ETHICS

Pythagoras

Greek philosopher made three types of man and superior type man

3 Types of Man

Lover of pleasure, lover of success, lover of wisdom

Philia

Love

Sophia

Wisdom

Philosophy

The science of all things by their first causes as known in light of reason

Philosophy as Science

Seeks to acquire the knowledge of the causes of things

Certitude

The natural resort of knowing not only the facts (what of things) but also their causes (why of things)

Philosophy as a Science of All Things

Deals with concrete, real, contingent things

Light of Reason

Seeks the first causes of things as far as they can be rationally established by the human mind unaided by divine revelation

Metaphysics

Study of reality, beings, and being

Epistemology

Study of human knowledge

Ethics

Study of the morality of human act

The scientific inquiry into the principles of morality

a branch of philosophy dealing with actions and values relating to human conduct

(rightness and wrongness of actions, goodness and badness of motives and ends of such actions)

Logic

Science of correct reasoning

Cosmology

Study of the universe

Theodicy

Study of God

Human Reason

To acquire knowledge, understand the world, and know the nature of things

Goal of Philosophy

The truth

Morality

The quality of goodness or badness in a human act

Human Acts

Acts that proceed from the deliberate free will of man

Conscience

The sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action

SOCRATES

“the unexamined life is not worth living”

PLATO

“ethics is the supreme science”

“the apex in the hierarchy of human values”

ultimately concerned with the greatest attachment of life’s greatest good and goal - HAPPINESS

Ethos (Greek)

Fundamental character and spirit of culture.

Custom (Latin)

is mos, pl. mores (LATIN)

MORES is the equivalent of ETHOS

from MORES, we derive the terms amoral and morality

ETHICS is also called MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Ethics and logic

Right thinking leads to right living.
“to think right, is to do right”

Ethics and Psychology

Study of human behavior.

Ethics and Sociology

PROPER CONDUCT

observing moral laws and principles.

Ethics and Law

RULE OF CONDUCT ARE INTERPRETATIONS & PRODUCTS OF NATURAL MORAL LAW

Ethics and Education

Develops moral and intellectual aspects.
WHOLE HUMAN PERSON

Moral Concepts

1. Morality

2. Human Acts

3. Reason

4. Right

5. Natural Law:

Reason

Evaluates ethical theories and moral value.

Right

Conforms to norms of morality, morally good.

Natural Law

Imposes obligations on humans.

Components of Natural Law

1. Subject

2. Term

3. Title

Subject (Components of Natural Law)

Possessing the right.

Term (Components of Natural Law)

Bound to respect the right.

Title (Components of Natural Law)

Reason for having a right

Right vs. Might

• All have moral obligations.

• Rights safeguard against abuse of might.

Essential Elements of Human Acts

1. Knowledge

2. Freedom

3. Voluntariness

Knowledge

a human act proceeds from the deliberate will

every human act required DELIBERATION

Deliberation

advertence or knowledge in intellect of what an act is about and what this means

Will

Chooses guided by intellectual knowledge.

Freedom

Acts not bound by restrictions.

• An act determined (ELICITED or COMMANDED) by the will

• the ability of a man to ACT in accordance with his/her WILL, not bound by RESTRICTIONS or COMPULSIONS so the he/she can shoes from the ALTERNATIVES that are available to satisfy his/her PREFERENCE and initiate an action to accomplish his desired GOAL

Voluntariness

a human act must be voluntary (WILL-ACT)

the formal essential quality of the human act

an act becomes a will-act if there is knowledge and freedom

Modifiers of Human Acts

1. Ignorance

2. Concupiscence (Passion)

3. Fear

4. Violence

5. Habit

Ignorance

Absence of intellectual knowledge.

Concupiscence (Passion)

affects the voluntariness of an action

Fear

• the shrinking back of the mind from danger

• the agitation of the mind brought about by the apprehension of impending evil, which may or may not exist

Violence

• an external force applied by a free cause

• it cannot reach the will directly. it may force bodily action, but, the will is not controlled by the body

Habit

• a disposition according to which is disposed as either well or ill-disposed, and either in itself or with reference to something else (thomas aquinas)

• they are destroyed either by disuse or by contrary acts

• a quality difficult to change

• good moral habits are virtues; morally evil habits are vices