Christian Vision of the Human Person and the Moral Good of Human Acts

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the theological search for true happiness, modern cultural distortions, ethical frameworks, Thomistic human acts, and determinants/modifiers of morality.

Culture of Discontent

A sociocultural environment in which culturally constructed desires, continual social comparison, consumerist expectations, and psychological adaptation encourage individuals to experience themselves and their circumstances as perpetually insufficient.

Hedonic Adaptation

A psychological concept explaining that human beings adapt to improvements over time, causing what once satisfied them to become the baseline normal and driving renewed desire.

Relative Deprivation

A sociological concept stating that a person's feeling of satisfaction depends not only on what they objectively possess, but on where they perceive themselves standing in relation to others.

Secularism

Derived from the Latin saeculum ("age," "world," or "present time"); a worldview in which religion and God are separated from or given little role in public and personal life, centering existence on the here and now.

Hedonism

Derived from the Greek hēdonē ("pleasure"); the ethical view that pleasure is the primary or highest good and that pain should generally be avoided.

Consumerism

Derived from the Latin consumere ("to use up, consume"); a culture in which buying, acquiring, and consuming more goods and experiences are strongly associated with personal happiness and fulfillment.

Materialism

Derived from the Latin materia ("matter, material"); a cultural tendency to place excessive importance on possessions, wealth, physical appearance, and visible success to define the good life.

Relativism

Derived from the Latin relativus ("having reference or relation to something"); the view that truth, morality, and values depend upon the individual, culture, or situation rather than objective, universal standards.

Simḥah

The Hebrew term for gladness or rejoicing, carrying the theological sense of joy arising from God's presence, blessing, and saving action.

Chara

The Greek term (χαρά) for joy, gladness, or delight, carrying the theological sense of joy rooted in God's grace and salvation.

Gaudium

The Latin term for joy or rejoicing, defined in theology as a deep spiritual gladness arising from the possession or presence of the good.

Gaudium Spirituale

A Christian theological term for spiritual joy, flowing from love, grace, hope, and communion with God.

Cor Inquietum

Latin for "restless heart"; St. Augustine's description of the human heart's innate, continuous longing that remains unsettled until it rests in God.

Homo Desiderans

St. Augustine's characterization of the human person as "the desiring person," a creature whose heart continually searches for the ultimate Good it was created to love.

Beata Vita

Latin for "the blessed or happy life"; defined by St. Augustine as joy in the truth (gaudium de veritate) found in rejoicing toward, from, and because of God.

Finis

Latin for "end, goal, purpose, or fulfillment" (equivalent to the Greek telos); in Thomistic thought, it does not mean termination, but the goal toward which an action or creature is directed.

Beatitudo

Latin for blessedness or complete human fulfillment, derived from beatus ("blessed"); in Christian theology, it signifies possessing the perfect good (bonum perfectum) for which humans were created.

Beatitudo Imperfecta

The genuine but incomplete happiness attainable in earthly life through virtue, friendship, knowledge, contemplation, and love.

Beatitudo Perfecta

The complete, perfect happiness attainable only in God, reaching ultimate fulfillment when the human person beholds God directly in the Beatific Vision (visio divinae essentiae).

Summum Bonum

Latin for the "Highest Good"; refers to God as the ultimate object in whom human desire and rational searching find complete fulfillment.

The Beatitudes

Eight teachings of Jesus in the New Testament that respond to the natural desire for happiness, revealing the interior form of Christian holiness and guiding the soul to eternal life.

Consequentialism

An ethical theory holding that the morality of an action is determined primarily by its results or consequences, judging actions right if they produce desirable outcomes.

Aponia

The Epicurean bodily ideal defined as freedom from physical pain.

Ataraxia

The Epicurean mental ideal defined as tranquility or freedom from emotional and mental disturbance.

Principle of Utility

The core principle of utilitarianism stating that actions should always be chosen so as to produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Act Utilitarianism

A branch of utilitarianism holding that in any specific situation, one must choose the particular action that produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

Rule Utilitarianism

A branch of utilitarianism teaching that individuals should follow general rules that are calculated to maximize overall utility for the majority over time.

