Morality Midterms

Basis of secular morality

branch of moral philosophy based ONLY in reason and observation (NOT religion)

objective

truth is constant, independent, it can’t change (something taht stays true for everybody, no matter what)

subjective

dependent, no constant truth, opinion based (everybody has their own choice, an no one thing is true for everybody)

Relativism

No moral principles or rules which are universal or apply to everyone, and it is WRONG for anyone to judge another culture’s behavior based on their own moral rules.

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subjective, hard science is the only source of knowledge, value of circumstances, sometimes self-contradictory (no moral principles, but it is wrong for ANYONE to judge another culture’s behavior)

telos

all things in nature have a goal or purpose in which they strive for, AKA Telos.

Goal/telos for humans is happiness, and is the ultimate reason why a person does what they do

happiness = objective, achieved through being virtuous

vicious characer

doesn’t know what is right or wrong, does the wrong thing because they think it’s right, NEVER does the right thing

incontinent person

able to judge right from wrong, doesn’t want to do what is right and also does not do what is right

continent person

able to determine what is right or wrong, does not always want to do the right thing, but ends up doing the right thing

virtuous person

knows what is right or wrong, wants to always do the right thing, and always does the right thing

kant

secular and objective (believes faith + morality should be separate)

Categorical imperative

moral rules are always absolute commands that MUST be followed by everyone in every situation

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includes formula of universal law, and formula of the end in itself

formula of universal law

act only to the maxim whereby you can at the same time that it should become a universal law (if how you acted became a universal law, should/could everyone act this way)

forumla of the end in itself

people were created to be loved and things were created to be used, but we are in chaos because people are being used and things are being loved (don’t objective people!)

social contract

agreement used to create a just society (nobody is forced into a social contract, but is created for justice/equal rights), and is done in private under a veil of ignorance

veil of ignorance

imagine yourself without identifying characteristics (gender, race, etc.) to create just rules

utilitarianism

consequentialist morality/philosophy; based in reason and observation

Principle of utility (how to determine the utility of an act)

the right thing to do is create the greatest number of the greatest kind of happiness for the greatest number of people (no universal goods or bads, it is ok to kill a murder if it saves more)

human nature

all people are children of God and are created in his image, we are relational/communal, and all humans are inherently good

Fallen

the fall refers to original sin, Eve eating the apple.

she fell into temptation to be like God and disobeyed Him, rejected the basic goodness of who we are to be more.

sin

rejection of some kind of goodness; seperates us from god, others, ourselves, etc.

not just doing evil to do evil, but valuing one thing over another, and encourages us to neglect our relations

freedom from

“freedom from restraints”

we can do whatever we want to do or say, and nobody can stop up (all people have and should have this). Very good thing to form opinions, but can become bad if its the only freedom we think about

freedom to

“freedom to become better”

growth as a person and turning into our true self, making best choices, etc.

redemption

Redemption recognizes human sin as part of humanity, and its crucial role that it plays as humans stray away from their inherent goodness towards evil and sin. With repentance and reconciliation, we can ask for God’s forgiveness and return to our loving relationship with him.

incarnation

God takes on humanity (human form)p

The Passion

Jesus suffered and died on the cross for his love for all people, and put the salvation of others over his own life

forgiveness

God’s human response to sin was mercy + forgiveness.

Humans must also have response, desire to change, and own up to your wrongdoings (can’t pretend a bad thing didn’t happen). Forgiving is also not erasing wrongs thought, but giving new chances.

Love

• basis of christian morality, and is the highest law

• God’s love is universal and unearned (loves us bc we simply exist, not for something we did)

• should imitate God’s love onto others

• we can come to know god’s love through others

faith

Trust God and his power and goodness. Putting your ultimate trust and dedication in God, but NOT making demands and being doubtful. You must ask questions for a genuine place of want for comprehension.

hope

take responsibility of what’s happening and to actively work towards a good hope for something. Allows us to look forward n life and also our future in Heaven (ultimate hope for all Christians).

• Jesus’ resurrection gave hope back to Jesus’ disciples and humanity, esp the hope that good will always triumph over evil

Love (theological virtue)

Putting faith and hope in action to love. Love is sacrificial and influences our actions, but you must first love and help yourself in order to help others.

Conscience

inner sense of right and wrong that enables individuals to discern moral choices freely (figuring out whats right or wrong). Sometimes we pretend to listen to our conscience, but we are actually rationalizing sometimes.

• church says we must always follow our well-formed conscience

• conscience tells us what we need to hear

wrongly formed conscience

we are mistaken in our understanding of reality, often bc we received incorrect information.

• emphasizes necessity of all people to be open-minded

• family can deeply impact your views, morals, etc.

