Ethics & Morality Comprehensive Reviewer

Ethics vs. Morality: Etymological and Theoretical Foundations

  • Ethics: Derived from the Greek word ethos, meaning character or custom.

    • Primary Orientation: It is a theoretical framework focused on knowing standards.
    • Scope and Focus: Deals with universal principles, systematic guidelines, and codes.
    • Nature of Evaluation: Functions as a philosophical and academic inquiry.
    • Core Objective: Establishing ultimate values and systematic standards for judging actions as good or bad. It focuses on knowing what is right or wrong.

  • Morality: Derived from the Latin word moralis, meaning custom or manner.

    • Primary Orientation: Focused on practical execution and the doing of actions.
    • Scope and Focus: Relates to individual conscience and cultural or religious norms.
    • Nature of Evaluation: Involves direct behavioral application.
    • Core Objective: Refers to the practical extent to which an action is considered right or wrong, focusing on doing what is right based on principles, personal conscience, or societal frameworks.

  • Relatable Analogy:

    • Ethics: Comparable to studying a driver's manual to learn the theoretical rules of the road and the reasons behind them.
    • Morality: Comparable to the actual act of driving, such as choosing to stop at a red light or yielding to pedestrians.

  • Relationship Between the Two:

    • Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with establishing standards, while morality is the implementation of those standards in reality.
    • To do what is right (morality), one must first establish the standards of what is good (ethics).

Branches and Frameworks of Ethics

  • Branches of Ethics:

    • Descriptive Ethics: Studies the actual beliefs people hold regarding morality.
    • Normative Ethics: Examines theories that establish moral standards for determining right and wrong conduct.
    • Meta-ethics: Investigates the origin, nature, and meaning of ethical concepts.
    • Applied Ethics: The practical application of moral principles to specific, often controversial, issues.

  • Strategic Frameworks:

    • Virtue Ethics: An agent-centered framework that focuses on the development of moral character.
    • Deontological Ethics: A duty-centered framework that prioritizes following rules and obligations.
    • Teleological Ethics: A consequence-centered framework that prioritizes the end results or outcomes of actions.

Standards of Morality and Human Nature

  • Moral Standards: These are norms governing actions that have serious human consequences, such as refraining from murder, theft, or lying.

  • Non-Moral Standards: Rules that are unrelated to ethical or moral evaluations, such as the rules of basketball, grammar standards, or etiquette.

  • Amoral: Refers to actions that completely lack moral intent or significance, such as mechanical operations or natural disasters.

  • Unmoral: Refers to beings who are incapable of moral reasoning or awareness of standards, such as infants or individuals with severe mental impairments.

  • The Dual Nature of the Human Person:

    • Humans possess inherent dignity grounded in their dual nature: Material (Body) and Spiritual (Soul).
    • Biological Aspect (Body): Includes physical growth, physiological processes, health, and reproduction.
    • Psychological Aspect (Heart): Includes the five senses, feelings, passions, and emotional responses.
    • Rational Aspect (Mind): Consists of the Intellect (the capacity to know the truth) and the Will (the capacity to choose the good).

  • Moral Character: This reflects how well a person aligns with or deviates from recognized moral principles. Pursuing the good builds moral virtue and earns praise or reward, while intentionally choosing evil destroys moral character and earns blame or punishment.

Human Acts (Actus Humani) vs. Acts of Man (Actus Hominis)

  • Human Acts (Actus Humani):

    • Intellectual Involvement: Requires deliberate awareness and full knowledge.
    • Role of the Will: These actions are performed freely and voluntarily.
    • Moral Responsibility: These acts carry full praise, blame, or moral duty.
    • Examples: Studying for an exam, telling the truth, or accepting a bribe.

  • Acts of Man (Actus Hominis):

    • Intellectual Involvement: Characterized by an absence of conscious deliberation.
    • Role of the Will: These are involuntary or purely reflex biological functions.
    • Moral Responsibility: These are morally neutral, with zero accountability assigned to the agent.
    • Examples: Breathing, heartbeats, digestion, knee-jerk reflexes, or blinking when dust enters the eyes.

