ETHICS

MS. JESSA FAITH S. MIRABUENO

Subject Teacher

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MODULE 1
MEANING OF ETHICS

Ethics is derived from the word ethos which is means ―characteristic way of
acting‖ . Its Latin equivalent is mos, mores, meaning ―tradition or custom‖. Ethos
includes cultural mannerism, religion, politics, laws, and social aspirations of a
group of people. Ethos refers to those characteristics’ belongings to a man as a
rational being, endowed with intellect and free-will.

The Ethos of man as man is revealed in the following;

1. He is able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, moral
and immoral;
2. He feels within himself an obligation to what is good and to avoid what is
evil;
3. He feels himself accountable for his actions, expecting reward or
punishment for them.

In other words, man is endowed by nature with a moral sense. He is conscious of

his dignity and submits to the duty of doing what is good and avoiding what is
wrong.
Ethics is also defined as the science of the morality of human acts. And because
actions reflect the motives of the doer, therefore ethics is said to be the study of
human motivation, and ultimately, of human rational behavior. Therefore, Ethics
is Morality.

Importance of Ethics because:

Primarily it is the individual, the consumer, the employee or the human social
unit of society who benefits from ethics.
1. It satisfies basic human needs: being fair, honest, and ethical is one
of the basic human needs. Every employee desire to be such himself and
to work for an organization that is fair and ethical in its practices.
2. It creates credibility: An organization that is believed to be driven by
moral values is respected in the society even by those who may have no
information about the working and the business or an organization.
3. It unites people and leaders: An organization driven by values is
revered by its employees also.
4. It improves decision- making: A man’s destiny is the sum total of all
the decisions that he takes in the course of his life.

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5. It brings long term gains: Organizations guided by ethics and values

are profitable in the long run, though in the short run they may seem to
lose money.
6. It secures the society: Often ethics succeeds because there is a law is
safeguarding the society.
Ethics is an indispensable. Without moral perception, man is only an animal.
Without morality, man as rational being is a failure. Because moral knowledge is
too essential to be dismissed, the Creator has seen it fit to gift man with natural
insight of it. Moral integrity is the only true measure of what man ought to be.
The most powerful king, or the most successful professional is nothing unless he
too is morally upright.

Human Acts – are those actions performed by man, knowingly and freely. They
are also called deliberate or intentional actions, or, voluntary actions.

Morality – is the quality of human acts by which they are constituted as good,
bad, or indifferent. That which is good is describe as moral; that which is bad is
immoral, and that which is indifferent is amoral.

Ethics as Value Education

In contemporary curriculum, Ethics takes the form value education. A value
is something a person prizes, cherishes, and esteems as important to him. It
includes ideas, things, or experiences. The aim of value education is to guide the
individual in choosing wisely his values and in acting upon them
Ethics is the rational foundation of any attempt at value education.
Ethics goes deeper into the reasons why we must choose certain values. Ethics
explain human values in relation to the ultimate purpose of human existence.

The Art of Correct Living

Art, in general, is the appreciation of beauty. It implies order and harmony of
parts in given whole.
Human life does not imply merely physical survival. It is a vocation towards
the refinement of the spirit. The demands of daily life include and derive meaning
from the cultivation of those traits that truly reflect man’s innate dignity. In this
context. Ethics is an art. It is the breadth of life, pulsating with the desire for
growth and development. It is a master plan indicating where man must go and
what he ought to do in order to live well. In a sense, every man is an artist,
creating something of beauty out of his self.

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Ethics and Religion

Ethics is a science and depends upon rational investigation of its truths. Religion
is a system of beliefs and practices based on faith or revelation. Ethics teaches
the value of religion, on the other hand, as an organized church, contributes to
the teaching of ethics as continues to enrich with its moral insights. Thus religion
provides both the direction and motivation for the moral life of people.

Ethics and Law

Ethics studies human motivation. It goes deeper the study of external actions;
it explores thought and feelings It requires that man desires that which is good
and act in accordance with that desire. On the contrary, law requires that we
perform the required action regardless of our feeling towards such action. The
law is concerned with the externality of the act. For law is definitely concerned.

Professional Ethics
The practice of a profession cannot be regulated entirely by legislation. Each
profession therefore subscribes to a set of moral code. This Code of Ethics
guides the actuation of a professional where the law is silent or inadequate.
A Code of Ethics implies that, before anything else, a professional is a
person who has the obligation to listen to the ―dictates of reason‖ example for
this- do realize that ―honest business translates to good business‖.

Employee Ethics
Ethics behavior among workers in an organization ensures that employees
complete work with honesty and integrity. Employees who use ethics to guide
their behavior adhere to employee policies and rules while striving to meet the
goals of their organization. Ethical employees also meet standard for quality in
their work, which can enhance the company’s reputation for quality products and
services.

Ethical Organization Culture

Leaders and employees adhering to a code of ethics create an ethical
organizational culture. The leaders of bushiness organizations may create an
ethical culture by exhibiting the type of behavior they would like to see in their
employees. The organization can reinforce ethical behavior by rewarding
employees who exhibit the values and integrity that coincide that coincide s with
the company’s code of ethics and discipline those who make the wrong choices.

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Why Should Students Study Ethics?

Accdg. To Christopher Panza and Adam Potthast there are 6 reasons why
students should study ethics.
1. Ethics allow you to live an authentic and meaningful life.
An authentic and meaningful life requires you to live with sense of
integrity.
Integrity refers to a commitment by sticking to rules of law through thick
and thin--- no matter how difficult the laws are. Having a firm character or
set of principles to guide your life and the choices you make are what
ethics is all about.
2. Ethics makes you more successful. You may think that ethics can hold you
back in all kinds of ways, but the truth is- it is the opposite. Ethical people
embody traits that unethical people have to work at to fake. Ethical people
are honest, trustworthy, loyal, and caring. As a result, ethical people are
perfectly suited not only for interpersonal relationship, but also more i=on
the kinds of interactions that make for thriving business. Unethical people
generally don’t do there well on these things.
3. Ethics allow you to cultivate inner place.
Lives that are lived ethically tend to be calmer, more focused, and
more productive than those that are lived unethically. Most people can’t
turn off their sympathy for other human beings. Hurting people leaves
scars on both the giver and the receiver.
4. Ethics provides for a stable society.
When people lived on ethical lives, they tell the truth, avoid harming
others, and are very generous. Working with such people is easy. On the
other hand, callous and insensitive people are distrusted, so it’s difficult for
them to be integrated well into social arrangements, a stable society
requires a lot of ethical people working together in highly coordinated
ways.
If society were mostly composed of unethical people, it would quickly
crumble and disintegrate.
5. Ethics may help out in the afterlife.
Some religious traditions believe that ethics is the key to
something even greater that personal success and social stability: eternal
life. No one can be sure about an eternal life, but people of faith from
many different religious believe that good behavior in this planet life leads
to rewards in the next life.

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Exercise no. 1

Answer the following briefly:

1. Why is man a moral animal?
2. Philosopher refer to ethics as: the only necessary knowledge‖ Explain why?
3. What do you expect to learn from ethics?
4. Is Ethics the same as Religion? Why?
5. Differentiate between ethical norms and law

Reaction Paper no. 1: Write in a bond paper

―Ethics has a Prominent Importance in My Life‖

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MODULE 2
RULES

Meaning and Importance:

Rules are defined in several ways:

1. Rules are instruction that tell you what you are allowed to do and what you
are not allowed to do.
Example: a. Raise your hand when you want to ask questions.
b. You are not allowed to go to the canteen while classes are
going on.
2. A Rule is s statement telling people what they should do in order to
achieve
success or a benefit of some kind.
Example: a. Eat nutritious food to maintain a healthy life.
b. Study your lesson well in order to get high grades in this
Ethics class
3. Rules are statement that describe the way things usually happen in a
particular situation.
Example: a. In English, adjectives generally precede the noun they modify.
b. In science, all objects thrown up, go down
4. Rule tells you the normal state of affairs.
Example: a. School are established for the education of the individual,
b. Policemen have the duties to maintain peace and order.
5. Rules influence or restrict actions in a way that is not good for a person.
Example: a. It has been found that fear can ruin our live and make us ill.
b. Unauthorized person are not allowed to enter this room.
6. Rules tell us something that is true or should happen and then the
authority has officially decided that it is true.
Example: a. The court has decided that the respondent is liable for civil
damages.
b. The judge has finally decided that the protest is in favor of
the complainant.
7. Rules are principles or regulations governing conduct, action, procedure,
arrangement, etc.
Example: a. Fall in line when entering the classroom
b. Knock before you enter

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Important of Rules
a. Prudent laws are the foundations of a nation because they define the
parameters of civil society. If law become elastic, the boundaries become
dysfunctional.
b. Laws organize our lives. We are able to deal and live together because of
rules and laws.
c. Rules get as get along together and show respect to each other. If there
are no rules to follow, everyone is free to do whatever he wants.
d. Most things we do are governed by rules. Imagine if a student ignores the
rule against talking a class, the teacher will not be able to achieve her goal
and other students cannot concentrate. Drivers who disobey traffic rules
can cause serious accident.
e. Rules organize the relations between individuals and between societies to
make it clear to them what is right or wrong. They are designed to ensure
fairness, safety and respect for each other’s rights.
f. Rules make the world a peaceful place to live.
g. Rules are needed to our community because they serve as balances
between laws and rights. If there are more laws than rights, there is more
chance that people will revolt because of the lack of their rights. On the
other hand, If there are more rights than laws, the people will go out of
control and become abusive. Thus, laws are needed for regulation between
laws and rights.

Difference between Moral and Non-Moral Standard

Moral Standard – are those moral actions which are within the moral sphere
and are thus objects of moral judgments. The word moral means moral quality
(rightness or wrongness, or badness) what is right is morally good.
Non-moral actions or standard are those actions devoid of moral quality
and thus excluded from the scope of moral judgment.

The word moral means that moral quality (rightness or wrongness, goodness or
badness) is present, that is what is either right or wrong. In a narrower sense,
moral means what is right or morally good and this is opposed to immoral, that
is- wrong is morally bad.

An instinctive action in one in which an individual feels himself impelled without

knowing the end to be accomplished yet with the ability to select the methods for
the attainment of an object.

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Instinctive tendencies are found most explicit in lower animals and are expressed
in the activities displayed by them in seeking food.
Examples:‖
 Actions of animals and insect
 Grazing of a cow
 Mourning of a dog or cat
 Action of young children and insane and idiots
 Actions done under compulsion
 Actions under the spell of hypnotic forces
These actions are not morally wrong, they are not moral actions, they are
incapable of discriminating between right or wrong.

It is important to note that different societies have different moral beliefs and our
beliefs are deeply influenced by our own culture and context. Some values do
have moral complications, while others don’t. like for example: in traditional
Muslims communities, the wearing of hijab is the most appropriate act that
women have to do in terms of dressing up. In fact for some Muslims, showing
part of the woman’s body, such as legs and face, is despicable, however in many
parts of the world, especially in Western societies most people don’t mind if
women barely cover their bodies, as a matter of fact, the Hollywood canon of
beauty glorifies a sexy and slim body and the wearing of extremely daring dress.

Moral Dilemma

Moral refers to our standards for judging right and wrong. A Moral Dilemma is a
situation where:
1. You are presented with two or more action, all of which you have the
ability to perform.
2. There are moral reasons for you to choose each of the actions.
3. You cannot perform all of the actions and have to choose which action, or
action when there are three or more choices to perform
Since there are moral reasons for you to choose each action, and you cannot
choose them all. It follows that no matter what choice you make will be failing to
follow your moral. In other words, someone or something will suffer no matter
what choice you make.

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For Example: Gia will suffer if you tell the truth, and you will lose your friendship.
But if you don’t tell the truth, you will be a liar and possibly a lawbreaker, and
Kayla will get arrested for a crime she did not commit.

Example of Moral Dilemma:

Imagine yourself—

You are walking to a department store with your friend Maricar. Maricar tells you
that Beth, a student in your school, stole money from the canteen and blame
Maricar for it. As a result, Maricar was suspended by the school head for one
week and had to pay the money back.

As you and Maricar keep walking into the department store, you see Beth.
Maricar pushes Beth and drop a pair of gold earrings into Beth’s bag. The alarm
sounds once Beth tries to walkout of the department store. Beth is pulled aside by
the security guard for shoplifting and they call the police. Beth tells them that she
is innocent and that Maricar drooped the earring in her bag. Maricar calls Beth a
lair and asks you to back her up.
If you tell the truth, Maricar will get in trouble again, and will face consequences
from the law and her parents. Beth will be unpunished for originally staling money
from the canteen.
If you don’t tell the truth, Beth will be finally punished from stealing and Maricar
will have her revenge. However, you may be committing a crime by lying to the
policeman, and Beth’s punishment will be more severe than it would have been
for stealing money in the canteen.

The policeman arrives and ask for you version of the story.
What do you say? (This a moral dilemma)

Three Levels of Moral Dilemma;

1. Individual
2. Organizational
3. Systemic

1. Individual dilemma is experienced by individuals who have a hard time

to choose the right action from two or more actions. No matter what

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choice, the individual has someone or something will suffer no matter

choice the individual makes.

Example: A Father’s Agonizing Choice

You are an inmate of Muntinglupa Bilibid Prison. A jail guard is

about to hang your son (also a prisoner) who tried to escape and wants
you to pull the chair underneath him. He says that If you don’t, he will not
only kill your son but some other innocent inmates as well. You don’t have
any doubt that he means what he says. What should you do?

2. In an organizational moral dilemma, administrative decisions are

characterized as having routines, and challenges. In business,
organizations, there are always dilemmas encountered by the administrator
and the employees. It is really very hard to pin down the necessary moral
to benefit the company. Guiding institutionalization and nurturing conflict
are both viewed as useful in moral leadership within organizations.

Example: Company Policy

You have a job as a network administrator in a big mall in your

place. The mall also employs your best friend’s husband. One day, your
best friend’s husband sends you a text message asking you to release an
email from quarantine. This require you to open the email, at which point
you discover that it is correspondence between this guy and his secret
lover. After releasing the email, you find yourself in a pickle. Your instinct
is to tell your best friend about husband’s infidelities but divulging the
contents of company emails is against company policy and you could lose
your job. Once it becomes plain that your best friend found out about his
cheating husband through a company email, all trails will inevitably lead to
you as the leak. Do you tell him about the indiscretion?

Systemic Types of Dilemmas - occurs in the ordinary conditions of life. Why

do dilemmas occur in ordinary everyday life? Some, however, may not seem to be
dilemmas at all but an ordinary ethical problem. Also, while it is common in a
modern ethics to address dilemma merely to propose theories to resolve, it must
be remembered that systemic dilemmas may betray a structure to ethics that
means they cannot be resolved.
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Exercise no. 2

A. Give a listing of rules in the following:

a. Rules in your house
b. Rules in the school (where you are enrolled)
c. What rules do you find constricting in your school?
In your house?
B. Give your opinion: it’s on ethical dilemma

1. A pregnant woman leading a group of people out of a cave on a

coast is stuck in the mouth of that cave. In a short time high tide
will be upon them, and unless she is unstuck, they will all be
drowned except the woman, whose head is out of the cave.
Fortunately, (or unfortunately,) someone has with him a stick of
dynamite. There seems no way to get the pregnant woman loose
without using the dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if
they do not use it everyone will drown. What should they do?

C. Reaction no. 2
On a printed bond paper, identify/ write two moral dilemmas, one copied
from the source (identify the source), and the other is your own. Answer
your moral dilemma, submit on the date required. This is second Reaction
paper.

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MODULE 3

THE HUMAN ACTS

Man, no doubt is creative because he possesses tremendous bodily and spiritual

powers. Every minute of his life, he acts, transforming himself and the world
around him. Action constitutes a person, an individual in control of himself and
accountable to himself. What a person is and what becomes of him depend
largely on the type of action he performs during his life-time.

Human Acts
Distinction is made between human acts and acts of human. The human
acts are those actions which man performs knowingly, freely and voluntarily.
These actions are the result of conscious knowledge and sure subject to the
control of the will, we refer to these actions as deliberate, intentional, or
voluntary.

The acts of human are those actions which happen in man. They are
instinctive and are not within the control of then will. Such actions are the
biological and physiological movements in man such as metabolism, respiration,
fear, anger, love and jealousy.

ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES

For an act to be considered a human act, it must possess the following

characteristics:

1. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is aware of what he is

doing and its consequences. Children below the age of reason, the insane,
the senile---are considered incapable of acting knowingly.
2. It must be performed by an agent who is acting freely, that is, by his own
volition and powers. An action under duress and against one’s will is not
entirely a free action.
3. It must be performed by an agent who decides willfully to perform the act.
This willfulness is the resolve to perform an act here and now, or in some
future time.

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HUMAN act must, therefore, be knowing, free, and willful. The lack of any of
these attributes renders an act defective and less voluntary.

KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS

Human Acts are either elicited acts or commanded acts. Elicited acts are
those performed by the will and are not bodily externalized.
Under elicited acts are following:

1. Wish - is the tendency of will towards something. Whether this be realize

or not. Like for example: winning the sweepstakes
2. Intention - is the tendency of the will towards something attainable but
without necessarily commuting oneself to attain it. Such is : our intention
to attend the party, to study the lesson.
3. Consent - is the acceptance of the will of those to carry out the intention.,
Like: a woman is said to show consent when she consciously attracts
attention to herself.
4. Election – is the selection of the will of those means effective enough to
carry out the intention. Like: A sales man show election when he opts to
visit a client instead of just writing him a letter.
5. Use – is the command of the will to make use of those means elected to
carry out the intention. It is this act of the will which moves the salesmen
to dress up and take a ride to see his client.
6. Fruition – is the enjoyment of the will derived from the attainment of the
thing he had desired earlier. Like: the satisfaction of the salesman in
closing the deal with his client - is fruition.

