ETHICS ii.

Non-consequentialist
(deontological)
- From the Greek word “ethos” (custom)
 Judges moral rightness or
- Aristotle called his book Nicomachean
wrongness not on the basis
Ethics “ta ethika” (study of character)
of the consequences of the
- Cicero translated “ethos”/”ethicos” into
act but on moral imperatives
Latin “moralis”/”moralia” (comes from the
or duties
latin word “mos” singular form of mores)
 Divine command, categorical
- Ethics refers to a systematic inquiry on
imperative, and prima facie
how people ought to live; deals with the
duties
notion of morality, virtue, duty,
iii. Virtue ethics
responsibility
iv. Applied ethics
- Morality refers to the standards of
b.Non-normative Ethics
behavior by which human acts are judged
- - Concerned with the philosophical
good or bad, right or wrong
justification of different ethical theories
Various Descriptions and Distinctions i. Metaethics
 Seeks to answer the ultimate
a.General Ethics
questions on the nature of
- Fundamental principles and theories of
ethics particularly on
morality
philosophical justifications of
b.Special Ethics
moral principles
- Application of theories and principles to
 investigates the
various moral issues
philosophical foundations of
c.Theistic Ethics
ethical theories
- Existence of God as the ultimate source of
 ethics of ethics
morality
A. Naturalism
d.Atheistic Ethics
 ethics as an empirical
- Denies the existence of God and asserts
science
morality is independent of God
 Moral behavior or
Division of Ethics facts are facts of
nature and they can
a.Normative Ethics
therefore be studied
- Deals with the morality or standards for
using the methods of
what is right and wrong, good and evil
the natural sciences
i. Consequentialist (teleogical)
B. Non-naturalism
 Determines the moral
 ethical statements
rightness or wrongness of
can be judged as
act on the basis of the
either true or false
consequences of such act
C. Non-cognitivism
 Egoism, Utilitarianism, and
Situation ethics
  ethical statements do that is, it is universalizable
not have truth-values, and reversible.
that is, they are c. Overridingness
neither true nor false  signifies the moral
ii. Descriptive ethics principle’s primacy and
 seeks to answer the priority over other pinciples.
question on motivations Moral principles should be
behind a social group’s overriding
tendency to act in particular d. Publicity
ways or adoption of certain  denotes knowledge and
sets of moral values understanding of the moral
A. Absolutism principle by the people to
 recognizes the whom it applies.
existence of absolute e. Practicability
moral precepts.  allows for the every-day- life
 There are actions that practice of the moral
are inherently good or principle with relative ease in
evil, right or wrong which observance does
regardless of context entail great burden
or consequence.  A moral principle that is
B. Relativism extremely strict causes
 moral statements are despair and indifference;
relative to neither be too strict nor too
circumstances (time, permissive
society).
The Nature of Moral Principles
Moral Principles
- axioms, norms, or standards of what is
right or wrong, good or evil, moral or
immoral, ethical or unethical.
a. Prescriptivity
 refers to the principle’s
inherent injunctive or
imperative power to prompt
or proscribe action.
b. Universality
 pertains to the moral
principle’s applicability to all,
HUMAN ACTS  present in an act
which is intended in
“We have two kinds of morality side by
itself either as an end
side: one which we preach but do not
or as a means to an
practice and another which we practice
end
but seldom preach.” –Bertrand Russel
B. Indirect Voluntariness
What constitutes human acts?  situation or
consequence which is
a. Knowledge
indirectly willed
 sufficient & prior
C. Perfect voluntariness
understanding of the nature
 accompanies an act
& consequence of the act
that is done with
 right/wrong; good/bad;
knowledge and
beneficial or harmful
willfulness of the
 motives or intentions of the
consequence of the
act 
act
 “Ignoratia legis neminem
D. Imperfect Voluntariness
excusat”
 person does not fully
b. Freedom
know and intend the
 choices are available
act
 freedom of choice
E. Simple Voluntariness
 freedom to commit or omit
 present when a
the act
person willfully
 freedom from & freedom to
performs an act that
There is no free choice
he either likes or
without understanding.
dislikes.
There is no freedom without
i. Positive simple
knowledge.
voluntariness
c. Voluntariness
o entails the
 willful, deliberate, or
commission or
intentional commission or
performance of
omission of an act
an act such as
 freedom to commit or omit
cleaning the
the act
house,
There is no free choice
studying, or
without understanding.
taking a bath.