Categorical Imperative

Immanuel Kant's foundational deontological concept referring to absolute moral commands derived from pure reason that apply to all rational beings regardless of personal desires.

Universalizability Principle

Kant's categorical imperative formulation: "Act only according to that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction."

Formula of Humanity

Kant's categorical imperative formulation: "Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a mere means."

Virtue Ethics

A moral theory, prominently formulated by Aristotle, emphasizing individual character and habituation, holding that right actions proceed naturally from a virtuous person.

Doctrine of the Mean

Aristotle's principle (virtus in medio stat) stating that virtue lies at the midpoint between two extremes: a vice of deficiency and a vice of excess.

Chun Tzu

The Confucian ideal of the "Gentleman" or person of noble character, achieved through education, self-cultivation, and the practice of moral virtues.

Jen (Ren)

The foundational virtue in Confucianism representing benevolence, humaneness, compassion, and goodness toward others.

Li

The Confucian virtue of propriety, proper conduct, and respect for social responsibilities, rituals, and relationships.

Yi

The Confucian virtue of righteousness, defined as doing what is morally right rather than what is personally advantageous.

Chih (Zhi)

The Confucian virtue of moral wisdom, enabling a person to discern what is right and appropriate in various circumstances.

Hsin (Xin)

The Confucian virtue of sincerity, honesty, and trustworthiness in keeping one's word.

Rectification of Names

The Confucian principle (zhèngmíng) requiring that an individual's actual conduct and moral reality correspond strictly to the duties of their title or social role.

Human Acts (Actus Humani)

Acts proceeding from the deliberate free will and intellect of a human person; actions that are consciously controlled and deliberately chosen, carrying moral responsibility.

Acts of Man (Actus Hominis)

Actions performed by a human being that lack deliberate choice, conscious control, or full exercise of intellect and free will, carrying no moral responsibility.

Elicited Acts

Human acts that begin and are perfected directly within the will itself, consisting of wish, intention, consent, election, use, and fruition.

Commanded Acts

Human acts perfected by bodily or mental faculties acting under the direction and command of the will (categorized as internal, external, or mixed).

Actual Intention

An intention that is consciously present in the mind at the exact moment an action is being performed.

Virtual Intention

An intention made previously that continues to guide and influence an ongoing action, even if not actively thought about during the action.

Direct Voluntariness

A condition in which an act or its specific outcome is directly intended and chosen in itself (voluntary in se).

Indirect Voluntariness

A condition in which a consequence is not directly intended in itself, but is foreseen as a probable result of a chosen action (voluntary in causa).

Object of the Act (Finis Operis)

The primary source of morality; the intrinsic moral objective or matter toward which the deliberate will directs itself.

Intention of the Agent (Finis Operantis)

The goal or motivation residing in the acting subject that determines the subjective purpose for performing an action.

Circumstances

Secondary moral elements (answering who, what, where, when, why, how, and by what means) that modify the degree of goodness, evil, or personal responsibility of an act.

Intrinsically Evil Acts

Actions whose objective object is gravely illicit in and of itself, regardless of intention or circumstances, and can never be morally justified (e.g., murder, perjury, blasphemy).

Principle of Double-Effect

A moral framework used to determine the licitness of performing an act that has both a good effect and an unintended bad effect, requiring specific conditions regarding intent, sequence, and proportionality.

Vincible Ignorance

Culpable lack of knowledge that could and should be dispelled through ordinary diligence.

Invincible Ignorance

Inculpable lack of knowledge that ordinary, proper human effort cannot dispel, excusing the individual from moral culpability.

Antecedent Passions

Passions or emotions that arise spontaneously before any command or choice of the will; classified as acts of man, they do not involve moral responsibility unless subsequently fostered.

Consequent Passions

Passions or feelings that are intentionally stirred up, fostered, or chosen by the will, making the person morally responsible for them.

Prudence

An intellectual cardinal virtue enabling a person to judge correctly in specific situations what the moral order requires.

Justice

A moral cardinal virtue inclining the will to render to each person what is due to them.

Temperance

A moral cardinal virtue regulating the desire for sensible pleasures within the limits of right reason.

Fortitude

A moral cardinal virtue inclining the will to overcome grave dangers and endure hardship in pursuit of the moral good.