Commanded act is those done either by man’s mental bodily power under
the command of the evil.
Commanded act is either internal or external actions.

Examples of internal actions are conscious reasoning, recalling, something,

encouraging oneself, controlling aroused emotions and others.

Examples of external actions are walking, eating, dancing, laughing, listening,

reading and others.

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MORAL DISTINCTIONS

Human acts may either be in conformity or not with the dictates of reasons.
“Dictates of reason” refers to the shared consciousness of prudent people
about the propriety of a certain action or manner of behavior. It shows what is
permissible in a given situation, the best option as a manner of fact.

“Dictates of reason” stands for the norm of morality which is the standard by
which actions are judge as to their merits or demerits.

Based on relation of norm of morality. Action are classified into;

1. Moral actions – are those actions which are conformity with the norm of
morality. They are good actions and are permissible. Like: working,
studying, paying debts, telling the truth, loving a friend are moral actions.

2. Immoral actions – are those actions which are not in conformity with the
norm of morality, they are bad or evil and are not permissible. like:
refusing to help the needy, committing murder, adultery, stealing, telling
lies, - are immoral actions.

3. Amoral actions – are those actions which stand neutral in relation to the
norm of morality. They either bad nor bad in themselves. LIKE: playing
basketball is an amoral act but playing basketball when one’s is supposed
to be attending a class is wrong.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Evil

The relation of actions to the norm of morality s either intrinsic or extrinsic.
Something is intrinsic to a thing when it is integral to the nature of that thing. The
sweetness of a mango fruit is, for example, intrinsic to it. But the appeal of a
mango to a particular person is extrinsic to it. That is such quality is not integral
element of it as fruit.

Some actions are intrinsically evil because their nature is defective either by
excess or lack of certain attributes, such, for example is the nature of stealing
which, by nature, manifest lack of respect for the property of another.

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Some other actions are extrinsically evil because certain factors attached to them
by way of circumstances render them opposed to the norm of morality. Drinking
liquor is extrinsically evil when done in excess. Actions that are intrinsically evil
are prohibited at all times and under any circumstances. Actions that are
extrinsically evil may be tolerated provided the circumstance rendering it to be
wrong is first removed. Suicide is intrinsically evil and remains immoral whatever
is its justification. Therapeutic abortion is extrinsically evil when it is resorted to a
necessary means to safeguard the life of the mother.

Imputability of Human Acts

A human act is done by a person who is in control of his faculties; intellect and
will, In this sense, a person is like a captain of a ship who assumes full
responsibility and accountability for his decisions.

Imputability of human acts means that the person performing the act is liable
for such act. It involves the notion of guilt or innocence, that actions are either
praiseworthy or blameworthy. Actions are attributed to the doer as their principal
cause.

VOLUNTARINESS (will)
- Means essential to an act, without it, an act is a mere act of man.

a. Perfect voluntariness – is present in a person who fully knows and fully

intends the acts. Like: A man who, wanting to get even, takes a gun and
shoots his enemy is said to be acting with perfect voluntariness.
b. Imperfect voluntariness – is present in a person who acts without fully
realizing what he means to do, or without fully intending the act. Like: A
drunken man might act irrationally without fully realizing what he is doing.
Or a woman, in terror, might jump out of a window without realizing
intending to kill herself.
c. Conditional = is present in a person who is forced by circumstances
beyond his control perform an act which he would not do under normal
conditions. Like: A child who is intimidated by his mother to study the
lesson is acting with conditional voluntariness.
d. Simple voluntariness – is present in a person doing an act willfully,
regardless of whether he like to do it or not. It is either positive or
negative, it is positive if when the act requires the performance of an
activity, such as polishing the floor, paying rent, or playing tennis, it is
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negative when an act requires the omission of activity like, not taking
prohibited drugs, remaining quiet, or not listening to the radio.
Types of Voluntariness
a. Direct voluntariness- accompanies an act which is primarily intended by
the doer, either as a means in itself or as a means to achieve something
else. Like: Eating lunch is carried on with direct voluntariness. The same
directress accompanies many of our daily activities such as going to school,
inviting a friend to a movie, reading a book, or writing a note.
b. Indirect voluntariness – accompanies by an act or situation which is the
mere result of a directly willed act. Like: getting a failing mark is indirectly
voluntary on the part of the student who has willingly neglected to study.

Indirectly Voluntary
A person is accountable for his actions and their consequences, but is he also
accountable for result not directly intended?
Generally speaking, a person is liable for the results which are foreseeable by an
ordinary act of prudence. The prankster who shouts ―fire‖ inside the crowded
place has certainly some inkling that his joke might cause fear, stampede, and
injury to people.

According to Paul Glenn considers a person accountable for indirectly voluntary

results of his acts when:
a. The doer is able to foresee the evil result or effect, at least, in a general
way;
b. The doer is free to refrain from doing that which would produce the
foreseen evil;
c. The doer has moral obligation not to do that which produces an evil effect.

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Exercise III
Module 3

Answer Briefly:
a. What are the attributes of Human Act? Explain each.
b. Distinguished between an elicited act and a commanded act.
c. Give an example of an amoral act which becomes evil due to
circumstances.
d. Give an example of an amoral act which becomes good due to
circumstances.

Reaction no. 3

―In what sense are Human Acts deliberate?‖

―Important of Morality in the Government‖

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MODULE 4

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

The ideal is for man to act deliberately, that is, with perfect voluntariness.
Factors that influence man’s inner disposition certain actions are called
―modifiers‖ of human acts.

Principle: The greater the knowledge and the freedom, the greater the
voluntariness and the moral responsibility

THE MODIFIERS:
Man does not act in vacuum. He is organism responding and reacting to
stimulus. His total make-up is th4e sum of all experiences, his personal
background, education, social upbringing, political persuasion, religion, and
personal aims.

Modifiers of Human Acts

1. Ignorance
We are familiar with the saying: Ignorance of the law excuses no one:
What does this means? This implies hat one should not act in the state of
ignorance

Ignorance – is the absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess.

The law is expected to know his law, the doctor, his medicine, the manager his
business operations. In the realm of morals everyone of age and reason is
expected to know at least the general norms of good behavior.

Ignorance is either vincible or invincible.

Vincible ignorance can easily be reminded through ordinary diligence and
reasonable efforts. Like: the ignorance of a visitor regarding a particular address
in a certain place is vincible, since he can easily ask for information from a
policeman or pedestrian.
Invincible ignorance – is the type which a person possesses without being
aware of it, or having awareness of to it, lacks the means to rectify it. Like;
ignorance regarding missing persons or objects often invincible, sometimes, too,
a person
acts without realizing certain facts. Thus, a cook might be unaware that the food
he is serving is contaminated.
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Under the category of vincible ignorance is the affected ignorance, this is then
type which a person keeps by positive efforts in order to escape responsibility or
blame. It is affected ignorance when an employee refuses to read a memo
precisely so that he may be exempted from its requirement.

Principles:
1. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary:
A person cannot hold morally liable if he is not aware his state of
ignorance. Ex. A waiter who is not aware that the food he is serving has been
poisoned cannot be held for murder.
2. Vincible ignorance does not destroy, but lessens the voluntariness
and the corresponding accountability.
Ex. A person who becomes aware of the state of ignorance he is in has the moral
obligation to rectify it by exercising reasonable diligence in seeking then needed
information. To act with vincible ignorance is to act imprudently. Ex. A person
who suspects that the food he is serving has been laced with poison has the
moral obligation to ascertain the fact, or at least, forewarn the guest about his
suspicion.
3. Affected ignorance, through it decreases voluntariness, increases
the accountability over the resultant act.
In so far as affected ignorance interferes with the intellect, it decreases
voluntariness. But insofar as it is willed to persist, it increases accountability.
Certainly, refusing to rectify ignorance implies malice. And the malice is greater
when ignorance is used as an excuse for not doing the right thing. Thus, the
child who refuses to be guided by his parents has only himself to blame for his
wrongdoing.

PASSIONS
Passions, or concupiscence, are either tendency towards desirable
Objects or, tendencies away from undesirable or harmful things., the former are
called positive emotions; the latter, negative emotions. The positive are include
love, desire, delight, hope, and bravery. The negative emotions include horror,
sadness, despair, hatred, fear and anger.

Passions are either antecedents or consequent. Antecedent are those that

precede an act. It may happen that a person is emotionally aroused to perform
an act. Like: antecedent passions predispose a person to act. Thus, love may

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induce one to make numerous phone calls to his sweetheart, or, to plot a murder
of a rival.

Principles:
Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they
diminish accountability for the resultant act. Antecedent passions weaken the
willpower of a person without, however, completely obstructing his freedom, thus
the so called ―crimes of passion‖ are voluntary, but insofar as passions interfere
with the freedom of the will, one’s accountability is diminish.

Consequent passions are those that are intentionally aroused and kept.
Consequent passions, therefore, are said to be voluntary in cause, Like: a young
man may deliberately aroused himself sexually by reading pornographic
magazines. , the young man who commits lasciviousness after arousing himself
sexually and the fellow who commits vengeance due to his cultivated resentment
===are both morally accountable.

Principle:
Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may even increase
accountability. This is because consequent passions are the direct results of the
will which fully consents to them instead of subordinating them to its control.

FEAR
Is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending
danger or harm to himself or love ones? Distinction is made however between an
act done with fear and an act done out or because of fear.

Certain action which by nature are dangerous or risky are done with varying
degree of fear. Climbing a cliff, flying an airplane through a storm, diving for
pearls, or arresting a notorious killer – are examples of acts performed with fear.
In these cases, fear is a normal response to danger, such actions are voluntary,
because the doer is in full control of his faculties and acts in spite of his fear. of it,
is entirely different, here fear becomes a positive force compiling a person to act
without careful deliberation.

Fear is an instinct for self-preservation. We even fear new experiences or

situations such as, embarking on long journey, being left alone in a strange place.
Or being asked to speak before a group of people, but doing something out of
fear, or because
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Principle:
a. Act done with fear are voluntary. A person acting with fear is acting in
spite of his fear and is in full control of himself.
b. Acts done out of fear, however great, is simply although it is also
conditionally voluntary It is simply voluntary because the person
remains in control of his faculties.
c. Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary. Panic
completely obscure the mind, in this mental state, a person expected to
think sensibly, thus a person in a state of panic might jump from 12 th
floor of a burning building. Such act is not considered a suicide, since it
is done involuntarily; panic causes a person to lose complete control of
himself.

VIOLENCE
- Refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the
purpose of compelling said person to act against his will. Bodily torture,
maltreatment, isolation, and mutilation—are examples of violence against
persons.

Principle:
a. 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.

Active resistance should always be offered to an unjust aggressor, however, if

resistance is impossible, or if there ia a serious threat to one’s life, a person
confronted by violence can always offer intrinsic resistance by withholding
consent; that is enough to save his moral integrity.

b. Elicit acts, or those done by the will alone, are not subject to violence and are
therefore voluntary.

HABITS
- Is a lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting
in a certain manner? Habits are acquired inclinations towards something to
be done.

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The word ―Habit-forming‖ that we use to refer to certain experiences show how
easy it is to acquire a habit. It also implies that a habit is not that easy to
overcome or later. It requires a strong- willed persons to correct a habit
successfully with in a limited period of time. Thus, alcoholic and smokers find it
almost impossible to reform.

Principle:
Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable
effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination.

Habits are either good or bad. We speak here of bad habits which lead
to immoral actions.

Habits are voluntary in cause, because they are the result of previously
willed acts done repeatedly as a matter of fact. Thus, every action emanating
from habit is said to partake of the voluntariness of those previous acts.
Therefore, for as long as the habit is not corrected, evil actions done by force of
that habit are voluntary and accountable.

When a person decides to fight his habit, and for as long as the effort
towards this purpose continues, actions resulting from such habit may be
regarded as acts of man and not accountable. The reason, as pointed out by
Glenn, is that the cause of such habit is no longer expressly desired.

ACTION AND EMOTION

Man does not act the way a robot does – without feeling or emotion. In
doing his act, man does not only evoke certain sentiments, but his decision or
intention to perform is swayed by his emotions. One who loves to sing does not
only sing with ―feelings‖ but is moved and motivated to sing when the occasion is
there.

Emotions are generally instinctive in origin. Neither the degree of their

intensity, clarity, or awareness makes them human acts to be judged as good or
evil. They become good or evil by the attitude of the person manifesting them. A
person who nourishes his feeling of hostility towards another is more prone to
acquire the motive for inflicting harm on the object of his hatred. This is not to
say that man is helpless in the tide of his emotions and that man’s responses to
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action are emotionally motivated. It means simply that man’s thoughts and
actions are colored by his emotions.

REFINEMENT OF EMOTIONS

Ethics deals with emotions as factors affecting human motivation and

behavior. Instead of repressing them, it calls for their refinement. This means
that man is expected to act not only with his mind and body, but precisely with
his heart and soul. Thus, for instance, the Decalogue does not merely command
that we love God, but adds to say ―with all you heart and with all your soul‖.

In the purist sense, doing good for another is not a virtue unless it comes
from the ―love‖ of what is good. Any other motive is inadequate regardless of the
merits of the assistance offered. It is possible indeed to extend a load to a friend
and this – grudgingly.

In like manner, mere external obedience to a law is cold and hypocritically

convenient. The ethical expectation is to enter into the spirit of the law and to
accept it with humility and respect.

―It is evident‖, says Bernard Haring, ―that education, through proper

discipline and cultivation of emotional life (in which we include the cultivation of
the values of character and disposition), is in many ways more significant than
the tense straining of will power.‖ Indeed, the aim of ethics is not to turn man
into an efficient machine to do things. Rather, it hopes to transform man by inner
spiritual conversion.

Moral perfection comes from within. We, Filipinos, refer to it as ―kagandahan

ng loob‖. It is ―loob‖ because it radiates from within the human personality.

KAGANDAHAN NG LOOB

Kagandahan ng loob refers to attitude. It stands for all that is good, we call
kabaitan, in a human being. It is multiplicity of sterling qualities both natural and
acquired, which, because they proceed from the heart and mind, also greatly
influence once’s behavior towards himself and others.

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Kagandahan ng loob includes such moral values as mapagmahal, maunawain,

may-pakikiramdam, may-pakikiramay, matulungin, masayahin, at hindi
mapagkunwari.

Exercise IV
Module 4

Answer Briefly:
a. Why are you not justified in doing wrong because of passions?
b. What actions may be justified because of violence?
c. Why are actions done out fear accountable actions?
d. Why are we accountable for action done out of habits?

Reaction no. 4

How would you explain this saying ―Ignorance of the Law Excuses no one‖?

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MODULE 5

THE ENDS OF HUMAN ACT

Man does not act aimlessly, when he acts, it is because he enjoys

the action, or, because he wants to achieve something by that action.

Ex. Pablito may play basketball because he enjoys it. Or he may play because
he wants to qualify for the varsity team.

THE END OF HUMAN ACTS

What we call end is the purpose or goal of an act. It is that which completes or
finishes an act. Distinction is made between end of the act and end of the doer or
agent.

The end of the act is the natural termination of an activity (Glenn:52). The end
of the eating is nourishment; that of reading is comprehension; that of basketball
is scoring a goal. And that of jogging is physical exercise.

The end of the doer is the personal purpose intended by the person performing
the act. He who eats aims to satisfy his hunger; the reader to relax himself; the
basketball player, to win the game, and the jogger, to maintain physical fitness.
The end of the doer is called the motive. The motive is the reason why a person
performs an act. It is the force that sustains the act and brings it to completion.

Kinds of Ends

The end of the doer is either

1. Proximate or Remote End
2. Intermediate or Ultimate End

1. The proximate end is the purpose which a doer wishes to accomplish

immediately by his action. The remote end is the purpose which a doer to
accomplish in a series of acts. The proximate end of eating is the satisfaction
of hunger. Its remote end is the promotion of health.
2. The ultimate end is the purpose which is desired for its own sake and not
because of something else. The intermediate end is the purpose which is
desired as means for obtaining another thing. The attainment of an
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intermediate end leads either to another intermediate end or to an ultimate

end.
A student may assign his graduation as an ultimate end. The intermediate end,
in this case, would consist in all those activities leading towards graduation, such
as attending classes, taking exams, participating in recitation, and so on.

A series of separate actions finds meaning in their relation to an ultimate end or

goal. This is fundamentally true with life itself. Living consists of all human
activities. Viewed in their entirely, all human activities are tendencies towards
the ultimate purpose of life itself. This is ultimate end of life is happiness.

Action and Motivation

Alfred Panizo gives us the opportunity to cite principles concerning human

action:

1. Every agent that performs an action acts for the sake of an end or purpose
to be attained.

Man is a motivated animal. For him to act, he must first find the motive
to act. Sometimes the motive comes instantaneously, as when one stands up to
answer the doorbell. Sometimes, the motive comes out from tedious and well
calculated efforts, as a business. Sometimes, the motive is provoked by
selfishness and malice. At other times, it is inspired by love and concern for
others. Whichever way, motives give life to action. Without it, man finds no
reason why he must act at all.