• challenge wrong ideas slowly

  • it is your responsibility at some point to see that your belief system is wrong (ok to be wrong, but choosing to continue to be wrong is bad

Lax conscience

Think of the incontinent person

• knows that something is probably wrong, but doesn’t want to put the effort to change, do research, etc.

  • if it doesn’t affect them personally, they don’t care

Legalistic Conscience

Following the rules because they are rules (not concerned with the why)

• sometimes doing the right thing, sometimes not

• just doing something because you’re supposed to do it, even though it may be wrong (ex nazi soldiers)

Shame

NEGATIVE

• comes from outside sources, other people make us feel shame

• denies our basic goodness and only focuses on the BAD

• you are ONLY the bad thing you did, nothing else and no way to change this (but you are more than your mistakes)

• Society’s presence on us keeps us stuck where we are, DOESN’T motivate us

Guilt

POSITIVE

• internal; can motivate us to change

• urges/motivates us to not do it again and fix whatever you did wrong

• guilt should NOT be a forever feeling, and helps us take ownership of our wrongs

L

look for the facts

I

imagine the possibilites

s

seek insight beyond your own

T

turn inward

E

expect God’s help

N

name your decision

Look for the facts

• reality, appearance, truth

• Figuring out the reality, getting to the TRUTH!

  • Application: listing all pertinent info from the scenario

Imagine the possibilities

• way of anticipating potential consequence + figuring out what your options are

  • Keep in mind of your consequences (long/short term, pos or neg)

• application: min of 2 scenarios, and 2 dif outcomes for each scenario

seek insight beyond your own

• look for someone with more experience or knowledge fo rhelp

• you learn a lot from mistakes

• you want objectivity (want to challenge bias, not someone who give you an answer you want to hear)

• application: min of 2 dif people and why you would ask them

turn inward

• focus on your own personal influences, values, motives, etc.

• be self-aware: what are your instincts?

• “gut reaction” to something is usually the right thing

• Application: 2 different gut feelings/internal biases

Expect god’s help

• awareness of God’s presence

• what the ideal outcome would be

• Application: list people/things you would pray for and want for them

Name your decision

• resolution

• ongoing process (active)

• Not deciding is also a decision (helps the bad guy)

• Application: In the “I'“ perspective, write you final decision

Prudence

FOUNDATIONAL VIRTUE

Ability to make decisions according to a well-formed conscience, aligned with a willingness to act in taht way

• not the easiest, most convenient, etc. choice (will be difficult)

• prudence asks us to look at the risks, which sometimes need to be taken

• challenge wisdom of the world!

Characteristics of Prudence

Seeing reality clearly

• recognize the truth of the situation, and how our choices may impact the reality

• must actively make the right decision

Discovering the good

• choose the most fundamental good

• circumstances matter

  • conscience must be well-formed to distinguish circumstances

  • church believes circumstances can’t make a bad situation good

• safety = most important

• follow Jesus; protect + offer love/redemption, and challenge hypocrisy

Knowing personal feelings and motives

• be self-aware of our own motives, biases, and experiences, etc.

• we must make difficult choices despite our internal feelings

• avoid rationalization

Justice

Working towards the well-being of ALL

• must be just to EVERY person you encounter, no matter what

• can’t fix injustice with injustice (NO REVENGE)

  • no matter how someone acts, they are still a person

• seeing the inherent values and goodness of someone, no matter how they act, and trying to heal a situation

Individual justice

• simplest form

• fufilling obligation to others, respecting/responding to the rights someone has

• important for the family to understand, teach, and preach values, etc.

social justice

• working for the common good, NOT the majority, powerful people, etc.

• relies on community

• gives from our own capabilities

• create a just society: common good, community service

• destroy a just society: disrespect, competition

distributive justice

• distributing burdens and benefits to ALL people

  • everyone pays taxes, but not everyone makes the same

• the more we have, the more obligation we have to help people

• taking on OWN responsibility for equality

• reality: society ISN’T equal

Fortitude

Doing right in the face of danger (also facing fears and taking risks)

Fortitude is NOT:

• taking a risk to simply take risk

• proving yourself

• going alone

• saving the day in one bold stroke

Being faced with fear

Fear is a common and healthy response to danger

• in order to be good, we WILL face fear

• fortitude does NOT ask us to deny our fears, but face them head on

• Never let fear decide your fate

• Name it (understand), claim it (acceptance), tame it (control)!

Ways to overcome fears

Seek alternatives

• find a way to accomplish the good and stay dedicated to facing your fear w/o directly facing it

Be resourceful

• who or what can help me in this situation?

