ETHICS NOTES
INNER FREEDOM
-defined as freedom to achieve whatever promotes the
fulfillment of human needs and freedom from whatever
hinders it
-process of growth that leads to an ever-increasing
degree until man has reached the ultimate goal of life:
Freedom to be oneself
Moral order: parents, friends, environment
Natural Order
Freedom from & Freedom for san ka papunta
External & Internal pwedeng sabay
CONDITIONS FOR INNER FREEDOM
-Restrictions must be placed on mans external freedom
-Have a well determined goal in life
-Classify in their order of priority, the activities that lead
to this goal
-Commit ourselves to these priorities single-mindedly,
irrespective of what others may say, think, or do.
Increasing aspiration = increasing restriction
Through restriction, na-aassess mo yung
achievement mo
Goal - yung kaya mo lang
THREATS TO INNER FREEDOM
- EXTERNAL THREATS
o Sub-human living conditions (under the
poverty line), arbitrary imprisonment,
inhuman working conditions,
exploitation, tyranny, and others
Hindi nagagawa yung gusting gawin
- INTERNAL THREATS
o Ignorance and passions
JESUS AND FREEDOM
- Christ has freed us from the yoke of the law
though not lawless, the Christian is no longer
under the law understood as an externally
constraining force
- Rather, he now lives under the law o Christ
which is the interior gift of the spirit. The Law of
God no longer binds from without, it acts from
within, as the appeal and claim of grace.
- Christian is no longer overwhelmed by a
multitude of demands which he cannot cope
with but interiorly hears the voice of the spirit
urging and enabling him to do what is right. The
person who gives himself the spirit is truly free.
the lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of
the Lord is, there is freedom
- Laws are basically human
RESPONSIBILITY (IN CREATION)
Man is responsible for the material world.
Man is responsible for the community.
Man is responsible for himself.
The ability to respond. It is a part of Mans
dignity. The more responsible a person
becomes, the more dignity he has.
Freedom and responsibility are closely related.
Without freedom, there can be no
responsibility, and where there is freedom
responsibility follows automatically.
ORIGINAL SIN
-outer social reality (sinful situations)
-inner personal reality (heart of darkness,
concupiscence)
-ratification of sin (by our personal sinful thoughts,
words and deeds)
SIN
-offense against reason, truth, and right conscience
-saying NO to God
- utterance or desire contrary to the eternal law
- sin is more than evil, evil intentionally committed by
man
-failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by
a perverse attachment to certain goods
*different from evil
*voluntary, evil is involuntary
*not exercise of freedom
*sin came first before fall of man
*sinful condition/situation no deliberate
origin, but is based on historical background /
conflict
*sin is not just disobedience of the 10, but
beyond it, inexplicitely stated
CONCEPT OF SIN IN SACRED SCRIPTURE
OLD TESTAMENT
-looked upon as transgression of Gods law and will
-Disobedience against Gods Decalogue
SIN STORIES IN OT
-Sin of Adam and Eve
-Sin of Cain
-Noahs Ark
-Tower of Babel
ETHICS NOTES
New Testament
-An ungrateful desertion of the Lord
-Antithesis to charity and offense
I can tell you are doing good but I cannot tell
you are not loving
Wala tayong karapatang man-judge kung
paano magmahal yung iba
SOCIAL ASPECT OF SIN
We can do more than Adam and Eves sin; not a
particular affiliation, but human solidarity (judgement)
-inner tao ka lang nagkakasala
-sins that directly attack human rights and basic
freedoms human dignity, justice, the common good
(external) nagkakasala ka, affected ako
-sins affecting relationship between various human
communities, such as class struggle or obstinate
confrontations between blocs of nations (relation with
others) wars
-situations of sin, sinful structures that are the
consequences of sinful choices and acts, e.g. racial
discrimination and economic systems exploitation
(social relationship) sinful structure/ racial
discrimination
DISTINCTION OF SIN
-not all sins are of the same gravity and man acts on the
basis
-thus, distinctions are between mortal sin and venial sin
BASIC DIFFERENCES
-MORTAL SIN outcome of a deliberate reversal of our
option to be for God and for others (against God)
- commitment to an option which contradicts
Gods will and persons authentic goal
-VENIAL SIN not against God
LAW
-ordinance of reason promulgated by men with
competent authority for the common good
Laws as the Objective norm of Morality is Categorized
into:
-MORAL LAW AS REVEALED LAW
-comprising the old law and the new law or the
law of the Gospel
-DIVINE LAW / ETERNAL LAW
-HUMAN LAW UNDER WHICH ARE CIVIL LAW AND
CHURCH OR ECC LASIASTICAL LAW
-NATURAL LAW
MORAL LAW
-governs persons behavior
-contains truth and ethical principles which ought to
guide every individual conduct of people on matters of
right and wrong
- it prescribes norms of conduct for ones good and
happiness which specify what a person ought to do or
ought not to do in order to lead due to the highest good
and absolute end, God
-In the most universal meaning, it is a directive ordering
mans activity toward the ultimate end
-mans inclination to God. Laws are to be found in the
heart of man by the natural gift of reason
-as revealed comprising the old and the new law or Law
of the Gospel
- Depends on Decalogue (OT), and love (NT)
o Individual behaviors (arguments,,
suggestions)
o Judging law based on this is hard
- Ultimate end is it in accord to Gods will
- ML in accordance with your goals
- HL accord with the common good
- Hl is not a hindrance with the ultimate end
- Amendment is created to correct HL
DIVINE LAW/ ETERNAL LAW GODS PLAN
-God is the author of the laws governing the universe
the Divine Law which is eternal or deduced from the
fact that the world is ruled by the Divine Providence. -
And the plan of the Divine Providence rests upon
universal principles existing eternally in God or direct all
action and movements to the proper end, thus
comprise the eternal law, so called because it exists in
the mind of God. It contains the Divine blueprints
(divine Law)
- Divine law- proper end
- Gods plan
- Not everything is Gods plan
- Gods plan is for us to be with him in
Heaven
- The church is not a plan of God, but a
way to achieve Gods plan
- Plan is always good
Eternal Law is the plan flowing from Gods wisdom
which directs all actions and movements. (St. Thomas
Aquinas)
ETHICS NOTES
Eternal Law is the divine reason and/or the will of God
himself commanding the preservation of the Natural
Law and forbidding its disturbance. (St. Augustine)
Divine Law is discovered in the following:
Physical laws which rule both nonrational
and rational creatures
Biological laws that govern the
development of living things.