2. Every agent acts towards an ultimate end.

The ultimate end is that on account of which man decides to act. It is what
is desired through the actions. It is what confers meaning to an activity. The
concept of motive implies that there is something important to be achieved. No
sane person would waste his time sitting in a bus simply because he does not
want to go anywhere. When someone takes a bus, we may rightly assume that
he wants to go someplace; his ultimate destination. Similarly, and in all his
actions, man seeks an ultimate purpose.

3. Every agent has the power to move himself an end which he finds suitable
for him.
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The end is the motivation of an act. But only what is good can motivate man
to act. Therefore, the end of an act is something which the doer perceives to
be ―suitable‖ to him. Only what is good can be suitable to man, because it
does not belong to man’s nature to desire evil for its own sake. An end then
is synonymous with the concept of ―good‖.

End as Something Good

Nothing excites the human appetite or rational desire than that which is
good. Because something is good, it becomes the object of desire and,
therefore, desirable. Actions are tendencies towards something good. Thus,
what is good and desirable is also the end of the act. The concept of end
coincides with that of good. Accordingly, Aristotle says that ―good‖ means
either of these: good as an end in itself and good as a means (intermediate
end) to another end.

Apparent Good. Man has a natural aversion to evil. Evil is never desirable
for its own sake. It is naturally repugnant to man. When someone desires
evil as an end, it is only because he views it, subjectively as something good.
Evil viewed as good is called apparent good. It is evil disguised as good. It is
deceptively tempting and many falls for it. A suitor who kills his rival regards
his immoral action as a ―good‖ means to rid himself of a rival for the love of a
woman.

Man is moved by nature – this first and fundamental act of the will is
natural and necessary – toward good in general (object) and beatitude in
general (end). By virtue of this first movement man moves himself toward
particular good objects, choosing and determining in what he is to seek his
beatitude. If the man is really to satisfy and fulfill his natural cravings and
powers (man as patiens), he must, respond to his natural and reasonable
tendencies. (Buckely: 102)

Every human activity is intended for the attainment of something good.

This good must be objectively genuine, not merely an apparent good.
―Unfortunately,‖ as a free agent, man is able to set his choice on mere apparent
goods and false values.‖

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The meaning of Good

The word ―good‖ has varied shades of meaning. Aristotle defines it as that
which fits a function. The good of man is that which fits his function as a rational
being. And because it is the soul that which constitutes man’s rational nature,
―the good of man proves to be activity of soul inconformity with excellence; and if
there is more than one excellence, it will be the best and the most complete of
these. (Aristotle: 293)

A thinker once wrote that human beings have their needs, while individual
humans have their wants. Needs are those goods which are essential to man.
Without them, man is incomplete and underdeveloped.
Wants are those goods that an individual requires because of his particular
circumstances in life. Obviously, the needs must be fulfilled before the wants.
The good that fits man as man are the needs of his rational nature. All
other needs, such as the biological and social, while they are similarly required,
are subordinate to the rational needs.

KINDS OF GOOD
1. Essential and accidental.
Those that fit the natural needs of man as man are essential good. Such
good include food, shelter, health, knowledge, virtue and life.
Those that fit the wants of an individual because of his circumstances are
accidental goods. Such as money, car, good name, academic degree,
power, and luxury and many more.
Essential goods are called perfective, because they contribute to the
integral perfections of man. Accidental goods, on other hands, are called
non-perfective because they merely contribute to the external worth or
appearance of a person.
2. Real and Apparent
A real good is something which has an intrinsic value. Thus, we call it,
Value. It possesses a quality rendering it ―fitting‖ or desirable. Examples of
real good are good acts and habits, parents and parenthood, pleasure and
joy, work and leisure. The real good includes both essential and accidental
goods.

An apparent good is actually an evil thing but is viewed as ―good ―under a certain
aspect. Examples are diseases, sadness, death, worry, crimes, and others.

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3. Perfective and non-perfective.

Perfective good is that which contributes to the integral perfection of a
person, such as, education, virtue, food, exercise, medicine. non-
perfective good is that which merely contribute to the external appearance
or convenience of a person, such as: clothes, wealth, social status, political
power, and others.

4. Perfect and Imperfect good.

Also called unlimited or limited goods respectively, or absolute and relative
goods.

THE GREATEST GOOD

In every activity, man seeks that which is good. The greatest good as
matter of fact. This is evident in our concern for the vest in everything: best
friend, best parents, best food, best performance, best job and so forth.
But according to Aristotle: the greatest good is HAPPINESS. Happiness is what
man aims to achieve in all his activities. The ultimate purpose of life is the
ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS.

SOME ERRORS CONCERNING HAPPINESS.

1. Some people give the impression that money or wealth can buy happiness.
This is tragic because money merely feeds the bottomless appetite of
greed. Money is aptly considered the root of all evils.
2. Some people equate health with happiness. Of course, health is a
prerequisite to a productive life. But there are sick who are at the same
time happy.
3. Sensual people vainly seek happiness in earthy pleasure, but may not
indulge in all pleasures of this world without ending up with pain.
4. Certain people cling to their public image as if God Himself was made after
their illusion.
5. Some delicate their lives to science and arts. Doubtlessly, the science and
arts are essential to man’s development.
6. Some purpose that the final purpose of man is the promotion of the state
or government.

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NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL

Natural happiness – is that which is attainable by man through the use of his
natural powers.
Supernatural happiness – is that which is attainable through the use of his
natural powers as these are informed and aided by God’s infusion of grace.

According to Aristotle:
It was obvious that natural happiness does not rest on one single good
object. Rather, it consists it attainment of all those things that are essential to
human growth and development. These goods however, must be ranked in the
hierarchy: from the lowest level to the highest level. Complete happiness, in the
natural order, consist in those goods pertaining to the soul: but some of the other
goods must necessarily be there, with others, which are by nature tools,
cooperating and of use towards other ends.

The highest good, according to Aristotle, belongs to the intellect: the

contemplation of truth, but this fullness of knowledge is attained through virtue.

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Exercise IV
Module 5

I. Identify the following:

1. Evil viewed as good
2. A good that fits natural need of man as
man.
3. A good that contribute to man’s
perfection
4. That which doer wishes to achieve by his
act
5. What everybody wants for himself
6. The greatest good as if it is called by
philosopher
7. The natural termination of an act
8. Perfection attainable by man’s natural
powers
9. An end desired for its own sake
10. The reason why we act at all

II.
Write a short essay:
―What I Need to Be Happy‖

At least 150-300 words

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MODULE 6

DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY

Morality consists in the conformity and non-conformity of an act with the norm.
But how does an act relate to norm? How do know that a given act is morally
objectionable or not?
Human acts

DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY

The human body, it must be good, must have all its part and functions. It
is defective, and therefore bad, when it lacks, say the power of sight or
locomotion.
In moral parlance, a human act is good when it is good in itself, in its
motive or purpose, and in its circumstances. A defect coming from any of these
aspects renders an act morally objectionable. In other words, like the human
anatomy, an act must have the perfection of its parts.
Helping the needy is a good action taken when in itself. It may become
bad if the motive of person doing an act is not honorable, such as of what of
merely impressing friends that one is kindhearted. This illustrates how a morally
good action may become morally objectionable on account of the motive of the
doer.

a. The act in itself

It considers an act in itself is to regard its nature. An act, is not simply a
mental or bodily activity requiring an expenditure of energy. An act is a
physical tendency towards a definite result.

In the physical sense, some actions are bad because they produce such
evils as pain, hunger, illness or death. In moral sense, actions are bad
―unfit‖ to the natural and spiritual tendencies of human soul. Moral evils
also produce physical harm and damage of oneself and others. But they
are moral evils because what they destroy is the innate goodness. The
image of God, in our human nature, thus we say that all morals evils are
those that go against the natural law.

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Evil

Moralist distinguished between an intrinsic evil and an extrinsic evil.
Intrinsic evil – implies a quality inherent in a thing, thus an intrinsic evil is an act
which is evil is nature. Extrinsic implies quality which is superficially added to a
thing in a manner that a coat of paint covers cover the surface of the wall without
modifying the essentiality of the wood constituting the wall.
An example of extrinsic evil act is that of eating meat by Catholics on Friday
The Friday of Lent, or, the giving of alms to beggars as prohibited by law in
Manila.
An intrinsic evil act is one which by its nature, that is its functional purpose, is
wrongful. We have said earlier that natural law is the tendency of man to
actualize his potentials as a rational creature: to be a person. Any act which
prevents man from realizing his true worth as a person is intrinsically evil.
Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, lies, and slavery are examples of actions that
contradict the demands of reason for justice, truth and decency.

b. The Motive of the Act

The motive of an act is the purpose which the doers wish to achieve by
such action. It is what gives direction and motivation to an act. It comes
first in the mind as intention and occurs last in the action as its culmination
or fulfillment. With a motive, an act is meaningless, an accident.

: The Ends Does Not Justify the Means”

To The doer, an act is a means for achieving an aim or purpose. Like for
instance, study in order to acquire knowledge, to pass the course, to receive a
degree, and to qualify for a job. But wrong attempt at a good purpose by dubious
or evil means. Like: a student may not cheat in an exam in order to graduate: an
employee may not fake his documents in order to be promoted to a job: the
public official may not accept bribe in order to make finance a health center: and
an impoverished father may nor steal in order to feed his family. The axiom- the
end(motive) does not satisfy the means(action), it means that worthiness of
purpose does not make an evil act good.
Nothing is more pernicious for a hoodlum to believe that he is justified in
robbing the rich because he wants to share the loot with the poor.

Paul Glenn gives us the following insights on the effects of the motive
on the action:
1. An evil act which is done on Account of an evil motive is
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grievously wrong. A youngster who steals from his parents in order to buy
―shabu‖ for himself is committing a grievous wrong to himself and his parents.
2. A good action done on account of an evil motive becomes evil
itself. The executive who gives a job to a lady applicant in order to seduce her
later makes his kindness immoral because of his evil intentions.
3. A good action done on account of a good purpose acquires an
additional merit. The father who foregoes his expensive hobby in order to send
his children to school shows a deeper concern for the welfare of his loved ones.
4. An indifferent act may either become good or bad depending
on the motive. Opening the door of a house is an indifferent act. But the servant
who, in connivance with the thieves, opens the door of the house of his master,
does a wrongful act.
On the other hand, opening the door in order to give aims to a beggar is a
good act.

c. Circumstances of the Act

An act is an event. It happens in a definite time and place. It is
accompanied by certain elements which contribute to the nature and
accountability of such act. In law, we speak of mitigating or aggravating factors
affecting a criminal act. Morality also takes into account the circumstances
surrounding an act. These circumstances are who, what, where, with whom, why,
how and where.

1. Who refers primarily to the doer of the act? At times, it also

refers to the receiver of the act. This circumstance includes the age, status,
relation, family background, educational attainment, health and socio-economic
situation of the person or persons involved in an act.
Observations: a) The moron, the insane, the senile and the children below
the age of reason are considered incapable of voluntary acts and therefore, are
exempted from moral accountability, but actions against these persons are
normally regarded most cruel due to their helplessness in defending themselves.
b) Persons with higher educational attainment are presumed to know
―better‖ than those with little education. Accordingly, their liability is higher.
Indeed, ―to whom much is given, much is expected‖.
c) Persons vested with authority have higher accountability than those who
merely follow their order or command. This is the meaning of ―command
responsibility‖ which makes a superior or official accountable for the actuation of
those under his authority.

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d) The relationship between people involved in act may modify the nature
of such act. In this sense, adultery is different from fornication and parricide
from homicide. At times, the type of relationship between persons involved makes
an evil act more scandalous. Cruelty to one’s own children is, for instance, more
wrongful than that done against children of other people.
2. What refers to the act itself and to the quality and quantity of the
results of such act. The graveness of robbery, for instance, is measured by what
is stolen and by how much is stolen. Likewise, the relative importance of a
murdered victim determines the seriousness of such crime.
3. Where refers to the circumstance of place where the act is committed.
Rape done inside a church is more scandalous than that which is done in the
privacy of a house. Murder done before a crowd is more heinous than that which
is done in an isolated place.
4. With Whom refers to the companion or accomplices in an act
performed. This includes the number and status of the persons involved. The
more people are involved in the commission of an act, the greater and more
serious is the crime.
5. Why refers to the motive of the doer. We have discussed this earlier.
6. How refers to the manner how the act is made possible. Was the killing
accomplished with deceit? Was it done by the use of torture? How an act is
performed contributes to the malice of an act.
7. When refers to the time of the act. A murder committed when the
victim is sleeping is more offensive than the one done when the victim is wide
awake.

Observations
1. Circumstances may either increase or decrease the
wrongfulness of an evil act. The killing of innocent people in the case of terrorists
exploding a bomb inside a commercial plane constitutes a serious crime. On the
other hand, by contrast, killing someone who has long oppressed the assailant is
less wrongful. Nonetheless, the act remains evil, because no one may take the
law in his own hands even for purposes of avenging oneself.
2. Circumstances also may either increase or decrease the merits
of a good act. Helping another at the risk of one’s own life is greatly meritorious.
Helping another for purposes of publicity lessens the merits of charity.
3. Some circumstances may alter the nature of an act. Such is the
Case with many crimes. Thus, the act of committing a holdup is different from
the simple act of stealing. The holdup presupposes the use of threat or violence.
Whereas sealing implies stealth or deception.
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Conclusion
There is a real distinction between a pile of garbage and a garden of
flowers. Garbage represents what is ugly, dirty and wrong in a surrounding. A
garden stands for what is beautiful, clean and decent in our society. The
distinction between a good act and an evil act is a real as that between a garbage
and a garden. It is not an illusion of the mind.
There are good actions and there are evil actions. Their realities do not
come from out mind. What is black does not turn itself white because we think of
its as white. This is the error of those who think that evil is all in the mind.
Ang masama ay gawa-gawa ng tao lamang does not mean that evil is
man’s invention. Rather, it means that man uses his freedom to do wrong. Only
man can do something morally wrong, because only man has the power of
choose between what is good and what is wrong.
To be an authentic person is to be a responsible person. He knows how to
use his freedom only as an instrument to do good.

Law: its meaning and relevance

Law, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is an ordinance of reason,
promulgated for the common good by one who has charge of society.
Laws are ―ordinance of reason‖ because they are rational deliberations
intended to guide men towards what is good for them and for society. Laws
either direct men to perform certain activities as good and necessary, or, to omit
certain acts as evil. The objective or purpose of the laws is the attainment of the
common good.
Law is ―promulgated‖, that is they are made known to the people who are
bound to observe them. Indeed, the public must be made aware of what is
expected of them. How else do we expect it to observe the law?
Law is passed by ―one who has charge of society‖ because they can only
be valid if they are the legitimate exercise of authority. Accordingly, only those
who have the power and responsibility to govern have the power to enact law.
Laws are necessary to man. They regulate human activity. Without laws,
the best intention will be thwarted either by oneself or by others. Without laws,
there will be anarchy and chaos, because each one will act according to his
wishes without regard for the common good.
Law is comparable to the signs in the street which guide the traveler
towards his destination. Without the street sings, the traveler is lost. Without
laws, man will not find his ultimate purpose in life.

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Kinds of Laws
1. Divine Positive Law are those promulgated, or made known to
us, by special command of God. They are the explicit, demands of our essential
tendencies as rational beings. They direct man towards his proper end. The
Decalogue of Moses is an example of divine positive laws.
2. Human Positive Laws are those promulgated by a legitimate human
authority. This authority resides either in the state of in the church.
Human positive laws are intended to preserve peace and harmony
within a society and to direct each member of that society to work
towards the common good. The laws of the state are embodied in the
Constitution and in the Code of Civil Laws. The laws of the Church, the
Catholic Church are found in the Canon Law.
Both the divine positive laws and the human positive laws originate from the
Eternal Law. We shall discuss this in detail later. Suffice for the moment to say
that the Eternal Law is the design of God. As Supreme Creator, to direct all
created things to their respective proper ends.

Divine and Human Laws are either positive or negative. Positive laws are
those that require the performance of an act, such as, to worship God, to pay
taxes, etcetera. Negative laws are those that require the omission of an act, such
as, not to steal, not to kill, etcetera. The positive laws permit and expects actions
to be done. Negative laws prohibit the performance of an act.

Divine or human laws are either moral or penal. A moral law binds in
conscience, that is, it is enforced by our personal conviction about what ought to
be done as good or to be avoided as wrong. A penal law binds by virtue of the
penalty imposed, that is, enforced by our fear of being caught and punished.

Moral and Political Laws

Moral laws are those derived from the natural law. They direct man
towards the higher values of his development as a human being. therefore, moral
laws are universal laws binding all men alike. Moral laws regulate the mind, heart
and body of man insofar as he is a man.
The so called natural moral laws are those that are ―written‖ so to speak,
in the hearts of all men. They are the inherent and essential tendencies of human
nature towards the good proper to it. They are, according to Aristotle, the
tendencies of the rational soul.
Political laws, both civil and criminal laws, are those enacted by men to
guide their actuations in society and in relation to one another. They regulate
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man’s external actions. The objective of political laws is peace and order and
material prosperity. Political laws presuppose moral laws.
Political laws are simply referred to as human positive laws.