There is no freedom without
ii. Negative
knowledge
simple
voluntariness
Types of Voluntariness
A. Direct Voluntariness
 o requires the  imputability of an act to the
omission or doer of such act- the moral
nonperformanc agent- which involves the
e of an act like concept of guilt and
smoking, using innocence, praise and blame
prohibited c. Moral Accountability
drugs, or  follows from moral
spreading fake responsibility.
news.  When one is morally
F. Conditional Voluntariness responsible for an act,
 person performs an consequently, he/she is
act under accountable for it, that is,
circumstances he/she is under obligation to
beyond his/her control give account for his/her
action and is subject to
punishment or reward.
Human Act vs Acts of Man
- human act is knowing, free, voluntary
Modifiers of Human Act
- If any or all of these three constituents are
missing such act is called an act of man; 1. Ignorance
there is no moral responsibility arising
- is defect, absence, or lack of
from an act of man
knowledge. Ignorance is either vincible
(simply vincible, crass, affected) or
invincible.
Agency, Responsibility, and
Accountability a. Vincible ignorance
- refers to the absence of
a. Moral agency
knowledge which can be
 person’s performance an act
corrected by simple diligence.
knowingly, freely, and
Moral responsibility applies to a
voluntarily
human act modified by vincible
 Moral Agent - An actor who
ignorance.
acts knowingly, freely, and
b. Invincible ignorance
voluntarily
- absence of knowledge which
b. Moral Responsibility
no amount of diligence can
 follows necessarily from
dispel. This type of ignorance is
moral agency
caused either by the person’s
 no moral agency, no moral
ignorance of his own ignorance or
responsibility
his total inability to overcome.
Since invincible ignorance is
 unconquerable, it does not result excusable. However, acts done out of
in moral responsibility. grave fear releases a person from moral
responsibility
2. Concupiscence
4. Violence
- refers to the eleven human passions,
namely, love, hatred, joy, grief, desire, - employment of external force to coerce
aversion, hope, despair, courage, fear, a person to commit an act against his
anger. Passions are either antecedent or will.
consequent.
5. Habit
a. Antecedent passions
- . “lasting readiness and facility, born of
- arise naturally without frequently repeated acts.”
intentional stimulation of our
affects. (without moral
responsibility) Moral Quality of Human Acts
b. Consequent passions - - determined by a moral standard
a. a good or evil act
- deliberately nurtured and
b. right or wrong act
retained by the will. (with moral
c. beneficial or harmful act
responsibility
d. acceptable or unacceptable act
3. Fear e. moral or immoral act
f. ethical or unethical act
- one of the passions under
concupiscence, but is given special Determinants of morality
attention because it affects the will in
a. The act itself is good or evil, right
terms of committing and omitting an act.
or wrong, beneficial or harmful,
Fear is defined as the “shrinking back of
acceptable or unacceptable.
the mind from danger.” A person who is
b. The end refers to the agent’s
confronted with an evil that he cannot
motive or purpose for doing an
avoid experiences fear. A sailor, who is
act. Motive gives meaning to the
caught in the midst of a storm in the
act. But a good motive must be
middle of the ocean, yet continues to
paired with a good means
sail toward his destination, acts with
c. The circumstances of an act
fear. A sailor, who is caught by a storm
(who, what, where, with whom,
and decides to sail back, acts from fear.
why, how and when) may be
A young lady who was ordered to
mitigating, aggravating, justifying,
surrender her cellphone at gun point,
or exempting.
acts out of grave fear. Acts done with
and from fear are voluntary. Any evil that
arises from these acts is not totally
Conscience
- - Latin “conscientia” (trial of oneself)
States of Conscience
THE ENDS OD THE HUMAN ACT
Different persons have different states of
conscience. Every person, too, will have, End of the Act
at different times and circumstances, a
- - natural termination of an activity
particular state of conscience. The
- End of the Doer
following are the different states of
- - personal purpose intended by the person
conscience:
performing the act
A. True or correct conscience judges
- - the motive (reason why a person
good as good and evil as evil.
performs an act; force that sustains the
B. Erroneous or false conscience judges
act and brings it to completion)
what is good as evil and what is evil as
good. Kinds of End
C. Certain conscience is subjectively sure
and has no fear of being in error. It is
said that a certain conscience must be
followed.
-
D. Doubtful or dubious conscience is
hesitant and admits the possibility of
error. It is not morally permissible to
act under the state of a doubtful
conscience. Doubt should be dispelled
first by certitude.
E. Scrupulous conscience is a rigid and
overly meticulous conscience, one that
strictly demands solid proofs of
rectitude before it acts.
F.Lax conscience is an erroneous
conscience which looks at immoral
acts as permissible and something
grave as not serious