Mathematical laws that govern abstract
quantity
Natural law which is the participation of
Eternal law in the rational creatures.
By learning these laws and living according to them we
gain freedom. But freedom is always tied up with
obedience to the law of God and there is no such thing
as freedom from these laws, instead there is only
freedom within them. We cannot break the laws, but
if we ignore them, they can break us.
When things cannot be explained by the four, is it divine
(false)
HUMAN LAW
a directive of obligatory, general, and stable character
for the common good promulgated by one who is in
charge of the sovereign society.
Properties of Human Law:
Human Law is enforceable.
Human Law is concerned with external conduct
only.
Human Law is limited to particular groups of
people.
Human Law is historically conditioned.
Human Law has presumptive obligatory force.
Civil Law is the particular application of the Natural Law
in given societies. Give unto Caesar the things that are
Caesars
The moral obligation to obey civil authority is in direct
proportion to the seriousness of the law in terms of its
effect on our well-being as well as of others.
Church Law is the particular application of the Divine
Law to the Christian community. It can change as the
Church faces new circumstance to which Christians have
to adapt.
The moral obligation to observe Church laws is relative
to the seriousness of the law insofar as it affects our
relationship with God and with others.
Obedience to the pope
Necessity of Human Law:
Revealed law does not provide exact rules for
every moral problem. Love your neighbor
Frequently, natural Moral Law is not so evident
in its particular requirements. Board exam
There are often several possible ways to comply
with an obligation, but for the sake of public
order one must impose as binding for all (e.g. the
law concerning traffic rules) the rulings for public
worship, and; pumila ng maayos
Law with its penal regulation is an indispensable
means of education for people, particularly in
times of frailty, and as a shield against human
malice. Late ng one 1 minute
NATURAL LAW
Refers to moral insights people are capable of knowing,
by means of their reason, independently of the verbal
revelation of God.
Natural means:
Not supernatural (not communicated in a
supernatural way).
Not positive (not resulting from the command of
a legislative authority, as in positive human and
divine law.
Found in and derived from the nature of a
person.
Concept of Natural Law
Law of human conduct arising from human
nature, as ordered to its ultimate end,
recognized by the natural light of reason.
Mans natural (not supernatural) ultimate end.
E.g. values, which could be human nature not
elevated by grace. Though ordered towards the
supernatural ultimate end, and is based on
human nature elevated by grace. Both lie on the
same direction, although the supernatural
ultimate end lead beyond.
Persons- needs, individuals- wants. Needs are
essential to man, wants are those goods that an
individual requires due to a particular
circumstance.
Natural law must be higher than human law
Essential Characteristics of Natural Law:
Universal. (Universality) Its primary
principles are self-evident such that it is
for all individuals with fully developed
reason to have an invincible ignorance
of them.
ETHICS NOTES
One and the same for all. (Unity and
Invariability) All classes of people
possess equal moral dignity as persons,
hence, they possess equal basic rights.
Immutable. (Immutability) This
connotes that there can be any change
in whatever is fundamentally good or
evil.
church laws are applications of the Natural Law (False)
Natural Laws are found in the Divine Law (true)
Divine Laws are found in the Natural Law (true)
All laws are made by man (false)
The law is made for science alone (false)
Divine laws are natural laws (false)
Man's conscience is a Moral life (true)
Man's behavior is a law (true)
All laws are written (false)
The ultimate end of a human being is Eternal Law (true)
Moral Lawsare obligatory and enforceable (false)
All laws are means to educate (true)

No smoking (HL)
Boyfrind-girlfriend relationship (ML)
To become supernatural (ML)
Man is perfect (DL)
Buoyancy (NL)
Deathn (DL)
Volcanic eruption (NL)
Respect (ML)
Board Examination (HL)
zodiac sign (HL)
To believe in God (ML)
To be the best (ML)
Old age (NL)