Properties of Human Laws

1. Human laws must conform with divine laws. This is because all legitimate
authority emanates from God. Therefore, no human authority may willfully
contradict God’s will as manifested in the natural law or in the divine
positive laws.
2. Human laws must promote the common good. The common good is the
aggregate of goods, spiritual and material, necessary for the promotion of life.
The common good is spelled out in terms of prosperity, health, peace and
order, intellectual and moral growth for the whole of society.
3. Human laws must be just and not discriminatory of certain Individuals or
groups. All laws must apply proportionately to all members of society so that
the needs and requirements of each are served.
4. Human laws must be practicable. They must provide for easy
compliance. Impossible laws are not just.
5. Human laws regulate external actions only. This is because no human
authority has the power to bind the mind and hearts of men. Therefore,
laws are made for men and not men for the laws. Laws must serve man’s
best intentions and not stifle his creativity.
6. Human laws are fallible, because human legislators are liable to
commit errors. Besides, laws must be dynamic, allowing for
adjustments in accordance with emergent ideas for development.

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Exercise V
Module 6

Explain Briefly:

1. Why do we need laws?

2. Is evil only in the mind? Why?

3. What effect do circumstances have an action.

4. What is a Human Positive Law? What does it include?

Reaction no. 6.
―The End Does Not Justify the Means‖

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 ETHICS

MODULE 7

LOVE OF GOD

Love of God is a duty to God. This the Filipino does not find difficult to
understand. The practice of religion is not only second nature to Filipinos, it is the
spiritual psychic of the Filipino to be religious.
It is on account of his nature that man is said to be religious. An essential
aspect of man’s rationality is his religiousness. This explains why anthropology
has not encountered a human society without some form of religious worship.

The Meaning of Religion

The word comes from the latin word re-ligare, or to bind back.
Religion or religion implies a bond, a relationship or fellowship between man and
God. In the Testament, such bond is referred to as a covenant, such as the
covenant between Noah and God, between Abraham and God.
Ethics regards religion as the duty f man to bind himself in worship of God.
This duty is natural because it is the yearning of man’s rational soul. This duty,
therefore, is not derived from any religious or ecclesiastical law but from natural
law. Instead of being a result of a religious system, the natural duty to worship
God is the source and foundation of all religious beliefs and practices.
Religion can also be taken subjectively as the act or habit inclining a person to
render worship of God. It is the act of knowing, loving, and serving God in
fulfillment of the natural duty of worship. Taken objectively, religion is the system
of beliefs, rituals, moral practices and laws regulating the fulfillment of natural
duty of worship. In this sense, religion is equivalent to creed or faith. It is creed
which differentiates different churches or sets, such as Buddhism, Catholicism,
Protestantism and their ramifications.

Worship of God

Worship of God is the proclamation of the glory of God. It is the acceptance

of the intellect and will of mind and heart of God’s dominion over the created
universe. The highest goal of man, the noblest of his actions, is the recognition
ang the hallowing of God’s Name in thought and in deed in the world.

Worship of God is internal when it consists of acts of the intellect and will,
such as in making an act of faith, or, in mental prayer in praise of God.

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 ETHICS

It is external when it consists of commanded acts of honoring or paying

homage to God, such as fasting, kneeling down in prayer, or in giving alms to the
poor.
Worship of God, both internal and external, is either private or public. It is
private when it is done by the individual by his own private initiative. It is public
when it is done in participation with other men in communal adoration or homage
of God, such as in processions of images, or offering of sacrifices in religious
services.

Worship of God as the duty involve the duty of knowing, loving and
serving God. Let us discuss each one:

1. The Duty of Know God

Man has a natural tendency to worship God. This implies that he has a natural
capacity of know God. We say ―natural‖ because man, by he’s own intellectual
powers, discovers the presence of God as Creator and Supreme Lawgiver. It is
said that we accept God’s existence as a matter of faith. But is faith true? Francis
Reilly argues that religious belief of God is true if it fits, rather than contradicts,
rational knowledge of nature and human person. In the realm of conduct, he cites
that the distinction between what is objectively good and objectively evil points to
the existence of a law, which though clarified by men, is ―not simply made by
human thinkers, no matter how wise‖.
Our knowledge of God is natural if it is conclusion of human reason operating on
its own power. It is supernatural when it is based on divine revelation, that is , on
truths made known to man by God Himself.

2. The Duty to Love God

Loving God in a religious sense, means being attached to Him. Thus, love
of God is a personal response to his presence. It is not a mere emotional
reaction, a sort of physical infatuation or pious sentiment. It is the
submission of our mind and heart to what God is and to what He is saying
to us.

3. The Duty to serve God

If to love God is obey God’s will, then our moral acts sum up our services
to God. E cannot offer God anything else, but our life- made clean and
worthy of God’s Infinite Goodness. It is in this sense, that religion is
concerned with the sanctification of souls, with self-perfection.

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All moral act are tendencies or movements towards God. All immoral act are
tendencies away from God. In this sense, all good acts are religious.
Certain action is, however, properly called acts of religion or act are religion.
These are:
1. Devotion which is the readiness of the will to perform acts of divine
worship, such as prayer, fasting, among others.
2. Prayer – which is the elevation of the mind to God I n praise of Him, in
gratitude to him, or in communion with him.
3. Adoration – which is the submission of the mind and will to the glory of
God.
4. Sacrifice – which the offering of body and soul to God in recognition of his
dominion over the created universe.

Institutional Religion
A group of believers, subscribing to the same faith, practices, rituals, and
discipline constitute a sect or church. Membership in an organized church does
not make a person pious or holy. Genuine religious conversion comes from the
heart of each believer. Institutional churches, however, provides support and
direction to its members towards personal sanctification, without the churches, an
individual will find it difficult to fulfill his religious vocation.

“Freedom of Religious Worship”

Our Constitution provides for the ―freedom of religious worship‖, this does not
mean that we are free to choose to have or not to have., to practice or not to
practice, our faith. It means simply that the State may not interfere with the
religious liberties of the people. It means that that State may not regulate,
promote, prohibit, or discriminate against people on account of their religious
beliefs.

Religion: The Search for Ultimate Meaning

The duty to worship God is the same as the natural yearning to find the
ultimate meaning of life. It is yearning of the human spirit to discover its origin.,
its being, and its purpose. The different religious system are expressions of man’s
search for meaning. And they are relevant to the extent that they unravel the
mystery of life.
This is not to say that all religions are the same, that all speak of truth, and that
all are but different pathways to man’s ultimate destiny. In the evolution of
human thought, some religions come out as rudimentary and non-rational in their

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form and objectives. Religions are equal only in the sense that all are attempts to
explain the meaning of life.
Ethics does not concern itself with investigating the claims of religions. But
obviously, some are outright fabrications ensnaring gullible people with profit as
motive. Such aggrupation is plainly business enterprises disguise as religion.

Religious Tolerance
There is always an occasion when people wage a ―holy war‖ either in
defense of their faith or for the promotion of their beliefs. In a lesser magnitude,
but no less deplorable, is the tendency to mock another person’s faith. we refer
him as ―heathen, ―idolatrous‖, or ―superstitious‖, implying that we are the only
truly blessed.
Religion is a sacred to a person. No matter how imperfect it appears to us, one
man’s faith or for the is the yearning of his spirit.
It is religious tolerance when we recognize the faith of another as his cherished
possession. Truly belong to him, as an act of his spirit which is essentially free. It
is religious tolerance when instead of forcing our faith upon another, we allow
him to be enlightened so that his desire to participate in our faith becomes a
voluntary desire.
It is religious tolerance when instead of underscoring our differences of opinion,
we join hands instead both in
Prayer and in action so that the common good of mankind is served.

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Exercise 6
Module 7

Explain Briefly:
a. What is religion as a virtue?
b. What is the purpose of religion as a religion system?
c. Why is love of God often equated with love of fellowship?
d. What are the implication of ―freedom of religious worship?

Reaction no. 7

―How does religion contribute to the development of man

and society?‖

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MODULE 8

LOVE OF ONESELF

According to Socrates begins with this one basic principle: ―Know Thyself‖. He
referred to as human mind as a storehouse of truths which man has the only to
recognize and realize in order to acquire a true and certain knowledge of what we
ought to become as person. If anyone j=knows what is right or true, he cannot
help but choose it and act consistent with it.

LOVE AND SELFISHNESS

To know ourselves is to love ourselves. To love ourselves. Is to

acknowledge the fundamental goodness of our nature and to share it with others.

Love is the tendency towards what is good selfishness is withdrawing to

ourselves ahead and above all others. Love thrives on justice, on what is honest
and beautiful. Selfishness is the overflowing of greed and pride.
It is true that loving ourselves means being concerned with our needs. But
our preoccupation with ourselves must be regulated by temperance. Loving
ourselves by including others is selfishness. it is narcissism.
No man Lives for himself alone, the concept of ―man for others‖ is not a novelty,
we find ourselves in the self of the other. This is how it is since our human nature
is social. The commandment ― Love your neighbor as yourself‖ tell us both the
why and how. We love our neighbor because he is, like us a person, we should
love him by not doing to him what we do not want to be done to us. When we
do this we show our concern, not only for others, but our great respect for
ourselves.

The Ethics of Self-Perfection

It is our duty to develop by actualizing our potentials, in the biological sense, this
means growing in years and maturity. In the moral sense, this means molding our
character. Ethics insofar as it direct us towards this goal called Ethics of self-
perfection. The goal of ethics is to become ―a person in the community of
persons.‖

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THE INTEGRAL VALUES OF THE PERSON

The integrity of the person is the totality of his being as composed of body
and soul.
We have the duties to seek them out and the right to possess them:
1. Biological duties
The biological duties are those pertaining to the preservation of life and
the maintenance of health and bodily functions.
It is the duty of everyone to take adequate nourishment, food and rest in
order to preserve physical well-being, one should observe personal hygiene
and avoid risks to his health and safety.
2. Intellectual duties
The intellectual duties are those pertaining to the development of our
intellect and will
It is the duty of everyone to overcome ignorance by learning a skill or by
acquiring a science. It belongs to human dignity that one is at least
knowledgeable of those things directly affecting his life, intellectual
competence promotes self-reliance and qualifies a person to be of help
toothers. Likewise, one has the obligation to cultivate proper attitude. One
should. for example, the cultivation of the taste for what is right and
beautiful contributes to the personality of the person.
3. Moral duties
The moral duties are those pertaining to the development of the spirit, or
character. This consists in the practice of religion and the exercise of moral
values.
The moral duties are above all other duties. Man’s perfection is moral. It is
moral integrity which crowns man with the fullness of his dignity as a
human being, humans are either rich or poor, educated or illiterate, strong
or weak, young or old, healthy or sick, beautiful or ugly. But the only
distinction that really matters is that between a moral and an immoral
person.

Our Basic Personal Rights

Correlative to our natural duties are the rights essentials to our integrity as
persons.
a. Right to Life
The right to life is the most important of all our rights, it is the foundation, we
may say, of all others rights. The 1987 Constitution expressly guarantees this
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 ETHICS

right, to be alive and to be secured from physical harm is a primordial duty of the
government. The right to life secures us not from physical harm but provide for the
promotion of our economic, cultural, and spiritual growth.
b. The Right to Private Property
Derived from right to life, is the right to private property. Precisely, because man
had the right to life, he also acquires the right to private property, to those means
necessary for the sustenance and maintenance of life.
c. Right of Education
The right of education comes from man’s rational nature. Every child is entitled to
be educated by his family, by the state, and by the church.

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Exercise VII
Module 8

Explain Briefly:
a. What values are integral to our development as a person’s?
b. Why do men have the right to life on the basis of natural law?
c. How can you prove that every man has the right to property?
d. What is your correlative duty toward your right to property?

Reaction no. 8 :
―In what sense is education a matter of right? In what sense is it a duty?‖

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MODULE 9
Work Ethics

The duty to preserve one's life implies the duty to work. Work is a creative process
for self-development. When properly combined with leisure, it is healthful and
promotes both mental and physical well-being.
Work is not only a personal activity. It is a social process with the preservation of
human society as its ultimate purpose. Work therefore has its moral and legal
implications.
Thus, Andres Bonifacio reminds us:
"Diligence in your work which sustains you is the basis of love, love for oneself,
love for the wife and children, love for the brothers and countrymen.‖ (Debres de
Los Hijis del Pueblo, no. 9). Therefore, Manuel Quezon admonishes us: ―Work well
and with enthusiasm.‖ (Codigo de Honor)

The Meaning of Work

Work is the legitimate use of our mental and bodily powers for economic gain or
profit.
1. Work is the "use" or application of our physical powers to accomplish a certain
task. It is "use" because nobody can own another man's body, nor can anyone sell
his body or any part of it, for purposes of material advantage and gain. The
sanctity of human life demands preservation, care, and proper use of our bodily
faculties. In this sense, prostitution is not work, for it consists in selling a bodily
function for economic
consideration.
2. Work is for the purpose of obtaining an economic gain for the laborer. It
belongs to the essence of work that it be compensated. Such compensation is
based on justice and can take the form of wages, share in harvest or commercial
goods.
The Right to Work
The right to work is based on natural law. Man has basic needs which must be
satisfied in order for him to survive. This right implies the right to private
ownership. If a person cannot own the means by which he derives his subsistence,
then he cannot provide for his life and for those of his dependents. Pope Leo XIII
is very clear about this point:
"When a man engages in remunerative labor, the very reason and motive of his
work is to obtain property and to hold it as his own private possession. If one man
hires out to another
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 ETHICS

his strength or his industry, he does this for the purpose of receiving in return
what is necessary for food and living; he thereby expressly proposes to acquire a
full and real right, not only to the remuneration, but also to the disposal of that
remuneration as he pleases... But it is precisely in this power of disposal that
ownership consists, whether the property be land or movable goods" (Encyclical on
the Condition of Labor, Five Great Encyclicals, p. 3)

Work as a Natural Duty to Oneself

ETHICS 2

Work is directed to the promotion of life. It is a personal duty since each one has
the moral obligation to take care of himself and not be a burden to others. This
obligation assumes greater proportion as one becomes head of a family. "For it is a
most sacred law of nature," says Leo XIII, "that a father must provide food and all
necessaries for those whom he has begotten; and, similarly, nature dictates that a
man's children, who carry one, as it were, and continue his personality, should be
provided by him with all that is needful to enable them honorably to keep
themselves from want and misery in the uncertainties of this mortal life."
(Ibid., op. cit. 6).

Capital and Labor

Capital refers to the owner or investors of an industry. Labor refers to the hired
workers employed by the industry. Capital and labor are complimentary to each
other. Unfortunately, the relationship between these two sectors is often strained
due to disregard of justice.
The Labor Code of the Philippines defines the relationship between capital and
labor. But no number of laws can truly harmonize men, unless man himself accepts
that goodness and justice come from within him. The evil that men do comes from
greed and malice.
The Question of Just Wage
This question is often the bone of contention between labor and capital. It is
usually claimed that wages are fixed by mutual agreement between employee and
employer. Thus, it is suggested that the employer does this right when he fulfils
his obligation to the worker by paying him what has been agreed upon. It is
objected however that the wage "mutually agreed upon" may not necessarily be
advantageous to the worker who, because of poverty, is forced into such an
agreement. In this situation, it is not unusual for a Filipino worker to rationalize his
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predicament: "Mabuti na sa wala".

Even the minimum wage prescribed by law may not necessarily be a just wage.
What is a just wage? It is defined as that remuneration which is enough to support
the wage-earner in reasonable and frugal comfort. Obviously, this definition implies
so many variables to be useful in determining which is a just wage.
For Capital to fix wages unilaterally is to risk the danger of abuse. Leo XIII warns
capital against this error:
Doubtless before we can decide whether wages are adequate, many things have to
be considered; but rich men and masters should remember this - that to exercise
pressure for the sake of gain, upon the indigent and destitute, and to make one's
profit out of the need of another, is condemned by all laws, human and divine. To
defraud any one of wages that are his due is a crime which cries to the avenging
anger of Heaven (Ibid. 9).

In our country and precisely that the determination of wages be equitable and just,
the National Wage and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and the Regional
Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) determine the minimum wage.

The Just Wage: A Family Wage

Refers commensurate to the needs of a modest average Filipino family.

ETHICS 3
"In the present economy the great bulk of the country's land and wealth are
possessed by a small minority to whom the rest must come for work. Such an
economy can be justified only if this great majority of the people can obtain in
return for their work a wage that will supply them with the minimum human
standard of living which we have defined above; a wage, namely, that will enable a
man to provide a sufficiency of decent food and clothing for himself and his family,
a decent home, security for sickness and old age, and the means and leisure for
moderate and wholesome recreation. To all of every man has a strict right; and
when the only means by which a man cạn obtain them is in exchange for his labor,
he must be able to obtain them in exchange for his labor. In other words, a man's
labor must be worth at least a wage that guarantees him all these. Such a wage
we call a "family wage"
The bishops conclude their exhortation by reminding employers that workers
deserve a family
wage "not in charity merely, but as a duty of social justice"
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 ETHICS

Factors Determining Wages

Pope John XXIII declares that in determining wages "the norms of justice and
equity should be strictly observed".
― This requires that workers receive a wage sufficient to lead a life worthy of man
and to fulfilfamily responsibilities properly. But in determining what constitutes an
appropriate wage, the following must necessarily be taken into account: first of
all, the contribution of individuals to the economic effort; the economic state of the
enterprise within which they work; the requirements of each community, especially
as regards over-all employment; finally, whatn concerns the common good of all
peoples, namely, of the various states associated among themselves, but differing
in character and extent (Mater et Magistra, NY, Missionary of St. Paul, 1962)
Unionism: A Natural Right
Every worker has a right to join a union in order to protect his livelihood and to
cooperate in building social order. The Catholic Bishops note that "it is morally
wrong, (and in our country a crime punishable by law) for anyone to interfere with
this natural right either by threats or by discrimination against to those who join
such associations.
Labor, if it is unorganized, can have no effective voice to protect its rights and to
bargain collectively with Capital. Therefore, for as long as unions are peaceful and
seek their objectives by lawful means, they are beneficial to the members and to
society as a whole.
Morality of Strike
Organized labor often resorts to strikes. A strike is an organized cessation from
work by workers for the purpose of forcing their employers to assent to their
demands;
For a strike to be moral, the following conditions must be present:
a) There is a sufficient and just reason for it;
b) The intended good results must be proportionate to the evil effects;
c) The means employed are lawful.
1. A strike should not be resorted to unless all other means of conciliation had
been tried. There must be sufficient reason for holding it, such as just demands of
workers.