  • Constituents of Human Acts:

    1. Knowledge: The agent has deliberation and conscious awareness of the action and its various moral implications.
    2. Freedom: The action is performed under the agent's own control and is free from external coercion.
    3. Voluntariness: The action proceeds from a deliberate decision made by the internal will.

Classification and Internal Process of Human Acts

  • Classifications by Nature:

    • Interior Acts: Internal thoughts, intentions, and desires.
    • Exterior Acts: Public conduct and bodily manifestations.

  • Classifications by Moral Significance:

    • Good Acts: Actions aligned with moral virtue.
    • Bad Acts: Actions contrary to moral duty or those that are harmful.
    • Indifferent Acts: Actions that are morally neutral in themselves, such as selecting a specific color of shirt to wear.

  • Internal Process (Elicited vs. Commanded Acts):

    • Elicited Acts: These are produced directly by the internal will through a specific 66-stage progression:
      1. Wish: A simple desire for an end.
      2. Intention: A tendency toward an achievable end.
      3. Consent: The acceptance of the necessary means to reach the end.
      4. Election: The choice of specific means.
      5. Use: The will commanding the faculties to take action.
      6. Fruition: The satisfaction felt upon attaining the goal.
    • Commanded Acts: Actions executed by the mind or body under the direction of the will.
      • Internal: Examples include performing mental math.
      • External: Examples include writing an essay.

The Three Determinants of Morality

An act is considered morally good ONLY when all three of these determinants align positively:

  1. Object (What): The specific act that is performed.
  2. Intention (Why): The purpose, goal, or motive of the agent.
  3. Circumstances (Who, Where, When, How): Contextual elements that surround the act and serve to either mitigate or aggravate its moral quality.

Modifiers of Human Acts and Moral Accountability

Moral Accountability is the ethical obligation to accept responsibility and the consequences for one's choices. Modifiers are factors that influence the intellect or the voluntariness of an act, thereby increasing, mitigating, or removing accountability.

  1. Ignorance: A lack of necessary knowledge.

    • Invincible Ignorance: Cannot be dispelled or overcome by reasonable effort or diligence. Impact: Eliminates or removes moral accountability.
    • Vincible Ignorance: Could be cleared or overcome via reasonable effort and care, but is maintained through negligence. Impact: Retains moral accountability.

  2. Passion (Concupiscence): Intense emotional movements such as love, hatred, anger, or desire.

    • Antecedent Passion: A spontaneous emotional surge that arises before the will acts. Impact: Mitigates or lessens moral accountability.
    • Consequent Passion: An emotion that is deliberately provoked, fostered, or harbored by the will. Impact: Does not lessen accountability and may increase it.

  3. Fear: A mental disturbance caused by impending danger.

    • Actions performed with fear remain voluntary.
    • Actions performed out of overwhelming panic or fear lessen the voluntariness of the act.

  4. Violence: An external physical or moral force applied to compel an action against resistance.

    • Irresistible physical force removes accountability for the coerced external act.

  5. Habits: Deeply ingrained patterns of behavior.

    • Voluntary habits retain moral accountability.
    • Genuine, sincere efforts to break negative habits diminish the responsibility for the actions associated with them.

Questions & Discussion

  • Question: Which statement best explains the difference between ethics and morality?

    • Correct Answer: Ethics focuses on theoretical knowledge of moral standards, whereas morality focuses on practical application.

  • Question: Which of the following best describes the primary difference between ethics and morality?

    • Correct Answer: Ethics is knowing what is good or bad; morality is doing what is right.

  • Question: Which statement is true regarding ethics?

    • Correct Answer: Ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the ultimate standards of judging actions as good or bad.

  • Question: Which of the following best reflects the relationship between ethics and morality?

    • Correct Answer: Standards of morality must be established before they can be applied. (To do what is right [morality], one must first establish the standards of what is good [ethics]).