Plan

• need to know your skills + learn about the situation as you can

• imagine all the possible solutions (helps decrease anxiety)

Challenge yourself

• facing small positive challenges builds experiences and helps future events seem less scary

Try a different perspective

• puts fear into a large context

Temperance

Balancing all the parts of self to create a dynamic and harmonious order

• physical, intellectual, emotional, social, etc.

• ^Temperance challenges us to balance all these aspects, our understanding if ourselves, and helps us to be a whole person

• we are multi-dimensional people

Freedom from Temptations

• temptations influenced by society, pressure to be many things

• influenced by out goals/pleasures

  • short term goals distract from long term

• influenced by understandings of happiness

Breaking free from temptation

Hard work, struggles, community, and God

• Freedom from: leads to all these addictions

• freedom to: challenges us to be the best we can, sometimes puts limits on ourselves

Unity, order, and direction

Temperance creates unity, order, and direction

• we are at peace and may still feel conflict

• Temperance helps us with:

  • self-awareness, harmony, and how to channel our emotions

  • **By understanding emotions and temptations, we can make sure they don’t control us

Self restraint

Temperance helps us devote our time and energy to different things

• spreading energy thin = disservice to all

  • helps us devote our energy to a well-chosen place (passions)

consistent ethic of life

all life is sacred and deserves protection and care

• value is NOT based in utility, profit, or convenience

empathy

ability to understand another’s feelings, thoughts, and experiences from that person’s point of view (experience through THEIR context)

• foundation for empathy: experiences and imagination

  • easier to be empathetic through shared experiences (easy to relate to situations you know)

  • we DON’T need to share an experience to empathize thought (can use imagination)

Used Vs Useful

We are ALL (and should be) useful, but does NOT equal a source of worth

• don’t only value people when they’re useful

Prejudice

prejudging people without knowing them as individuals

stereotypes

mental label applied to members of a group

Direction abortion

ending of fetus’ life was INTENTIONAL (church ALWAYS opposed to this)

Indirect abortion

trying to save the carrier’s life (not intentionally trying to kill the fetus, just happened)

Abortion: catholic church vs. society

Catholic church: children are a blessing, they have a right to live, though shalt not kill.

society: children are a burden and extension of parent

Euthanasia

specific act or omission intentionally done to directly cause death in a patient

Physician-assisted suicide

prescription of a lethal medication to be voluntarily self-administered by the patient

Euthanasia and Physician-assisted suicide: catholic church vs society

Catholic church: all human life is sacred, ending anyone’s life no matter the intentions is still murder, accepting death and causing it thought is different.

Society: must recognize the dignity of all people, have respect, love and compassion, and challenge societal attitude towards people

Just war theory

can be justified if it meets certain criteria:

• not a first reaction, there were previous attempts to find different solutions but were ineffective

• must be a last resort and have probability of success

• war = proportionate response if sufficient damage has been done

Pacifism

rejection of ALL war, preperation for war, violence, domination, etc. Focus on peace!

Death penalty

vastly unjust

death penalty: catholic church

• USED to believe it could be morally carried (not anymore)

  • person’s dignity is not lost, despite their actions

• by killing, we are making the decision for others that they are incapable of dignity (not our choice to make thought)

• thou shalt not kill

• look at intention: are we desiring harm or justice?

Birth control

Church OPPOSED to birth control as a contraceptive, but morally ok to use it for medical purposes

• contraception prevents life from happening and couples fully giving to each other

Catholic perspective of sex

• sex ultimately has two goods

  • Unity/love, and procreation

    • two goods are inseparable

• all couple should be OPEN to life

• sex= naturally procreative, way to express love for one another

Mental health: catholic church view

• church encourages us to recognize the dignity of every person

• relies on science for these facts

• church has grown on this issue (thought suicide was a great sin and those who did were condemned to hell)

  • they DO NOT!

• humans = multidimensional, have spiritual dimension

How to help abuse and assault

• be friendly, positive, and supportive

  • DON’T VICTIM BLAME

  • expect future convos

• recognize unhealthy behaviors

• allow your friend to make their OWN decision (offer solutions)

Abuse and assault: catholic church

• all people have human dignity

• nothing a person experiences will change one’s goodness or dignity

Homophobia: catholic church

• everyone has chastity

• 2 goods of sex (love and procreation) are intrinsically linked, and homosexuality does NOT have the potential for natural procreation (Church disagrees)

  • NOT practicing one’s sexuality well

• Three sexes: male, female, intersex

• Pope Francis made attempts to decriminalize homosexuality

Chastity

incorporation of our sexuality into whatever state of life we are in

• like a virtue; connected to love, relationships help us cultivate it, etc.

• helps us become fully ourselves