ETHICS

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 ETHICS

2. The good results must be weighed as against the evil effects.

Prudence dictates that where more harm than good would result, a strike should
be ruled out. For example, the prospect of getting a small wage increase would not
be proportionate to the distress, violence, or damage to the industry itself. Indeed,
as the saying goes, one does not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
3. Threats, coercion, or violence should never be employed by either labor or
Capital in settling their differences. A strike is not a war zone.

The Rights of Labor

The Philippines is a signatory to the United Nations International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We cite those pertaining to Labor:
1. The State Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which
includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which
he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right
(Part III, Art. 6).
2. The State Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work, which ensure, in particular:
a) Remuneration which provides all workers as a minimum:
(1) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction
of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior
to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work; and (i) A decent living for
themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present
Covenant:
b) Safe and healthy working conditions;
c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an
appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority
and competence,
d) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays
with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays (Art. 7).
4. The State Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure:
a) The right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his
choice subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, for the promotion
and protection of his economic and social interests. No restriction may be placed
on the exercise of this right other than those prescribed by law and which are
necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public
order or for the protection of the rights and freedom of others;
b) The right of trade unions to establish national federations or confederations and
the right of the latter to form or join international trade unions organizations;
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 ETHICS

c) The right of trade unions of function freely subject to no limitations other than
those prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the
interests of national security or public order or for the protection of the rights and
freedom of others;
d) The right to strike, provided that it is exercised in conformity with the laws of
the particular country (Art. 8).

ETHICS

Morality and Personnel Management

Morality is founded on justice. Hence, any attempt at personnel administration
must be guided by what is moral. The nuances of human relations are so road for
law to cover all aspects.
Often, it is the spirit of the law rather than the cold technicalities of law that which
should apply.
Truly, as the Bible points out, the law is made for man and not man for the law.
Morality should inspire all employee and employer relationships. All business
enterprises, it must be observed, are fundamentally- people. The golden rule of
action therefore of not doing to another what one does not want to be done to him
applies with greater urgency justice promotes not only equity but goodwill and
harmony. If all parties accept their respective responsibilities and duties with open
kindness and generosity, there will be industrial peace.
Basic Duties of Workers
Conscience dictates the duties of a worker. It is conscience because it is impossible
for anyone not to have an inkling of these duties, namely:
1. Work honestly and comply with all agreements;
2. Never injure capital, nor steal from the employer;
3. Never outrage the person of the employer;
4. Never employ deceit nor violence in presenting a cause;
5. Never consort with "agitator" or men of evil principles.
Basic Duties of Employers
Employers have the sacred task of caring for their workers. Theirs is the golden
opportunity to become the ethical "man for others". They must be fair minded and
generous in their dispositions. The following are their basic duties towards their
workers:
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 ETHICS

1. Respect the human dignity of the workers;

2. Appreciate their work;
3. Never treat them as slaves for making money;
4. Never assign them task beyond their strength, do not employ them in work not
suited to
their age or sex;
5. Give them commensurate wages;
6. Provide for their health and social recreation;
7. Provide them time for the practice of their religion;
8. Instruct them on how to use their money wisely;
9. Instruct them to love their family;
10. Provide them with the opportunities for promotion.

ETHICS

MODULE 10
Love of Neighbor

Neighbor is every person apart of oneself: parents, relatives, Frends,

acquaintances, classmates, officemates, employers, superiors and servants. Even
those we regard as our enemies remain neighbors whom we ought to love and
respect. In its widest sense, neighbor includes all the creatures with whom we
exist in this world.
In this chapter we limit our discussion to dutiful relationship we must have with
our neighbor, the other person.

Principles of Neighborly Relations

Our relationship with others is expressed negatively by the golden rule: "Do not do
unto others what you do not want to be done to you". The same principle is
expressed positively:
"Love your neighbor as yourself".
For Christ, this is the second greatest commandment, the first being that of loving
God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our soul.
Two prominent virtues regulate our relationship with the other person.

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These are the virtues of charity and justice. Justice requires that we render to
another what is due to him. We render to a person that which belongs to him by
right. Justice therefore presupposes the right of the person.
And yet, we may render also to another something which does not belong to him
by right. We render it to him on the basis of our charity and concern for him.
Unlike justice, charity is not a legal obligation. But it is no less binding upon us,
because we are morally bound to be united to others on the basis of mutual love
and respect.
The Different Application of Justice
St. Thomas Aquinas defines justice as the firm and constant will to give each one
his due (Sum. Theol. II.II, 58, 1). This means giving to one his own or his right. By
right we mean that which is strictly owed according to equality, the equality of
proportion.
Equality of proportion does not imply that we render to all persons one and the
same thing in the manner of mathematical equation or division.
People differ from each other and insofar as "one is different from another, there is
a corresponding diversity also in the measure of rights and of the claim to rights"
(Bernard Haring, The Law of Christ, Vol. 1, 515).
Accordingly, we distinguish the following types of justice:
1. Commutative Justice
Commutative justice regulates and harmonizes the exercise of rights between man
and man.
It covers private persons as well as juridical persons (communities or associations)
to render to each other according to the principle of give and take. This means
that the exchange of anything shall be based on equal value. The business
transaction of equitable pricing of goods is an example of commutative application
of justice.
2. Distributive Justice
Distributive justice regulates the exercise of rights between the individual and the
community.
The objective end of this form of justice is the private or particular good of each
member of the community.
Distributive justice therefore regulates the acts of the public authority or of the
State in relation to the rights of the individual citizen or party. It presupposes these
rights as something which public authority or community ought to preserve and
respect. It is distributive justice which regulates the imposition of taxes, fees, or
privileges by the community upon the individual member. Likewise, the individual
members practice distributive justice by accepting uncomplainingly the equitable
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distribution of burdens and privileges (Haring, Ibid., 517)

3. Legal Justice
Legal justice regulates the exercise of rights between the community and the
authority charged with the welfare of the community. The objective purpose of
legal justice is the common good.
The "common good" refers to the sum total of those conditions of social living
necessary and contributory to the development of man within the community
(Haring, Free and Faithful in Christ, 273). The imposition of laws derives from legal
justice. Legal and distributive justice complement each other. "In the measure in
which the individual devotes his powers and resources to the common welfare, the
community must show its concerns for his particular welfare", observes Bernard
Haring (Law of Christ, I, 517).
One who does more for the community is entitled to greater respect and
advantage from the community itself. Participation in privileges, on the other hand,
obliges the individual member of the community to ever greater effort to dedicate
himself and his resources with a fuller sense of responsibility to the community
(ibid.).
4. Social Justice
Social Justice presupposes commutative justice as a condition. But it goes far
beyond the requirements of commutative justice. Its objective purpose is the
common good, and is thus also called "justice of the common welfare" or justice of
the community". Where commutative justice depends on the law or legal contracts
between individuals, social justice draws its force from the solidarity of men living
in the community of persons. (ibid.).
The model of social justice is the solidly united family where the common interest
prevails and where it is self-evident that the weaker members have just claim on
the stronger ones and on the solidarity of all.
(Free and Faithful in Christ, 273).
In the political order the State has the obligation to safeguard every member of
the community, life, sustenance, and the opportunity of work.
In the individual level, social justice imposes the obligation to assist those in need
so that they too are able to live in the manner worthy of their dignity as persons.
Taking the Philippine situation as a case example, Vitaliano Gorospe describes how
social justice may operate:
In a country where about 80 percent of the people are below the food and poverty
thresholds, promoting justice does not only mean a struggle to defend human
rights. For the Christian, justice means making a preferential option for the poor
and sharing one's talent,
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treasure, and time with them. In practice magpakatao para sa kapwa means three
things:
(1) sharing with others especially the poor;
(2) "subversion" in the sense of struggling for structural and cultural change,
simplicity of lifestyle, because by having more and more, the great majority of the poor
may have less and less (op. cit. 117).
The Development of People
Every attempt at increasing production must be ultimately for the service of man.
"Economics and technology have no meaning except from man whom they should
serve. And man is only truly man in as far as, master of his own acts and judge of
their worth, he is author of his own advancement, in keeping with the nature
which was given to him by his Creator and whose possibilities and exigencies he
himself freely assumes." (ibid. no. 34)
1. The development of people must begin with the fulfilment of basic education.
"Indeed, hunger for education is no less debasing than hunger for food: an
illiterate is a person with an undernourished mind. To be able to read and write, to
acquire a professional formation, means to recover confidence in oneself and to
discover that one can progress along with others."
(ibid. no. 35).
2. The family contributes the social foundation of development. It is within the
family that a person finds his "true identity" in the society of persons. The "natural
family, monogamous and stable, such as the divine plan conceived it and as
Christianity sanctified it, must remain the place where the various generations
come together and help one another to grow wiser and to harmonize personal
rights with the other requirements of social life". (ibid. no. 36)
3. Professional organizations contributes likewise to the development of man. "By
means of the information they provide and the formation they propose, they can
do much to give to all a sense of the common good and of the consequent
obligations that fall upon each person." (no. 38).
Even the plurality of professional organizations and trade unions is not an obstacle
to development, provided the religious orientation of life to its final end, the
human rights, freedom and dignity of man - are respected.
4. The promotion of culture is no less an important factor in the success of human
Development
The Encyclical notes:
Rich or poor, each country possesses a civilization handed down by their
ancestors: institutions called for by life in this world, and higher manifestations of
the life of the spirit,
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manifestations of an artistic, intellectual and religious character. When the letter

possesses true human values, it would be grave error to sacrifice them to the
former. A people that would bact in this way would thereby lose the best of its
patrimony; in order to live, it's would be sacrificing its reasons for living. Christ's
teaching also applies to people: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world
if he suffers the loss of his soul" (ibid. no. 40)
The development of people aims for "complete humanism", the fully rounded
development of the whole man and all men. It is a humanism rooted in God.
Indeed, only God can assure man of his deepest and most meaningful
development as required by his human nature and dignity.
Duties to our Neighbor on the basis of Justice
In the reciprocity of rights and duties, whatever right we may claim for ourselves
we must owe as a duty towards our neighbor. Accordingly, we may classify our
duties to our neighbor as (1) those pertaining to their body; (2) those pertaining to
their soul; and (3) those pertaining to their property.

1. Duties to our Neighbour’s Body

Every person has the right to his life, bodily integrity and health. This right comes
from the force of natural law and we are bound to respect it, both morally and
legally. The general rule is to refrain from any activity that, directly or indirectly,
endangers the health or life of another.
The Decalogue expresses these duties as prohibitive commands, requiring the
omission of certain acts because such acts are unjust. Included in these
prohibitions are: murder, abortion, rape and sexual abuse, slavery, prostitution,
drug pushing, kidnapping, torture, illegal detention, and many other unjust
activities, not necessarily considered crimes.
2. Duties to our Neighbour’s Soul
Every person has the right to the truth and to the good that befits his rational soul.
This is a right from natural law, since man is endowed with the intellect for
knowing the truth and the will for desiring that which is good.
The right to know the truth belongs to a person on account of his rational nature
and on account of his particular station in life. On the basis of rational nature,
every person has the right to be informed and to be educated. Thus, we say that
children have the right to be educated and to be sent to school limited only by the
actual resources of the parents.
On the basis of one's station in life, a person has the right of jurisdiction over the
persons under him and, therefore, exercises the right to be informed on the truths
about them and about their activities. Thus, we say that parents have the right to

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be told what their children are up to, or about their personal activities which fall
within the concern of parenthood.
Moral prohibitions in this regard includes: lies, dishonesty, fraud, slander, gossips,
disrespect, disobedience, infidelity, and abuse of trust.
3. Duties to our Neighbor's Property
Every person has the right of ownership over his properties and belongings. Such
rights imply the moral power to use and to exclude from such use other persons.
"Property" in its ordinary meaning refers to extremal and material goods which,
properly speaking, can be possessed, disposed of, or consumed. "Property",
however, could also mean the results of one's work and personal cultivation. In
this sense, we speak of "good name" or reputation as a property of a person.
With reference to the material property of our neighbor, prohibitions cover the
following: stealing, trespassing, invasion of privacy, plagiarism, arson, land
grabbing, squatting, fencing for stolen properties, vandalism, malversation, and
many more.
Restitution Demanded by Justice
Restitution is the reparation of the violated right of another. One who wilfully
violates the right of another is bound by natural law, and for the sake of social
security and peace, to make a honest effort of restitution.
Restitution is a difficult thing to do. Where the damage inflicted on another is not
materially quantifiable, such as physical injury or death, restitution becomes almost
an impossible task.
This is precisely a reason why we should be most careful not to violate the right of
another.
In the case where the damage inflicted is materially quantifiable, the duty of
restitution is measured by the amount to be restored. Therefore, the greater the
damage, the greater and heavier is the duty to make restitution.
Since it is impossible to assess damage by private initiative without the risk of
committing further injustice, such decisions are normally entrusted to the court or
judges to decide. It is not rare that a court decides not only on the actual damages
but also on moral damages if the act committed against a person is attended by
scandal, public embarrassment, anxiety and
worry.
Punishment of crimes takes the form of restitution, especially in those cases that
entail irreparable damages. The Talmudic concept of restitution is that of "an eye
for an eye". The Filipino sense of justice, though crude in the perception of some,
is expressed in the adage:
"Buhay and inutang,
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The Principle of Self-Defense

Apolinario Mabini is referring to the principle of self-defense when he states: "Love
your neighbor as yourself, because God has imposed upon him as well as upon
you the obligation to help you and not to do to you what he does not want to be
done to him by you; but if your neighbor, failing in this sacred duty, attempts
against your life, liberty, or interest, therefore,you must destroy him and annihilate
him, because the supreme law of self-preservation must prevail." (Verdadero
Decalogue, no. 9).
Our inalienable right to life includes its defense from an unjust aggressor. An
unjust aggressor is anyone who without proper authority and just reason attempts
against our life, property, interests, or loved ones.
A would-be robber, rapist, kidnapper, or hold upper fall within the category of an
unjust aggressor.
Under normal circumstances, injustices done to us by another is settled by the
court and this is after the fact of the evil deed. The principle of self-defense
foresees that situation where a person is unjustly threatened by an unjust
aggressor whose clear motive is to inflict physical harm, or even death, here and
now. In this situation, the law of self-preservation grants a reasonable defense of
one's right being threatened. The principle of self-defense may therefore be
invoked provided the following conditions are observed:
1. The attack is unjust. The attack comes from an aggressor who is acting in his
own private authority and not from duly constituted authority.
A criminal who is about to be executed by public authority may not kill his
executioner on the basis of self-defense.
In like manner, police officers arresting a criminal may not presume that they have
the authority to "salvage" their quarry without falling into the category of being an
unjust aggressor.
2. The attack is serious in nature. It is serious when the attempt is clearly
motivated by the desire to inflict physical injury or death. One who resents an
insult hurled against him is not justified to kill his tormentor by killing him. In this
case, he becomes the unjust aggressor
and not the
3. The defense must be simultaneous to the attack. One may not kill his enemy
who merely threatens but does not actually attack. Neither should one kill someone
who had sometime earlier attacked him. It is therefore required that the actual defense
is not before or after the attack.
4. The means employed are reasonable. The purpose of self-defense is to thwart
an attack and not necessarily to assault or murder an assailant. Therefore, if it

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suffices that an assailant is disarmed, knocked down, or rendered unconscious,

no further action against him is required.
5. The end of the defender is honest. This means that the only motive of the
defender is saving himself, even if in the process he causes the death of the
aggressor. (cf. Paul
Glenn, Ethics, 192-196).

The Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment

Does the State have the right and, therefore, the authority to impose capital
punishment, that is, to put to death a criminal? Advocates of human rights oppose
capital punishment as cruel, inhuman, uncivilized and inconsistent with reason. The
Constitution of the Philippines has abolished capital punishment, but does not
prohibit Congress to impose death penalty for
"heinous crimes".
The Pros of Capital Punishment.
Just as an individual may invoke self-defense, the State, charged with the care of
society, has the right and the power to defend the citizens from criminals. When
imprisonment or isolation is not commensurate to the crime, or to the notoriety of
the criminal, capital punishment may be imposed as a choice of lesser evil.
Henry Davis, theologian, supports this view:
―God has given to the State the right over life and death, as He has given to every
man the right of self-defense against unjust aggression.
This moral power of the State has been universally acknowledged in Christian
tradition. It is explicitly declared in Scripture to have existed in the Jewish State
(Exodus 22, 18 sqq.); it was recognized in the Roman polity by S. Paul (Rom. 13,
4): "For he (the Prince) is God's minister
to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear; for he beareth not the
sword in vain."
Henry Davis declares that every person has the right to live without "unjust
molestation" from others. Capital punishment is therefore necessary for peace and
security of life and property.
In his thinking, capital punishment is a deterrent so that citizens may live and go
about their activities without molestation. Nonetheless, he would allow capital
punishment under the following conditions:
1. The criminal is given "due process" in court;
2. The crime imputed to him must be deserving of the highest possible
punishment;

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3. The guilt of the criminal is sufficiently proved beyond any doubt.

