who has them to perform certain acts with relative ease.
HABIT-FORMING

• refers to a certain experiences that shows how

easy it is for one to acquire a habit.
• It also implies that a habit is not that easy to
overcome or alter. It requires a strong-willed person
to correct a habit successfully within a limited period
of time.
PRINCIPLES

• Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in

cause, unless a reasonable effort is made to
counteract the habitual inclination.
ACTIVITY

SITUATION ANALYSIS: Identify the modifiers of the

human act that is being displayed by each situation.
Then, write the corresponding principles that show
the level of accountability of the agent to his/her
action (20 pts).
ACTIVITY

• Dr. Lablab is seriously ill and knows that he should

take some medicine or apply different methods of
treatment. He does all he can to learn what he
should do but with no success.
• A wife, who, out of love for her husband, becomes
so jealous that in a moment of savage rage, kills him
and the concubine.
ACTIVITY

• A waiter in a restaurant did not issue a receipt to a

customer. He did this because he was told not to do
it in exchange for his job security.
• A student was robbed by a thief. She was not able
to resist because the thief pointed a gun towards
her. Instead, she gave her belongings like phones,
jewelry, etc. to spare her life.
ACTIONS AND EMOTIONS

• Man does not act the way a robot does. We always

act with our feelings and emotions. In doing our
actions, we evoke certain sentiments, but our
decisions or intentions to perform is swayed by our
emotions.
REFINEMENT OF EMOTIONS

• Ethics deals with emotions as factors affecting

human motivation and behavior that needs to be
refined rather than repressed them.
• Man is expected to act not only with his mind and
body, but precisely with his heart and soul.
KAGANDAHAN NG LOOB

• Refers to attitude.
• It stands for all that is good, we call kabaitan, in a
human being
• It is the multiplicity of sterling qualities. Both
natural and acquired, which, because they proceed
from the heart and mind, also greatly influence one’s
behavior towards himself and others.
KAGANDAHAN NG LOOB

• Inlcudes such moral value as mapagmahal,

maunawain, may-pakikiramdam, may-pakikiramay,
matulungin, masayahin, and hindi mapagkunwari.
FEELINGS AND MORAL
DECISIONG-MAKING
• Our feelings play a large role in our decision-
making every day. Most of our decisions from
picking the rights clothes to wear to voicing out our
opinions in every important social and political
issues are based on how we feel at a given
situation and at a given time.
THE
IMPORTANCE OF
FEELINGS
Why do we have feelings?
• “Human beings are the most self-conscious
animals” which allow them to develop “basic
emotional responses” and create more complex
rational systems to help them survive. This is what
differs humans from animals (Simons, I., 2009).
THE
IMPORTANCE OF
FEELINGS
Why do we have feelings?
• According to the Jordi Valverdu,
the role of our emotions is for
survival and innate social
responsibilities.
EXAMPLE

How did our ancestors use feelings for survival?

Back in the days when our ancestors lived in the
wilderness without the protective gears that we are
enjoying right now, their primary tool for survival is their
bodies’ “fight or flight” mode.
EXAMPLE

How did our ancestors use feelings for survival?

In this mode, their bodies prepare tense, their
muscles tighten, their lips dry, and their mind
became alert. This response triggered by “fear” which
people feel when they sense a potential threat or
danger.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
FEELINGS
How about our other emotions?
• Charles Darwin was one of the first people to study
human feelings or emotional responses. According
to him, aside from survival, we also use our feelings
to communicate with each other.
DARWIN’S 3 PRINCIPLES

PRINCIPLE OF SERVICEABLE HABITS

PRINCIPLE OF ANTI-THESIS

PRINCIPLE OF DIRECT ACTION OF THE

EXCITED NERVOUS SYSTEM
PRINCIPLE OF SERVICEABLE
HABITS
• Emotional responses are useful expressive habits
based on experience. They are functional.
PRINCIPLE OF ANTI-THESIS

• The purpose of these emotional responses is for

communication clarity. It is the opposite of
serviceable habits.
PRINCIPLE OF
DIRECT
ACTION OF
THE EXCITED
NERVOUS
SYSTEM
The nervous system
needs to discharge
excess energy.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
FEELINGS
Can we rely solely on our emotions when making
decisions?
• The answer is NO. By now, we have already
understood the positive impact of feelings and
emotional responses for our survival. Actually, even
today, having some emotions is good as they give us
motivations and curiosity.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
FEELINGS
Can we rely solely on our emotions when making
decisions?
• However, excess of these feelings can cloud our
mind from being able to decide properly, especially
if under extreme happiness, sadness, or fear.
EXAMPLES
• Anger and irritability makes us feel discontented.
These feelings also hinder us from listening to
other’s opinions and sentiments. Anger can also
lead to rash decisions.
• Extreme confidence can make us lazy in analyzing
our options.
• Extreme sadness can stop us from living our lives to
the fullest and appreciating what we have in life.
EXAMPLES

• Excessive optimism can make us less cautious with

the risks involved in our rush decisions.
• Phobias or irrational fears causes people to
experience extreme fear about situation, living
creature, place, or object even without reason.
HOW CAN WE RESOLVE THE
PROBLEM WITH FEELINGS?
• Through reason and impartiality
• In order to come up with a good decision, we should
not rely on our feelings but instead use logic in
analyzing our problems, options, and decisions.
We should weigh our options carefully, be impartial
and objective, and try to have a cool head when
deciding over things.
WHAT IS THE MINIMUM
REQUIREMENT OF
MORALITY?
MORAL REASONING

• Reason is the capacity to see the

interconnectedness of things and the logic behind
the processes involved. With reason, one looks for
the causes and effects of actions and provides
supports for hypothesis.
IMPARTIALITY

• Impartiality is the principle of detaching oneself

from any form of bias and prejudice in order to
come up with an objective criteria that is free from
unfair and unequal treatment of one type of person
to another.
SO, SHOULD WE
COMPLETELY REFRAIN FROM
LISTENING TO OUR
FEELINGS?
LISTEN TO OUR FEELINGS?
We learn how to balance our feelings and rational
mind. Our feelings let us get in touch with our
humanity. It helps us in empathizing with other
people and thinking about how a certain action
would most probably affect them. On the other hand,
reason and impartiality make us see things clearer as
it pushes us to be objective and detach ourselves
from our selfish desires.