(Moral and Pastoral Theology, II, 151-152).
The Cons of Capital Punishment.
While there are indeed numerous texts from the Scripture supportive of capital
punishment, such are not acceptable since "they were written at a time when
blood vengeance was exacted for murder and it was believed that the blood of the
victim cried out from the earth until it had been avenged by the blood of the
murderer" (Brendan Soane, Capital Punishment, what does the Church Teach?
p.18). "Precisely" Jesus repudiated the law of talion, which demanded an eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Instead, Jesus taught us to love our enemies and
do good to those who harm us. Although this does not mean that we should not
punish at all, for we have seen that punishment can be good and just, it is a claim
on us to temper the severity of punishment with a mercy which is born of love"
(ibid.).
Another argument advanced is that capital punishment is not the only alternative
open for punishing criminals. The alternative in modern societies is imprisonment
for life. This is a serious deprivation which expresses sufficiently society's
condemnation of wilful murder.
Capital punishment is a destructive action which needs a special justification, a
special pleading. Capital punishment should never be compared with surgery
where the intention is the preservation of life and not the extinction of life. Directly
harmful actions which do not bring benefit to one who suffers them are hard to
justify. Such is capital punishment for its directly destroys the life of a person,
preventing him to make amends and to change his life. Indeed,it is presumed that
the State has the duty to rehabilitate criminals.
Likewise, Brendan Soane doubts whether in fact capital punishment is a deterrent
to crimes.
He writes:
It may seem strange that it cannot be proved that the death penalty is an effective
deterrent,
but there are a number of reasons why it may not be. For the death penalty to
deter a number of conditions would have to be satisfied. The criminal would have
go consider the possible outcome of his crime before committing it. But many
murders are crimes of passion, committed feelings are running high. Often the
murderer does not intend that his criminal activities will end up with a murder.
Sometimes at the time of the crime his state of mind is such that hedoes not care
what becomes of him; nothing seems so important as attacking his victim (Ibid.
24)

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Admitting that there are indeed cases where murderers who have killed again after
their release from prison, Bendan Soanne affirms that even in these cases the
solution is not putting these criminals to death but by intensifying security in
prisons.
Bernard Haring suggests that crimes are the result of socio-environmental
conditions. He declares as his personal conviction "that the State has no right to
uphold the death penalty unless it has done all in its power to give better
education and to care for a more just and humane environment".
• He notes:
A supreme court that practically forces parents to send their children into an
educational system where the teaching of religion and an ethics based on faith is
forbidden should not be entitled to endorse the death penalty, for many crimes
flow from that very system of education
(Free and Faithful in Christ, p. 39)
Recapitulation: There are two probable opinions within Christianity and within the
Catholic Church regarding the death penalty. This author favors the reimposition of
capital punishment for "heinous crimes" and for as long as the conditions providing
for a just and honest trial of criminals are observed strictly. The Philippine situation
indicate that life imprisonment is not a very promising alternative.
Esteban B. Bautista, Director, Institute of Government and Law Reform, University
of the Philippines Law Center, considers life imprisonment impractical in view of
the present conditions obtaining in our prisons and the present state of our
economy. Indeed, our prisons are overpopulated and congested and the economy
of the country can ill afford to feed and provide even minimal decent facilities to
our prisoners.

MODULE 11
Marriage

Persons acquire special duties on account of their moral and legal relationship to
one another.
One such relationship is established in marriage.
The 1988 Family Code of the Philippines defines marriage as "a special contract of
permanent
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union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with the law for
the establishment of conjugal and family life" (Title I, Chapter I, Art. 1).
Nature of Marriage
Marriage is a moral and legal contract between a man and a woman. It is a moral
contract because it is entered into by both parties, giving free and voluntary
consent. It is a legal contract because it is solemnized in accordance with the law.
For Christians, particularly Catholics, marriage is of divine institution, While the
spouses enter into a marriage by their free and voluntary, "this freedom regards
only the question whether the contracting parties really wish to enter upon
matrimony or to marry this particular person‖
(Encyclical on Christian Marriage, no. 6). Marriage as such is entirely independent
of the free will of man. Thus, upon entering the married state, a person becomes
subject to its divinely made laws and its essential properties (ibid.)
Legal Requirements for Marriage
1. Contracting parties must be a male and a female of legal age. This means that
both parties are free from any legal impediments and are 18 years old or above.
Some legal impediments are: (a) existing previous marriage; (2) mental or
psychological incapacity;
(3) blood or legal relationships, such as that of brother and sister, or that of an
adopter and an adopted child; (4) treachery or deceit, such as when one party
killed the spouse of the other in order to facilitate marriage (Art. 35-38).
2. Free and voluntary consent must be expressed in the presence of the
solemnizing officer. This means that consent given mutually but in private, no
matter how sincerely expressed, does not constitute a valid marital conflict.
Cohabitation, or live-in arrangement is not a legal marriage.
Purpose of Marriage
Marriage has the twofold purposes of establishing a conjugal life (companionship)
and the establishing a family (procreation and support of children).
The married state constitutes a conjugal society. Conjugal society, as defined by
Paul Glenn, is "the stable union entered into by a man and a man for the
procreation and education of children and for mutual support and helpfulness"
(Ethics, 232).
Marriage is a natural institution. Man is drawn to it by the necessity of his natural
nature.
While marriage is not necessary in order to beget children, it is necessary for the
purpose of care and training of children.

The welfare of the children then is the primary purpose of marriage. This is
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precisely why marriage by nature and by divine will is a stable or permanent

relationship since the welfare of the children would not otherwise be assured.
The secondary purpose of marriage is mutual support and companionship.
Marriage is a state where spouses complement each other. Love and concern for
each other is the foundation of a happy marriage. Without such love and
appreciation for each other, no man and woman can be together permanently.
Thus, such love which draws spouses in marriage must be more
than physical attachment, sexual attraction, or infatuation. It is the deep
commitment of matured persons for each other.
The Sanctity of Marriage
Marriage is not simply a civil contract binding man and woman to accomplish a
task. It is the sanctified union of the souls of the spouses.
Pope Pius XI declares: "By matrimony, therefore, the souls of the contracting
parties are joined and knit together more directly and more intimately than are
their bodies, and that not by- passing affection of sense or spirit, but by a
deliberate and firm act of the will; and this union of souls by God's decree, a
sacred and inviolable bond arises (On Christian Marriage, no. 7).

"Therefore, the sacred partnership of true marriage is constituted both by the will
of God and the will of man. From God comes the very institution of marriage, the
ends for which it was instituted, the laws that govern it, the blessings that flow
from it; while man, through generous surrender of his own person made to
another for the whole span of life, becomes, with the help and co-operation of
God, the author of each particular marriage, with the duties and blessings annexed
thereto from divine institution (ibid. no. 9)‖

The sanctity of marriage derives from the holiness of God who instituted it and
from the honest surrender of man's will to the natural law of his being. Indeed,
man is directed by his nature to marriage without however being compelled to
enter it out of necessity. The freedom of choice, even to enter marriage, belongs
to the person.
The Indissolubility of Marriage
The Family Code recognizes marriage as a permanent contract. This means that
the validity of the contract once rendered effective by law, remains in force until
the death of one of the spouses.
The permanence of marriage is derived from its purpose. If marriage were a
temporary arrangement, the care and training of children would not be attained
fully. Thus,
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"Broken homes" contributes to juvenile delinquency. Furthermore, if marriage were

simply a temporary "live-in" arrangement, conjugal love is rendered uncertain and
anxious in the absence of a lasting commitment. In this atmosphere of confused
worry, no human being can develop family in accordance with his dignity.
There are those, of course, who would rather be freed from conventions. They
consider themselves "liberated", not needing "papers" to express their genuine
love. The fact is that they are not truly liberated, since they are unable to rise
above their biological desires and bind themselves instead to the demands of
reason. For indeed, marriage is not simply a piece of document, a paper, but the
expressed desire of reason to give oneself to another – wholly and completely,
now and forever. Aptly Jean de Fabreguez observes:
"This is a fatal blow to those who, enmeshed by biological needs, thought
themselves "free".
What a factual, down-to-earth "slice of life"!
When one is not consecrated to one other then one of the two becomes simply the
means, the instrument of the other, and the most wonderful
"moment" becomes a faded rag, a broken toy. For the sake of both the one and
the other for the true work of man which is to build the future, we must give a
pledge to the future (Christian
Marriage, London, Burns & Oates, p.62).
The indissolubility of marriage comes from natural law which demands that no one
may use another person for his own personal advantage. Indeed, Filipinos regard it
degrading to be "used" or to be treated as "panakip butas lamang".
The Meaning of Conjugal Love
It is obvious from common sense that when man and woman enter marriage, they
do so not to have sexual intimacy since this could be had even outside the married
state. Rather, inspired and motivated by their love for each other, they commit
themselves to each other in building a common life of sharing. Conjugal love
therefore is not the effect of biology, nor "the product of evolution of unconscious
natural forces. It is the rational and reciprocal giving of the self in the spirit of love.
"By means of the reciprocal personal gift of self, proper and exclusive to them,
husband and wife tend towards personal perfection, to collaborate with God
in the generation and education of new lives" (Humane Vitae, no. 8).
Characteristics of Conjugal love:
1. It is human. It is not merely the appetite of the senses. It is instead "an act of
the free will, intended to endure and to grow by means of the joys and sorrows of
daily life, in such a way that husband and wife becomes one only heart and one
only soul, and together attain their human perfection" (ibid. n. 9).
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2. It is total. It is a special form of friendship of generous sharing of everything,

without undue reservations or selfish calculations. "Whoever truly loves his
marriage partner loves not only for what he receives, but for the partner's self,
rejoicing that he can enrich his partner with the gift of himself" (Ibid.).

3. It is faithful and exclusive until death. Love, if it must be genuine, must be

lasting.
This permanence comes from the vows of fidelity to each other. A conditional love,
where certain factors foreseen or not are provided as prerequisite to fidelity, is not
authentic love. It is timid and selfish love because it puts personal interest above
theinterest of the union itself. It belongs to the essence of love itself that it be
faithful and exclusive, because happiness and security cannot thrive in an
atmosphere of uncertainty and fearful anxiety.

4. It is fecund. It is fertile because it helps husband and wife grow in mutual

respect and love and concern for each other. It is fertile because such love is not
exhausted by the spouses, but is transferred and continued in the children.
Fecundity, in this sense, is not measured by the number of children a couple have,
but by the quality of life it offers for the members of the family.

Responsible Parenthood
Marriage leads to parenthood. This is the primary purpose of marriage that
children are generated and cared for. "Children are really the supreme gift of
marriage and contribute very substantially to the welfare of their parents" (no. 9).
There was a time before the advent of contraceptives when parenthood meant
simply providing food, clothing, shelter and education to the offsprings. Today,
mainly because of economic factors, as the exigency of providing the necessities of
life has become more obtain, parenthood has become a heavier challenge.
Today, responsible parenthood includes the ability to make an honest decision on
the size of the family, on the number of children that couples can manage to care
for and to support given their resources. In spite of the intimately private nature of
this decision, it has a wide socio-moral implication, making such decision difficult.
In many countries, especially those referred to as Third World, the size of the
family and the methods to be employed towards this particular
objective has become a political controversy. Concededly, the decision has to be
made by the parents themselves. But such decision shall not be based solely on
personal motives but on the requirement of the family itself and of the common
good of society. Certainly, such a decision is moral and, therefore, cannot be
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arrived at without recourse to the moral order established in human

nature by God. Humane Vitae is emphatic about this:
In the task of transmitting life, therefore, they are not free to proceed completely
at will, as if they could determine in a wholly autonomous way the honest path to
follow; but they must conform their activity to the creative intention of God,
expressed in the very nature of marriage and of its acts, and manifested by the
constant teaching of the Church (No. 10)
Family Planning as a program for the regulation of the size of the family is not
the issue of debate. The controversy canters on the methods of family planning.
The Catholic Church, for one, is opposed to all methods of intentional and
artificial contraception, regarding them as
immoral and contrary to natural law.
Sex and Marriage
Despite today's focus on sex and related problems, sex is not that all important in
a happy marriage. This conclusion was arrived at by Ellen Frank and Carol
Anderson who conducted a study of 100 happily married couples whose ages
range from their early 20s to their early
60s.

In examining the responses to our questionnaires, we discovered that over 90

percent of the couples had less-than-perfect sexual relationship. Yet more than 80
percent rated their marriages as "very happy" or "happy".
Almost all of these individuals denied this lack of sexual bliss was a problem for
them, and none expressed a need for change. Apparently, a sexual problem is not
synonymous with a marital one. How Important is Sex to a Happy Marriage.,
Readers' Digest, August 1979, 102-
104).
Sex is a normal biological need. In this sense, it is good. It is besides moral and,
therefore, permissible only when its natural end or purpose is preserved. This is
why Bree Martha sex is wrong, not because it may not generate off spring, but
precisely because it may result in offspring who scare is uncertain. It is only within
marriage that the natural end of sex that is procreation is capable of being
respected procreation. In so far as it is, the natural end of the
sex act requires responsibility and its use.
In marriage, the sex act is moral, even if procreation is not always achieved, but to
deliberately frustrate the natural end of sex by artificial means, so that couples
may avail of its pleasures only while refusing responsibility over its consequences is
immoral. It is not required that couples exercising the marital act also intense
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procreation what is required is that each and every marriage act must be open to
the transmission of life.
Rights and Duties of Husband and Wife
The Family Code lists these reciprocal rights and duties of couples in the married
state:
1. The husband and wife are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect
and fidelity, and render mutual help and support (Art. 68).
2. The husband and wife shall fix the family domicile. In case of disagreement, the
court shall decide (Art. 69).
3. The spouses are jointly responsible for the support of the family (Art. 70).
4. The spouses are jointly responsible for the management of the household (Art.
71).
5. When one of the spouses neglects his or her duties to the union or commits acts
which tend to bring danger, dishonour or injury to the other or to the family, the
aggrieved party may apply to the court for relief (Art. 72).
6. Either spouse may exercise any legitimate profession occupation, business or
activity without the consent of the other. The latter may object only on valid,
serious, and moral grounds. In case of disagreement, the court shall decide (Art.
73).
The Family Code emphasizes the equality between man and woman as persons
and as conjugal partners. While as persons, husband and wife are indeed equal,
giving them equal powers and responsibility in the management and in the support
of the family opposes the traditional Filipino concept of the man as padre de
familia, with the legal and moral responsibility of supporting, providing and caring
for the welfare of the whole family. The intrusion of the court, and family life is not
worthy. It anticipates the conflict that will arise inevitably in a situation, where
both parties claim the same authority, thereby increasing the
possibility of disagreement and dissension.

Authority of Husband
In contrast to the equal sharing of authority by husband and wife, as suggested by
the Family Code, the Christian tradition takes the husband as the bearer of such
authority. He alone is ultimately responsible for the wife and the children. This
does not mean, of course, that the husband is decidedly superior to the wife. It
means simply that husband and wife have distinct functions and responsibilities in
the furtherance of the welfare of the family:
The scriptural pattern of authority in the family carries no judgment on the value
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of either husband or wife. The wife's submission does not mean that she is passive
- inferior, unequal, or immature. Nor does the husband's authority say that he is
better, smarter, or more important. There is an equality of worth between husband
and wife in Christ, yet a distinction of responsibilities (Ralph Martin: Husbands,
Wives, Parents, Children, p. 27).
The imposition of authority on the husband does away with the struggle for power
that paralyzes many marriages. Minor decisions in the family are settled quickly,
allowing more time for couples to enter into a meaningful dialogue on matters of
grave importance. Indeed, when decisions affecting the family must be made, it
would be wise for husband and wife to discuss the matter thoroughly and
together.
But if in dialogue no decision could be reached, then it is the responsibility of the
husband to decide how to the issue must be settled. In this situation, the husband
must open himself to all alternatives, seeking always what is wise and right.
Obviously, the prudent husband would not insist on his opinion for its own sake.
He must be ready to listen to his wife's opinion, or seek counsel from elders and
friends.
Legal Separation
Legal Separation is a legal act allowing husband and wife to live separately from
each other with the marriage bonds remaining in force.

The Family Code provides for legal separation on the following grounds (Art. 55):
1. Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the
petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner,
2. Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious
or political affiliation;
3. Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a
child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption
or inducement;
4. Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six
years, even if pardoned;
5. Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent;
6. Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
7. Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in
the Philippines or abroad;
8. Sexual infidelity or perversion;
9. Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; or
10. Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more
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than one year.

While legal separation is provided by law, no decision on such matter shall be
decreed "unless the Court has taken steps towards the reconciliation of the
spouses and if fully satisfied, despite such efforts, that reconciliation is highly
improbable" (Art. 59).
Adultery
Adultery is infidelity to the marriage vows. Conjugal love, we have mentioned
earlier, is total and exclusive. It cannot have any third party intruding into the
union of husband and wife.
Adultery is committed when either the husband or wife indulges in sexual
intercourse with any third person. Such is what we refer to as a "love triangle" , an
unholy alliance that has caused so much suffering, including the breaking up of the
family. Adultery is therefore considered both morally and legally objectionable.
In the existing double standard morality of the Filipinos and fidelity of the husband,
tolerated, and even expected, while the wife is expected to be chaste, and to be a
sort of martyr, the husband is congratulated for his ―Machismo‖. It is no wonder
that having a mistress has become a status symbol even among jeepney drivers
and market vendors. Such "double standard" mentality is completely wrong. It is
discriminatory of women, both of wife and mistress. But above all it is destructive
of family peace and harmony.
Adultery is intrinsically evil whether it be committed by the husband or the wife.
The Scriptures
condemns even adulterous thoughts: "Whoever shall look on a woman to lust after
her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt. 28).
Divorce
Divorce is the legal act which confers on married couples the right to remarry after
the complete dissolution of their marriage. Divorce, therefore, contradicts the
indissolubity of marriage.
Advocates of divorce argue that every man and woman has the right to correct his
or her mistake in choosing a partner. This is illogical, because it assumes that
divorce will guide them in their future choice. It is also argued that couples who
cannot bear children should have the right to change partners in order precisely to
accomplish the purpose of procreation. This argument is equally faulty because it
assumes that childbearing is a condition for love to thrive.
Besides, couples who truly love each other need not divorce if all they need to
have are children. They can always adopt and be truly parents. While divorce is
legalized in some countries, its immoral implications are not removed. Studies
show that, even in countries where it is accepted, couples prefer to stick it out
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together and work very hard to attain harmonious relationship based on mutual
concern, love and fidelity.
The Catholic Church opposes divorce as an evil against the person, the family and
the state.
"The serious nature of these evils," declares Pope Pius XI, "will be more clearly
recognized, when we remember that, once divorce has been allowed, there will be
no sufficient means of keeping it in check within any definite bounds. Great is the
force of example, greater Still that of lust" (On Christian Marriage, no. 91).

MODULE 12
THE FAMILY

The family springs from marriage. Filipinos regard the family as the center of their
lives, their primary support and the source of their moral strength and motivation.
The family is the first
human society.
Society in General
Society is a moral union of men for the purpose of attaining a common end
(Panizo: 172).
Man by nature is a social animal. He cannot survive alone. He needs other men. It
is through society that man is afforded the means for personal growth,
development and happiness.
Human life is characterized by the complexity of its needs. It is only when men
bind themselves together to help and support one another than true progress,
material and spiritual, is achieved.
Kinds of society:
1. Natural and Positive. A society which is derived from natural law, from the
essential need of man as man, is called natural society. Such is the family and the
political state. A society which is derived from a human positive law is called a
positive society. Such are political parties, business organizations, professional
groups.
2. Necessary and Unnecessary. With reference to the needs of man as man, some
societies are necessary and man cannot do away with them. Such are the family
and the state. Others are unnecessary and man has the option to be a
part of it or not.
The Family
The family is the first and the most fundamental unit of society. It is made up of

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the father, mother, children and relatives. The family is a necessary society, which
is derived from the natural law. It springs from the conjugal love between husband
and wife, and sustained by and its efforts towards its objective.
The objective of the family is the promotion of the physical and spiritual welfare of
its members.
It is from the family that the State derives its strength and direction. The family
because it is directed by nature towards the procreation and education of children
supplies the State with its human resources. Above all, it provides for the
propagation and permanence of the human species.
Aristotle regards the family as prior to the State. And St. Thomas Aquinas
considers marriage and family life more closely related with human nature.

The Ideal Family

Parents and children are bound to each other, not only by the laws of genetics, but
by the law of love. It is wrong to believe that the success of the family in procuring
those material needs and luxuries of life constitutes happiness: Without genuine
love permeating the family, the relationship is sterile and, if the bond exists at all,
is one which feeds on mere convenience.
Genuine love in the home between parents and between parents and children
provides the solid foundation of a good home. There is no greater dynamics than
love that could inspire and stimulate parents to be devoted, patient, kind, and
forgiving to each other and to their children.
Love is the magic lens enabling one to see the good in the bad, the beautiful in the
ugly, the divine in the common place (Catapusan-Catapusan, Introduction to
Sociology, 1973, 216).
The Family and the Child
Marriage is not the pleasure of marital sex. The end of nature is not pleasure. But
pleasure is an incentive for spouses to embark on the most difficult task of building
a home for the child.
The child is the product of love who must be reared with the tender hands of love.
The child deserves to be loved and be taught how to love.
"The true, the great, the only right of the child is to have a real family and, as
always, divine and human laws are united in making it a holy right, says Jean de
Fabregues (Christian
Marriage, 105).
The greatest tragedy in this world is the failure to provide a family, a shelter of
love, for the child. Jean de Fabregues would not condemn the five thousand
youngsters who held captive Stockholm for three hours, overturing cars, breaking
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windows, rocking the tombstones in the central cemetery. He would not refer to
them as "five thousand criminals, or five thousand freaks". He referred to them as
"the normal fruit of a society that had embraced a vacuum, a religious and
intellectual vacuum, all expressed in - one might almost say "incarnate in" - the
absence of the family (ibid.104)
The Education of the Child
The education of the child is the primary responsibility of the parents. Having
brought him out unto this world, the parents have to care for the child, not only
that he may survive physically, but that he may find a place for him in the
community of persons. Every child has the right to education. Each has a right to a
fruitful and happy life in accordance with his human dignity.
The parents are tasked with the duty of educating the child. St. Thomas Aquinas
declares that "nature intends not merely the generation of the offspring, but
also its development and advance to the perfection of man considered as man,
that is, to the state of virtue. This duty continues up to the time the child is able to
provide for himself.
Society or the state has a complimentary duty to assist the family in the education
of the child.
It also belongs to the State to protect the rights of the child itself when the parents
are found wanting either physically or morally in this respect, whether by default,
incapacity, or misconduct, since, as has been shown, their right to educate is not
an absolute and despotic one but dependent on the natural and divine law, and
therefore subject alike to the authority and jurisdiction of the Church, and to the
vigilance and administrative care of the State in view of the common good (Pius
XI, Christian Education of Youth).
In relation to that of the State, the duty of parents to educate the child is an
alienable right which the state may not usurp for its own purpose.
The State may not compel parents to have their child be educated in the manner
against their will (ibid.).
Parental Authority
Parental authority is natural and essential for the governance of the family. It is
natural because it flows from the responsibility of procreating and educating the
offspring. It is essential because without it the goals of the family would be
impossible to attain.
The Family Code provides that "the father and the mother shall jointly~ exercise
parental authority over the persons of their common children" and - that such
children shall respect and submit themselves to this authority (Art. 211). Parents
cannot renounce or transfer such parental authority unless decreed by law (Art.
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210).
Parental authority shall include "the caring for and the rearing (children) for civic
consciousness and efficiency and the development of their moral, mental and
physical character and wellbeing (Art. 209).
Emancipation of the Child
Emancipation is the state of independence from parental authority. Emancipation
commences at the age of majority, that is, at the age of 21 years.
Emancipation is also attained when (1) a minor enters marriage; (2) parents and
minor, at least 18 yrs. old, enter into an agreement for such purpose and properly
executed through public instrument with the Civil Registration (Art. 234)
Filial Piety
While human laws provide for the emancipation of the child, the natural moral law
perpetually binds children in filial piety. Filial piety, derived from the latin "filius" or
son, is the love and devotion which children must profess to their parents.
Filial piety is a natural duty of children. Children are flesh and blood extension of
their parents.
They owe parents, not only a debt of gratitude, but a sacred obligation of homage.
The Decalogue as the expressed desire of God exhorts everyone to honor mother
and father.

Filial piety finds an important place in all human cultures. The Confucians make
filial piety the supreme virtue from which all others are derived. Hsiao Ching
writes:
He who lives his parents does not dare to hate others. He who reverences his
parents does not dare to act contemptuously towards others. By love and
reverence being perfectly fulfilled in the service of his parents, his moral influence
is shed upon the people and he becomes a patter for all the border of nations. This
is the filial piety of the Son of Heaven (R.C. Zachner, The Catholic Church and
World Religions, p. 60).

Respect, loyalty and devotion to parents are positive traits of the Filipinos. Neglect
of parents, especially in their sickness or old age, is regarded as an act of supreme
ingratitude, a criminal act deserving of God's punishment. "Ang hindi marunong
lumingon pinangalingar ay di makakarating sa kanyang paruruonan so sound more
like a curse than a reminder.
Rights and Duties of Parents
The Family Code sums up the following rights and duties derived from parental
authority (Art.
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220):
1. To keep children in their company, to support, educate and instruct them by
right precept and good example, and to provide for their upbringing in keeping
with their means;
2. To give them love and affection, advice and counsel, companionship and
understanding;
3. To provide them with moral and spiritual guidance, inculcate in them honesty,
integrity,self-discipline, self-reliance, industry and thrift, stimulate their interest in
civic affairs, and inspire in them compliance with the duties of citizenship;
4. To enhance, protect, preserve and maintain their physical and mental health at
all times;
5. To furnish them with good and wholesome educational materials, supervise their
activities, recreation and association with others, protect them from bad company,
and prevent them from acquiring habits detrimental to their health, studies and
morals;
6. To represent them in all matters affecting their interests;
7. To demand from there respect and obedience;
8. To impose discipline on them as may be required under circumstances; and
9. To perform such other duties as are imposed by law upon parents and
guardians.
Duties of Children
The duties of the children are implied in the above rights of parents and guardians.
1. Children must love, revere and obey their parents;
2. They must obey all the lawful commands of the parents;
3. They must submit to the parents' authority and decisions of them;
4. They must honor their parents at all times, must not speak ill or evil
5. They must never harm their parents physically or morally
6. They must consult and seek the advice of their parents in their parents in their
activities
7. They must help and support their parents in times of need, such as in sickness
and weakness of old age.

The Exploitation of Children

The child is a person. He has a right to his physical and mental health these
human rights of the child are often violated by society itself through various forms
of indirect exploitation.
Exploitation, in general, refers to any act of enticing or inducing a person to act in
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a manner prejudicial to his interest. Exploitation is direct when the inducement is

intended to "use" a person for one's evil purpose, such as forcing a child to steal.
It is indirect when the inducement is not intentional, but nonetheless harmful.
Such is the case of TV shows portraying violence.
Intended primarily as entertainment, these shows provide the child, and even
adults, with that mental conditioning which desensitizes human reason. These
programmes distort reality and,in effect, distort values. The American Academy of
Paediatrics declares in a policy statement:
"Repeated exposure to violence promotes a proclivity to violence"
The evil of mental conditioning is pointed out by Letizia R. Constantino:
"The numbness to violence and the conditioned incapacity to feel anger towards its
perpetrators poses dangers as serious to society as the inclination to resolve
conflicts through violence. The latter produces victims and the former creates a
society indifferent to the victimized (Children as Consumers, Issues Without Tears,
1987, p. 8-9)
Noteworthy likewise is the exposure of children to TV commercials which promote
poor eating habits, Nutritionist recognize the harm form ―junks‖ foods, but they are
helpless . The assault mass media is simply tremendous to counteract.
Child Prostitution
Child prostitution is a lamentable fact in our country. Sexual exploitation and abuse
of children is grossly immoral. Those who procure, entice, seduce, or use children
for their sexual gratification deserve the heaviest penalty possible. It is indeed
unfortunate that since most pedophiles are foreigners, they are merely deported,
and this is due to the lack of interest by parents to press charges.
Extreme poverty is not an excuse for parents and guardians to push the child into
prostitution.
The integrity of the body and soul belongs even to a child who has received them
from God and not from their parents. Neither the parents, nor the child himself,
has the right to sell the function of the human body for sexual gratification even if
the anticipated profit and advantage is enormous.
Child prostitution is an indictment of the condition prevailing in our country. The
extreme poverty which burdens the majority of our people necessarily leads to so
many crimes and abuses to the child.
Child Labor
The laughter of a child is a source of joy. But the cry of pain and anguish of a child
penetrates the heart, wounding it mortally. We cannot be truly happy while
millions of children are hungry and starving in the streets.
The Filipino culture, especially in the agricultural sector, welcomes the idea of
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children working in the fields with the parents. Within the bounds of prudence,
such work done by children is praiseworthy. It teaches them the positive value of
work and helps them attain self-reliance.
In Manila and most cities, it is not uncommon to see children vending cigarettes,
wiping windshields, begging for alms, scavenging in trash cans, or procuring sex.
There is something wrong, very wrong, when children have to work as a matter of
physical survival. The State has the duty to look after the welfare of the citizens,
including that of the children abandoned by their parents. The way we treat our
children, especially "street children", is the true measure of our civilization. If these
children are treated not so unlike the dogs under our dinner tables, then our
country has gone to the dogs indeed!
If children must work, there must be sufficient laws to protect them from abuses
and exploitation. The employer who hires the child has the duty to protect the
health and safety of the child. He should provide for a Just compensation and rest.
He should arrange for a shorter working hour, leaving the child a time for his
recreation, games and studies the employer cannot be indifferent, since in fact, he
assumes the role of a surrogate parent.

Reading:

Everybody Does It
Santiago Dumlao Jr.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy called Johnny. When Johnny was six years
old, he was with his daddy when they were caught over speeding by a motorcycle
policeman. His daddy handed over his driver's license to the policeman, with a
crisp P50 bill. "OK lang, son", the daddy said. "Everybody does it." And away they
drove.
When he was eight years old, he was with his mother, who was driving in a hurry
to shop at the supermarket, and since she could not find available parking space,
she parked the car in a no-parking area. A traffic aide approached, but the mother
was very quick in giving the traffic aide a P20 bill and a promise: "Ill not take very
long." And as Johnny looked at his mother questioningly, she said, "OK lang, son.
Everybody does it."
When Johnny was 10 years old, a Balikbayan favorite aunt visited their house. She
brought expensive electronic products as generous pasalubong: a cassette-radio
recorder for Johnny,
TV and betamax for daddy and a microwave oven for mother,‖ you wrote me you
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wanted all these‖ the aunt told these to mother, who exclaimed ―these are too
expensive! how did you get these through custom?
The aunt said, ―Mare, madali lang yan. Kaunting lambing, sabay ngiti, sabay lagay,
ayos.
When Johnny was 12, he was around the dinner table when his favorite uncle from
Honolulu presided over some business discussion on unpaid real estate taxes over
land still government collectors na mga iyan. Pagbigyan mo sila at pagbibigyan ka
rin." Johnny, who was in grade 6, understood a little but not everything.
But before he could inquire, his daddy said, "OK lang, son. Everybody. does it."
When Johnny was 18, his daddy wanted him so much to enter college, his own
alma matter.
Now, Johnny was a poor performer in high school, and his grades would not
qualify him to be
accepted into college. But daddy had a close friend in the college, in fact the Dean
of Admissions.
Daddy talked privately to the dean, and Johnny was somehow admitted to college
Johnny,who was in grade 6 understood a little but not everything but therefore he
could inquire his daddy said ―OK lang, son. Everybody does it.‖
When Johnny was 18 his daddy wanted him so much to enter college, his own
alma mater.
Now, Johnny was a poor performer in high school, and his grades would not
qualify him to be accepted into college, but Daddy had a close friend in college in
fact, the dean of admissions
Daddy talked privately to the dean, and Johnny was somehow admitted to college.
John was very surprised, but his daddy dropped him on the shoulder reassuringly.
― OK lang, son. Everybody does it.‖
In college on his freshman year before final examinations, John was approached
by an upperclassman the nephew of Johnny’s professor. The upperclassman
offered the test answers for 500 pesos. ―OK lang, son. Everybody does it.‖
During the examinations Johnny was caught cheating, was kicked out of school
and sent home in disgrace.
Johnny’s father was furious and embarrassed. ―How could you do this to your
mother and me?‖ the father asked in agony ―You never learned anything like this
at home.‖ And Johnny’s mother asked, ―Anak, why? Where did we go wrong?‖

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MODULE 13

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

Proponents of the ―Ilog ko, Irog ko‖ River Revival Program held a colorful regatta
at the Tenehreos-Tullahan river and crowned a ―Littke Miss Earth Day‖. It was April
22,1990 – Earth Day, the second of such celebration since 1970.
―With solemnity and joy, the world pause to pay tribute to its common heritage,
Mother Earth, and warm people everywhere that the clock is ticking, and the hour
is late‖, bannered Time International. (April 23, 1990, 20. 17)
The depletion of the substances necessary to support life on earth is a growing
global concern.
Nations have bonded together, laws have been passed, scientific measure have
adopted, conservationist groups have multiplied. The sentiment is that
contemporary man must evolve an ―ecological conscience‖ to guide his efforts in
saving planet Earth.
Environmental Ethics
We may define environmental ethics as the study of man’s moral obligation to
preserve the environment and the natural order of things.
a) Moral Obligation is a perceived duty to perform an act as good, or to avoid an
act as evil. While traditional Ethics does not emphasize man’s obligations towards
animals and environment, a recent theory called Moral Extensionism argues that
―humans have duties to natural entities, and that the rights on which these duties
are founded are based on some intrinsically valuable characteristic of the entity‖.
(Thomas A. Shannon, An Introduction to Bioethics, Paulist Press, NY, 1987, p. 153)
Moral Extensionism departs from the traditional view that environment is valuable
only on account of its relation to humans. It is thought that the lower life forms are
―means‖ towards the promotion of human life. On the contrary, moral
Extensionism insists that environment and creatures have ―meaning in and of
itself‖ beyond mere instrumentality.
b) Preservation of environment is here taken as the final aim of environmental
philosophy. It is based on the assumed truth that man's survival is interrelated
with that of his environment.
c) Respect for the natural order of things points to moral practice. Man must
submit to the demands of natural law and must not intervene carelessly with the
work of Nature. For example, man must "fit" his technology to ecology.
Aldo Leopold regards Ethics as a process of ecological evolution which can be
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explained in both biological and philosophical terms. Biologically, ethics is the

limitation of action in the struggle for existence". Philosophically, ethics is "a
differentiation of social from antisocial conduct". Both definitions mean the same
thing. They both infer the need to evolve modes of cooperation, or symbioses,
from the interdependent relation of individuals or societies. (Aldo

Leopold "The Conservation Ethic, ', Ecological Conscience, Robert Discn (Ed.),
Prentice Hall, Inc. N.Y., 1969, p. 44.
In the evolutionary process, according to Aldo Leopold, "ethical yardsticks" have
beendeveloped to enhance this symbiotic relationship. The first level of ethics dealt
with the relationship between individuals, as illustrated by the Mosaic Decalogue.
The second level dealt with the relationship between individual and society, as
demonstrated by Christianity and democracy. The third level, Aldo Leopold points
out, might be dealing with man's relationship
with the environment. Ibidem: 45)
Ecology
Ecology comes from the Greek work "eikos", meaning, habitation or home. It
refers to earth as our home where we survive and live.
As a science, Ecology is the study of the interrelation of organism in an
environment and of the process linking organism and place.
Environment includes all the external forces or conditions acting on an oremia, and
community of organism. These conditions are climatic, Climatic conditions refer to
the temperature and humidity prevailing in any geographic location.
Chemical conditions refer to the type and concentration of chemicals in soil, water
and air.
Biological conditions refer to the interrelation of organisms or communities of
organism.
Environment is a process, called ecosystem. The global ecosystem, as explained by
Barry
Commoner, is "the closed web of climatic, chemical, and biological processes
created by living things, maintained by living things, and through the marvelous
reciprocities of biological and geochemical evolution, uniquely essential to the
support of living things" An example of an ecosystem is the food chain of prey-
predator type. (Barry Commoner, "The Ecological Fact of
Life", Ecological Conscience, р. 3)
A closed web of interdependence is created when plant is eaten by the mouse
which, in turn, is eaten by the hawk. When the hawk dies, bacteria and fungi
consume it and return mineral elements and simple chemical compounds to the
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air, soil, and water, where they are made available to plants.
The terms biosphere refers to global environment supportive of life.
Environmental Degradation
Environmental degradation is the large-scale despoliation of earth and its resources
as a result of human activities.
Animal and human populations behave similarly when they multiply beyond the
supportive capabilities of their environments. They pollute their habitats, exhausts
natural resources, succumb to severe competition for food, and suffer strife,
malnutrition, disease, and social breakdown. The rapid increase in human
population in the last 100 hundred years has changed the global environment in a
scale comparable to a major geologic or climatic force.

Likewise, while technological advancement have concededly brought comfort to

human life, it is also mainly responsible for the varied ecological problems
threatening man's survival.
The Philippine Situation
The April 22, 1990 issue of Star week gives this picture of the ecological problems
in our country:
- Only 20 percent of the country's forest cover remain. In the 1950s, 75 percent of
the country's land area was covered with tropical rain forests with diverse flora and
fauna.
Due to large-scale mining operations and deforestation upstream, however, our
country is losing 100,000 hectares of productive agricultural land per year in many
provinces. Erosion is on the rise,
- Seventy percent of our coral reefs are now destroyed. Of the remaining corals
only 6 percent are in excellent condition.
- In the 1950s, the archipelago had 500,000 hectares of mangrove. Today, only
38,000 hectares remain.
- Our waters are polluted. All rivers in Metro Manila are biologically dead. Many
more are on the same state in the province.
- No city in the country has a complete sewerage system. In Metro Manila's case,
only 10 percent has sewers.
- The metropolis produces an average of 3,000 tons of garbage a day.
- Motor vehicles contribute 60 percent to the air pollution problems. About half a
million vehicles cannot pass a simple emissions test. The other 40 percent is
blamed on industrial sources.

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Man and Ecology

From the ecological point of view, man is part of the ecosystem. He is not apart,
nor above Nature, but in it. He is rooted on his environment as much as the tree,
and his mortal life is dependent upon the ecosystem.
While man is conscious only of his self, or separate individuality, he has besides
another dimension which is the relatedness of the self. Paul Shepard observes:
"Individual man has his particular integrity, to be sure. Oak trees even mountains
have selves or integrities too (a poor word for my meaning, but it will have to do).
To our knowledge, those forms are not troubled by seeing themselves in more
than one way, as man is. In one aspect the self is an arrangement of organs,
feeling, and thoughts - a"me" - surrounded by a hard body boundary: skin,
clothes, and insular habits. This idea needs no defense. It is conferred on us by the
whole history of our civilization. Its virtue is verified by our affluence. The
alternative is a self as a center of organization, constantly drawing on and
influencing the surroundings, whose skin and behaviour are soft and her
reciprocity sentient, Ne need them both to have a healthy social and human
maturity." (Paul Shepard, "Ecology and Man – a viewpoint", Ecological Conscience,
p. 57)
Man did not arrive on planet earth as if he had alighted from some spaceship. He
is the product of the soil as reported in the Genesis. He is part of the world, and
the world is part of his body.
Like an actor on a stage, man plays a role in the equilibrium of interdependence.
The world might as well be a pond in this illustration:
"It’s ecology includes all events: the conversion of sunlight to food and the food-
chains within and around it, man drinking, bathing, fishing, plowing the sleeps of
the watershed, drawing a picture of it, and formulating theories about the world
based on what he sees in the pond. He and all the other organisms at and in the
pond act upon one another, engage the earth and atmosphere, and are linked to
other ponds by a network of connections like the threads of protoplasm connecting
cells in a living tissue."
Man's umbilical cord connects with the earth's ecosystem. It is not romanticism
that we refer to the biosphere as "Mother Nature" • We are children of nature, "the
flesh and blood" of Mother Nature. Thus, in the mysticism of St. Francis of Assisi,
man is brother to the sun, the moon, the birds, the wolves, and the trees.
"Ecological Man"
Ignored by Wester philosophy, man's relatedness with environment is the
assumption of environment ethics. The view is not entirely new. Abundant traces
of it are found in the consciousness of people. For instance, the Genesis tells how
God formed man out of the soil
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and placed him in the garden of Eden of all kinds of trees nourished by forking
rivers. The place before the fall of man implied peace and harmony among all
living and non-living things.
Likewise, in the Taoist and Confucian tradition a mythical golden age is pictured.
Zahner quotes Chuang Tzu:
"Yes, in the age of perfect virtue men lived in common with birds and beasts, and
were on terms of equality will all creatures, as forming one family; how could they
know themselves the distinctions of superior man and small men. Equally without
knowledge, they did not leave (the path of ) their natural virtue; equally free from
desires, they were in a state of pure simplicity. In that state of pure simplicity, the
nature of people was what ought to be. But when the sagely men appeared,
limping and wheeling about in (the exercise of) human- heartedness, pressing
along and standing on tiptoe in the doing of righteousness, then men universally
began to be perplexed." (R.C. Zahner, The Catholic Church and World Religions,
Faith and Fact Book, Burns and Oats, London, 1964, p. 72)
Within the context of Taoism, the animism of pre-historic Filipinos is not ignorance
and superstition but an ecological perception. That si Malakas and si Maganda
emerged from bamboo is an allegorical explanation of man's natural dependence
on plants. For Paul Shepard this is a possibility:
"The elegance of such systems and the delicacy of equilibrium are the outcome of
a long evolution of interdependence. Even society, mind and culture are parts of
that evolution. There is an essential relationship between them and the natural
habitat; that is, between the emergence of higher primates and flowering plants,
pollinating insects, seeds, humus, and arboreal life. It is unlikely that a man like
creature could arise by any other means than a long arboreal sojourn following
and followed by a time of terrestiality. The fruit's complex construction and the
mammalian brain are twin offspring of the maturing earth, impossible even
meaningless, without the depending and the mutual development of savannas and
their faunas in the last geological epoch. Internal complexity, as the mind of a
primate, is an extension of natural complexity, measured by the variety of plants
and animals and the variety of nerve cells - organic extensions of each other."
(Paul Shepard: 59)
Lost Paradise
Both myth and science point to an ecological paradise. That man has lost sense of
his kinship with nature owes to the influence of an "ambivalent culture". Thomas
Merton traces this ambivalence to the Puritan settlers who regarded it a religious
duty to wage war against nature.
The Puritans regarded the wilderness as the domain of moral wickedness, since it
favored spontaneity, amounting to "sin". Thus:
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To fight the wilderness was not only necessary for physical survival, it was above
all a moral and Christian imperative. Victory over the wilderness was an ascetic
triumph over the forces of impulse and lawless appetite. How could one be content
to leave any part of nature just as it was, since nature was "fallen" and "corrupt"?
The elementary Christian duty of the Puritan settler was to combat, reduce,
destroy, and transform the wilderness. This was "God's work".
The Puritan, and after him the pioneer, had an opportunity to prove his worth - or
indeed his salvation and election - by the single-minded zeal with which he carried
on his obsessive crusade against wilderness. His reward was prosperity, real
estate, money, and ultimately the peaceful "order" of civil and urban life." (Thomas
Merton, "The Wild Places", Ecological
Conscience, p. 39)
The Puritans were the sagely men spoken of by the Taoists. Their attitude towards
nature was inherited by the pioneers - both of wilderness and of technology. The
difference lies in the claim of modem technological pioneers that their scientific
works are outside the realm of morals.
Warding off the puritan influence and accepting the Transcendentalist "love for
Nature" may not exactly be the easy solution to conservation problem. The
Transcendentalist teaches that. God is nearer to man in the forests and in the
mountains. Thus, human cities are nothing more than intrusions into nature and
technology is wrongful intervention on the works of nature.
Wedged in between these extremes is the promise of a realistic conservation
ethics, similar to that taught by Henry Thoreau. Thomas Merton comments:
"Thoreau realized that civilization was necessary and right, but he believed that an
element of wildness was a necessary component in civilized life itself.. To try to
subject everything in man to rational and conscious control would be to warp,
diminish, and barbarize him. So, too, the reduction of all nature to use for profit
would end in the dehumanization of man. The passion and savagery that the
Puritan had projected onto nature turned out to be within man himself.
And when man turned the green forests into asphalt jungles, the prices he paid
was untempered by wilderness discipline, was a savagery for it’s own sake
(Ibidem: 40)

Man and Technology

Technology is the complex technique for achieving a predetermined result through
rationalized process, using various hardware such as machines, instruments, or
robots.
There is no doubt, technology has benefited mankind. And yet, the jungles that

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are our cities are and the ―savage‖ that we have become- are integral to
technology . With tragic perversity, "we have linked much of our economy to
precisely those features of technology which are ecologically destructive." (Barry
Commoner, "The Ecological Facts of Life", Ecological
Conscience, p. 2)
Our modern city is a maze of concrete intestines where foreign bodies of cars,
buses, factories and people crawl and squeeze each other, belching and breathing-
in poisoned gas. Even our cultural values have been bastardized to suit the
convenience of modern life-styles. Where, for example, agricultural needs binded
people to land and fellowmen, industrialization has categorized people in perpetual
conflict for the limited resources of Nature. The picture is bleak. Barry Commoner'
fear is shared by many:
"As a biologist, I have reached this conclusion: we have come to a turning point in
the human habitation of the earth. The environment is a complex, subtly balanced
system, and it is this integrated whole which receives the impact of all the separate
insults inflicted by pollutants.
Never before in the history of this planet has its thin life supporting surface been
subjected to such diverse, novel, and potent agents. I believe that the cumulative
effects of these pollutants, their interactions and amplifications, can be fatal to the
complex fabric of the biosphere. And man, is after all, a dependent part of this
system, I believe that continued pollution of the earth, if unchecked, will eventually
destroy the fitness of this planet as a place for human
life," (Ibidem: 118-119)
There is however a ray of hope. This is nurtured by moral philosophy, because
without it, "people have nothing but sentiments". "The rule", says Paul Goodman,
"is still to increase experimental intervention, but there is also a considerable
revival of old-fashioned naturalism, mainly watching and thinking, with every
modest intervention." (14)
The assumption that scientist and inventors are "value-neutral" is one of the
greatest errors of our time. Scientists and other workmen must assume the
responsibility for the uses of their work. They ought to be competent judge for
these uses, for their "fittingness", and they must have the moral authority to
decide on them. Andrei Sakarov, the father of the hydrogen bomb, typifies the
scientist with a conscience.
Cajoled to proposed a toast on November 22, 1955, the eve of the successful
testing, he declared: ―May all our devices explode as successfully as today’s buy
always over test sites and never over cities‖. (Time International, "Sakharov
Memories", May 14, 1990, No. 20, p. 38
– 57)
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Ecological Conscience
Thomas Merton credits Aldo Leopold for bringing into focus "one of the most
important discoveries of our time", namely, ecological conscience.
Ecological Conscience is the awareness of man's true place as a dependent
member of the biotic community. Its basic principle is this: ―A thing is right when it
tends to preserve the integrity, the stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It
is wrong when it tends otherwise‖.
(p. 43).
Robert Disch prescribes the following functions of ecological conscience:
1. To place technology in ecological prescriptive before man is destroyed by the
side
effects of his own tools;
2. To permit the Western nations to make sacrifices necessary to equalize the
gross
inequities between the industrialized and underdeveloped nations without wreaking
havoc on the unique and irreplaceable cultural values of the Third World; and
3. To expose the foolishness of reliance on ecologically insane military machines.
(The
Ecological Conscience: Values For Survival, Part II, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey,
1969, p. 17)
In his message on the occasion of the observance of World Environment Month,
June 1990,
Jaime Cardinal Sin affirms that "environmental concerns belong to the framework
of our moral
values and spiritual obligations", adding, that "the ecological crisis is the
responsibility of
everyone". Tracing the root of the problem, the Cardinal says: "But these
ecological problems
are just symptoms. At the root of nature's destruction are greed, selfishness, and
the lack of
Christian concern for our fellowmen, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
We need to
rehabilitate nature. But basic to this, we need to rehabilitate human values. (The
PhilippineStar, June 23, 1990, p. 6)
Concluding Statement
Man aspires to rule the Earth. But, in the context of ecology, it is absurd to speak
of any organism as governing or ruling others. To prove this point Alan Watts
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narrates this beautiful

anecdote: Once upon a time the mouth, the hands, and the feet said to each
other, "We do all this work gathering food and chewing it up, but that lazy fellow,
the stomach, does nothing. It's high time he did some work too, so let's go on
strike!" Whereupon they went many days without working, but soon found
themselves feeling weaker and weaker until at last each of them realized that
the stomach was their stomach, and that they would have to go back to work to
remain alive."
(Alan Watts, "The World is Your Body", Ecological Conscience: Values for Survival,
Part IV,
p. 185)
Man like the tree is rooted on the soil. He must accept this fact before he can
surge upward to frolic with the wind. In this endeavour man needs no less than
the breathe of divinity mentioned in Genesis. Man's humanity must embrace, not
only to himself but all other creatures as well.
Only then can man truly ―possess the earth‖.

Reading:

Be the Heroes We Never Were - and Live

Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali

(Excerpt from the U.P. Diliman Commencement Address of Dr. Dioscoro Umali,
President,
National Academy of Science and Technology, on April 29, 1990, as published in
Philippine
Daily Inquirer, May 2, 1990).
"We do not inherit the land from our parents," farmers often say. "We merely
borrowed it from our children."
Is this then how we, of the fading generation, handled the wealth you entrusted
us? We dissipated your environmental capital. In so doing, we endangered your
capacity to provide, in the years ahead, daily bread for your families from the land
you loaned us.
As prodigal parents, we radically altered your future. Your natural resource base in
depleted.
Greed of the past has been to that. We lowered the threshold for violence by
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breeding social unrest. Above all, you will have little time left to correct our
failures.
What hurts most is we stripped the land of its beauty.
Your children will no longer thrill, as we once did, to the heart-stopping dive of a
hawk. Nor will they breathe in the heady fragrance of pine forest. The rich texture
of Philippine mahogany will be, at best, a quaint story for them. Their panoramas
will be of drab landscapes, blanketed by sterile cogon grass, not the verdant
meadows we knew, as youngsters.
The bitter tragedy is: These victims are our grandchildren. They are "flesh of our
flesh and bone of our bone."
...We hope that you learn the lesson we never fully grasped: that "a man's life
does not consist in the abundance of his possessions"; that Sharing and equity
constitute the first seeds of your
survival.
It has not been easy for me to speak to you in such bleak terms. I have to admit
that it is not a rose-tinted commencement speech that one usually hears. But
realism compels me to say:
Be the heroes we never were - or perish.

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